Best GPU I can use happily with Q6600

[RaveyDaveyUK]

Appreciate your thoughts on a couple points...

I'm knocking together a "my 1st gaming rig" for neighbour's son using some old bits:

Q6600 OC'd to 3.4
Abit P35 Pro
4gb Ram

Questions:
They are going to buy a GPU and are considering an R9 280x... great card but overkill for the above?

Q6600 still ok for current stuff? Assume... Minecraft, World of Tanks, bit of Battlefield

 

[romper76]

i think a second hand hd7970/280x is the perfect choice for the system as long as the psu is up to it!

 

[andybird123]

With the new cards out, the 2nd hand market will be awash with cheap 670's / 680's /7950 / 7970 etc
Q6600 with one of the above will be just slightly bottlenecked in some titles, but they will be dirt cheap so no reason to go for less

 

[RaveyDaveyUK]

It was bottlenecking I was worried about... but atleast the 280x will give some breathing space if he looks to upgrade early next year.

Thanks for the quick responses and tip of hat to Andy! B'Stoke born n bred.

 

[Andrew_McP]

I still game on a 3GHz E8400@3GHz with a 5870. Rage caused me a few problems, but otherwise the only limitations on what I can run are purely graphical (ie I have to trim some of the fancy effects).

The only reason I'm contemplating upgrading is to add some life to Lightroom photo processing, but if I had a quad core I probably wouldn't even be thinking about that.

 

[Kelt]

It was bottlenecking I was worried about... but atleast the 280x will give some breathing space if he looks to upgrade early next year.

Thanks for the quick responses and tip of hat to Andy! B'Stoke born n bred.

I'm running a 670 with my [email protected] and it still runs most things fine @1080p.

So much so that even though I'd like a nice shiny new 970, I'm struggling to find a good reason to upgrade. Although I generally do so every two years around November, so I'll probably bite the bullet then.

Maybe.

 

[CGrieves]

I'm using an R9 290x on a Q6600 @3Ghz.

Intended to upgrade the CPU/mobo later, but haven't felt the need so far, especially after moving the system partition to an SSD. I'm not a benchmarky person, but gaming at 1080p with everything maxed hasn't presented any issues.

 

[Boomstick777]

GTX 970.

 

[Wizzfizz]

^ This or go second hand and get a 280x or the likes

 

[flinco]

A Q6600 @ 3.8 will bottleneck a 5870 in many games. A 970 would be a complete waste of money. Get a 2nd hand 670/280x/something along those lines.

 

[ukxenon]

If you upgrading later you can buy the 970 and the rest later or but a cheap 7970

 

[MoRT489]

There isn't really much of an upgrade path from a Q6600, except to Q9550 without upgrading the mobo and RAM as well, so I wouldn't base the gpu purchase on a future potential upgrade.

I use a Q9550 @4GHz and went from a GTX 570 to a GTX 770, and the gpu is definitely bottlenecked in BF3 which uses all CPU cores, but probably not so much in games like Metro. So I'd suggest something like GTX 680 or HD7970 as the most balanced partner for his CPU.