Help: GPU Upgrade

[olo94]

Hello I’m having trouble choosing a new GPU upgrade for my setup.

My current setup is:

CPU: AMD FX-6300
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME3
RAM: G SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB
GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 2GB 128-bit DDR3
PSU: OCZ ZT Series 750W

I’m basically just having trouble finding something that isn’t too overkill or will be bottlenecked with my current setup. I’m not trying to spend anything above a $300 video card. If there is something that you see that should be upgraded then I will take it into consideration.

My current video card is starting to die on me. I mostly use it for watching HD movies, converting, and rarely playing games when/if it can on Steam (Saints Row: The Third, Payday 2, etc.) at 1920 x 1080 on a 23" screen.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DF is BUSY]

for 300 and down, you can try to get a used gtx 770, a new gtx 760

or if you can wait for the cryto-coin craze to fade, you can try to get new or used 7950/70, 280x

 

[Norton]

A Radeon 7870 or 270X (same card) should be fine for your usage and will save you a few $$$. I have no problems with mine and am quite happy with the performance

 

[Melvis]

First of all where are you located? USA? and I agree with Norton a 270x or even an older 7970 possibly?

 

[eidairaman1]

R9 280 (non X) will do wonders

 

[olo94]

First of all where are you located? USA? and I agree with Norton a 270x or even an older 7970 possibly?

I'm from the USA. Are you talking about something like these :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150692
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161442

I've been recently looking at getting one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127745
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699

I'm not too GPU savvy by the way

 

[DF is BUSY]

any of the 270x are also suitable, they arent extremely powerful but they will last you a good amount of time and you can save some money. they are the equivalent of the 7870's.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Oh are you ever in for a nice surprise.
You might be able to get away with something as low as a GTX 650 Ti or 7770(260x).
Normally, you will not regret buying as much GPU as you can afford. It will last longer than just buying the minimum that you need.
Also, consider noise levels. The MSI Gaming series are know for being quiet. Especially that MSI GTX 760 Gaming. TPU Review

 

[alwayssts]

I second the emotion on the 760.

I love my 7870, it has served me well for the price I paid (bought it when they first dramatically dropped to under $200 more than a year ago after nvidia launched the inferior 660 for 229 and amd did the typical thing of underpricing them), and while that level of performance (270x) will probably still work for most people, especially if they overclock, it's hard in good conscience to say the 760 isn't worth the extra couple dollars these days ($230 vs 200), especially if they don't overclock.

It simply isn't the same battlefield as when a 7870 could be overclocked to greater performance than a stock card (660ti) 50%+ more expensive and that often was enough for 30/60fps avgs at 1080p, it isn't even 25%...It is now 15% more expensive for a slightly better card that will leave you with a better comfort zone, as even though the difference is slight, that extra performance can matter a lot for 1080p thresholds of playability.

That said, it is around the current bare minimum for 1080p with quality settings, so I would suggest slightly higher for longevity (which spending over $200 on a gfx card should really afford you imho...less than that and you're doomed to repeat per process shrink/generation, which isn't for everyone, and is coming upon us within a year). Anything above that, be it overclocked 7870xt (1536sp), 670, 7950, and original 7970 or stock 680, 280x/7970ghz, and 770 would be a good option imho...granted cards in that range on the amd side are typically dramatically overpriced due to mining, and of course nvidia purposely forces the up-sell this gen from a 760 (barely good enough) to overkill at a premium I would say falls out of most 'normal peoples' comfort zone. This is why 270x/280x were good options (either/or before the nvidia cuts or amd price hikes)...cheaper and overclockable to good-enough, or cheaper-than-770 and just plain good-enough. If you can find any of the above between 200-300 (used?), I think you would be doing yourself a favor.

editted for terrible grammar.

 

[olo94]

Thanks for the advice! I’ve decided to go with the:

MSI N760 HAWK GeForce GTX 760 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127750

since it’s clocked a bit more than the Gaming series and for only $10 more.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Looking forward to the "holy sh*t" post.

 

[...PACMAN...]

My GTX 760 has been awesome for gaming....I'm at 1080p and it plays everything ULTRA. You may have to use little or no AA on the very demanding games (Crysis 3, Assassins Creed IV etc) but performance has been ultra smooth in every game I have thrown at it and I play alot of different games. Indie/Classics/AAA....the works.

Be sure to look up Nvidia Inspector which can help you out with adding AA to unsupported titles.

Any further questions, don't hesitate to ask and enjoy the massive jump in performance you are about to receive lol

 

[Magic 65]

GTX 760 is too fast for you CPU, you won't get game performance like in reviews...
Game performance will be less when it might be with faster CPU.

 

[XSI]

GTX 760 is too fast for you CPU

NO it Isn't.

 

[Magic 65]

XSI, game performance of FX-6300 is about Intel i3-3250 Ivy Bridge, depending of game of course...
But it would be a reason to change CPU+MB...

Most important to topicstarter is a game performance difference between GT430 and GTX 760. It is like a difference between Challenger Deep and Mount Everest even on FX 6300 CPU.

 

[Chetkigaming]

go for gigabyte wf gtx 760, fast and silent.

 

[techtard]

XSI, game performance of FX-6300 is about Intel i3-3250 Ivy Bridge, depending of game of course...
But it would be a reason to change CPU+MB...

Most important to topicstarter is a game performance difference between GT430 and GTX 760. It is like a difference between Challenger Deep and Mount Everest even on FX 6300 CPU.

An FX-6300 will not bottleneck a GTX 760.

 

[Magic 65]

Only in a case of playing console game ports.
In worse case we have performance decrease about 15-20 persent.