GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Timothy Kim60 said:If cash isn't an issue, just pick up a used quad-core for a 775 system along with a 1050ti low profile. Anything listed below that is just junk. And don't even bother thinking about a GeForce GT 710; you won't see any meaningful difference compared to a Radeon HD 5450. It's a waste of money.

Thanks, I’ll probably just grab a GT 1030 since that GTX 1050 is out of my budget. I actually wanted to find a review for a GeForce GT 710 with DDR5, but I couldn't track one down. My expectation is for the card to run The Witcher 1, Oblivion, and Gothic 3 on high settings, and eventually handle Skyrim and The Witcher 2,3 on low or Medium at 720p.

The Radeon HD 5450 I currently have running The Witcher 1 struggles at 720p on high settings, hitting maybe 9-20fps in open areas, which is completely unplayable. Even dropping the details to Medium doesn't get me past 25-30fps in the best-case scenarios in open environments. 🙂

Honestly, having a 1050ti won't even matter if the motherboard is bottlenecking everything with just 2 or 4 GB of RAM, which, let's be real, is probably what's happening here.

Also, regarding those Q8200-Q8400 chips, I think there are a few available for $60, so you could definitely probably shave another 50 bucks off the price. 😉

It’s gonna be a pretty sweet build, I guess. 😉

Honestly, 4GB is plenty for about 99% of games out there. It’s really only those newer titles with x64 architecture that can actually pull more than 2GB of RAM—and that’s just for the game's .exe, you still need at least another 1GB just to keep the OS running smoothly.

@mellowtiger83/">@@mellowtiger83

I used to run an HD 6450—actually, I still have it, though it's going in the trash once my new build is ready—and I managed to get plenty of games running on a Radeon HD 5450. You'll only see FPS drops that bad during chapters 3 and 4 of The Witcher 1, mainly because the optimization is just non-existent. Don't bother looking at the GeForce GT 710 either; it’s total junk, just forget about it.

mellowtiger83 said:I couldn't find a review for the GeForce GT 710 with DDR5, even though I really wanted to see one.

I guess if there isn't a review out for a card, it's probably garbage and nobody thought it was worth their time to review it anyway.😁

Maybe just go for the GT 1030. It costs a bit more, but it's newer and has better tech—like HEVC and H.264 encoding, plus a newer HDMI port and stuff. You'll probably have an easier time using it for an HTPC later or just reselling it.

As for the Quad, we'd probably need to check what the motherboard actually supports first.

Keith Anderson3 said:An 1050ti won't matter one bit if he's bottlenecked by a motherboard limited to 2 or 4 GB of RAM, which seems highly probable here.

Also, regarding those Q8200-Q8400 chips, I've seen a few going for $60, so dropping the price by another 50 is definitely doable. 😉

It’ll be a solid configuration. 😉

The motherboard has four DDR3 slots, two of which are vacant. It's an HP 6000 pro SFF machine, likely capped at 8GB of RAM since it currently runs two 2GB modules at 1333MHz.

For some inexplicable reason, the system only supports Core 2 Duo and Series 9 Quad processors. It refuses to recognize the Q6 or Q8 series. It defies logic, yet that is the reality. My options are either the top-tier E8500 dual core or moving up to a Q9400 or Q9550 processor. 🙂

The current powerful e7500 performs quite adequately; I haven't encountered any performance deficits during standard use. I suppose the goal is to play newer titles that the Radeon HD 5450 can't handle anyway.

To clarify, this isn't my primary rig. This little unit belongs to my 14-year-old kid. He's a heavy RPG player and does great in school, so he's allowed about an hour or two of gaming per day.🙂

fadedorca66 said:If there isn't a review out for a specific card, you can pretty much assume it's garbage. It clearly wasn't even worth a reviewer's time to look at it.😁

Go with the GT 1030. It costs a bit more, sure, but it's newer and features better tech—things like HEVC and H.264 encoding, plus updated HDMI support. You'll find it much easier to repurpose for an HTPC later on, or just flip it for a decent price when you're done.

As for the Quad cores, we first need to establish what the motherboard actually supports.

I wouldn't say that. Previously, the issue was that the GDDR5 version only recently hit the market; the standard GeForce GT 710 was originally intended to run solely on DDR3. I want to see the actual potential of the chip. All the DDR3 versions hover around an effective 1800MHz, whereas this one runs at 5000MHz. That is a massive leap in memory bandwidth, likely exceeding a 10GB per second difference compared to DDR3.

What interests me is the OC potential of that GeForce GT 710 chip. From what I've gathered online, absolutely everyone manages to push it 300MHz past its native 950MHz frequency without any real struggle. If you catch my drift, perhaps $113 might be a solid deal in the end.

I am not looking for a dedicated gaming card. I simply want something capable of running the aforementioned titles—maybe Far Cry 2, Battlefield 3, and similar old relics. I have no intention of trying to play GTA 5 or Battlefield 1, nor am I searching for anything meant for those.

The Q9 series probably comes with its own cooler included, and honestly, you can't find a Q9500 for less than $100. So that's basically $400 gone right there. As for the E7500 vs E8500 debate, I guess it might be hard to actually notice a difference with just those few hundred MHz.

Pairing an E7500 with 4GB of RAM and a new GPU—like a GT 1030—would probably make for a pretty decent combo, I suppose. Though, I'm not entirely sure if the E7500 can really handle everything at full tilt. But hey, it should be enough to get things moving for now.

Faster memory and bandwidth won't really save you if the chip itself is garbage. You might see a slight bump in performance, but I guess you shouldn't expect any miracles.

I wouldn't mess around with OC if you don't actually have the card in your hands; it just invites trouble later on. Plus, getting decent airflow in a tiny case is a nightmare, and those low-end cards usually come with pretty pathetic passive coolers anyway.

I ended up ordering a GT 1030 for $183, thanks everyone. I’m fairly certain it was the right call. Heading out to pick it up near Central Park later today.

Compared to the Radeon HD 5450, there is likely going to be a light-year difference in speed.🙂

Pa, paired up with a GT 1030, The Witcher is just flying. It’s actually terrifying to look at the frame rates Fraps is pumping out. I cranked everything to Ultra—every single setting—and compared to my old Radeon HD 5450, this thing is basically a Star Trek ship. Games that used to struggle at 20fps are now hitting over 100. Battlefield 3 on the Radeon HD 5450 was a nightmare; I had to run it on Low at 800x600 in a window just to scrape past 20 fps. Now, it’s cruising above 40 on High at 720p. It's an incredible card. I'm definitely satisfied, and naturally, I went straight to Steam to buy Witcher 2 immediately. 🙂

Edit, I opened up this SFF case today and took a look at the CPU heatsink. It's this tiny copper cooler attached to some plastic with a fan that sits quite a distance physically from the actual cooler. It honestly fascinates me how the powerful e7500 doesn't even cross 42°C after two hours of gaming and various benchmarks in a dusty case, in a room without AC, in the middle of a 3 PM heatwave. Measured via HW Monitor, there is no way the CPU temperature goes above 42°C. It seems to me I could easily grab a Q9400 or a 9550 and they would stay well-cooled; they might hit 55°C, perhaps. I simply don't understand what magic this little copper heatsink is using to cool so effectively.

At first I thought you were just trolling, but then I realized you're talking about The Witcher 1 instead of 3 😁

It’s awesome that you’re happy with your purchase; at the end of the day, that's all that matters 😁

Austin Rodriguez5 said:At first I assumed you were trolling, then I realized we were talking about The Witcher 1 rather than 3. 😁

It is good that you are happy with the purchase; that is what matters most. 😁

He He Witcher 1 is plenty for me, maybe the second one if I feel like it. I am not exactly a devotee of the latest releases, nor do I feel obligated to play every new title that hits the market. To my mind, Half-Life 2 remains the greatest game ever made. I also have a fondness for the FlatOut series—the pure, mindless destruction is quite enjoyable.

On another note, along with the GT 1030, I managed to borrow a GeForce GT 710 with 2GB of DDR3. I plan to compare it against the Radeon HD 5450 to see what the actual difference is. Some people here claim there isn't much of a gap, so I will test it tomorrow and share the results with everyone.

I suspect there will be a significant difference compared to the Radeon HD 5450 🙂, especially since the Radeon HD 5450 is overclocked from 650/533 to 750/620.

Hey everyone! I'm finally pulling the trigger on a new graphics card, and I've pretty much set my sights on the EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 AMP! I found the Base model for about $490, but I'm sitting here wondering if it's actually worth shelling out an extra $45 to grab the EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 AMP! Ultra edition instead, or if that's just throwing money down the drain for nothing?

Honestly, neither one is really worth it... buying a GTX 1070 right now just doesn't make much sense. Maybe check this out instead:

https://www.newegg.com/p/gigabyte-geforce...2.html

What makes them such bad buys though?

They're priced higher than MSRP, and honestly, they aren't cheap enough compared to the GTX 1080 to even be worth considering.

They’re just a bit cheaper than the GTX 1080s, but they're significantly weaker.

So, if we're talking about this particular one, I’d say tossing in an extra $75 is totally worth it, honestly.

When you're playing in a league with that kind of money, yeah, it makes sense.

Hold on a second, I need to make sure this is actually going to play nice with my current setup, or am I looking at needing a full upgrade to get everything up to speed?
I'm running an Intel Core i7-4770K, an ASUS Z87 Pro, and a 700W power supply.