Need a New GPU for pc built in 2013 - i5-2500k

[NongYo]

Hi Guys,

I'm just trying to figure out what my best GPU option would be as a replacement for my current one as it's dead.
I'm not looking to get a GPU that can be used for another build in the future as i will build a new pc for that.
I would carry on with my onboard graphics except the fact that it struggles a little bit even when its only minecraft. The only games that are played on here are as mentioned .. minecraft, along with Diablo 2 & 3, elderscrolls online, and Destiny 2. I'm not a big gamer but i'd like the new graphics card to atleast handle the new Diablo 4.
I've looked at the GTX 1650 as i'm gussing anything higher than that would just get bottlenecked by my CPU but i'd really like some opinions and recommendations of better deals and options. Cheers

This is my build:
Asus P8Z77-V DELUXE Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti "448 Edition" WindForce 3X OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850M High Performance 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020004-UK)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Samsung EVO 870 1TB SSD
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced USB3.0 Dominator Case - Black
Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 16GB DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Windows 10 home

 

[GloriousMess]

Hmm, tricky one. You'll be pushed to get much more out of your system with that hardware - I know, I've got more or less the same thing here, but with a 1050Ti. It's a great media machine but games do tend to struggle a bit.

I don't have much advice given the current state of the graphics card market, but you could do worse than compare the 1650 against other cards to see if there's a better deal available. https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html is a reasonable place to start I think.

 

[turbot1984]

Hi Guys,

I'm just trying to figure out what my best GPU option would be as a replacement for my current one as it's dead.
I'm not looking to get a GPU that can be used for another build in the future as i will build a new pc for that.
I would carry on with my onboard graphics except the fact that it struggles a little bit even when its only minecraft. The only games that are played on here are as mentioned .. minecraft, along with Diablo 2 & 3, elderscrolls online, and Destiny 2. I'm not a big gamer but i'd like the new graphics card to atleast handle the new Diablo 4.
I've looked at the GTX 1650 as i'm gussing anything higher than that would just get bottlenecked by my CPU but i'd really like some opinions and recommendations of better deals and options. Cheers

This is my build:
Asus P8Z77-V DELUXE Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti "448 Edition" WindForce 3X OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850M High Performance 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020004-UK)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Samsung EVO 870 1TB SSD
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced USB3.0 Dominator Case - Black
Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 16GB DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Windows 10 home

Crikey! I was running a 1GB HD6950 on Sandybridge all those years ago ... what about a s/h 1060/70?

 

[Harlequin]

If you can find a cheap i7 3770 then it`ll be a big step up from the i5 , however i would save to get a total new system (ram, cpu and board)

 

[otester]

I'd OC that 2500k to 4.4Ghz+ (get a Hyper212 fan or similar), regarding GPU I'd look on used market, see if you can get something around £100, maybe a 960.

If you want something better I'd probably look at a laptop + dock given the state of the GPU market at the moment.

 

[man_from_uncle]

Second hand 960/970gtx or rx470/480. These'll still cost you £100-£200 because it's a naff time to buy, but that's probably what i'd look at in your shoes.

 

[Armageus]

I'd OC that 2500k to 4.4Ghz+ (get a Hyper212 fan or similar), regarding GPU I'd look on used market, see if you can get something around £100, maybe a 960.

Second hand 960/970gtx or rx470/480. These'll still cost you £100-£200 because it's a naff time to buy, but that's probably what i'd look at in your shoes.

960 is a poor choice as was largely a 2GB part.

1050Ti, 1060 6GB, 970, 980 are all good choices, or RX470/480/570/580/590, and all still have current drivers/optimisations.


If you can get an especially good "deal" (e.g. these *should* be £50 imo) then older cards such as GTX780 or HD7970/280X are still just about worth looking at, as are a decent couple of jumps in performance from a 560ti although they only have 3GB and driver releases are now limited.


Some more comparison (including older cards) here:
https://www.logicalincrements.com/articles/graphicscardcomparison

 

[Alan McFall]

970 or 980 would give you most of the performance without a severe bottleneck.

 

[Sarge2255]

Hi Guys,

I'm just trying to figure out what my best GPU option would be as a replacement for my current one as it's dead.
I'm not looking to get a GPU that can be used for another build in the future as i will build a new pc for that.
I would carry on with my onboard graphics except the fact that it struggles a little bit even when its only minecraft. The only games that are played on here are as mentioned .. minecraft, along with Diablo 2 & 3, elderscrolls online, and Destiny 2. I'm not a big gamer but i'd like the new graphics card to atleast handle the new Diablo 4.
I've looked at the GTX 1650 as i'm gussing anything higher than that would just get bottlenecked by my CPU but i'd really like some opinions and recommendations of better deals and options. Cheers

This is my build:
Asus P8Z77-V DELUXE Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti "448 Edition" WindForce 3X OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850M High Performance 850W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020004-UK)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Samsung EVO 870 1TB SSD
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced USB3.0 Dominator Case - Black
Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 16GB DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Windows 10 home

Sling a 3080 into it, you'll get great performance

 

[MissChief]

As many have advised a GTX 970 or 980 or AMD RX480/570/580 would be a great upgrade. My son was running a GTX 980 with a 2500k @ 4.2GHz and was playing the likes of Apex and Dishonored 1 & 2 without issues.

 

[almoststew1990]

I think you would really benefit from a CPU upgrade. It's painful paying i7 3770k money so I would consider the Xeon 1230 v2. It's a 4c 8t chip with slightly lower clock speed but it will cost you £35 instead of, like, £70 because it is not an i7. The v2 is the important bit as it will fit your socket, v3 (and v1 I guess) will not.

Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1230 v2 8M Cache, 3.30 GHz | eBay

I've spent a lot of time faffing with project PCs with CPUs of this era like i7 860 (slow 4c 8t), i5 3570 (faster 4c 4t), i7 4770K, Xeon 1230 v3 etc. The extra 4 threads make a big difference in modern gaming.

For reference I had an i7 860 clocked to similar speeds to that Xeon I linked, (but the 860 has far worse IPC instructions per clock) and it was juuuust about happy with games like COD Warzone, Red Dead 2, Destiny 2.

For the video card I would suggest a second hand 1070 or 2060 or 980ti kind of range.