GPU Upgrade (w/ new PSU) under $200 USD?

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Poltregeist

Poltregeist

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Sep 18, 2012
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Hello all, I recently bought a CyberpowerPC build from Best Buy, as it was on crazy sale and getting an FX-8320 and (apparently) HD 6670 was pretty good for $570. Once I received it, turns out they gave me an R7 240. Still a decent card, and definite improvement over my old GT 220. Anyway, I am looking to make this a gaming machine. I have a budget of $250 before rebates (maybe a little over) to get a new GPU, and a decent PSU to run it (the one CyberPower gave me is sketchy, probably only 350W). So if you guys could maximize the GPU performance without skimping too much on a PSU, that would be great. Most of the games I will be playing are newer: BF4, Payday 2, as well as older titles. Right now on my R7 I can play BF3/BF4 at 1600x900 low settings because I like 40fps or greater. Here are the full system specs:

CPU: FX-8320
GPU: Radeon R7-240
RAM: 8GB
HDD: 1TB internal/1TB external
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Hope you guys can help, would be very appreciated!
 
Solution
markwp
Yep, the 270 is easily overclocked and you can save some $ by not getting the 270X. As far as the psu question, the EVGA stuff is relatively new, but it has the EVGA quality and is a really solid unit. I have never been a big fan of thermaltake, nor would I ever buy one. If you look at the reviews of the unit you noted, you'll find almost 1/3 of the buyers are very disappointed. I tend to stick to psu's that are known solid (XFX, Seasonic, Corsair TX, Antec, EVGA). I would much rather spend a few extra $ than risk possible cratering of my entire rig due to a psu failure.

You really don't need 750w unless you plan to crossfire or step to an 280 or 290 down the road. Good luck finding any R9 at this point - the coin miners have...
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Poltregeist

Poltregeist

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I've never heard of EVGA PSUs before...and I will most likely only be buying off Amazon/Newegg, and that ASUS is out of stock currently on Newegg. I have also seen some 270Xs for $200, yet only with brands like Powercolor, Diamond, etc. Are these brands decent? I mean they ALWAYS have lower prices than anyone else. Is this because they are of very poor quality?
 
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markwp

markwp

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Yep, the 270 is easily overclocked and you can save some $ by not getting the 270X. As far as the psu question, the EVGA stuff is relatively new, but it has the EVGA quality and is a really solid unit. I have never been a big fan of thermaltake, nor would I ever buy one. If you look at the reviews of the unit you noted, you'll find almost 1/3 of the buyers are very disappointed. I tend to stick to psu's that are known solid (XFX, Seasonic, Corsair TX, Antec, EVGA). I would much rather spend a few extra $ than risk possible cratering of my entire rig due to a psu failure.

You really don't need 750w unless you plan to crossfire or step to an 280 or 290 down the road. Good luck finding any R9 at this point - the coin miners have sucked them up and driven up the prices.

Mark
 
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Poltregeist

Poltregeist

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Yeah I just saw a gold certified PSU and jumped at it, might as well put that $70 into a good Seasonic. It depends on how long it takes for Newegg to restock, but I have also found an Asus and Gigabyte R9 270 for the same price. So if they don't restock the Asus or MSI fast enough (I'm very impatient) then another similarly priced card will do. Unfortunately, I can't crossfire with my current mobo, only 1 PCI Express slot :( So the 750W was a safeguard where I could just upgrade to a crazy single card like a 780 with no power problems in the future.
 
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JuX

JuX

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Just to mention: You may not be able to achieve a stable overclock on 270 to match the 270x.
As well, the cards have different architecture and 270x delivers a bit better graphics performance.
 
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Poltregeist

Poltregeist

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From what I have seen generally, the 270 can be OC to match 270X reference speeds. The only limiting factor is power, with the 270 using 1 6 pin, and the 270X using 2 6 pins. Also, I have been looking at the cheapest 270X on newegg, a Powercolor. Do you have any opinions on their quality? Because at this point, the good $180 270s are out of stock, and only $200 models left. The 270X from Powercolor is the same price, here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131532
 
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johanpeeters83

johanpeeters83

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Geforce GTX 760 vs Radeon HD 7850

Intro

The Geforce GTX 760 has a GPU clock speed of 980 MHz, and the 2048 MB of GDDR5 memory is set to run at 1502 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 1152 SPUs, 96 Texture Address Units, and 32 ROPs.
Compare those specifications to the Radeon HD 7850, which features a core clock frequency of 860 MHz and a GDDR5 memory frequency of 1200 MHz. It also uses a 256-bit bus, and uses a 28 nm design. It is comprised of 1024 SPUs, 64 TAUs, and 32 Raster Operation Units.

(No game benchmarks for this combination yet.)
Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

Radeon HD 7850 130 Watts
Geforce GTX 760 170 Watts
Difference: 40 Watts (31%)
Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the Geforce GTX 760 should perform quite a bit faster than the Radeon HD 7850 overall. (explain)

Geforce GTX 760 192256 MB/sec
Radeon HD 7850 153600 MB/sec
Difference: 38656 (25%)
Texel Rate

The Geforce GTX 760 should be quite a bit (more or less 71%) more effective at texture filtering than the Radeon HD 7850. (explain)
Geforce GTX 760 94080 Mtexels/sec
Radeon HD 7850 55040 Mtexels/sec
Difference: 39040 (71%)
Pixel Rate

The Geforce GTX 760 will be just a bit (about 14%) more effective at AA than the Radeon HD 7850, and also should be capable of handling higher screen resolutions better. (explain)
Geforce GTX 760 31360 Mpixels/sec
Radeon HD 7850 27520 Mpixels/sec
Difference: 3840 (14%)
 
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Poltregeist

Poltregeist

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Sweet, will order soon then. Hopefully before anyone else stumbles upon this great deal. If not, then I believe I saw 1 or 2 other brand 760s for about the same price open box. What PSU would you recommend? I have a max $250 budget so really I only have $35 to spend, but I think I can go $45. I am currently looking at this EVGA, which was mentioned above: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438012&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
 
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