Upgrading HD 7950; Need Help

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Scott Sullivan

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Apr 18, 2013
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I'm looking to upgrade a Radeon HD 7950. Unfortunately the fans are, essentially, ticking time bombs (they're clicking and wobbling constantly now).

I have ~200-250 USD, and can not go above this.

What kind of cards can I get, what kind of performance improvements can I expect?

I'm running an intel i5-3570k @3.4GHz, with 8GB of RAM.
 
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I would get https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125963&cm_re=RX_580-_-14-125-963-_-Product ($10 main in rebate)

OR if you could go above the $250.. get todays https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202280&cm_re=RX_580-_-14-202-280-_-Product $280 price though but has double the ram and can be nice depending on what games you play. (at least on the AMD card side. I went from the HD 7850 to the 580 8GB card and its been good to me.

OR get the https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125906&cm_re=nvidia_1060_3GB-_-14-125-906-_-Product?

IF you are on a budget I would probably just get the Nvidia 1060 3GB version as its only around the $200 mark.
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Doctor Rob

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I would get https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125963&cm_re=RX_580-_-14-125-963-_-Product ($10 main in rebate)

OR if you could go above the $250.. get todays https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202280&cm_re=RX_580-_-14-202-280-_-Product $280 price though but has double the ram and can be nice depending on what games you play. (at least on the AMD card side. I went from the HD 7850 to the 580 8GB card and its been good to me.

OR get the https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125906&cm_re=nvidia_1060_3GB-_-14-125-906-_-Product?

IF you are on a budget I would probably just get the Nvidia 1060 3GB version as its only around the $200 mark.
 
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panathas

panathas

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At this price range the best option is an AMD RX570 4GB card. Unfortunately it sits at the top of your budget and only the cheaper cards drop to 250-260$. There is also the Nvidia GTX 1060 3GB which seems to be cheaper but the AMD card is faster and has more VRAM which makes it more future proof. I'm afraid the RX 570 seems to be the only viable option and it will give you a 2-2.5x performance increase vs the HD 7950. Good luck.
 
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Scott Sullivan

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Apr 18, 2013
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Not to sound horrible, but I don't expect to need to future proof, for certain reasons. So I'm not necessarily worried about how the card will perform 3-5 years from now. (Illness)

I'll check these out, thanks for all the replies. I'll mark the solution I pick in an hour or so.

If anyone else stops by, I'll still be checking back. Thanks for all the help, future and current!

Edit:

For the RX 580, I don't understand. The benchmark http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-580-vs-AMD-HD-7950/3923vs2160 says it gets 11 more FPS, but on a game released in 2013. How am I supposed to compare that to a more modern game?
 
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ArchitSahu

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Took a darker meaning of the term Illness. Hope it works out for the better.

Somebody mentioned the 1060 3 GB. That is a very good option. The RX 580 is in between the 1060 6 gigs and 1070 is most games, sometimes matching either card.

They would have used a game released in 2013 because it may have been more demanding than most current games, something we have seen often, such as Crysis 3 being relevant for quite sometime in the benchmarking sector.

Modern games would be more demanding, so I would cut away perhaps 15 to 20 % of the FPS you have seen to guess the FPS in newer games. The FPS does depend on several factors, however.
 
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panathas

panathas

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My friend when somebody says the word future proof for PC hardware, he usually means 1-2 years not 3-5. The GTX 1060 3GB version has the same VRAM amount as your current GPU so it isn't considered an upgrade in that department. It's faster than you current GPU but if you try to play a VRAM heavy game that needs more than 3GB VRAM then in some situations you may hardly see any performance difference between your current GPU and the GTX 1060 3GB. On the other hand the GTX 1060 6GB is faster and better overall, but unfortunately it's out of your budget. So the only GPU that remains, is within your available budget (but on the top limit) and is considered to be an upgrade from your current GPU, is the AMD RX 570 4GB.

Anyone getting a new GPU today and wants to play all new AAA games should get at least a 4GB graphics card. However if you have a very limited budget, want to game at low resolutions (720p), or plan on getting another GPU within a year then you can get a 2GB-3GB GPU but in your case this isn't an upgrade vs what you already have. Good luck and I hope you get well soon.
 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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Doesn't work that way. AMD uses vram differently from nvidia, so cross card comparisons don't work by simple numbers alone.

As is, the hd79050 3Gb has equitable performance to a gtx 760 2Gb.

Yes, more vram is better, but only compared to itself, a 1060-6 will have some aspects better in some games, especially physX heavy AAA titles, at 1080p vrs a 1060-3,but will not have any real fps difference in just as many games. It's all game dependent. I run every game I own at max ultra on a 4Gb gtx970 for instance, and don't use the extra slow last 0.5Gb of vram unless pushing a 4k DSR since the gpu rarely sees over 60% usage.

If you want to try your luck with an older card, that'll handle anything an fx can throw at it, you could try a gtx 980 4Gb. They can be found on ebay for $150-$200 for a NOB/used card, just don't buy from foreign sources due to scams.

A gtx980 bumps heads with a 1060-6 at 1080p and is next to useless for mining unlike used amd cards.
 
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Scott Sullivan

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Apr 18, 2013
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Took a darker meaning of the term Illness. Hope it works out for the better.

Somebody mentioned the 1060 3 GB. That is a very good option. The RX 580 is in between the 1060 6 gigs and 1070 is most games, sometimes matching either card.

They would have used a game released in 2013 because it may have been more demanding than most current games, something we have seen often, such as Crysis 3 being relevant for quite sometime in the benchmarking sector.

Modern games would be more demanding, so I would cut away perhaps 15 to 20 % of the FPS you have seen to guess the FPS in newer games. The FPS does depend on several factors, however.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the assist on explaining that. I was just a bit confused, haha.

(Thanks for thinking of me. It's a lung thing, so maybe a bit of time, maybe a bit less. No way to be sure at this stage, and maybe something lucky will happen.)
 
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