GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Chris Robinson25;52846751 said:I'm selling an R9 280 for a pretty good price. If anyone is interested—just send me a PM.

I think I might be in the market for a new graphics card myself. I guess you could tell me what kind of price you were thinking?

Hey there,

I'm looking to pick up a new graphics card. I spend most of my time modeling in Autodesk Revit and running a few other construction suites—think Robot, SAP2000, and so on—so my current GPU (if you can even call it that) just isn't cutting it anymore.
Here’s what I’m working with:
FX 6300 paired with a CM Hyper TX3 Evo
Asus M5A97 R2.0
XFX TS 550W (80+ gold)
Sapphire Radeon HD7770

My budget tops out at about $400. I'm totally fine with grabbing something used on eBay rather than buying brand new from a big box store. Thanks 👍

Jeremy Fowler4 said:Hey there,

So I need to pick up a new graphics card. I do modeling in Autodesk Revit, plus I use a few other construction software suites (Robot, SAP2000, etc.), and my current GPU (I assume it's a GPU) is just too weak.
My rig looks like this:
FX 6300 with a CM Hyper TX3 Evo
Asus M5A97 R2.0
XFX TS 550W (80+ gold)
Sapphire Radeon HD7770

Budget is around $400 max. Doesn't have to be brand new from Best Buy; I'm fine looking on Craigslist. Thanks. 👍

Hmm, that card should actually handle those programs... you didn't mention how much RAM you've got or what monitor resolution you're running. What kind of issues are you hitting exactly? How does it act when you're working in those apps?

Forgot to mention a few specs:
8 GB of RAM,
an Intel 520 SSD and a 500 GB hard drive,
plus FHD resolution—running Windows 7 Ultimate.
The main headache happens when I'm working in Revit—specifically when finishing up a project. Zooming and rotating gets really choppy; instead of smooth transitions, the view just jumps around erratically, landing on angles I didn't intend. It’s a total pain to deal with, if you catch my drift.

Chris Robinson25 said:I'm looking to sell an R9 280 for a pretty reasonable price. If anyone happens to be interested, please feel free to send me a PM.

What kind of price were you thinking?

Missed the train. 😁 You don't know how to send a PM?

Alright, I'm looking for a new graphics card—something budget-friendly that actually offers a meaningful upgrade... 😁 I realize my expectations might be a bit unrealistic, but I can't help thinking there's a sweet spot out there somewhere... 🤔

http://www.asrock.com/mb/nvidia/n68c-s%20ucc/

This is the motherboard I'm running; currently using an ATI Radeon HD 4670. The CPU is an AMD Athlon II X3 455, though I'm not entirely sure how much that factors into the equation...

So, looking at what Best Buy has in stock, what would be a sensible replacement? I assume anything with a higher spec number would do the trick... 😁

I’d honestly rather just buy from Micro Center and pay $13 shipping if I have to; it’s still way more cost-effective than anything over at HGSpot.

I think this is a pretty decent deal for a GPU 😬

This should fit perfectly with your processor—though, I guess, your CPU might actually end up being a bit of a bottleneck.

Just one other important thing though: what kind of power supply are you running? Brand, model, and wattage?

It’s no big deal if I have to hit up a different shop in Chicago... I was thinking about swinging by HGSpot, assuming they had the best selection... 😁

Ah, the power supply. The issue is there isn't a single label on it, no visible markings, nothing at all. Is it even possible to estimate the wattage based on the components already listed here? My current setup pulls about 50W, or at least that's what the specs online suggest. The PSU is likely 400W, maybe 500W... I'll try to poke around and get a better look once I'm home tonight. If not, I could always just grab a new graphics card that doesn't demand quite so much juice, I'm sure there are plenty out there... 🤣

I took a look ahead of schedule, though the only thing I can tell you about the power supply is that it says Xilence on it; there isn't any wattage rating listed... 😢 There’s roughly a 30-watt difference between what I have now and the one you suggested, which should be plenty... 🤷

Just as an extra bit of context—I'm looking at a new graphics card because my FPS is tanking in this MMORPG, and I've come to the conclusion that the GPU is the culprit since it's the weakest link in the chain. Am I reading this right, or should I be looking for an upgrade somewhere else entirely?

Xilence makes both junk and decent stuff, so we really need the specific model number.

Which MMORPG are we talking about here? And what resolution are you running? I'm wondering if this has always been an issue or if it just started out of nowhere.

Ever since I started playing SWTOR in windowed mode, 😬 the FPS counter turns red, which apparently suggests my graphics card is struggling...

So, is this card actually up to the task? I'd grab it if it's truly some kind of best buy...

Processor - Intel Core i5-7500
Package Socket 775 LGA

Motherboard - ASUStek P5G41T-M SI
Chipset DDR3 RAM
2GB DDR3 RAM

So look, I'm dealing with this basic office machine (small form factor 😁) that's currently running on some pathetic integrated graphics, and I'm trying to figure out if there's any way at all to upgrade this thing.
All I really want is to be able to run Call of Duty 2, which is an old-school classic that shouldn't need much graphical muscle, and maybe eventually get into Call of Duty 4. The PC isn't used for anything heavy anyway, just the occasional YouTube session, if I even bother with that.

Gregory Ward said:CPU - Intel Core i5-7500
Package Socket 775 LGA

Motherboard - ASUStek P5G41T-M SI
Chipset Intel G41
DDR3 RAM 2GB

So, I'm looking at this basic office rig (small form factor 😁) with some crappy integrated graphics, and I'm wondering if there's any way to actually upgrade it.
I just want to run Call of Duty 2—an old-school game that shouldn't need much juice—and maybe Call of Duty 4. The PC isn't used for anything heavy, just some YouTube browsing here and there.

This is pretty much your best bet right now; anything cheaper is going to be a massive step down without saving you much money.

If they aren't planning on moving that card over to a new build, it feels like a waste of cash. I'd probably just hunt for something used for $133 that doesn't need an extra power connector; honestly, an AMD Radeon HD 7750 would be a solid choice

http://www.xilence.de/en/products/po...-c-series.html

Regarding this power supply unit... based on my current estimates, I'm pulling roughly 250W...

I called Future Shop, but they're completely sold out 😢 does anyone else have a decent recommendation...

Since your power supply isn't exactly top-tier, maybe try this:

http://www.amazon.com/details/product-link-placeholder

It’s slightly more powerful than an R7 260, I think, and pulls about 60W.

Thanks. My question now is whether upgrading to something more powerful actually makes sense given my current setup, specifically the processor... Or is a better card still just going to be held back by the CPU, making my current one significantly worse by comparison?

Gregory Ward said:So, we're talking about an office-style (horizontal 😁) desktop

Does the GPU need to be low profile?

Robin Fox2 said:Alright, thanks. My question now is: does it make sense to go for something more powerful given my current setup—specifically the CPU? Or is this upgrade roughly in line with what the processor can handle, and the one I have right now is just much worse?

No, honestly, even the Nvidia GTX 750 is a bit of overkill considering that CPU, though it's nothing extreme (you could always save it for your next build). Your only other option would be looking at something weaker than an R7 260, like an R7 250 with DDR5. By the way, have you tried unlocking the fourth core on that AMD Athlon X3?