Looking For Recommendations - Graphics Card Upgrade

[Ray2023]

Hello all, I am looking to upgrade my graphics card from the current Nvidia GTX760 windforce. The PC is an i7 with 24gb ram so is still ok for my needs but I feel the card is letting it down a little now. I'm not a gamer but mainly do graphics work and a little video editing. Below are the details of the current card:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Model GeForce GTX 960
Device ID 10DE-1401
Revision A2
Subvendor Gigabyte (1458)
Current Performance Level Level 0
Current GPU Clock 1341 MHz
Current Memory Clock 3505 MHz
Current Shader Clock 3505 MHz
Voltage 1.025 V
Technology 28 nm
Bus Interface PCI Express x4
Temperature 28 °C
Driver version 31.0.15.2756
BIOS Version 84.06.26.00.12
Memory 4095 MB
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 1 - "Perf Level 0"
GPU Clock 1341 MHz
Shader Clock 3505 MHz


Not looking to go crazy but maybe up to £300 max. I would like a card that keeps the fans off until necessary like the current one does. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Also, how do I change my profile picture as I'm a bloke and not that good looking woman shown.

 

[Haz123]

Hi Ray, just saying you have an i7 is a little vague, it could be an i7 760 or an i7 13700k so more details is needed. Would be good to know you motherboard as well so we know what pcie x16 slot you have , version 2.0 3.0 or 4.0. Also psu make and model.

CPUZ will give you most details you need for the above but to know the psu you have to look at the label on it or on receipt/manual.

For gaming the best card in your budget is the RX 6600 which is £260 on OCUK at the moment. You mention graphics work so you will most likely be better off with an Nv card (you will know better than I if your programs need cuda cores or not) but the only one I would recommend is the RTX 3060 but the cheapest of these on OCUK is £340. If you look around for second hand RTX 2060 and that is most likely your best option. Not allowed to say where to look due to forum rules but there are large second hand reselling sites I am sure you have heard of.

Very important you check your psu and motherboard.

 

[Ray2023]

Hi Ray, just saying you have an i7 is a little vague, it could be an i7 760 or an i7 13700k so more details is needed. Would be good to know you motherboard as well so we know what pcie x16 slot you have , version 2.0 3.0 or 4.0. Also psu make and model.

CPUZ will give you most details you need for the above but to know the psu you have to look at the label on it or on receipt/manual.

For gaming the best card in your budget is the RX 6600 which is £260 on OCUK at the moment. You mention graphics work so you will most likely be better off with an Nv card (you will know better than I if your programs need cuda cores or not) but the only one I would recommend is the RTX 3060 but the cheapest of these on OCUK is £340. If you look around for second hand RTX 2060 and that is most likely your best option. Not allowed to say where to look due to forum rules but there are large second hand reselling sites I am sure you have heard of.

Very important you check your psu and motherboard.

Thanks for the re[ly Haz. Does this help?

Summary
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.00GHz 27 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
24.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (8-8-8-22)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. Z97X-UD3H-BK-CF (SOCKET 0) 26 °C
Graphics
DELL P2715Q (3840x2160@60Hz)
SAMSUNG (3840x2160@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (Gigabyte)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (Gigabyte) 28 °C
SLI Disabled

Power supply is between 600 and 800watts high quality modular silent. I can find the box for details if important.

Thanks
Ray

 

[Haz123]

Yeah that is helpful. You are on an old Haswell cpu so that will be the limiting factor in your gaming performance and doubtful you will get that much over 60fps in most games, if you plan to game at 4k that will not be a problem at all with your budget lol.

The gpu market is in an unfortunate situation with Nv and AMD pushing new cards out at ridiculous prices which is having a knock on effect with the lower end being dragged up in price as well. I will not rant too much about this.

If you did want to buy new then the options are

RX 6600 - Great little card but only has PCIE 4.0 x8 so because you only have a 3.0 slot on your mobo it will in certain games lose 30% of its performance. Also not an Nv card so not sure it will work as well with your professional needs.

RTX 3060 - Over budget but suits all your needs. Do not buy an 8 GB 3060 , they are not the same as the 6gb or 12gb. If this is a work expense and you can claim the vat back it is just in budget.

Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Order Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

RTX 3050 - In your budget but it is a terrible card and pls do not buy it. Same problem as 6600 with low amount of pcie lanes. I just checked the prices for these cards and omfg forget it exists.

If you absolutely have to stick in the budget and need an Nv card then look for second hand 2060.

Your psu should be fine and has enough capacity for all the cards mentioned.

 

[GuruJockStrap]

RTX 3050 - In your budget but it is a terrible card and pls do not buy it. Same problem as 6600 with low amount of pcie lanes. I just checked the prices for these cards and omfg forget it exists.

Jesus. Just had a quick online as I was going to post a reply as well.

£280?!?

 

[Ray2023]

Yeah that is helpful. You are on an old Haswell cpu so that will be the limiting factor in your gaming performance and doubtful you will get that much over 60fps in most games, if you plan to game at 4k that will not be a problem at all with your budget lol.

The gpu market is in an unfortunate situation with Nv and AMD pushing new cards out at ridiculous prices which is having a knock on effect with the lower end being dragged up in price as well. I will not rant too much about this.

If you did want to buy new then the options are

RX 6600 - Great little card but only has PCIE 4.0 x8 so because you only have a 3.0 slot on your mobo it will in certain games lose 30% of its performance. Also not an Nv card so not sure it will work as well with your professional needs.

RTX 3060 - Over budget but suits all your needs. Do not buy an 8 GB 3060 , they are not the same as the 6gb or 12gb. If this is a work expense and you can claim the vat back it is just in budget.

Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Order Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

RTX 3050 - In your budget but it is a terrible card and pls do not buy it. Same problem as 6600 with low amount of pcie lanes. I just checked the prices for these cards and omfg forget it exists.

If you absolutely have to stick in the budget and need an Nv card then look for second hand 2060.

Your psu should be fine and has enough capacity for all the cards mentioned.

Thank you Haz

 

[eeii]

@Ray2023 Sorry to be a pain but your system is by todays standards old. There's been a few peeps on this forum that have stuck new graphics cards in older systems and have had no end of problems. Your CPU was released in 2014. All you can do is update your BIOS and chipset drivers and cross your fingers.

 

[SpellowHouse]

Thanks for the re[ly Haz. Does this help?

Summary
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.00GHz 27 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
24.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (8-8-8-22)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. Z97X-UD3H-BK-CF (SOCKET 0) 26 °C
Graphics
DELL P2715Q (3840x2160@60Hz)
SAMSUNG (3840x2160@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (Gigabyte)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (Gigabyte) 28 °C
SLI Disabled

Power supply is between 600 and 800watts high quality modular silent. I can find the box for details if important.

Thanks
Ray

I had the same motherboard and CPU at one point and I am reasonably sure the last GPU I had in it was a 1080. I also seem to remember it required the latest bios to even detect the 1080.
It is an old motherboard though and it's not very compatible with the latest devices. I remember trying to use a boot nvme in it, you have to use a riser because the nvme slot on the motherboard is not very compatible with anything. It can be done, but I think no matter what you put in it, it's never going to fly!

 

[Ray2023]

Just seen this. Looking more like a new build every day

 

[Ray2023]

@Ray2023 Sorry to be a pain but your system is by todays standards old. There's been a few peeps on this forum that have stuck new graphics cards in older systems and have had no end of problems. Your CPU was released in 2014. All you can do is update your BIOS and chipset drivers and cross your fingers.

Having a rethink. Thanks

 

[BigBANGtheory]

I'd buy a used GPU within your budget, a 3060 Ti maybe?

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The RX6600 even with the performance loss from PCI-E 3.0,will still be significantly faster than a GTX760,and they can be had for under £250 if you shop around. This review tests quite a few games with an RX6600XT:

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT PCI-Express Scaling

When the Radeon RX 6600 XT launched with an interface limited to PCI-Express 4.0 x8, lots of discussion emerged about how AMD crippled the bandwidth, and how much it affects the gaming experience. In this article, we're taking a close look at exactly that, comparing 22 titles running at PCIe...

www.techpowerup.com

Overall it isn't too bad.

 

[newuser]

I've used a 2080ti with an Asus Z97 board and a 4790k without problems. The CPU will definitely hold you back in more modern games though and the load times were bad even with an SSD. Swapped it for a 12400 which I'm still using.

If you're doing graphics stuff and need lots of Vram the 12gb 3060 is a good card but a little over your budget.

 

[Ray2023]

Yeah that is helpful. You are on an old Haswell cpu so that will be the limiting factor in your gaming performance and doubtful you will get that much over 60fps in most games, if you plan to game at 4k that will not be a problem at all with your budget lol.

The gpu market is in an unfortunate situation with Nv and AMD pushing new cards out at ridiculous prices which is having a knock on effect with the lower end being dragged up in price as well. I will not rant too much about this.

If you did want to buy new then the options are

RX 6600 - Great little card but only has PCIE 4.0 x8 so because you only have a 3.0 slot on your mobo it will in certain games lose 30% of its performance. Also not an Nv card so not sure it will work as well with your professional needs.

RTX 3060 - Over budget but suits all your needs. Do not buy an 8 GB 3060 , they are not the same as the 6gb or 12gb. If this is a work expense and you can claim the vat back it is just in budget.

Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Order Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

RTX 3050 - In your budget but it is a terrible card and pls do not buy it. Same problem as 6600 with low amount of pcie lanes. I just checked the prices for these cards and omfg forget it exists.

If you absolutely have to stick in the budget and need an Nv card then look for second hand 2060.

Your psu should be fine and has enough capacity for all the cards mentioned.

If I decided to build a new machine using this card recommended by yourself, where do I start? I would stay Intel and aircooled as the current machine has been fitted with a Bequiet fan in a Bequiet silentbase case. I assume SSD drives can be reused. Also PSU. Can you recommend cpu,board,ram please?

 

[Tetras]

If I decided to build a new machine using this card recommended by yourself, where do I start? I would stay Intel and aircooled as the current machine has been fitted with a Bequiet fan in a Bequiet silentbase case. I assume SSD drives can be reused. Also PSU. Can you recommend cpu,board,ram please?

What kind of budget do you have? I personally wouldn't bother until you have tried the 6600 or 3060 (or whatever you're buying) in your current system first, since you may be happy enough with that.

RX 6600 - Great little card but only has PCIE 4.0 x8 so because you only have a 3.0 slot on your mobo it will in certain games lose 30% of its performance. Also not an Nv card so not sure it will work as well with your professional needs.

30%? Aren't you thinking of the 6500? I thought the 6600 lost only a few percent on average.

 

[Ray2023]

Thanks, maybe I should try the card as you suggest. It can always be used in a new build. Budget would be £1500 max

 

[Tetras]

Thanks, maybe I should try the card as you suggest. It can always be used in a new build. Budget would be £1500 max

I went with the 3060, which even though it's technically worse value than a RX 6600, for productivity work it is usually better supported than an AMD card and the 12GB of VRAM might come in handy. You may want to check specific benchmarks for the programs you use. If the graphics card is used heavily, I may have got the balance between CPU & GPU power wrong.

Intel build:

How much RAM are you likely to use (or do you use now)? I don't know if 64GB is silly overkill for your needs, or not. I guess at least you'd have room to grow.

Swap the i5-12600K for the i5-13500, I just put it in because it is the same price. I think it makes sense to go with that (because of the strong productivity performance) over the entry-level AM5 CPUs, unless you reach the 7900 non-X level of CPU, when I'd go with that because of the power efficiency it has (review).

The B760-F is silly-level of expensive for a B760 board, but it has 3x M.2, is DDR5 (unusual) and should support an i5-13500 out of the box. If you're comfortable with DDR4 you can get much cheaper boards & memory and if you're happy with a BIOS flash, then Z690 boards are often well-priced.

WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E) - £159.95
Arctic Liquid Freezer II High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm - £119.99
Super Flower Leadex III 750W 80 PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply - Black - £99.94

* Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - OEM - £260.00 (* SWAP for i5-13500, not available at OCUK)
Asus ROG Strix B760-F Gaming WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £257.00
Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-41600C40 5200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5200C40 - £248.98

Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £338.98

Grand Total: £1,495.94

AM5 build:

same SSD, cooler, PSU and graphics card

sacrificed 32GB of memory to fit a 7900 non-X.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900 Twelve Core 5.40GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £428.99
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £242.99
Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEK2-32) - £149.99

Grand Total: £1,551.94

I wasn't sure if your current CPU cooler is compatible with AM5 or 1700, but obviously the cooler (& PSU, since it seems you don't need it?) can be dropped from the builds. I'm not sure what air cooler would be appropriate for an i5-13500 or 7900 non-X, but you'd have £120 to spare to buy one if you remove the AIO.

 

[Haz123]

30%? Aren't you thinking of the 6500? I thought the 6600 lost only a few percent on average.

You are correct there is very little difference between pci 3 and 4 in the vast majority of games. I think it is Doom Eternal that is has the large discrepency between pcie 3 that 4 , it is certainly an outlier and most games you just cannot tell the difference. Not really relevant for Ray because NV option is normally better for productivety and 3060 12gb will suit his needs the best imo.

Good builds from Tetras above, I would go the Intel 13500 route (when it is released) and hopefully it will last you as long as your Haswell system.

 

[Ray2023]

What kind of budget do you have? I personally wouldn't bother until you have tried the 6600 or 3060 (or whatever you're buying) in your current system first, since you may be happy enough with that.



30%? Aren't you thinking of the 6500? I thought the 6600 lost only a few percent on average.

I went with the 3060, which even though it's technically worse value than a RX 6600, for productivity work it is usually better supported than an AMD card and the 12GB of VRAM might come in handy. You may want to check specific benchmarks for the programs you use. If the graphics card is used heavily, I may have got the balance between CPU & GPU power wrong.

Intel build:

How much RAM are you likely to use (or do you use now)? I don't know if 64GB is silly overkill for your needs, or not. I guess at least you'd have room to grow.

Swap the i5-12600K for the i5-13500, I just put it in because it is the same price. I think it makes sense to go with that (because of the strong productivity performance) over the entry-level AM5 CPUs, unless you reach the 7900 non-X level of CPU, when I'd go with that because of the power efficiency it has (review).

The B760-F is silly-level of expensive for a B760 board, but it has 3x M.2, is DDR5 (unusual) and should support an i5-13500 out of the box. If you're comfortable with DDR4 you can get much cheaper boards & memory and if you're happy with a BIOS flash, then Z690 boards are often well-priced.

WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E) - £159.95
Arctic Liquid Freezer II High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm - £119.99
Super Flower Leadex III 750W 80 PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply - Black - £99.94

* Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - OEM - £260.00 (* SWAP for i5-13500, not available at OCUK)
Asus ROG Strix B760-F Gaming WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £257.00
Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-41600C40 5200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5200C40 - £248.98

Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost LHR 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £338.98

Grand Total: £1,495.94

AM5 build:

same SSD, cooler, PSU and graphics card

sacrificed 32GB of memory to fit a 7900 non-X.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900 Twelve Core 5.40GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £428.99
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £242.99
Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEK2-32) - £149.99

Grand Total: £1,551.94

I wasn't sure if your current CPU cooler is compatible with AM5 or 1700, but obviously the cooler (& PSU, since it seems you don't need it?) can be dropped from the builds. I'm not sure what air cooler would be appropriate for an i5-13500 or 7900 non-X, but you'd have £120 to spare to buy one if you remove the AIO.

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to put the choices together for me. I need to go through and consider best way forward. Thank you again

 

[Chuk_Chuk]

@Ray2023 I noticed you mentioned that you mainly do graphics work. I think it would be a good idea to list what software you are using.