Video card replacement for an old rig

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

stefank

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2004
36
0
18,540
Hey

Do u guys think it's a smart move to replace my actual video card 9800 GT (1Gb) with GTX 750 TI in my old rig:
Core 2 Quad Q8400
6GB DDR2 800 Mhz
Asrock P5B-DE (Intel P965 + ICH8 Chipsets) MoBo
9800 GT video card (1Gb)
SB Creative Live! 24 Bit
SSD Kingston V300 120 GB
WD 7200 RPM 1 TB
Fortron PSU 500W

At the moment I am using a 1680x1050 display but I will replace it soon with a 1080p 24/27 inch. Will this video card replacement add more juice to this old rig so I can do casual gaming on it (WoW, TERA, Witcher3, Battlefield 4, etc.) for maybe one more year (maybe more) from now at decent frame rate and settings? And will the performance gain justify the investment in this dead platform (maybe my cpu or mb will become a bottleneck for this card)? I'm pretty sure for most of u it's not a too big investment, but I'm writing from a country that has a minimum wage just a tiny bit over a 750 TI :D
I initially thought of adding a more powerful video card that will be also used in a future new rig but i don't think my psu will allow too much.
And being on a tight budget I just want a bang for the buck that will also add more juice to this old guy and push its life into eternity :D
Sorry for this long post and hope u can help me:)
 
Solution
st3v30
Performance gain will be huge.I went from AMD HD4850 to R7 260x and it was mind blowing.Back at that time i had Athlon II x4 630 it is in rang of your CPU,so yea you will see rly huge boost in every game especially in ones you mentioned above.It will hold for another year or 2 for sure.But if you can grab 2nd had graphic card, for same money you can get much stronger GPU.But then again probably your PSU wont withstand power hungry GPU so best you can get is new GTX 960 or used GTX 660 or AMD HD 7850.
Sort by date Sort by votes
coozie7

coozie7

Champion
Jun 2, 2007
10,015
10
59,215
No I wouldn't put anything stronger than the GTX750Ti in there, the old Quad isn't actually that bad for gaming as long as you realise its weaknesses and a higher resolution display will push the 750Ti hard anyway, effectively moving the bottleneck towards the graphics card.
Only aim for a stronger card if you can do a major CPU/MB/RAM upgrade soon, otherwise you'll just end up putting an 'obsolete' card into the new/upgraded system later.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Embra

Embra

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
2,136
0
20,160


^+1

At your resolution the 750ti will perform pretty good. Also you could put a little OC on the cpu if your comfortable doing so.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

stefank

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2004
36
0
18,540
So u're saying that 750 TI will perform pretty good at 1680x1050 but will have a hard time at 1080p? Keep in mind that I'm not talking about ultra/high settings, just decent ones.
The real question for me it's that adding a 750 TI to this rig will really be a refresh for it, extending its lifetime. If the performance gain will be barely visible the investment will not worth it and I will be patient, save money and change the hole platform (that will mostly not happen too soon:(). I was just hoping for a quick, budget, viable option:D
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
st3v30

st3v30

Admirable
Nov 1, 2014
1,928
1
6,460
Performance gain will be huge.I went from AMD HD4850 to R7 260x and it was mind blowing.Back at that time i had Athlon II x4 630 it is in rang of your CPU,so yea you will see rly huge boost in every game especially in ones you mentioned above.It will hold for another year or 2 for sure.But if you can grab 2nd had graphic card, for same money you can get much stronger GPU.But then again probably your PSU wont withstand power hungry GPU so best you can get is new GTX 960 or used GTX 660 or AMD HD 7850.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
S

stefank

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2004
36
0
18,540


Yeah, PSU calculator showed that i need 500W+ to power a R9 270 in my setup, so anything better than that from AMD is out of the question with my old Fortron. I saw a 260X at a very good deal in a local store so maybe i could go with this one, giving the fact that is on the same tier as 750 TI on the graphic hierarchy chart here. I was choosing 750 TI just to be sure that my PSU will handle it, with 260x being at risk that will not be enough power for it.
And do u really think I can power up a GTX 960 and the rest of the the system will not be a bottleneck for it?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
st3v30

st3v30

Admirable
Nov 1, 2014
1,928
1
6,460
There will be some bottleneck but ofc you will have better performance with GTX 960 bottleneck than with GTX 750 Ti without bottleneck. And with DX12 coming around end of they year that bottleneck will be history.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Embra

Embra

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
2,136
0
20,160
With either the 750ti or 260x you will see a big jump in performance. The 960 will probably be ok with your PSU, but you will be pushing it and your cpu. Consider the prices as well, since you have stated you are liking to keep your machine until a upgrading it. No sense spending too much when you can you the funds later for a better upgrade.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

stefank

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2004
36
0
18,540


Giving the fact that 260x is a bit more than half the price of a GTX 960 I will go with it. I would have chosen the 960 cause it's much powerful and could be used in a hole new upgraded system in the future. But then again by the time I will be able to upgrade my hole system the prices will drop or even new cards will appear on the market. I will also check the 2nd hand market as st3v30 suggested to see if I can get a better one for same money.
Thank you guys for replying and helping me, I really appreciate it.
I will choose st3v30 reply as best solution giving the fact that he had spoken in facts. Thanks again!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom