Choosing a new Video/Graphics Card

EZTV · Jan 3, 2016

Hi,
I have an asus M2N-E motherboard, an AMD 64 bit 3.1 GHz processor, and im currently using a nVidia GeForce 9800+ card. I feel that i need something better suited to my needs and im in the market for a new GC. The best 2 i have so far are the GeForce 550 Ti and the GeForce 570. My question is which one should i choose? Or should i stick with my 9800+? Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

UPDATE:
For all those who asked, my budget is $105, my PSU is 470W, and these ARE NOT the only 2 options. I am ALWAYS open to better suggestions!
Thanks for the reply!

BadActor · Jan 3, 2016

The GTX 570 would be a worthy upgrade over the 9800, provided your PSU and CPU are up to it. You need a good 550 PSU and a quad core.

jragonsoul · Jan 3, 2016

Are those literally your only two options?

aces19 · Jan 3, 2016

Budget? I can help if I had a budget.

Fredo_ · Jan 3, 2016

What is your psu rated at? and what's your budget?

aces19 · Jan 3, 2016

First things first though, if you have any PSU under 500w then it's time to upgrade. 650w 80+ gold is optimal, and at 80$ they aren't that expensive.

jragonsoul · Jan 3, 2016

aces19 :

That's not strictly true, a 970 with work just fine on a 500W psu and it's a great low power card.

Fredo_ · Jan 3, 2016

aces19 :

Wouldn't 550 watts be the sweet spot for a not so demanding system? what if his system is only consuming 400 to 450 watts

aces19 · Jan 3, 2016

At a 105$ budget, get this PSU so that you are safe for the far future.
After this, then come back and start to look for a graphics card.

650w PSU: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs0650v1

Fredo_ · Jan 3, 2016

His psu is rated at 470 watts would a 550 watt psu suffice?

aces19 · Jan 3, 2016

I would recommend the 650w so that he has room to upgrade for 5+ years if he wants to continually swap out graphics cards on a budget.

BadActor · Jan 3, 2016

You guys don't even know what processor he has. How can you recommend anything?

Fredo_ · Jan 3, 2016

If he upgrades to a gtx 980 it's min power supply is 500 so i feel a 550 - 600 would be good enough but that's a stretch since we don't know what other parts he may put into it.

Fredo_ · Jan 3, 2016

BadActor :

well with his budget he might not have anything better than an i 5 so im basing my opinion off of that. No offense to him obviously

BadActor · Jan 3, 2016

And will be severely bottlenecked if he has an old dual core.

Edit -Which he does.

BadActor · Jan 3, 2016

What PSU brand/model is it?

Edit Makes no difference. A GTX 750Ti would be about the most I would go with your CPU and PSU. With larger cards, your going to run into bottlenecking issues and power issues. Since it's an older system, if you needed more graphics power, I would just build a new system, and not sink anymore money in to your outdated hardware.

Rob PCC · Jan 3, 2016

I must be missing something here. Why are we looking at GTX 550ti's when there are 750ti's for around $110? Better performance, Maxwell architecture, better energy efficiency (current PS would be fine), etc. It seems like a no-brainer to me.

Fredo_ · Jan 3, 2016

BadActor :

he should upgrade to at least a quad core so he wouldn't be as bottlenecked

Fredo_ · Jan 3, 2016

Rob PCC :

would a gtx 960 work as well or would their need to be a psu upgrade?

aces19 · Jan 3, 2016

Well, if you're changing the PSU, GPU, and CPU (which could mean mobo change)...then why not build a new pc?

Rob PCC · Jan 3, 2016

A 470W PS would be PLENTY for something like a GTX 960 SC with a single 6pin PCI power connector. They pull about 125W and would the biggest power draw by far in your build.

aces19 · Jan 3, 2016

Rob PCC :

But the amd cards perform better than the 960, however they draw more power.

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