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What graphics card should I upgrade too?

anarchybmc

anarchybmc

anarchybmc

Associate
Joined
9 Jun 2013
Posts
63
Location
Birmingham
Hi all, I am looking for some advice as too which graphics card I should upgrade my sons pc too? I did ask last year for a xmas present but unfortunately money did not allow us to do it for him! I have £250 to spend on one and I think I may need to upgrade the power supply too as it's currently a 550w. Here is what he has at the mo:-

VTX3D HD 7870 black boost edition 2048mb GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS graphics card
Gigabyte Z68AP D3 intel z68 socket 1155 DDR3 motherboard
Intel core i5

It does run games ok but he is finding the newer games are struggling slightly, he plays things like battlefield 1, GTA, those are a couple I definitely know of although he does play loads!

Any help would be gratefully received thank you
 
An RX480 would provide an improvement at that price point, likely without requiring an upgrade to the PSU.
 
For £250 you could get an amd rx 470 and new power supply.

This card is £180 and will be over two times as fast as your 7870.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xfx-...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-23e-xf.html

That would leave you £70 for new power supply if its needed.

550w power supply is more than enough for most modern cards,but if its a no name brand,you might need to up grade it.

This one is £65 https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga-bq-650w-80-plus-bronze-semi-modular-power-supply-ca-03b-ea.html
 
Thank you for your replies! The psu is a thermaltake smart se 530w bronze (thought it was a 550w sorry) so that would handle a newer card ok then? @Bantu @D1craig which one? There seem to be a few with that number or does it not matter? @karik666 thank you for the links, I definitely would like to get him a card that would be faster for him I just thought that £250 seems to be the norm for a decent card until you replied :-)
 
I would guess your 530 watt power supply would be ok for the rx470 and rx480.

When gaming the whole system shouldnt be drawing more than 270 to 300 watts.

The rx470 is about 5 to 10 fps slower than the rx480.

There are loads of benchmark videos on youtube,just search for rx 470.

I would stay away from the ref blower coolers,they run hot and can get very loud.
 
I'm actually really liking the XFX 480 GTR I got a few weeks ago, much better than my 970 was. Better built and runs very cool once you undervolt it (AMD seem to have over-done the volts by quite a bit!). I'm only using a 530w PSU and it's fine.
 
Thanks guys! I guess it's between the 470 or 480 then I dunno wether to go cheaper with the 470 and get him other things or just future proof with the 480?!? I hate making these decisions!
 
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