Graphic card upgrade options

TheCSSDoctor

TheCSSDoctor

TheCSSDoctor

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Obviously, budget plays a big part in deciding what components to put in a machine, but what sort of upgrade would be considered a good performer for the price?

I am still running a very old machine (i5 4690K, 8GB memory and a dinosaur graphics card) but have added a couple SSD drives to freshen things up, and because I don't play the most recent games on it, I have never been too bothered about upgrading as it does what I need and plays the older games I play - newest game I play is probably The Golf Club 2019

Having said that, I have been keeping an eye on prices with a view to upgrading the graphics card to something like a 6750XT / 3060Ti / 6800XT / 3070 along with a new PSU as the one that is in the machine has been there since I originally built it (Corsair RM650)

I know whatever card I put in will be limited by the CPU, but this will keep me going for a few more years or until I decide to replace the rest of the machine, but at this moment in time I can't really justify the spend for how much it gets used - I had considered moving to console, but again, I am not sure I could justify the cost for how little it would likely get used at the moment

If money was no concern, I would just replace the entire machine, but in the short term, the graphics card (and PSU) would freshen things up a bit and give the machine a new lease of life

Resolution would be 2560 x 1440
 
You need more ram 8 gb is not enough for modern gaming 16gb is the sweet spot. A 6700xt is solid choice and wil be fine on a 650w psu for 1440p gaming.

Do you have your games on a ssd ?
 
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mickyflinn said:
You need more ram 8 gb is not enough for modern gaming 16gb is the sweet spot. A 6700xt is solid choice and wil be fine on a 650w psu for 1440p gaming.

Do you have your games on a ssd ?
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Yeah, games are on one of the SSD drives

CapitalOne said:
What GPU do you have now and what's your budget?

eta as above, 8gb is not really enough.
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GPU is so old it is shameful to admit.....it is an old GTX 560 Ti

Budget isn't really set in stone, but the card I listed above range from £440 to £650 depending on where I look at buying from
 
Any mid-range modern gpu and 16gb total ram would help a lot.

Can't post without saying it's really new pc time though. Often these sorts of upgrades cost more in the long run.
 
Well I'd get a 16GB RAM (which I suspect is DDR3 for that gen cpu? Please post your motherboard info to confirm!) which should be around £30/40.

For GPU if:

Second hand - 1080ti
New if you have a gsync display or just prefer nvidia - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1fh-gi.html
For AMD https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pc-components/graphics-cards/amd-graphics-cards/radeon-rx-6600-series

I've picked these cards to try and match them with your CPU, which at only 4 cores might bottleneck with anything more fancy although you don't appear to be playing really stressful games!
 
TheCSSDoctor said:
upgrading the graphics card to something like a 6750XT / 3060Ti / 6800XT / 3070
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.... sounds like you are willing to spend up to £600 ish then?
Why not spend it as below, no bottlenecking, no need to buy extra ddr3, will muller older games at 1440P and play the latest ones, and keep your psu. Just a thought. ... oh, and some free games.
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £598.06 (includes delivery: £11.10)​



​
 
I'd just pickup a sub £80 GPU second hand and save for a new machine. Rx570 4gb for example. Maybe even a 1050ti for £50.

I just dislike the idea of spending £400/500 on a GPU and bottlenecking it hard, plus the near £100 on a new PSU, when a new (2nd hand) board, cpu and ram that's much newer would only need another £200! Even a new 12100 I3 setup won't be much more and has shown to be a solid performer.
 
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turbot1984 said:
.... sounds like you are willing to spend up to £600 ish then?
Why not spend it as below, no bottlenecking, no need to buy extra ddr3, will muller older games at 1440P and play the latest ones, and keep your psu. Just a thought. ... oh, and some free games.
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £598.06 (includes delivery: £11.10)​

​
​
​
Click to expand...
Cheers, that is a very viable alternative that I will give thought to
 
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