G/C for 2560x1440 ~£100

Mike_J_Smith · 12 Nov 2020 at 14:26

Hi,

I've not bought a graphics card in ages and I've just discovered that my XBox Games Pass allows me to download games to my PC. I've got Age of Empires III and the game has put me on the lowest graphics settings.

My PC is OK (i7 8700 / 16GB RAM) but it only has onboard graphics.

If I wanted to game at my screen resolution of 2560x1440 (2k?), could I get a graphics card for approx £100 to do that? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Edit - I see there is a whole section for upgrade advice. Can this thread be moved there? I'll also look there for advice.

no_1_dave · 12 Nov 2020 at 15:20

Nvidia 1050 or 1050ti can be had around the £100 mark

For the odd older game it would be fine, but if you get tempted to download more games to your PC it maybe worth investing a bit more and getting a Radeon RX 580

Mike_J_Smith · 12 Nov 2020 at 19:45

no_1_dave said:
Nvidia 1050 or 1050ti can be had around the £100 mark

For the odd older game it would be fine, but if you get tempted to download more games to your PC it maybe worth investing a bit more and getting a Radeon RX 580

Thanks.

What would I have to spend to be able to play modern games at good settings at that resolution reliably?

Also, it seems graphics cards are in short supply; is that COVID or something else?

otester · 12 Nov 2020 at 19:53

With that sort of GPU budget I'd sell the 1440p and get a 1080p monitor, then get a used 1060 for around £100.

Mike_J_Smith · 12 Nov 2020 at 20:41

otester said:
With that sort of GPU budget I'd sell the 1440p and get a 1080p monitor, then get a used 1060 for around £100.

The monitor is decent (ish) for photo editing, so not interested in changing it really.

How about a £200 budget? Or what would it need to be?

otester · 12 Nov 2020 at 22:59

Mike_J_Smith said:
The monitor is decent (ish) for photo editing, so not interested in changing it really.

How about a £200 budget? Or what would it need to be?

Is it just AoE III you want to play? Any other games?

Shonk · 12 Nov 2020 at 23:01

RX580

no_1_dave · 12 Nov 2020 at 23:16

Mike_J_Smith said:
How about a £200 budget? Or what would it need to be?

Shonk said:
RX580

^^ This, OCUK has it for £180

Mike_J_Smith · 12 Nov 2020 at 23:33

otester said:
Is it just AoE III you want to play? Any other games?

Shonk said:
RX580

no_1_dave said:
^^ This, OCUK has it for £180

OK cheers guys, sounds like that's the option then. I'll have a look at what else XBox Games Pass has to offer in terms of games and have a think. Thanks for the input.

otester · 13 Nov 2020 at 00:34

Mike_J_Smith said:
OK cheers guys, sounds like that's the option then. I'll have a look at what else XBox Games Pass has to offer in terms of games and have a think. Thanks for the input.

The 1650 Super is cheaper/better than the RX580, around £160.

Unseul · 13 Nov 2020 at 08:27

2nd hand gives more options. 1070ti for 200 is easily doable. I've got one and it's fine for 1440p.

Kamakazie! · 13 Nov 2020 at 09:45

Prices have really gone up. I got a 1660S for £190 at the end of March.

Bacon? · 13 Nov 2020 at 11:12

I play at 2560*1440 with a 1660 Super. For playing older games & new well optimized games it works perfectly fine. I'm talking AOE2, Alien Isolation, Doom Eternal etc. Framerate a steady min 60fps with settings altered. Low end graphical power hasn't changed much over the years and unfortunatley £200 is very much towards the low end of the market. I'd say 580 minimum if you want to play games that arent purely old / strategy. Ignore any card with only 4GB of VRAM as well.

JediFragger · 13 Nov 2020 at 11:47

Save up and go for an AMD 5600XT/5700 imo, worthy of being called 1440p cards

Mike_J_Smith · 25 Nov 2020 at 19:30

JediFragger said:
Save up and go for an AMD 5600XT/5700 imo, worthy of being called 1440p cards

Splashed the cash and have a 5700xt coming tomorrow, only a few times my original budget

I haven’t bought a performance gpu in 15 years so it’s going to be fun seeming what it can do. Also got a new psu and gaming monitor coming, my current monitor will become a 2nd one for work.

and now I’m looking at cpu upgrades, at least I’ll have to wait till next year for that ...

Zernath · 25 Nov 2020 at 19:34

Mike_J_Smith said:
Splashed the cash and have a 5700xt coming tomorrow, only a few times my original budget

Very good choice, and well worth the money. I have mine running a 4K monitor!

JediFragger · 25 Nov 2020 at 19:36

Mike_J_Smith said:
Splashed the cash and have a 5700xt coming tomorrow, only a few times my original budget

Nice one man, enjoy the GamingX they are a *very* nice card

Mike_J_Smith · 25 Nov 2020 at 19:45

Zernath said:
Very good choice, and well worth the money. I have mine running a 4K monitor!

Nice, good to know. I’m completely out of the loop so good to get advice & reassurance!

JediFragger said:
Nice one man, enjoy the GamingX they are a *very* nice card

cheers bud, looking forward to getting it! Good to see you here as well. Can’t believe I’ve been here for 15 years, but less than 50 posts

Xelene · 25 Nov 2020 at 19:49

5700xt is solid, should do near ultra at 1440p 60-100fps

Pete @r... · 25 Nov 2020 at 20:45

I keep thinking about getting that card too for warzone, but then think as I buy cards rarely, keep looking at the next gen ( if they actually become available). Just not sure if that card would do 144hz on that size screen. Would be great if you keep us updated when you get it