Video Card Help

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by ThaKloned, Sep 19, 2016.

  1. I'm interested to see what the best video card I can get with my current hardware. Problem is I don't have enough knowledge in this area. If anyone could help me out that would be great.

    My motherboard is an ASUS P8 B75-M/CSM.
    CPU is an Intel 2nd Gen Core i7-2600 / 3.4 GHz.
    Power Supply: AC 120/130 V (50/60 Hz) 460 Watt

    I currently have a Geforce GTX 650 in here and want to know if I can do better and how much better. Hopefully this is enough info. If more is needed, please let me know.

    Thanks :)
  2. gtx960 maybe
  3. ThaKloned likes this.
  4. AMD RX 460 : 125 gets you a really nice little card that will rival your 650 but there is better you can do. It's generally good for medium setting gaming at 1080p or something on modern games.
    NVIDIA GTX 950 : Solid 2G card, nuff said
    AMD RX 470 : Nice HD Gaming at high settings...
    NVIDIA GTX 960 : 4G or 2G still gets better than the 470 in most fields, amongst other NVIDIA perks
    I consider the 4G RX 480 and the 3.5G GTX 970 fairly on par with eachother...
    Then comes the GTX 1060 which isn't really bad compared to the RX 480 save for some VRAM and performance, but has the NVIDIA perks (programs that support it better, shadowplay, etc.)
    8G RX 480 trumps all above it
    anywhere beyond that (GTX 980 Ti, GTX 1070, 1080, Titan X, etc.) will be better but anything above Radeon RX 480 probably is quite a bottleneck to be putting with a 4 (nearly 5) generations outdated CPU.

    The real question I got to help you best make the decision ; what kind of games do you play? What kind of settings and FPS are you aiming for?

    I'd also suggest some time you may wanna upgrade the PSU, you can get all sorts of perks, like quality, durability (don't wanna fry new parts, which can happen when mixing old power with new parts) power efficiency, extra wattage, all sorts of stuff. If you ever considered that, I'd shoot for a Corsair CX450M, 550M, 650M, or any EVGA Supernova II series (B2, G2, P2, T2, watever)
    ThaKloned likes this.
  5. Wow so much information. That's great help, thanks so much for that.

    As for games I play.. really all over the place. MC obviously, GTA-type games, Fallout, recently bought the Witcher 3, which ran horrid on my 650 lol Hope this improves with the 960 :p
  6. The original PC was purchased from Dell. It is the XPS 8300 model. From what was shipped I have only changed the motherboard and graphics card.
  7. Gotcha...
    (btw if you ever decide to buy a new one you should totes look into building :p)

    Yeah I'd go RX 470 / 480, or GeForce GTX 960 - 1060

    I read up on recommended specs. The most demanding (the Witcher 3) suggested GeForce GTX 780, which could be the cause. However, it is worth noting that on a lot of the Recommended specs pages, most listed a 4th Gen intel CORE i5 CPU or better. It could possibly be the CPU which could be causing some problems (unless you noted severe frame drops between video settings)

    EDIT : Actually looked it up. These are MINIMUM specs
    Fallout IV : 2nd Gen Intel CORE i5 2300 or better
    GTA V : 3rd Gen Intel CORE i5 3470
    Witcher 3 : CORE i5 2500K

    So, your i7 2600 makes the cut for some of these but pretty narrowly. If you ever wanted to upgrade to fresh stuff, I would suggest something like this ;
    http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Dxh4M8
    (ideally spend more on CPU and GPU for a really nice machine but that's a nice starter)
    ThaKloned likes this.
  8. Thanks for the info. I do eventually want to build a fresh pc. I will have to PM when that time comes lol your assistance is so very helpful.

    With what I currently have what do you think the best cpu upgrade I could get? Might take awhile before I can afford all new so would like to work with this for the time being.

    Also I forgot to mention, I'm in Canada so that would probably change prices right?
  9. ThaKloned likes this.
  10. I bet Mercenaries would sell you his video card?
  11. So, I did my research and found a few benchmarks. Your processor should be able to handle up to a 980 ti or a 1070. I'm not saying you should go that route and go out and buy one, but its an option. If I were in your shoes I would buy a GTX 970 (or 980) or if you want to go the AMD route, then go for a Rx 470/480.


    GTA V 1440p Ultra Settings

    Witcher 3 1080p Ultra Settings
  12. omg, I saw the picture and still went with American prices XD

    I'll put this in perspective for you
    Intel i3 was designed to be sufficient for basic needs but still be a little peppy
    i5 is the mainstream gaming CPU and should handle a decent amount of stuff quite well
    i7 is for the elitists, they are the best CPU's around.

    However, your i7 is gonna be like 5 generations outdated (it's 5 years old right now, almost 6)
    The only "better" CPU is the i7 2700k, which is basically an unlocked version of your i7 2600. That allows for overclocking, but you need a good quality power supply and CPU cooler to do that so...
    The short answer is; No, there isn't much better you can do for a CPU without getting a new motherboard (which is three parts ; mobo, CPU, and RAM)

    If you're getting that new PC any later than 6 months, I couldn't give you a good build suggestion as AMD will be out with the RX 490, AMD Zen processors, and Intel will have their Kaby Lake processors out, plus NVIDIA and AMD will probably have new GPU cards out too.
    ThaKloned likes this.
  13. Got the GTX 960 yesterday and installed it after work. Wow. The Witcher 3 runs flawlessly on Ultra. Never seen quality like that. Tested other games like Fallout 4 (which worked fine before on medium settings) looks soo much better on max settings. Also had the DOOM demo that barely ran on my old card, also ran flawless on max settings. Really love this card! Was going to try No Man's Sky again but a video card isnt going to help that train wreck :p

    Thanks so much for the help everyone :)