GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Larry Ortiz5 said:AMD offers better value for the money. That doesn't mean their card is actually better than Nvidia's; Nvidia has better tech, better architecture, and better drivers, which is why they charge more. Please don't mix those things up. You ask for advice and then try to act like a know-it-all just because you've owned both AMD and Nvidia and think you're an expert. Just because the Nvidia GTX 970 only has "just" 3.5GB of VRAM doesn't make it a bad card, and it doesn't mean nobody will buy it anymore. It's plenty good for 1080p and even higher resolutions, just not for 4K. And what's this about CPUs? You're talking about processors now for some reason...

That whole driver argument doesn't hold water with me. I have two setups at home—one in the living room and one in my bedroom. One is an Intel and Nvidia build (GTX 760 and a 4670k) and the other is AMD (x4 750 and an R7 265), so I can tell you firsthand: I haven't had any issues with drivers.
Just because Nvidia has more features doesn't mean anything; they don't exactly change the gameplay experience. At the end of the day, you look at FPS, so you can pretty much ignore the rest.
If being $100 cheaper in the mid-range, or up to $150 less in the high-end segment, isn't enough of a reason for you to go with AMD since those cards are actually more powerful, then I don't know what to tell you besides that you're talking nonsense.

Don't get me wrong, the Nvidia GTX 970 is a great card. I was actually thinking about picking one up myself, but when you're spending that kind of cash, the product needs to be absolutely flawless so people don't $1000 trash it.

And yeah, I can "act like a know-it-all" because I earned my own money. It didn't just fall from the sky, and my parents aren't buying my components for me, so I actually know the value of a dollar.

Just toss an extra $1,500$667 onto the pile and grab an Nvidia GTX 980 instead—since you always seem to blow past your budget anyway, I’d say just go ahead and treat yourself now.😉

And hey, don't go twisting my words here. Who actually said AMD has bad drivers or that they don't work properly? All I said was that Nvidia's are better.

Better in what way, exactly?

Honestly, I dealt with way more headaches in the single month I owned a laptop with an Nvidia GTX 860M and its drivers (though those issues were finally smoothed out with the last few updates, and now it runs like a dream) than I ever did with five different generations of Radeon cards in my desktop setup over the years...

And look, I don't buy into all that driver hype. Every single card has its own little quirks that eventually settle down... right now, it’s actually driving me crazy that a new driver revision pops up every single week (and GeForce Experience keeps pinging me about it constantly) just because they optimized it for some specific game so I can squeeze out maybe two extra FPS.🙂

I don't really buy the idea that one manufacturer consistently has better drivers than the other. I’ve run into my fair share of issues with both AMD and Nvidia cards back in the day, but my last three GPUs—which were a mix of Nvidia and AMD—didn't give me any trouble at all.

Simply 😬

ATI's drivers used to be an absolute disaster, though from what I've heard lately, things have actually improved quite a bit.

Nvidia had their fair share of screw-ups too, don't worry. I mean, who remembers those drivers from maybe two or three years ago that just kept throwing BSODs left and right...

In my experience, I used to be an AMD user—back when they were still called ATI around 2004—and I went through maybe 10 or 15 ATI cards without ever hitting a single snag. Eventually, I decided to branch out into Nvidia territory, moving from an Nvidia GTX 660 over to an Nvidia GTX 970. Personally, I find Nvidia's drivers just easier to handle? You can basically just run a clean installation without having to jump into the Control Panel, uninstall everything, reboot the PC, and then try to install the new ones—which is what you often have to do with AMD just to make sure old driver remnants don't cause issues. That’s really the only reason I mentioned that Nvidia's drivers feel more streamlined than the red team's 😁

Larry Ortiz5 said:Give me 1500 bucks.$667 Look, just go ahead and grab a GTX 980 already. You’re always blowing past your budget anyway, so you might as well finally do something nice for yourself and pull the trigger now. 😉

And don't go twisting my words here. Who actually said AMD has bad drivers or that they don't work properly? I'm just saying NVIDIA has the better ones.

If that GTX 980 actually lived up to the hype and was significantly better than the GTX 970, maybe I’d consider dropping the cash. But paying an absolute fortune for a card that only gives me an extra 3 or 4 FPS over the lower model? Yeah, no thanks. Not happening. $667 Nothing cheaper comes to mind right now. Like I said, I’m just gonna sit tight and wait for AMD to drop their new series, and that's that. Period.

And what exactly are you rambling about regarding budget limits? That logic doesn't hold water for me either. I hit that $50 mark just like everyone else.$33 Sometimes I don't say anything at all, but other times I'll tell you it's worth dropping a little extra cash to get something better that'll actually last you longer.

Sean Garcia3 said:If that GTX 980 actually lived up to its price tag—and if it were truly worth the jump from a GTX 970—maybe I’d consider pulling the trigger. But honestly? Paying top dollar for a card that only nets you an extra 3 or 4 FPS over a cheaper model... is it really worth it? Not when the lower-end option is already such a solid value. $667 Nothing cheaper really comes to mind right now—I've said my piece. Honestly, I'm just going to sit tight and wait for AMD to drop their next series, and then I'll make my move. That's that.

And honestly, what are you even talking about when it comes to blowing past a budget? That logic just doesn't hold up for me—I end up crossing that line just like everyone else once I hit that $50 mark.$33 Sometimes I don't say anything at all—I just let things be—but other times, I’ll suggest putting a little more money upfront. Isn't it usually worth it to get something higher quality? You end up getting much better performance, and honestly, you can use those components for a lot longer down the road.

Look, man, everyone here is pretty much fed up with you. Honestly, whenever I see you popping up in a thread, it just starts a fight—it’s frustrating. It’s really no wonder you’ve been banned a few times; if I were an admin, I’d probably just block your IP address to keep you away from this forum for good. It’s just not right. You’ll start a whole new thread to ask a question, and then—within minutes—you're already jumping in to give yourself the answers? That’s just weird behavior. This is the last time I'm saying this to you, though. Seriously, work on yourself. Take care.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Alright, genius, the whole forum is against you. Every time I see you posting in a thread, it feels like a fight is starting. It’s honestly no wonder you’ve been banned a few times; if I were an admin, I’d just IP ban you so you could leave us alone forever. It's not normal to start a thread and then reply to yourself, or even better, ask a question and then start giving out advice just minutes later. This is the last you're getting from me. Work on yourself. Peace.

Man, you must be on some heavy stuff. I've been on this forum for maybe two months max, so I have no clue how I managed to rack up this many bans, but hey, that's your business. I'm not going to waste my energy on it.
So what if I started a thread just to see which way people lean? And as for "answering myself"—I was just replying to you. Besides, I didn't even start the thread because I didn't know much about the topic, unlike you, who acts like an expert even though you were clueless when you started that thread about your sister's PC. You love handing out advice to everyone else, but you think you can lecture me? Even if I didn't know what I was talking about in my case, it's not the same as yours.
Looks like you're still young and get triggered easily whenever someone points out you aren't actually right about everything. But whatever, we've all been there, so I won't hold it against you.

I’m only speaking up because I actually know what's going on here—you’ve only been on this forum for two months under the Sean Garcia3 handle, right? And let's be real, we're all just waiting for you to catch another ban. People aren't exactly oblivious; they can tell when someone just jumps right back in with a fresh profile to dodge the rules. Do you really want me to call out exactly which one you used before? Please, let's not go there—honestly, you’re still acting like you're in your teenage years.

Larry Ortiz5 said:I’m just being real here. You’ve only been on this forum for two months under the Sean Garcia3 handle, and I'm waiting for you to get banned again. People aren't idiots; they can tell when someone just makes a new profile to dodge a ban. You really want me to guess which one you used before? Please, no. You're clearly still in your teenage years.

First off, you don't know anything if you're actually asking us to help build a PC for your sister. Second, everything you think you "know" is just surface-level stuff you picked up from reading something online or overhearing a conversation—half of which you probably didn't even process correctly.
You've got me totally mixed up with someone else. I ended up here by accident because I was weighing the pros and cons of running 2x GTX 760 vs a single GTX 970. While I was browsing the web, I stumbled upon this place, decided to register, and started my own thread since the forum seemed pretty active. Once I saw how much discussion goes on here, I figured I'd stick around and join in.
Besides, buddy, you're a little too young to be talking to me like that. I've got enough years on you that I have zero interest in bickering with you and a few others like a spoiled brat over nonsense. I work, I live in my own place, I'm waiting for my son to get home... meanwhile, you're still clinging to your mom's sleeve. Don't provoke me or try to label me as someone I'm not, or I'll report you to the admin for harassment and let them deal with the consequences.
Enjoy!

I honestly don't have the energy to keep this back-and-forth going with you—so, I'll just say goodbye and good luck with whatever new handle you pick. Just a little tip for next time? Maybe try using some better grammar and adding a few line breaks... it makes things a lot easier to follow. 👋

Larry Ortiz5 said:I'm done arguing with you. Go ahead, enjoy life under whatever new handle you pick, just do us all a favor and use some decent grammar and line breaks next time, because honestly, you're impossible to read. 👋

Look, there are a million people on this forum writing exactly like that, so I have no idea what you're struggling to understand. But fine... "the wolf doesn't lose sleep over the opinion of sheep." Old saying, but it fits.

Sean Garcia3 said:...because I'm reporting you to the admin for acting like this, so expect some consequences.

Honestly, you’re probably more likely to get banned yourself for filing false reports than the person you're actually targeting.😬

I could use some advice on my current setup: an i3 4330 at 3.5 GHz, a Gigabyte GTX 750 OC, 8GB of ADATA RAM (2x4GB 1600), an ASRock B85M motherboard, a High Power 500W 80+ Bronze PSU, a 1TB WD Blue drive, and a 22-inch Samsung monitor. I’ve managed to run Shadow of Mordor and Far Cry 4 quite well—right now I'm playing Dragon Age: Inquisition and I'm actually pretty happy with it, hitting a solid fifty FPS. My question is: what's the best graphics card I can pair with this power supply to get Assassin's Creed Unity running? My current card is struggling—it's basically unplayable. Thanks in advance for any help!

Harold Alvarez49 said:Hey, I need some help. Here’s my current setup: i3 4330 @ 3.5 GHz, Gigabyte GTX 750 OC, 2x4GB DDR3 1600 RAM (Adata), AsRock B85M motherboard, High Power 500W 80+ Bronze PSU, WD Blue 1TB HDD, and a 22-inch Samsung monitor. I've played Shadow of Mordor and Far Cry 4, and right now I'm running Dragon Age: Inquisition and I'm pretty happy—everything is at max settings. My question is: what's the strongest GPU I can throw at this power supply so I can actually play Assassin's Creed Unity? Because with my current card, it's a total disaster; basically unplayable. Thanks in advance!

Here are a few options, just pick whichever one looks best to you:
R9 280 X
http://www.amazon.com/graphics-card-example-280x

GTX 960
https://www.newegg.com/nvidia-gpu/31...2ggb-ddr5.html

https://www.newegg.com/nvidia-gpu/31...2gb-gddr5.html

R9 280
http://www.bestbuy.com/product_info.php?products_id=15588

http://www.bestbuy.com/product_info.php?products_id=14489

http://www.bestbuy.com/product_info.php?products_id=15386 Just make sure it actually fits in your case, because this one is pretty long.

Basically, the R9 280 X is the powerhouse here. The GTX 960 and R9 280 are similar in performance, but the GTX 960 pulls way less power, maybe around 120W.

Thanks for the reply—but I noticed it says these 280 X cards recommend a 750W power supply, so I'm wondering if that actually matters here or not?

You're gonna hit a bottleneck because of the CPU... regardless of hyperthreading, you're still stuck with a dual-core chip. Personally, I wouldn't bother going higher than an R9 270 or R9 270 X... maybe a GTX 760 at most. Anything beyond that is just overkill.

That’s actually pretty standard... this game just absolutely shreds hardware.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8738/b...-creed-unity/2