Question about videocard upgrade

O

otimus

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Messages
74
I think my current videocard is getting on it's last legs. Half of it's fans (it has two) has crapped out, and it's basically being kept on life support with a 120mm fan rubber banded to it, lol.

Anyways, with that being said, I'm wondering a few things.

First off my computer:
CPU: i5 2500K
Current GPU: 1GB 560 Ti
Ram: 8GB
Monitor res: 1920x1080 (Single monitor, of course!)

(I guess that's all the important info, right?)


Anyways:

1) Would my CPU be a considerable bottleneck in any worthwhile upgrade? From what I read, it doesn't seem like it would be, but I just want to be sure.

2) Would it be wise to upgrade now, or wait?

3) If not, what would be a good card to upgrade to? I'd say my budget is $300-350, but the lower the better. I'm partial to Nvidia (just because I'm used to them, not real reason otherwise), but I'm not unwilling to switch if the performance is worth it.


Thank you for your time/help!
 
i want to tell your first and foremost AMD=best bang for buck.
secondly for every nvidia card up till the 780ti there is basically an amd equivalent for cheaper. im sure you can get a used r9 290x in that price range im almost sure (but i dont really know since my budget level is a few tiers lower than yours).
also this is going to become another amd vs. nvidia thread but if your gaming on 1080p both of them will suffice. i just recommend at least 3gb vram :) :) best of luck :)
 
If I were spending that kind of money on a card today, I would go with at least 3GB. Unfortunately, Nvidia charges a massive premium for the 4GB GTX 770 ($400), putting it out of your price range.

I would follow the suggestions from people above. For that range, you definitely want AMD.
 
What everyone above shared is already good info.

I was in your shoes just last week, and decided to hit eBay to see what I could get an R9 280x for. The average price with shipping for a near new 3GB R9 280x was $185.

I picked up an Asus model for $167.50 + $12 shipping. Working great the last few days.
 
It would definitely be worth it to look into a used R9 290. You can usually find them for $300 US or less, and they offer performance on the same level as the GTX 780 for $100 less. You could pick up a new one if you can stretch your budget to $400, as they are around $350-$400.

As to your CPU, it might become a bottleneck if you're running at stock settings. I think it would be worthwhile to do some overclocking on it, but I don't think it would be worth the money updating your platform for just a new CPU at the present time.
 
I'm leaning real hard toward that 280X. There's some on ebay in the $200 and under range. That's absurdly cheap and more in line with what I'd realistically like to spend.

Curious question: Performance wise, am I going to be at a big disadvantage going with that instead of the 770 Ti? Or is it going to be like a "Good in some things, not as good, but still good in others" type situation?
 
i think thats an awesome price. the 280(non x) is basically a 7950 and the 7950 still goes for around 150
 
otimus said:
I'm leaning real hard toward that 280X. There's some on ebay in the $200 and under range. That's absurdly cheap and more in line with what I'd realistically like to spend.

Curious question: Performance wise, am I going to be at a big disadvantage going with that instead of the 770 Ti? Or is it going to be like a "Good in some things, not as good, but still good in others" type situation?
Click to expand...
Most of the [H] reviews show both cards about statistically even in performance, with the 280X being even better in some situations.
 
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