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Upgrade from HD7950!

lee1101

lee1101

lee1101

Soldato
Joined
18 Nov 2011
Posts
2,555
Location
Kent
Afternoon

I have an old PC that rarely gets used. It has an i5 2500k (overclocked to 4.5), 8 GB ram and an old HD7950. Monitor is 1080p.

Is it worth getting hold of a more modern GPU or would it be bottlenecked by the ancient combo above? I mainly game on PS5 these days but quite like the idea of being able to have a play through some of the older titles in my Steam Library with better FPS etc.

If so, what would be a suitable upgrade? Happy to buy used if that's a better idea.

Thank you!
 
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Before you upgrade the GPU, what motherboard are you using? Newer GPUs tends to be UEFI only, and Sandy Bridge based boards were around that transition time, so if your board is stuck on the legacy BIOS it may not work with any modern GPU at all.

I do know the 10 series Nvidia GPUs works, had a 1080 Ti on a Gigabyte Z68 board with legacy BIOS. Also went from a 7950 and it was a huge jump.
 
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Thanks, the motherboard is an ASRock Z68 Pro3 which I believe is UEFI

ASRock > Z68 Pro3

ASRock DuraCaps (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors; Supports Intel K-Series unlocked CPU; Supports Intel Smart Response Technology; Supports Dual Channel DDR3 2133(OC); Supports Intel HD Graphics with Built-in Visuals; Graphics Output Options...
www.asrock.com www.asrock.com

I like the idea of a 1080ti, might stick a wanted post of in the MM
 
According to TPU, a 7950 is around the performance of a GTX 1630 or 1050, so a 6600 (£250) would be a big upgrade (a 1080 Ti is more like a 6600 XT). I wouldn't get a 6400/6500 because of their PCI-E limitations and Intel are out because they require rebar.

An RTX 2060 or GTX 1660 Super would be a decent upgrade too.
 
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lee1101 said:
Thanks, the motherboard is an ASRock Z68 Pro3 which I believe is UEFI

ASRock > Z68 Pro3

ASRock DuraCaps (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors; Supports Intel K-Series unlocked CPU; Supports Intel Smart Response Technology; Supports Dual Channel DDR3 2133(OC); Supports Intel HD Graphics with Built-in Visuals; Graphics Output Options...
www.asrock.com www.asrock.com

I like the idea of a 1080ti, might stick a wanted post of in the MM
Click to expand...
Looking at the beta BIOS 2.16A does mention UEFI GPUs so you should be good with any modern GPUs (and there's the newer 2.30 which should have better compatibility). In that case I would go with whatever your budget can afford you. Take a look at this thread, I agree with Tetras anything around 2060 is a good jump: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/gpu-hierarchy.18951645/
 
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lee1101 said:
Afternoon

I have an old PC that rarely gets used. It has an i5 2500k (overclocked to 4.5), 8 GB ram and an old HD7950. Monitor is 1080p.

Is it worth getting hold of a more modern GPU or would it be bottlenecked by the ancient combo above? I mainly game on PS5 these days but quite like the idea of being able to have a play through some of the older titles in my Steam Library with better FPS etc.

If so, what would be a suitable upgrade? Happy to buy used if that's a better idea.

Thank you!
Click to expand...
It's safe to upgrade Tahiti owners.
 
Thank you all, that's given me something to look at. The table in the hierarchy thread is very helpful. I will have a good look around and see what I can find :)
 
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on my old system I noticed a fairly big jump in FPS when keeping my GPU the same and changing the CPU to a 3770k from a 2500k. This was on Fortnite. TBH I can't remember what GPU it was, either a RX580 or a 5700XT. Got a feeling it was the 580 though. Might be worth sticking a 3770k in there as well as they aren't much these days.
 
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Radeon 580 is exactly 2x grunt if you didn't want to risk the bottleneck. i'm thinking of recommending one to my brother on the same setup
 
If you do end up with the 580 make sure to install the latest drivers, sold a friend my brother's old 580 who usually only plays older DX11/OpenGL games (and also a FFXIV addict), and the latest drivers gave the card an even further boost.
 
I'm using an old machine. I was told that a 1080ti is about most I can get out before other components start to become bottle necks.


I have a z87 board and a 4770k chip (I think it's 4770k)
 
Thank you. Can eBay/CEX be trusted for GPU's these days? I've seen some horror stories over the years on here! Or would I be better off waiting for one to pop up on the MM?
 
Darujhistan said:
I had a 2500K and 580 at one time and it was decent set up at 1080p.
Click to expand...
Yea overlocked 2500K with RX580 would be a good match for 1080p 60fps gaming.

I used to run the overclocked 2500K together with the overclocked R9 290x (which was around almost as fast as RX580); it was until I upgraded to the Vega64 which is roughly around 80% faster than the 290x that I saw CPU bottleneck by my 2500K in games such as Monster Hunter World gaming at 120Hz on my TV at 1080p with minimum frame rate kept dipping in 40fps in town areas etc with GPU not fully utilized; upgraded to 3700x system with the same Vega64 minimum frame rate in town area stayed at stable 100fps+.
 
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