Upgrading to a better graphics card

[MrK6]

I could swing the gtx 460 for 169.99 if it will be the best that I could use with my current system.

I think I'm going to go with this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125334

Any objections before I check out?

It might be worth it to you to wait a week and see if this comes back in stock - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.455039 . It's much cheaper and hey, free Just Cause 2. The rebate is good for any purchase up to 9/30, so there's time.

 

[happy medium]

I could swing the gtx 460 for 169.99 if it will be the best that I could use with my current system.

I think I'm going to go with this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125334

Any objections before I check out?

I'd go for it.

 

[toyota]

so should I just go with the GTX 460 768mb then?

sure if you don't mind having 50% of its performance go right down the drain for most games.

 

[Cerb]

Is a CPU upgrade a near-future possibility? If so, spend no more than the GTS 450 w/ MIR, and document the crap out of the rebate stuff.

If the price difference can be put towards CPU in the coming months, even on the budget end, that (saving nearly $65) could get you from affording an Athlon II, to overclocking an i3, or if a Phenom II or i3 is otherwise affordable, to a decent i5. The games you mention, and any similar to them, will need more oomph from the CPU than GPU.

OTOH, if that's too far out to worry about, then I guess get a card that's a tad overkill (given GPU usage on my GTX 460 1GB, w/ a C2D 3.2, I'm guessing 50% is actually being a bit optimistic, even w/ AA & AF).

 

[cusideabelincoln]

I think you'll want to get a triple/quad core for FFXIV. You really need to upgrade the mobo, RAM, CPU, and video card to get balanced performanced. But as of right now, your video card is most definitely the "weakest link". So upgrade that first, and then I'd suggest start saving for new motherboard, processor, and RAM - on the cheaper side this will likely cost you about $180 for these three components today ($80 for an Athlon X3 or X4, $60 for a motherboard, $40 for 2GB DDR3 RAM are my estimates).

 

[edplayer]

sure if you don't mind having 50% of its performance go right down the drain for most games.

The benchmarks I've seen show an average of about 10% between a 768MB and 1GB version.

 

[toyota]

The benchmarks I've seen show an average of about 10% between a 768MB and 1GB version.

I am talking about the massive limitation of his cpu.

 

[edplayer]

oh OK

yeah, he should get something cheap. I posted a link for a $100 GTS 450 in the hot deals forum. Palit brand but I'm guessing that soon there will be lots of different $100 and less gts 450


Maybe even a $50/60 9800GT/GTS 250, and start saving for a whole new everything.

 

[bryanW1995]

You guys recommending the 768MB card are blatantly ignoring his specifying 1GB.
Ditto GTX 460 1GB's costing more than $150.
Ditto you guys recommending ATI cards when he specified NV.
And given his CPU bottleneck, I don't know if a GTX460 is really the best option.

This is a really hard question and given all of the above I hate to say it but a GTS 450 (if you need DX11) or a GTS 250 (if you don't need DX11) might be the best option if you need something right the hell now--unless you plan to upgrade the CPU really soon in which case a GTX460-1GB may fall to $150 by the time you upgrade the CPU, and it offers way more bang for the buck than the GTS 450. That may change if the GTS 450 falls in price, though.

he's using an athlon x2 cpu, he isn't exactly an expert here. a 768mb gtx 460 will be just fine for him. I know b/c I'm using one myself at 1680x1050. that card does fine at his current resolution and would be a significant improvement over a gts 450 or 5770.

The benchmarks I've seen show an average of about 10% between a 768MB and 1GB version.

they're pretty close at lower resolutions up to 1680x1050, but once you go over that the 1gb card starts to really pull away. the biggest reason I got mine was that I love my monitor and am unlikely to upgrade it before upgrading the gpu.

 

[bryanW1995]

He specifically requested 1GB and up
[snip]

@OP: please take into account the following:

blastingcap: 9 posts
russiansensation: 6676 posts

 

[videogames101]

I'm fairly sure anything close to a 460 is waaaay overkill.

If you plan on upgrading the rest of your system and keeping the GPU in service, the 460 is fine, but if it will die with the rest of the system don't pay the extra for the 460, the 450 will be more than enough to create a CPU bottleneck.

 

[Madcatatlas]

@OP: please take into account the following:

blastingcap: 9 posts
russiansensation: 6676 posts

OP: please ignore this troll post by an othervise good poster, bryanW1995

When did number of posts ever make your arguments more correct/true etc?

 

[blastingcap]

OP: please ignore this troll post by an othervise good poster, bryanW1995

When did number of posts ever make your arguments more correct/true etc?

Thanks Madcat.

There are not great hierarchy lists out there but according to http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i5-760-core-i7-970,2698-7.html OP's CPU is a like an Pentium (not even C2D) E2180. Not even a E4300@1.8GHz!

In other words, this Bryan character would be a fool to think OP is not CPU-limited in an increasing number of games.

I'm not saying that the GTX460 is a bad buy per se--at current prices most people would be fools to buy a 5770 or GTS450--but if I were OP I think I'd upgrade the CPU and then the GPU. That CPU is just too weak. But if he absolutely needed an upgrade right now with 1GB VRAM and it had to be an NV card, I suggested a GTS 450 and save a bit of money over the GTX460 (which he can't really use with his CPU). Then use the savings for a CPU upgrade.

I'm a longtime reader of AT and relatively new to the forums. Most AT forumers have welcomed me rather than post garbage about post counts impacting validity of arguments like Bryan. Thanks, AT!

 

[RussianSensation]

@OP: please take into account the following:

blastingcap: 9 posts
russiansensation: 6676 posts

With all due respect, the number of my posts shouldn't discount an opinion of any new member solely based on the # of posts alone.

I still think a graphics card upgrade is far more important than a CPU upgrade. However, the X2 3800+ is slow. The OP can grab a 450/460 and see what the performance improvement is like. If he is satisfied, no need to upgrade the platform until he saves some $. But without a graphics card upgrade, it's absolutely worthless to upgrade the CPU alone (especially into dying 1156 and AM3 sockets).

BTW, blastingcap, please don't call other members "fools". It's not appropriate. In addition, Bryan never mentioned that he believed the system would not be bottlenecked by the CPU. It's implicit that he believes the videocard upgrade is more important if on a budget, where the OP only has enough funds to upgrade 1 component.