With which GPU upgrade shall I go?

teunkoerts · Apr 14, 2013

Hello,

I want to equip my system with a new GPU for better gaming performance.
I have a few options I can go with and I'm on a budget of 250 euros. Which one would be the best? (I will list a few games I want to run and at what settings I want to run them below)

And please look at my current rig below too!

Option 1: Get a HD 7870 and a new PSU (need a new PSU because my current one isn't enough). Then with the money I have left get a pair of headphones I have been wanting for a looooong time now (I'm a big fan of music)

Option 2: Get a GTX 660 (non ti) with a AMD Phenom II x4 965 black edition, But don't get new headphones (Which makes me sad). Don't need a new PSU here because it can handle the wattage and has enough cables for the card.

2014 january I will upgrade my CPU to probably a Intel haswell CPU (i5/i7)

Till the time I want to play games on my rig with one of these upgrades above.
Games I wanna run (all 1680x1050): Bioshock Infinite maxed, Max Payne 3 maxed, GTA V Maxed/High with atleast 2x AA. And I wanna run BF4 on atleast High with again atleast 2X AA.

I'd rather go with the first option because then I can get my new headphones. So I need to now if I can run the games I wanna play with option 1. I saw a video of someone running Bioshock infinite maxed on a combi of the HD 7870 and the amd athlon x3 450 (same CPU as in my rig) at around 60fps on 1680x1050.

Thanks in advance!

Basic specs of my rig:
CPU: AMD Athlon II x3 450
GPU: GT 440
RAM: 4GB 1333mhz
PSU: 450W with one 6 pin connector left to be used.

completelyrandomname · Apr 14, 2013

For sure the second option. The CPU is really slow nowadays same for the GPU, it's not even for gaming. Get the 965 with a 660. What PSU is that and would you kindly tell us how many amps you have on the 12v rail?
If you want to go option 2, which doesn't that much better than the GTX 660 you can get headphones. I would go option 2 though since the CPU might bottleneck.

geofelt · Apr 14, 2013

I think you have already answered your question and picked option 1.
That is probably correct.
The graphics card is much stronger and will still serve you well when haswell upgrade time arrives.
I see little sense in a temporary upgrade to a X4.
Whatever you do, do not try to economize with a cheap quality psu. It is false economy.
A 7870 will need a 500w psu, a GTX660ti or GTX670 would need the same.
If you want to save a bit, and keep your 450w psu, your graphics card upgrade would be limited to a 7850, GTX650ti boost, or GTX660.
To get an idea of how well you can do with just a graphics update, run this test:
Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely cpu limited.

maestro0428 · Apr 14, 2013

I say option one as it will most likely give you the best performance overall and you get the headphones you are coveting. Nothing like a good set of cans. As for a psu replacement, I recommend Seasonic.

Search

With which GPU upgrade shall I go?

teunkoerts

Honorable

completelyrandomname

Honorable

geofelt

Titan

maestro0428

Splendid

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page