Looking for budget gpu

J

Jeff G

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 2, 2017
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Im piecing together a budget build. I want a card that is capable of good overclocking and has a water block available. Trying to keep it under $200 for the card and block. Looking to pair it with a 24" 1080p 144hz monitor.

Any recommendations? I'm thinking maybe a 980 if I can find a good deal on one. Not sure whats available for waterblocks on the amd side, and I'm dead set on watercooling the gpu.
 
used AMD RX 570 + WB.. may fit the budget.. also look for deals with used RX 580.
 
What waterblocks are available for the rx 580? I was having a hard time finding them.
 
Full coverage block? I have a universal block on my 760 (htpc) and it works great. I use a 1050ti on my 1080p desktop and it works awesome. Granted I don’t really focus on frame rate.

A 1050ti obviously wouldn’t hit the 144, but just thinking a full coverage block isn’t necessary unless you plan to OC the piss out of it.
 
SticKx911 said:
A 1050ti obviously wouldn’t hit the 144, but just thinking a full coverage block isn’t necessary unless you plan to OC the piss out of it.
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That is definitely something I plan to do.
The whole setup is going in a custom built case with water, I'm pretty set on a watercooled card.
 
Jeff G said:
Is there a waterblock for these? I really like the rx 580 for my budget, but I want to go full water on this build.
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I was under the impression that you were on a budget. Watercooling is not budget friendly. I suppose you could cheap out and strap a AIO to it but you would need to put heatsinks on the VRM's, which will probably blow your "budget" anyway.

Also, there is really no reason to WC the RX 580 if you choose to go that route, you won't gain any benefits in Overclocking, especially on a 1080p display. the RX 580's don't overclock worth a damn anyway. Remember they are already highly OC'd 480s.
 
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For the price of watercooling a RX 580, might as well just get a RX 590. Better stock clocks + better O/C potential.
 
What's your purpose for watercooling? Budget components are not going to overclock on water enough to justify the added expense vs. just buying the next higher tier of component. If you're looking for silence, it's definitely possible to do a very quiet air-cooled system and and still not be thermally limited - especially since you're looking to buy parts that don't dissipate that much heat to begin with.

I know this isn't what you wanna hear, and if you're dead set on the impracticality, I can understand. I've been there too. XD
 
Krenum said:
I was under the impression that you were on a budget. Watercooling is not budget friendly. I suppose you could cheap out and strap a AIO to it but you would need to put heatsinks on the VRM's, which will probably blow your "budget" anyway.
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Why cant water cooling be budget friendly? I have 3 leftover cpu blocks, 2 leftover 3x120mm radiators, a leftover 140mm radiator, 2 leftover pumps, 2 leftover reservoirs, a mile of tubing, enough fittings for 4 full builds, etc. I also have a leftover 4690k, z97 board, 16gb of ddr3 2400 ram, half a dozen psus, etc.

I want to build a custom case, which started all this. I want to do full watercooling with the build. I also want it to be something I can take somewhere to play games on, so I want a semi decent gpu. But I want to stay within a decent budget. And because I enjoy pushing things to the limit, I'm going to overclock anything I put in.

I've found a few 970 and 980's for cheap locally. Thinking of going that route since waterblocks are cheap for them.
 
Your better bet is that 970/980 route as the blocks and cards are cheaper. You could probably get a 970 for around $100 nowadays.
 
If I can get up to the 100 posts on here so that I can buy a new card I will sell you my ASUS 680 for a $100 shipped. I usually only read and not post as I feel I never have any real helpful comments. The set up I have now mostly came from on here though:)
 
Jeff G said:
110% dead set on impracticality.
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Gotcha! In that case you might consider Alphacool's NexXxos GPX series of GPU blocks. They're not true full cover blocks but they still perform very well. Had one on my highly overclocked GTX 970 when I first got into custom cooling. The great thing about them is that they're relatively inexpensive, come with a backplate, and are compatible with a HUGE number of cards, both reference and AIB.
 
leftysiwel said:
If I can get up to the 100 posts on here so that I can buy a new card I will sell you my ASUS 680 for a $100 shipped. I usually only read and not post as I feel I never have any real helpful comments. The set up I have now mostly came from on here though:)
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I'm looking for a bit more horsepower than a 680, thanks though! Seen a few 780 ti and 980's in my budget that I'm eyeing up.
 
VanGoghComplex said:
Gotcha! In that case you might consider Alphacool's NexXxos GPX series of GPU blocks. They're not true full cover blocks but they still perform very well. Had one on my highly overclocked GTX 970 when I first got into custom cooling. The great thing about them is that they're relatively inexpensive, come with a backplate, and are compatible with a HUGE number of cards, both reference and AIB.
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Thanks, I'll give those a look!
 
If you are ok with used cards, keep an eye out for used 1070's. Some are hitting the $200 mark or slightly below. These are likely mined on, but, are getting dumped on the market in quantities that are really pushing prices down. One of those would drive your monitor fine and you can add a better cooler later if you really need the extra frames or want to quiet it down or just want a fun project for the weekend.

I put together an EVGA GTX 970 and corsair 140mm AIO kit a few years ago. It's still working well. Idles in the 20's and roughly mid-upper 40's under load. I's not in a case, though, so airflow is optimal. Great mod.

Early this year I picked up a 1070ti and put a NZXT kit with a corsair 120mm AIO cooler on it. I stuffed it into an HTPC case with a 6850k and its crunching Primegrid all day and night sitting at 55 degrees c in that tiny space stuffed into a tv stand.

Have fun with your project.
 
Agamen said:
Maybe 1060 ?
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Aside from the $100+ price tag for the gpu block, I dont know how well a card with a single 8-pin (at best) will overclock. Plus the 10xx series cards dont appear to be super strong overclockers.
I'm leaning towards a gtx 980 now. They're coming down in price fast, I should be able to pick up a gpu block under $100, and the overclocking potential on them seems much better than the 1060.
 
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