Best upgrade option from an R7 240

[greatnoob]

Currently using an i5 4460 with an R7 240 and would actually LOVE to play some of these newer games at mostly high settings (i.e., no taxing AA but most visual effects that make a difference should be on high/very high) @ 60 fps.

There's been a couple of price drops like the MSI R7 370 now at AU$150 and the 2gb Rx 460 at AU$170 yet they are almost similar in terms of performance. The obvious choice here would be to get a 460 because it's at 14nm and worth the extra $20 for performance, h/w encoder/decoder updates and power efficiency.

There were a couple of flash price drops of the 380 ($150) and the 960 ($180) yet they're gone. The 460 seems to be somewhat better or worse than a gtx 950 ($205) yet I'd rather not buy a previous gen card unless it's cheaper than RRP.

The 3gb 1060 seems like a good choice if the price ever drops to somewhere around $250 and I would definitely go for that over the 470 purely because of power requirements - a 470 requires 1x8 pin whereas a 480 requires 1x6 pin which makes ZERO sense because of price/perf difference between the two cards.

Right now I'm deciding between the 2gb and 4gb RX460 ($170 and $200 respectively), wait it out for the 1050(Ti?) or as a very, very, very last resort go for a cheap second hand 28nm card like the 960 or 370 if price is <$110 - yet I'd rather not because I've waited years for 14nm cards to be released only to be extremely disappointed by their price, performance or both. What would be the best choice for me considering I can only use 6 pin cards and I'll be gaming at 1080p?

These are current prices: http://www.msy.com.au/nsw/ultimo/14-graphics-card#/page-2

 

[frozentundra123456]

I would go for a 470/480, 1060, or wait for the 1050. IMO the 460 is simply too cut down, and the only time I would consider it would be if I had to have a card that did not require a six pin connector. Yes, it would be a large upgrade from the card that you have, but the 470/480 or 1060 are much more competent in more demanding games, assuming you are playing at 1080p. I would try to save a bit more and go for the cards I suggested. Prices are starting to come down and supply is improving for the 14 nm cards, I think, although the AMD cards may be in short supply due to the mining craze. Also, not sure what models you are looking at, but the 470 for sure can be had with a six pin connector, as the tdp is lower than the 480.

 

[krumme]

Currently using an i5 4460 with an R7 240 and would actually LOVE to play some of these newer games at mostly high settings (i.e., no taxing AA but most visual effects that make a difference should be on high/very high) @ 60 fps.

There's been a couple of price drops like the MSI R7 370 now at AU$150 and the 2gb Rx 460 at AU$170 yet they are almost similar in terms of performance. The obvious choice here would be to get a 460 because it's at 14nm and worth the extra $20 for performance, h/w encoder/decoder updates and power efficiency.

There were a couple of flash price drops of the 380 ($150) and the 960 ($180) yet they're gone. The 460 seems to be somewhat better or worse than a gtx 950 ($205) yet I'd rather not buy a previous gen card unless it's cheaper than RRP.

The 3gb 1060 seems like a good choice if the price ever drops to somewhere around $250 and I would definitely go for that over the 470 purely because of power requirements - a 470 requires 1x8 pin whereas a 480 requires 1x6 pin which makes ZERO sense because of price/perf difference between the two cards.

Right now I'm deciding between the 2gb and 4gb RX460 ($170 and $200 respectively), wait it out for the 1050(Ti?) or as a very, very, very last resort go for a cheap second hand 28nm card like the 960 or 370 if price is <$110 - yet I'd rather not because I've waited years for 14nm cards to be released only to be extremely disappointed by their price, performance or both. What would be the best choice for me considering I can only use 6 pin cards and I'll be gaming at 1080p?

These are current prices: http://www.msy.com.au/nsw/ultimo/14-graphics-card#/page-2

If you need to play at very high 1080 at newer games at consistently 60 fps for the next 2-3 years you need to fork out for a 470 4gb. You can have a 6 pin only version that consumes max 130w. I got mine for aprox nvidia gtx 960 price level so faily cheap but your country may vary?

As for the 460 2gb i would guess its aprox 500% faster than what you have now. The r7 240 is dog slow so any upgrade will be gigantic. I got one for a friend in a 2gb without external power for the price of an nvidia 750 ti. Whats the price for you vs 750 ti?

Imo 470 4gb and 460 2gb is very balanced card for vram in their priceclass. A HUGE benefit is freesynch btw.

 

[AtenRa]

Currently using an i5 4460 with an R7 240 and would actually LOVE to play some of these newer games at mostly high settings (i.e., no taxing AA but most visual effects that make a difference should be on high/very high) @ 60 fps.

There's been a couple of price drops like the MSI R7 370 now at AU$150 and the 2gb Rx 460 at AU$170 yet they are almost similar in terms of performance. The obvious choice here would be to get a 460 because it's at 14nm and worth the extra $20 for performance, h/w encoder/decoder updates and power efficiency.

There were a couple of flash price drops of the 380 ($150) and the 960 ($180) yet they're gone. The 460 seems to be somewhat better or worse than a gtx 950 ($205) yet I'd rather not buy a previous gen card unless it's cheaper than RRP.

The 3gb 1060 seems like a good choice if the price ever drops to somewhere around $250 and I would definitely go for that over the 470 purely because of power requirements - a 470 requires 1x8 pin whereas a 480 requires 1x6 pin which makes ZERO sense because of price/perf difference between the two cards.

Right now I'm deciding between the 2gb and 4gb RX460 ($170 and $200 respectively), wait it out for the 1050(Ti?) or as a very, very, very last resort go for a cheap second hand 28nm card like the 960 or 370 if price is <$110 - yet I'd rather not because I've waited years for 14nm cards to be released only to be extremely disappointed by their price, performance or both. What would be the best choice for me considering I can only use 6 pin cards and I'll be gaming at 1080p?

These are current prices: http://www.msy.com.au/nsw/ultimo/14-graphics-card#/page-2

I would go for the RX 470 but if it is too expensive for your budget go for the RX 460 4GB.

ASUS STRIX RX 470 uses a single 6-pin.

 

[Red Hawk]

Literally anything.

The 460 is a good pick, it'll be miles ahead of the 240. Just make sure it has GDDR5 memory; at that level card makers try passing off cards with lame DDR3 memory.

 

[greatnoob]

I would go for a 470/480, 1060, or wait for the 1050. IMO the 460 is simply too cut down, and the only time I would consider it would be if I had to have a card that did not require a six pin connector. Yes, it would be a large upgrade from the card that you have, but the 470/480 or 1060 are much more competent in more demanding games, assuming you are playing at 1080p. I would try to save a bit more and go for the cards I suggested. Prices are starting to come down and supply is improving for the 14 nm cards, I think, although the AMD cards may be in short supply due to the mining craze. Also, not sure what models you are looking at, but the 470 for sure can be had with a six pin connector, as the tdp is lower than the 480.

There are 4gb 460s ($270) that are reaching close to 4gb 470 prices which is insane. The only cards that are close to RRP are the Sapphire 2gb & 4gb 460 and the 3gb 1060, every other card seems to be inflated - when USD to AUD conversions + 10% tax are taken into consideration, there's still a $30-70 price delta. It's actually cheaper to buy from Newegg and to pay the $44 shipping fee than it is to go to my local PC store.

The Sapphire NITRO 470 and the Gigabyte G1 Gaming 470 both use an 8 pin connector which is weird when I've seen slightly more expensive 480s using a 6 pin connector.

If you need to play at very high 1080 at newer games at consistently 60 fps for the next 2-3 years you need to fork out for a 470 4gb. You can have a 6 pin only version that consumes max 130w. I got mine for aprox nvidia gtx 960 price level so faily cheap but your country may vary?

As for the 460 2gb i would guess its aprox 500% faster than what you have now. The r7 240 is dog slow so any upgrade will be gigantic. I got one for a friend in a 2gb without external power for the price of an nvidia 750 ti. Whats the price for you vs 750 ti?

Imo 470 4gb and 460 2gb is very balanced card for vram in their priceclass. A HUGE benefit is freesynch btw.

A Gigabyte 750 TI is $165 vs a Sapphire 2gb 460 which is only $5 more. I'm leaning towards the 470 once prices go down but the 3gb 1060 also looks good. I never thought about future display upgrades and you bring up a good point about Freesync, so I just checked some 1080p Freesync monitors and they are relatively cheap like this Viewsonic one, not sure if it's any good though. Other than price would there be a difference between G-sync and Freesync monitors if I decide to upgrade to a 1440p one in the future?

I would go for the RX 470 but if it is too expensive for your budget go for the RX 460 4GB.

ASUS STRIX RX 470 uses a single 6-pin.

Most of the ones being sold at $330+ all use an 8 pin connector. I found this XFX 4gb 470 for $300 and that looks like a good price (US$204 with conversion and -10% tax) but I'm not sure if XFX are a good brand. I'd rather get an ASUS or Sapphire one because I've heard they are overall better when it comes to warranties and customer support but I'm willing to buy the XFX 470 if they're good cards.

What are the chances that AMD and Nvidia release the x and Ti variants of some of the lower end cards and the prices of the non-x and Ti versions drop by the end of this year? If that's likely to happen I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer for price drops.

 

[mohit9206]

I vote for RX470 or 1060. RX460 will not under any circumstance be able to achieve "high/very high @ 60 fps".

 

[krumme]

There are 4gb 460s ($270) that are reaching close to 4gb 470 prices which is insane. The only cards that are close to RRP are the Sapphire 2gb & 4gb 460 and the 3gb 1060, every other card seems to be inflated - when USD to AUD conversions + 10% tax are taken into consideration, there's still a $30-70 price delta. It's actually cheaper to buy from Newegg and to pay the $44 shipping fee than it is to go to my local PC store.

The Sapphire NITRO 470 and the Gigabyte G1 Gaming 470 both use an 8 pin connector which is weird when I've seen slightly more expensive 480s using a 6 pin connector.



A Gigabyte 750 TI is $165 vs a Sapphire 2gb 460 which is only $5 more. I'm leaning towards the 470 once prices go down but the 3gb 1060 also looks good. I never thought about future display upgrades and you bring up a good point about Freesync, so I just checked some 1080p Freesync monitors and they are relatively cheap like this Viewsonic one, not sure if it's any good though. Other than price would there be a difference between G-sync and Freesync monitors if I decide to upgrade to a 1440p one in the future?



Most of the ones being sold at $330+ all use an 8 pin connector. I found this XFX 4gb 470 for $300 and that looks like a good price (US$204 with conversion and -10% tax) but I'm not sure if XFX are a good brand. I'd rather get an ASUS or Sapphire one because I've heard they are overall better when it comes to warranties and customer support but I'm willing to buy the XFX 470 if they're good cards.

What are the chances that AMD and Nvidia release the x and Ti variants of some of the lower end cards and the prices of the non-x and Ti versions drop by the end of this year? If that's likely to happen I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer for price drops.

I think the 470 4gb perhaps have a tad to little vram. The 1060 3gb is just flat out to little and ubalanced for a 2-3 years usage model. Secondly the 470 4gb is cheaper where i live so its imo a better buy and more balanced card also in relation to never dx12 vulcan games.

The price of a 1440 freesynch monitor is a good deal lower than a gsynch. Freesynch is free while it looks like gsynch add some sort of nv tax. For a low and midrange system the total cost of gfx and monitor is a good deal lower if you select freesynch. An nv solution is just a good deal more expensive when monitor is factored in. It just makes no sense in the low and midrange budget range.

I agree a 4gb 460 makes no sense.

To me mostly all brands today makes okey quality from acceptable to very good. Coolers is pretty good. And even a 470 is very easy to keep noise and power levels down.

When i look at the 470 card to me it looks like it can be made very cheap. So perhaps prices will go further down. I think there is a good chance of that in the comming months when 1050ti arives.

As you have seen the 460 is 750ti level so theese cards is meant to go to very low price. 460 is getting there but it looks like 470 and especially the 480 8gb will take a longer time.

Anyways as said whatever you chooses you are in for a blast

 

[USER8000]

I would say either get the RX460 2GB or the GTX1050 4GB.

 

[dark zero]

I vote for RX470 or 1060. RX460 will not under any circumstance be able to achieve "high/very high @ 60 fps".

The only way you go with RX 460 is if the CPU is a Core 2 Quad or a Phenom II

 

[USER8000]

Maybe we need to know what games,the thread starter is going to play?? I suspect they are budget limited. If the leaked GTX1050 specifications are true it should place it around GTX960 performance - it might be better though.

The RX460 2GB is the cheaper option,which would still be a huge upgrade over an R7 240.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Read the OP. He did not say he wanted to have a "huge upgrade". He said he wanted to play newer games at high settings at 60 FPS. Anything lower than 470 or 1060 clearly will not do this. One could wait for benchmarks for 1050, but I doubt it will be strong enough either.

 

[greatnoob]

The steam games I play mostly (out of the 76 games I have) are CSGO and TF2.

I still have a whole backlog of games I need to finish off or play (RE4HD, Metro 2033, Sniper Elite 2, BF3, etc.) but I've also been skipping out on buying newer games like Mad Max, Shadow of Mordor, RYSE, Rainbow 6 Siege and Arkham Knight (most of these have been on sale for $5-$10 on steam) purely because I wouldn't be able to play them on my setup.

If the 4gb XFX 470 is a good card then I might pick it up for $300 else I'll wait it out for the 1050 and hope it either offers more performance than the 960 or it helps balance demand for other cards so prices level out like @krumme said.

Also as a side, my friend with an i3 6100 build may be looking for a card too. He plays (also records and streams gameplay) on a 1600x900 monitor and mostly games from the PS3 era + DOTA 2. Would the 360 ($139), 370 ($150) or a 460($170) be a better choice for him? Neither of the 28nm cards have HEVC decode or encode support and I'm not sure if his iGPU can be used for HEVC en/decode when he's using a dGPU.

 

[krumme]

The steam games I play mostly (out of the 76 games I have) are CSGO and TF2.

I still have a whole backlog of games I need to finish off or play (RE4HD, Metro 2033, Sniper Elite 2, BF3, etc.) but I've also been skipping out on buying newer games like Mad Max, Shadow of Mordor, RYSE, Rainbow 6 Siege and Arkham Knight (most of these have been on sale for $5-$10 on steam) purely because I wouldn't be able to play them on my setup.

If the 4gb XFX 470 is a good card then I might pick it up for $300 else I'll wait it out for the 1050 and hope it either offers more performance than the 960 or it helps balance demand for other cards so prices level out like @krumme said.

Also as a side, my friend with an i3 6100 build may be looking for a card too. He plays (also records and streams gameplay) on a 1600x900 monitor and mostly games from the PS3 era + DOTA 2. Would the 360 ($139), 370 ($150) or a 460($170) be a better choice for him? Neither of the 28nm cards have HEVC decode or encode support and I'm not sure if his iGPU can be used for HEVC en/decode when he's using a dGPU.

As i read on an review about the xfx model you considered its very nice quality. Even removable fans and stuff like that. Low noice and so on. Just take a google on the name and add review. It all comes down to price then of its reasonable in your country. Is it 10% cheaper than 1060 3gb? Imo thats a requisite.

As Frozenthundra write the 1050 4gb will probably be a tad to slow for very high. So the 470 is the entry point if you stick to your demands.

As for your friend a 460 2gb is plenty and also quite future proof for the reasons you know. Dx11 vulcan. For that i would fork out the 20. It will last 4 years. And at that 900 res even bf4 will run very high setting and his cpu will set the pace at aprox 50 fps depending on map. Imo its a balanced gpu for that cpu. But yours i balanced to a 470 imo. Its a very good cpu that deserve a strong gpu

If you can skimp on your demands and run at low/medium setting even a 460 2gb will run all the new games even in 2 years time fine.

 

[DamZe]

If you can find a RX470 with a six pin connector, for around the 170-199$ price range, then that would be a monumental jump in performance from the R7 240. The 460 is just waaay too meh to be considered a viable opton these days, of course your budget will determine that, but I'd rather save up for that RX470 and be comfortable playing the newest titles 1080p/60FPS on high settings than have a card like the 460 which will choke..

 

[poofyhairguy]

The steam games I play mostly (out of the 76 games I have) are CSGO and TF2.

My 4GB AMD 460 kills those games.