Need to upgrade my PC // Available Budget 500€

[PaiN45]

I ended up ordering
Asus GeForce GTX960 4GB Strix + Be Quiet Straight Power 10 500W CM
Lets see how it goes

 

[rruff]

My friend told me the superclocked GPUs do not last that much(he said that they last for a year or a bit more) as normal ones.. is that true ?

Total nonsense.

"Superlocked" is EVGA's brand designation for some cards with a factory overclock. Most good cards come with a factory overclock of some sort. It's a good idea to overclock the card additionally yourself. GTX 960s will typically OC to a 20% performance boost over reference clocks. That's with stock voltage. That is a lot of performance to pay for but not use.

Will it shorten the life? Probably not. Certainly not enough to worry about.

 

[rruff]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-radeon-r9-380-2gb-4gb-review
there really is not much difference. like a few fps and any stuttering is eliminated by realizing ultra means ultra and a 2gb gpu is going to be better on high..

Exactly. It's possible to create a situation where 4GB is helpful, but if you configure your game properly for decent fps, 2GB is enough.

It's also a very good idea to OC the vram to increase the bandwidth on these cards.

 

[xfia]

Exactly. It's possible to create a situation where 4GB is helpful, but if you configure your game properly for decent fps, 2GB is enough.

It's also a very good idea to OC the vram to increase the bandwidth on these cards.

thats what i was just typing.. since the op got the 4gb version they might as well overclock the core and vram so its possible for more of it to be better utilized.
AMD explained it like.. the 4gb versions of 2gb gpu's will be ideal for someone that wants to get into crossfire/sli as a later upgrade and start out with 2k-4k

 

[rruff]

Right! And still most people say 4GB is useless on a GTX960, NO, even GTA V benefits from a 4GB version, higher fps and you are able to run the game with highest texture quality and that are the reasons I probably buy a GTX960 4GB

Really poor comparison. He doesn't give the card specs or show where and why the 2GB card is slower. If the cards are clocked the same, there should only be a difference in the brief moments when the vram quantity is a limiter.

 

[P4-630]

Really poor comparison. He doesn't give the card specs or show where and why the 2GB card is slower. If the cards are clocked the same, there should only be a difference in the brief moments when the vram quantity is a limiter.

I don't need to argue with you here.
The OP already ordered new hardware.

 

[rruff]

Yes! But as I mentioned earlier, it's best to buy a new PSU.

I know the OP has made his purchase, but you have to consider what he is upgrading. Just because he has 500 euro to spend, doesn't mean it's wise to spend it. It also doesn't make sense to for him to consider this an "upgrade that will last 5+ years". This is a tide you over until you can afford to buy a new system kinda deal. If you upgrade one component too much then it becomes necessary to upgrade everything.

He has an older dual-core Pentium, a GT 640, and a low res monitor. For gaming the video card is the definite limiter here. Plus I'm certain a 24" 1080p monitor would be WOW compared to what he has.

After browsing the Greek partpicker site he linked, the GTX 750 Ti makes the most sense. There is one that is 122 euro. And it runs off the motherboard like his 640. That is a 2.5x faster card than the GT 640. For an extra 100 euro you can get a 4GB 960 that is 4x faster than a 640. Nominally that is. If his CPU isn't a limiter, and it will be in some instances. So upgrade the CPU to a better old CPU, get a new PSU, etc. You see where this is going? He can spend all of his 500 euro on a 4x gaming boost, or 122 euro on a 2.5x boost.

Sorry for the rant...

 

[P4-630]

I know the OP has made his purchase, but you have to consider what he is upgrading. Just because he has 500 euro to spend, doesn't mean it's wise to spend it. It also doesn't make sense to for him to consider this an "upgrade that will last 5+ years". This is a tide you over until you can afford to buy a new system kinda deal. If you upgrade one component too much then it becomes necessary to upgrade everything.

He has an older dual-core Pentium, a GT 640, and a low res monitor. For gaming the video card is the definite limiter here. Plus I'm certain a 24" 1080p monitor would be WOW compared to what he has.

After browsing the Greek partpicker site he linked, the GTX 750 Ti makes the most sense. There is one that is 122 euro. And it runs off the motherboard like his 640. That is a 2.5x faster card than the GT 640. For an extra 100 euro you can get a 4GB 960 that is 4x faster than a 640. Nominally that is. If his CPU isn't a limiter, and it will be in some instances. So upgrade the CPU to a better old CPU, get a new PSU, etc. You see where this is going? He can spend all of his 500 euro on a 4x gaming boost, or 122 euro on a 2.5x boost.

Sorry for the rant...

He will upgrade his CPU to i5 soon and probably a new FHD monitor.

 

[rruff]

He will upgrade his CPU to i5 soon and probably a new FHD monitor.

That's where I got the 500E. Figured 170E in Greece for the CPU, 230 for the GPU, 100 for the PSU. 500E total without the monitor. Makes more sense (to me) to recommend 122E for a 2.5x improvement vs 500E for 4x. Since he said in the first post he didn't want to spend a lot and has modest needs. Of course an i5 Ivy will be nicer in general, and good PSU is not a waste of money.

BTW regarding power consumption, I have a i3-4160 and a GTX 950 (OCd to the max), 16GB ram, two big HDs and a SSD, and the max draw running benchmarks is 175W from the wall. A 960 might bump that another 15W. And a i5 maybe another 20W.