GPU Upgrade Suggestions

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braddullz

Honorable
Nov 11, 2012
28
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I currently have an Intel i3-3220 @ 3.3GHz paired with 6GB of RAM and an EVGA GeForce GT 610 2GB. After checking some fps drops in game through gpu-z and task manager, i concluded my GPU could was being used 100% and my CPU only around 20%.

I tried overclocking my GPU, and now I've hit (stably) 890MHz Core Clock Speed (from 810) and pressing the Memory Clock up to 585MHz (from 535). Unfortunately it is still only a 64-bit transfer, so the bottleneck is still prevalent.

Does anybody have any suggestions for a GPU upgrade, below £100?

+ side question: is it worth saving for an i5 any time soon? I hear the lack of hyper-threading is a big let down with the i5s...

Thanks in advance,
-Brad
 
Solution
iam2thecrowe
at 1080p the 7770 can play most games on medium detail with the exception of more gpu intensive games like crysis 2 or farcry3 which would be played on loest settings at that res. If you can afford the bit more to get a 7850 it would be well worth it. your cpu is fine and would match well with a mid range card like 7770, 650ti or 7850, you should be able to pick up a 650ti or 7770 for under 100 pounds. if you go abover the 650 or 7770 just make sure your psu is up to it. the 7770 is fairly low on power consumption and will run fine on most reasonable 400w psu's, the 7850 you will want a good brand 450w or better unit with extra pcie power connector.
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DarkSable

DarkSable

Judicious
Sep 27, 2012
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What exactly is this being used for?

I can think of exactly one situation in which an i5 could be considered a "let down," and that's a very impatient person waiting for a render or video compile to complete.

Also, for the record, i5's have never had hyper-threading, so I don't know why whoever said that would be surprised or let down by having it not be there.
 
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Epsilon_0EVP

Epsilon_0EVP

Honorable
Jun 27, 2012
1,350
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Depending on the gaming you plan to do, I'd definitely consider a GPU upgrade before any other upgrade. The GT 610 barely provides any better performance than integrated graphics; it is meant to provide graphics acceleration for processors without a GPU built-in. Now, from Nvidia, the GT 640 is the highest end card that you can regularly find under $100, and I know for a fact that it can run games like Counter-Strike:GO at very good framerates in 1080p. You might even get lucky and find a cheap GTX 650. I think, though, that AMD is providing better value in the under $100 category, but I unfortunately do not know enough about their lineup to recommend anything there.

The GPU upgrade alone should massively increase game performance. As for the CPU, I don't necessarily think you need to upgrade that as badly. It is becoming a bit older, but it should still manage to provide decent gaming performance. You will probably hit a limit with it in some CPU-intensive games, though.
 
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Upgrades

Honorable
Mar 31, 2013
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You could get 7770 for around 100 euros. Best value for that price.

Upgrading to the i5 will be a waste if you pair it with a 100 euro GPU, in my opinion, if you'll only be gaming and doing the usual, everyday tasks. You already spent a fair bit of money on the i3, after all.

A cheaper option would be a 7750, as someone mentioned above.

As for the i5 not having Hyper-threading, I don't believe it's a let down. The i7 has four cores w/ hyper threading whereas the i5 has four cores w/ no hyper-threading, but they perform quite similarly. I don't really find a reason to buy i7's these days, unless money's not an issue.

What's your monitor res. and what games will you be playing?
 
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braddullz

Honorable
Nov 11, 2012
28
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10,530
Ill primarily be running in 1920 x 1080 and playing games such as Skyrim, CS:GO, HL2 and ME2/3; stereotypical games, but I'd just like a reliable GPU that can hold a constant FPS on decent settings aha.
 
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iam2thecrowe

iam2thecrowe

Glorious
Jul 4, 2010
10,591
21
44,965
at 1080p the 7770 can play most games on medium detail with the exception of more gpu intensive games like crysis 2 or farcry3 which would be played on loest settings at that res. If you can afford the bit more to get a 7850 it would be well worth it. your cpu is fine and would match well with a mid range card like 7770, 650ti or 7850, you should be able to pick up a 650ti or 7770 for under 100 pounds. if you go abover the 650 or 7770 just make sure your psu is up to it. the 7770 is fairly low on power consumption and will run fine on most reasonable 400w psu's, the 7850 you will want a good brand 450w or better unit with extra pcie power connector.
 
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