Best graphics card for the Money? $200-250 range

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mteagles1942

mteagles1942

Prominent
Jul 13, 2017
2
0
510
Hello I'm really struggling with what to buy. I have unfortunately made poor decisions in the past which is why I find myself here looking for advice :) I really want to play The Witcher 3, Shadow of Mordor, etc with full graphics features enabled. I never get to see the games the way they were meant to be seen. Having said all of that I have about $250.00 and really want to upgrade.

Thank you for your time.



System Specs:

Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1 ID = 0
Number of cores 4 (max 4)
Number of threads 4 (max 4)
Name AMD A10-6800K
Codename Richland
Specification AMD A10-6800K APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
Package Socket FM2 (904)
Clock Speed 0 4299.00 MHz (Core #0)
Clock Speed 1 4299.00 MHz (Core #1)
Clock Speed 2 4299.00 MHz (Core #2)
Clock Speed 3 4299.00 MHz (Core #3)

Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northbridge AMD K15 IMC rev. 00
Southbridge AMD A85X FCH rev. 2.4
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x0
PCI-E Max Link Width x0
Memory Type DDR3
Memory Size 16 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 666.5 MHz (3:20)
CAS# latency (CL) 9.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 9
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 10
Cycle Time (tRAS) 24
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 29
Uncore Frequency 1499.7 MHz

DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x52
Memory type DDR3
Module format UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) G.Skill (7F7F7F7FCD000000000000)
Size 8192 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
Part number F3-1866C9-8GXM

Display adapter 1
Name AMD Radeon HD 6670
Board Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Memory size 1024 MB





 
Solution
clutchc
You are nearly at the top of the FM2+ 'food chain' now with your A10-6800K. To upgrade performance of the CPU, you would have to move to a better platform. Try out the GTX 1060 3GB with the platform you have now. You can always move the card to the new platform if you decide to spend the money.

If you do indeed think you may want to upgrade to the new platform relatively soon, you may want to pick the 6GB version of the GTX 1060 3GB instead.
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Denganim20

Commendable
Jun 29, 2017
191
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Well to answer your question to play the games you want to play (assuming at 1080p) with ALL graphics settings enabled you would need a much more powerful CPU as the AMD A10-6800K CPU is too weak to handle the modern day games at max settings and would bottleneck any of the better GPUs greatly. Now if you would like a CPU upgrade I could point you into the right direction but then you would need to buy newer RAM and a new motherboard which can be about $400-$500 at budget price.

Now there is an alternate solution which is less effective but could still work, you could buy a GTX 1050 ti graphics card which is $150 which has 4gb vram, which may allow you to play those games at medium-high settings but definitely not at max settings. Although if you know how to overclock you could get more fps out of the GPU and CPU you have currently.

Now if you could just tell me what your motherboards model number is we could see if the GTX 1050 ti will work, and tell me what your power supply is. If you decide to go option A which is getting a new CPU and etc. we could figure that out instead.
 
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Denganim20

Commendable
Jun 29, 2017
191
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I was thinking that at first clutchc, but mteagles1942 wants to run these games "with full graphics features enabled" surely his APU is too weak to run games on max settings, I have had a similar experience with a GTX 1060 6GB and Athlon X4 880k that can not reach max settings at 60fps on many games. I guess the GTX 1060 3GB would be the best choice then but can't play games at max settings.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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Ambassador
Apr 22, 2009
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Unless the OP wants to include the cost of a new paltform, he will have to live with what he has, I guess. The GTX 1050 Ti will be a good choice too, but there will be games that are not very CPU intense that the 1060 will be better/faster at and get him closer to his desired settings. Maintaining 60 fps may be a bit too much to hope for, tho.
 
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Denganim20

Commendable
Jun 29, 2017
191
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1,695



Well then it's settled the GTX 1060 3GB is the best choice for the AMD A10-6800K APU. Although games will not be playable at max settings you should be able to game at medium-high settings.
 
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mteagles1942

mteagles1942

Prominent
Jul 13, 2017
2
0
510
Hello again everyone! Thank you so much for your input, I value it so very much. So here is my motherboard and power supply info.

I guess my question at this point of the thread is with this motherboard can I upgrade to a better CPU processor of the same socket type or am I going to have to get a whole new motherboard.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model F2A85-V PRO (0x000002BA - 0x40C125F0)
Board Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Socket FM2 (904)
Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northbridge AMD K15 IMC rev. 00
Southbridge AMD A85X FCH rev. 2.4
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x0
PCI-E Max Link Width x0
Memory Type DDR3
Memory Size 16 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 666.5 MHz (3:20)
CAS# latency (CL) 9.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 9
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 10
Cycle Time (tRAS) 24
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 29
Uncore Frequency 1499.7 MHz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

POWER SUPPLY
Brand
OCZ

Model
OCZ750FTY

Details

Type
ATX12V / EPS12V

Maximum Power
750W

Fans
135mm fan w/ red LEDs

Main Connector
20+4Pin

+12V Rails
4

PCI-Express Connector
4 x 6+2-Pin

SATA Power Connector
6

SLI
SLI Ready

Haswell Support
Yes

Modular
Modular

Efficiency
85%

Energy-Efficient
80 PLUS BRONZE Certified

Input Voltage
100 - 240 V

Input Frequency Range
50/60 Hz

Input Current
<11A

Output
+3.3V@28A,+5V@30A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,+12V3@18A,+12V4@18A,-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@3.0A

MTBF
>100,000 Hours

Dimensions
5.9" x 3.4" x 6.3"

Features

Connectors
1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 8-Pin EPS 12V
1 x 4+4-Pin ATX/EPS 12V
6 x Peripheral
6 x SATA
2 x Floppy
4 x PCI-E
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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Ambassador
Apr 22, 2009
43,150
411
131,790
You are nearly at the top of the FM2+ 'food chain' now with your A10-6800K. To upgrade performance of the CPU, you would have to move to a better platform. Try out the GTX 1060 3GB with the platform you have now. You can always move the card to the new platform if you decide to spend the money.

If you do indeed think you may want to upgrade to the new platform relatively soon, you may want to pick the 6GB version of the GTX 1060 3GB instead.
 
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Solution
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