GPU Upgrade Recommendations for an Older System?

[BrickFrog]

Hi,

So I've gotten the itch to play some of the newer video games and while the current ATI 5850 runs stuff reasonably well (Overwatch runs pretty good at medium settings at 1080P for example), I'm looking into getting a better video card in hopes of getting significant performance boost.

Basically, I'm looking for the best price/performance ratio based on a older machine that won't be bottle necked by not so new parts.

Here's what I'm working with currently:

CPU - Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.67GHz
RAM - 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz
Motherboard - Gigabyte P55-UD3L
Power Supply - Corsair CMPSU-650TX
Operating System - Windows 7
Hard Drive - 250 GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD with a couple of older 7200 RPM drives for storage

Any suggestions/recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Arachnotronic]

Hi,

So I've gotten the itch to play some of the newer video games and while the current ATI 5850 runs stuff reasonably well (Overwatch runs pretty good at medium settings at 1080P for example), I'm looking into getting a better video card in hopes of getting significant performance boost.

Basically, I'm looking for the best price/performance ratio based on a older machine that won't be bottle necked by not so new parts.

Here's what I'm working with currently:

CPU - Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.67GHz
RAM - 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz
Motherboard - Gigabyte P55-UD3L
Power Supply - Corsair CMPSU-650TX
Operating System - Windows 7
Hard Drive - 250 GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD with a couple of older 7200 RPM drives for storage

Any suggestions/recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks

The GeForce GTX 1060 goes on sale on July 19 for $249. If you can get one of these at launch for around $249, then I'd say that's your best bet assuming that it lives up to NVIDIA's claims. Radeon RX 480 is also an option at $229, but it's likely to perform worse and consume a lot more power.

 

[Bacon1]

Not sure how much of an upgrade you'll get considering you have a very old CPU. Look for any benchmarks that include a CPU that old and see how cards scale on them. Might not be worth it to spend $250+ on a card if you won't get to use all of its power. The 1050 / 470 might be a better bet when they release.

 

[Erithan13]

What sort of budget do you have in mind?

I'd be concerned that the 480 or 1060 would be bottlenecked by that CPU, it's only one generation on from the long-obsolete Core2 series and you might not be able to fully realize the power of the 480/1060.

The RX470 or 460 could well be a better fit for the CPU and will be considerably cheaper as well. If you were OK with buying used you should be able to find a GTX970 or R9 380 pretty cheap now.

If I were you I'd want to go for a cheap GPU upgrade and start putting money aside for a new system. A modern i5 or even i3 would provide a very nice boost.

 

[Headfoot]

First things first. If you're going to keep that CPU, you should overclock it. The 750 is pretty outdated at its stock speed. Overclocked to 3.8-4.0 it's actually not too bad. Respectable if not fast. This will make a big difference.

Second, if you stay with that I wouldn't go above the RX 480 or GTX 1060 depending on how the reviews look for that one. You'll still be bottlenecked but you can minimize the bottlenecking by turning up graphical goodies

 

[frozentundra123456]

I would wait for the new video cards to sort themselves out. For that system, I think a 480 or 1060 would be overkill. I would wait until the 460/470 and 1050/1060 are out. OTOH, if you think you might upgrade the entire system in the future, you could go for a 1060 or 480 and carry it over to a faster system.


Edit: as Headfoot said, if you can get a good overclock close to 4ghz, that cpu might handle a 480 or 1060 decently. Also, although you have a lot of ram, 532 mhz is really slow. Not sure how much that would hold back you cpu though.

 

[24601]

That CPU has no chance in hell of handling an AMD card as fast as 480 or even 470.

Get the one step down from the 1060 when it comes out if you are attached to that setup. Even that's pushing it. Not going to recommend cheaper cards than that since they don't exist yet.

 

[sirmo]

Get an rx480, even if bottlenecked it will still be a big upgrade.. and then upgrade the CPU down the line.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Get an rx480, even if bottlenecked it will still be a big upgrade.. and then upgrade the CPU down the line.

Why an RX 480 over a GTX 1060?

 

[sirmo]

Why an RX 480 over a GTX 1060?

better bang per buck

 

[Arachnotronic]

better bang per buck

In what sense? GTX 1060 seems to be ~15% faster (if you believe NVIDIA) for $20 more. I also wouldn't be surprised if the GTX 1060 had much more overclocking headroom than the RX 480, which should help the 1060's value prop relative to the 480.

 

[sirmo]

In what sense? GTX 1060 seems to be ~15% faster (if you believe NVIDIA) for $20 more. I also wouldn't be surprised if the GTX 1060 had much more overclocking headroom than the RX 480, which should help the 1060's value prop relative to the 480.

You answered your own question.. there is also the FreeSync upgrade path on the monitor. Rx480 just makes more sense for budget minded folks. Reference 1060 will be $299 and it won't be $60-100 faster than a rx480 if at all.

 

[Arachnotronic]

You answered your own question

So you are saying that you think NVIDIA is lying when it says that the 1060 is faster and more efficient than the RX 480 on average?

Anyway, OP should wait for 1060 reviews to land, scope out the availability situation, and then make a purchasing decision then.

 

[sirmo]

So you are saying that you think NVIDIA is lying when it says that the 1060 is faster and more efficient than the RX 480 on average?

Anyway, OP should wait for 1060 reviews to land, scope out the availability situation, and then make a purchasing decision then.

I think Nvidia is lying about the price the same way they lied about 1070's MSRP and 1080's MSRP before then.

I am also not inclined to believe their marketing performance graphs. It will probably be more efficient, but 20-30watts means nothing. Adaptive Sync is pretty cool too, and it comes practically free.

Also OP doesn't strike me as someone who upgrades every product cycle and rx480 will have better longevity, based on the track record.

 

[Ieat]

As other have said you need to oc that cpu. If you can remove the cpu without having to remove your motherboard from the case I would also consider buying a Xeon x3440 and selling the i5 750. Its essentially a free upgrade if you are willing to do the work. That will give you the equivalent of an i7 860 to OC.

 

[Silverforce11]

Overwatch medium 1080p with good frame rates?

This is on Ultra settings, so these cards will run Medium a lot faster.

Basically you do not need much because Overwatch isn't an intensive game.

RX 480 or 1060 is overkill for your CPU.

Suggest RX 460 or 470 when it's out or the 1050.

Only buy the RX 480 or 1060 IF you intend to upgrade your rig soon.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

You'll be CPU limited in Overwatch no matter what. A 960 might be a good option, compared to AMD cards besides the 480, because of the lower CPU overhead of Nvidia drivers.

 

[SPBHM]

assuming you want other games and not just overwatch;
paired with a slower CPU the 1060 will probably have a very good advantage over the 480 on CPU limited DX11 games...

other than that the 480 4GB is also a good choice.

 

[RussianSensation]

Your CPU is slow. Find a $100 GTX 950 or wait for the $149 RX 470. You should not be pairing your CPU with a $240-260 videocard or you are wasting $. GTX950/R9 380 is more than fast enough for Overwatch.

 

[BFG10K]

i5-760 tested with a GTX980: http://www.techspot.com/article/1039-ten-years-intel-cpu-compared/page5.html

As usual, the forum continues to overblow CPU requirements. Your processor @ stock will be absolutely fine for most modern games.

 

[bononos]

There was another thread here which discussed whether bios/uefi support could be an issue. It seems that the RX480 should probably work in older motherboards.

 

[RussianSensation]

i5-760 tested with a GTX980: http://www.techspot.com/article/1039-ten-years-intel-cpu-compared/page5.html

As usual, the forum continues to overblow CPU requirements. Your processor @ stock will be absolutely fine for most modern games.

Those charts aren't showing the actual gaming experience in the CPU limited sections of modern games. We have no idea what areas of the game were tested. Not to mention that list of games is nowhere close to sufficient to rule out a CPU limitation.

Here is an actual video review side-by-side that shows the true gaming experience:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=38321281&postcount=15

Even an i7 920 @ 4.0Ghz is CPU bottlenecking R9 390/980 level cards by a significant amount in CPU-limited sections of modern games. There will always be games where an i5 750 with a GTX1080 will beat an i7 6700K with a GTX970 but it doesn't mean that the opposite won't be true for other games. It's about having a balanced system and not only looking at the average FPS. In the review from the link I posted, there are actually cases where an i7 920 a4Ghz and i7 4790K are outputting similar average FPS but then there are sections where the i7 4790K is 50-75% faster and the Nehalem system is dipping to low 30s.

Furthermore, Overwatch doesn't require a GTX970/980 level card to get a great experience at 1080p.

The OP also mentioned 2 key parts in his post:

Basically, I'm looking for the best price/performance ratio based on a older machine that won't be bottle necked by not so new parts.

That automatically rules out the $250 GTX1060 or a $280-300 GTX980. He is better off finding a used after-market R9 290 at that point or wait for RX 470 that should be close to the R9 290 for $149.

 

[Wall Street]

I am currently gaming on on 1156 platform with a HD 7970. I previously used an i5 750, but I bought an i7 860 for $65 on EBay and am using that now. Overwatch runs great at the 70 FPS display-based frame limiter on my rig. I am playing at 1080p ultra settings and the framerate only drops below the FPS limiter during the post-game hero poses.

You may want to experiment with overclocking that i5 750. Those chips overclock well. However, I am not sure if the fact that you have an H55 motherboard will limit you, as I am currently using a P55 board.

You can definitely be GPU bound in a game like Overwatch even with the latest hardware at 1080p epic settings. If I were you, I would look at the upcoming $250 GTX 1060 when they are released.

On the other hand, I see that you have a 650 watt PSU. If you are comfortable with used, you can do what I did. Buy an i7 870 - (2.93 Ghz with hyperthreading, $65 EBay) and an HD 7970 ($150 on EBay) or r9 290 ($200 on EBay).

 

[Ieat]

I am currently gaming on on 1156 platform with a HD 7970. I previously used an i5 750, but I bought an i7 860 for $65 on EBay and am using that now. Overwatch runs great at the 70 FPS display-based frame limiter on my rig. I am playing at 1080p ultra settings and the framerate only drops below the FPS limiter during the post-game hero poses.

You may want to experiment with overclocking that i5 750. Those chips overclock well. However, I am not sure if the fact that you have an H55 motherboard will limit you, as I am currently using a P55 board.

You can definitely be GPU bound in a game like Overwatch even with the latest hardware at 1080p epic settings. If I were you, I would look at the upcoming $250 GTX 1060 when they are released.

On the other hand, I see that you have a 650 watt PSU. If you are comfortable with used, you can do what I did. Buy an i7 870 - (2.93 Ghz with hyperthreading, $65 EBay) and an HD 7970 ($150 on EBay) or r9 290 ($200 on EBay).

I believe he has a p55 board. But no difference in overclocking with P or H. P just allows support of multiple gpus while H has integrated video outputs. The Xeon X34xx cpus are a much better buy then the i7s. Upgraded my cousin a month ago from an i3-540 to a X3440 for $25 and oc'ed it to 3.5 at 1.18 vcore. Obviously, could have gone higher but I wanted to make sure it was 100% stable because I'm too lazy to drive to his place to fix it if it wasn't. Paired it with a gtx 960 and he has no complaints.

 

[Wall Street]

I believe he has a p55 board. But no difference in overclocking with P or H. P just allows support of multiple gpus while H has integrated video outputs. The Xeon X34xx cpus are a much better buy then the i7s. Upgraded my cousin a month ago from an i3-540 to a X3440 for $25 and oc'ed it to 3.5 at 1.18 vcore. Obviously, could have gone higher but I wanted to make sure it was 100% stable because I'm too lazy to drive to his place to fix it if it wasn't. Paired it with a gtx 960 and he has no complaints.

Good point, even better if he can get a 4 core/8 thread Xeon for $25 and overclock his FSB to get that over 3 Ghz. I wasn't sure that the H55 chipset could overclock and it would be a shame to keep an X3440 at stock clocks.