Upgrading GPU "How do i know what to buy"

[SevSaint]

and this power supply should work with my setup.
What about my CPU.
I did some research and seen that if the CPU needs to work with the GPU or its a waste. Just don't wana throw money away.
BTW

PSU
Corsair 650W ATX CPU Power Supply CMPSU650TX - Best Buy

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121825

Here is my system. It says i have expansion slots

• PCI Express x16: 1
• PCI Express x1: 3
• PCI Express x1 minicard socket: 1

Wonderring if the express 16: 1 and what kinda card can i get.
http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/kb/docDisplay?javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.prp_ba847bafb2a2d782fcbb0710b053ce01=wsrp-navigationalState%3DdocId%253Demr_na-c02532955-2%257CdocLocale%253D%257CcalledBy%253D&javax.portlet.tpst=ba847bafb2a2d782fcbb0710b053ce01&ac.admitted=1397025819413.876444892.492883150

 

[SevSaint]

small bump for clearification

 

[Boozad]

The PSU and GPU should be fine in your system.

 

[crusher25]

The GPU link you posted is already out of stock. Also, can you tell us your budget for your GPU and CPU so that we have a range of what to recommend to you? Also, are you considering to buy an Nvidia card? Or just ATI?

 

[SevSaint]

200-250 budget max.
Maybe find psu and gpu other places.
Only ever used ati so wana stick to that. Heard good stuff about cheap 7850

 

[zap9x]

well if u're going to play games i'd recommend nvidia , ATI GPUs usually have just a little bit more core speed than nvidia but nvidia have alot better shader performance , exchange for just 10 or 20 core clock

 

[SevSaint]

Newegg.com - PowerColor AX7850 2GBD5-DHEV2 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 CrossFireX Support Video Card

i might lower my psu down to 500w to save on money

 

[Mellon Head]

Newegg.com - PowerColor AX7850 2GBD5-DHEV2 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 CrossFireX Support Video Card

i might lower my psu down to 500w to save on money

That card recommends a 500W minimum PSU. With the rest of the system components, that will leave you little or no headroom. I don't think I would go lower than 600-650W on the PSU. PSUs lose power generating ability over time and their output power actually declines. A 650W unit will last you longer and is a better investment. The PSU is the heart of your rig, buy the best one you can afford.

 

[badger906]

Gtx 750ti! will max out almost any game at 1080p and only uses like 60w of power.. for $150.. its a bargain

 

[Boozad]

Gtx 750ti! will max out almost any game at 1080p and only uses like 60w of power.. for $150.. its a bargain

A 750ti isn't going to max out most games at 1080p, if it did then people wouldn't be buying 770s and 780s. It's a budget card that gives budget performance, although having said that it does give very good bang for its price.

 

[badger906]

umm.. no, just google it.. or read this.

a sample from Tech radar http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/graphics-cards/nvidia-geforce-gtx-750-ti-1225593/review
"Benchmarks

All benchmarks were run on the high settings at 1920x1080, (except when otherwise noted) with 4X FXAA enabled. Our test bed consisted of an Intel Core i7-2700K at stock speeds on a Gigabyte Z68X-UD7-B3 board with 8GB of DDR3/1600 RAM, a 128GB SanDisk Extreme II SSD drive, and a 750W Cooler Master power supply.
DirectX 11 gaming performance: Frames per second: higher is better
Sleeping Dogs:

750 Ti: 50.1
R7 260X: 47.7
Radeon HD 7790: 47.6
650 Ti 1GB: 42.0
750 Ti Overclocked to 1169MHz: 52.6
Tomb Raider (2013):

TressFX disabled
750 Ti: 65.9
R7 260X: 59.8
Radeon HD 7790: 60.4
650 Ti 1GB: 57.2
750 Ti Overclocked to 1169MHz: 68.7
Metro Last Light:

Settings used: SSAA Enabled, PhysX Disabled
750 Ti: 22
R7 260X: 18.46
Radeon HD 7790: 18.75
650 Ti 1GB: 16.43
750 Ti Overclocked to 1169MHz: 23
Batman: Arkham Origins:

Settings used: MSAA 4X, Geometry DX11 Enhanced, Dynamic Shadows DX11 Enhanced, D.O.F. DX11 Enhanced, PhysX Disabled
750 Ti: 59
R7 260X: N/A
Radeon HD 7790: N/A
650 Ti 1GB: 53
750 Ti Overclocked to 1169MHz: 61"

As you can see it comfortably maxes out all the games at 1080p unless stated otherwise..
And only an idiot would buy a 780ti for gaming at 1080p..

So back to my point the 750ti CAN max out most games at 1080p! Obviously some games have Ultra settings, so you can claim not all the games are maxed out, and some games will be too taxing on the highest settings, especially demanding games such as BF4 which would even stress a 760 to max it out.


But someone on a budget or with a lesser powered GPU a 750ti is perfect, especially if playing at 1080p or less.

Im so impressed with the performance of a £100 card, im buying one to use in my racing sim pc as its more than capable of bashing out the frame rates in racing games.

 

[Boozad]

High isn't maxing out though is it? Ultra is maxing out, and I wouldn't call 22fps on Crysis 3 'comfortable' either. I notice it's compared to lower end cards too, as that's the end of the market that it belongs in. I never mentioned a 780ti either, so I'm not sure if the idiot comment was aimed at me. I'll presume not.

Either way, the 750ti is not going to offer similar performance to a 770 or 780. Even on a single 1080p monitor.

 

[badger906]

Not all games have an ultra setting as stated, some do some dont.

But the key point is most people buy cards well past their needs, a 770 or 780 isnt intended for 1080p gaming, and is overkill. Ok people could claim those with 122hz need that for 1080p gaming, but at 60hz its wasted, if your GPU is getting 100~ fps on a 60hz monitor then the latter 40 are just over rendered and can cause tearing, thats where v sync comes in.. but again its effectively limiting the added frames the gpu is producing because its basically too powerful.

Also the OP has an AMD athalon processor, something that would be a bottle neck even to a 750ti.. and probably would struggle in the more CPU intensive games such as crysis and BF4, so even a 780 would get less than desirable frame rates.

 

[Boozad]

I understand all of that, I simply said a 750ti won't offer comparable performance to a 770 or 780 (which it doesn't) and won't max out all games at 1080p (which it doesn't).

I also wouldn't recommend a 780 to the OP either, and I think a 750 would be perfect for his needs given the current set up he has.

 

[SevSaint]

Well i purchased my card.
Got the Powercolor 7850 duel fan 2gig card
and
600w corsair psu.

Right now the powercolor card is 139 and 109 with 30 dollar rebate mailed in. Sadly i paid 169 for mine and 18 for return plan for a year.

Never installed a gpu or pcu before so this is going to be a test run.

 

[Mellon Head]

Never installed a gpu or pcu before so this is going to be a test run.

It's not hard. Take your time and don't force anything. Read the directions.

 

[Boozad]

Make sure to uninstall your existing card through Windows before you remove it.

 

[SevSaint]

Just wana say thanks to everyone who tried to help me with my setup. Ill post back with update.