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General discussionAdvice on GPU upgrade(37 posts)(37 posts)
(37 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted November 22, 2020
Hey, I have to say that Horizon Zero Dawn looks super cool and is probably the first 'new'(ish) game that I've actually been excited about for quite a long time. So, I am tempted to use it as a good excuse to upgrade my rig so I can play it.

Right now I have a desktop with a core i5-3330, 8 GB of RAM and an NVidia GTX 1050 (2 GB), which seems like its a bit below the minimum specs. I use Linux, so the first thing will probably be to wait and make sure the game is confirmed to run reliably in Wine/Proton.

I play on a 1920x1080 monitor and I'm not going to be after max. graphics settings. All I really want is to be able to play newer games with a reasonable FPS. The GTX 1050 has been a great card and tbh, I feel like I haven't really even tested its limits. Although I haven't tried playing any very recent games - the most demanding thing I have played on it is probably Oblivion, which is obviously pretty old by now.

So, I could give HZD a try on the GTX 1050, but I suspect it would be a bit of a stretch with only 2GB of VRAM and might not be a pleasant experience. So, I am looking at a Radeon RX 580/590 as a replacement. I have been keen to switch to Radeon for some time, as I like to support the underdog and they seem to have better support for free software drivers in Linux, which I like. These GPUs also seem to be great value and my upgrade budget is not very big (probably ~$200 max). They seem to be some of the best value GPUs at the moment, according to this site and a few places seem to have them for ~$200.

So, I am wondering if anyone has any experience with these cards - are they good value? Would this upgrade make sense? Is it likely this would allow me to play newer games with reasonable settings for the next 3-4 years?

It would probably be good if I could upgrade my RAM as well to 16GB, so I might keep an eye on the Black Friday and/or January sales, to see if I can spot any good deals.
Posted November 22, 2020
You didn't indicate a budget, but you will need to check and see which newer GPUs your motherboard could support. It might be time to upgrade to a relatively newer motherboard that could support DDR 4 memory and a newer CPU. When shopping for a motherboard be sure to get one that has more than two or four slots for memory. For example, spreading 32 GB RAM over eight slots with 4 GB sticks is better than 4 slots with 8 GB sticks. You also want to get a board that will accommodate two GPUs. Later on, you would then be able to add a much better GPU or two, making your rig better able to keep up with ever demanding games. There are a number of good YouTube videos on this subject. Check this one out.

EDIT: I wanted to add that it seems prices may be coming down after what seemed like a big spike, as so many began buying more games, and hence components, after the pandemic left them at home more. You would benefit having at least 16 GB of RAM, yes. As far as GPUs, I still prefer Nvidia. Intel, is however a different matter altogether.
Post edited November 22, 2020 by Hooyaah
Posted November 22, 2020
low rated
Buy RTX 2060 on 1080p i am using it and it's fine

Actually wait for the RTX 3060 to drop. 3070 is relatively cheap so 3060 should be even better. I am assuming that if my RTX 2060 is more or less doing its job, the 3060 will be straight 60 FPS on Ultra for the next 3 years.
Posted November 22, 2020
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/horizon-zero-dawn-benchmark-test-performance-analysis/4.html
The RX580/590 looks like a fine card to play it at 1080 for a near 30/40 FPS framerate.
(though I didn't see them mentioning the 'graphics setting', maybe I just missed it...)

I wouldn't get it myself - I want 1440P and games looking near the best they can. If I can't afford it now, then I just put the game on backlog. I remember the Vega cards being loud and power gobblers - but I don't know about the RX 5xx cards.
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Hooyaah: You didn't indicate a budget, but you will need to check and see which newer GPUs your motherboard could support. It might be time to upgrade to a relatively newer motherboard that could support DDR 4 memory and a newer CPU. When shopping for a motherboard be sure to get one that has more than two or four slots for memory. For example, spreading 32 GB RAM over eight slots with 4 GB sticks is better than 4 slots with 8 GB sticks. You also want to get a board that will accommodate two GPUs. Later on, you would then be able to add a much better GPU or two, making your rig better able to keep up with ever demanding games. There are a number of good YouTube videos on this subject. Check this one out.
Motherboard support (for GPU) is rarely an issue. The PSU might be.
A board with 8 slots? I don't think the OP is in the market for workstation hardware.
Multiple GPU (SLI/Crossfire) is a bad idea nowadays (it's been like that for quite a while now). It's expensive and few recent(ish) games support it well (not a lot of performance increase). Did you read that advice in a history book?
Post edited November 22, 2020 by teceem
Posted November 22, 2020
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teceem: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/horizon-zero-dawn-benchmark-test-performance-analysis/4.html
The RX580/590 looks like a fine card to play it at 1080 for a near 30/40 FPS framerate.
(though I didn't see them mentioning the 'graphics setting', maybe I just missed it...)

I wouldn't get it myself - I want 1440P and games looking near the best they can. If I can't afford it now, then I just put the game on backlog. I remember the Vega cards being loud and power gobblers - but I don't know about the RX 5xx cards.
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Hooyaah: You didn't indicate a budget, but you will need to check and see which newer GPUs your motherboard could support. It might be time to upgrade to a relatively newer motherboard that could support DDR 4 memory and a newer CPU. When shopping for a motherboard be sure to get one that has more than two or four slots for memory. For example, spreading 32 GB RAM over eight slots with 4 GB sticks is better than 4 slots with 8 GB sticks. You also want to get a board that will accommodate two GPUs. Later on, you would then be able to add a much better GPU or two, making your rig better able to keep up with ever demanding games. There are a number of good YouTube videos on this subject. Check this one out.
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teceem: Motherboard support (for GPU) is rarely an issue. The PSU might be.
A board with 8 slots? I don't think the OP is in the market for workstation hardware.
Multiple GPU (SLI/Crossfire) is a bad idea nowadays (it's been like that for quite a while now). It's expensive and few recent(ish) games support it well (not a lot of performance increase). Did you read that advice in a history book?
As I mentioned, there are a number of good videos on this topic on YouTube. There is, for example, a great video on the topic of memory here. Basically, the more channels there are, the higher the data transfer rate. That is why more RAM slots are better and four slots with identical 4GB DDR3 RAM sticks should be sufficient. Wherever the data transfer rate is suffering will be the location of the limiting factor, or "bottleneck." In the long run, Time4Tea, 16 GB Ram will most likely be fine if you don't have many background applications leeching your memory as you are gaming.
Posted November 23, 2020
One year ago I bought an RX 580 for use in Linux at what would be around $135 in the USA. For that price and a year ago I thought it was a good buy for my low budget. It has been working fine for me with tiny glitches on the open drivers. The other drivers may be better. I see you can easily cut back 50W of the power draw and only loose a little speed but I did not bother, yet. I cannot recommend such an old card unless you really can get it dirt cheap and are on a tight budget as it is quite far behind in both features, not only RT, and power.
Posted November 23, 2020
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Time4Tea: Hey, I have to say that Horizon Zero Dawn looks super cool and is probably the first 'new'(ish) game that I've actually been excited about for quite a long time. So, I am tempted to use it as a good excuse to upgrade my rig so I can play it.

Right now I have a desktop with a core i5-3330, 8 GB of RAM and an NVidia GTX 1050 (2 GB), which seems like its a bit below the minimum specs. I use Linux, so the first thing will probably be to wait and make sure the game is confirmed to run reliably in Wine/Proton.

I play on a 1920x1080 monitor and I'm not going to be after max. graphics settings. All I really want is to be able to play newer games with a reasonable FPS. The GTX 1050 has been a great card and tbh, I feel like I haven't really even tested its limits. Although I haven't tried playing any very recent games - the most demanding thing I have played on it is probably Oblivion, which is obviously pretty old by now.

So, I could give HZD a try on the GTX 1050, but I suspect it would be a bit of a stretch with only 2GB of VRAM and might not be a pleasant experience. So, I am looking at a Radeon RX 580/590 as a replacement. I have been keen to switch to Radeon for some time, as I like to support the underdog and they seem to have better support for free software drivers in Linux, which I like. These GPUs also seem to be great value and my upgrade budget is not very big (probably ~$200 max). They seem to be some of the best value GPUs at the moment, according to this site and a few places seem to have them for ~$200.

So, I am wondering if anyone has any experience with these cards - are they good value? Would this upgrade make sense? Is it likely this would allow me to play newer games with reasonable settings for the next 3-4 years?

It would probably be good if I could upgrade my RAM as well to 16GB, so I might keep an eye on the Black Friday and/or January sales, to see if I can spot any good deals.
Socket seems to be 1155

i7-3770K is the fastest you can get! THROW IT OUT it is dead end hardware they are not making any more pieces for it
save up and buy a New one use what you have in the meantime.

Go here: https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/super.asp?Id=17
Post edited November 23, 2020 by fr33kSh0w2012
Posted November 23, 2020
I just got myself a 5600XT, which cost about the same as my RX480 did in 2017. It's a decent upgrade, so yeah I wouldn't be looking at RX480 or RX580 unless you get them dirt cheap. If you're on a budget, second hand is probably something you should consider. I think people are going to be selling their old GPUs once NVidia and AMD manage to ship enough of their 3000 and 6000 series chips, so you can probably score an affordable 2000 series or 5000 series GPU that's been used for a year or two.
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Hooyaah: Basically, the more channels there are, the higher the data transfer rate. That is why more RAM slots are better and four slots with identical 4GB DDR3 RAM sticks should be sufficient.
More slots doesn't mean more channels though. For example, AMD's Zen CPUs (not including server parts or Threadripper) only support dual channel memory, even if your board has four slots. Intel supports quad channel. Eight channels for a desktop PC? Forget it!

Also, for most users (including gamers), memory latency is a more pressing concern than memory bandwidth.
Post edited November 23, 2020 by clarry
Posted November 23, 2020
A 580 is not a bad 1080p card, but honestly I'd try to get something more recent like a GTX 1660.

Also, you probably want to start looking around for i7-3770 prices. Those 4 extra threads will make a big difference in newer games.
Posted November 23, 2020
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Hooyaah: You didn't indicate a budget.
I thought I had mentioned in my OP, but my budget for a graphics card is around $200. So, pretty low. I don't think I have the budget right now to consider upgrading the mainboard/CPU as well, unfortunately.
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GeraltOfRivia_PL: Buy RTX 2060 on 1080p i am using it and it's fine
No, I think that would be too high for my budget.
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teceem: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/horizon-zero-dawn-benchmark-test-performance-analysis/4.html
The RX580/590 looks like a fine card to play it at 1080 for a near 30/40 FPS framerate.
(though I didn't see them mentioning the 'graphics setting', maybe I just missed it...)
That link is very useful, thanks for that. The chart of FPS for different cards is very helpful in gauging what performance I would expect to get with different cards and confirms that my current 2GB card would almost certainly not be able to handle it. I guess this is for the max. detail settings, which could probably be turned down if I wanted to boost the FPS.
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Themken: One year ago I bought an RX 580 for use in Linux at what would be around $135 in the USA. For that price and a year ago I thought it was a good buy for my low budget. It has been working fine for me with tiny glitches on the open drivers. The other drivers may be better. I see you can easily cut back 50W of the power draw and only loose a little speed but I did not bother, yet. I cannot recommend such an old card unless you really can get it dirt cheap and are on a tight budget as it is quite far behind in both features, not only RT, and power.
That seems like a very good price. Right now I'm seeing RX 580s going new for around $200. If you wouldn't recommend it, can I ask what card you would recommend for someone with a budget of ~$200?
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clarry: I just got myself a 5600XT, which cost about the same as my RX480 did in 2017. It's a decent upgrade, so yeah I wouldn't be looking at RX480 or RX580 unless you get them dirt cheap. If you're on a budget, second hand is probably something you should consider. I think people are going to be selling their old GPUs once NVidia and AMD manage to ship enough of their 3000 and 6000 series chips, so you can probably score an affordable 2000 series or 5000 series GPU that's been used for a year or two.
Thanks for your advice. I'm not sure about buying a GPU second-hand though. It's hard to know what it's been used for and quite a lot of money, if it turns out to be toasted.
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samuraigaiden: A 580 is not a bad 1080p card, but honestly I'd try to get something more recent like a GTX 1660.

Also, you probably want to start looking around for i7-3770 prices. Those 4 extra threads will make a big difference in newer games.
Ok. Thanks for the advice on the CPU as well.
Post edited November 23, 2020 by Time4Tea
Posted November 23, 2020
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Time4Tea:
Do you have anything like this price comparision website in the USA? https://www.pricerunner.com/ The lowest prices are sometimes at shops/sellers who you should avoid though. I suggest you try to mainly look for cards that support at least everything new but ray-tracing as I am afraid any capable RT is outside your budget.

Anyone you know who are changing cards and willing to sell you their old one for a reasonable sum? Ask around!

Now this week the shops have started with their good Dump-Out-the-Old-Crap Friday offers. You can often get excellent prices on old things they have too much of. Problem is, previous generation is still selling due to the non-existant availability of the new generation (Nvidia 3000/AMD 6000 series) of graphics cards.

Found the same card I have (with 8GB of VRAM) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711QH8ZS?tag=hwcompare-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

Sadly two hundred dollars will not get you a super powerful card. Remeber that Nvidia are slower on Linux so if an AMD and an Nvidia card are about equal in Windows, the AMD wins in Linux. I really hope Nvidia gets their act together and improves but I see no signs of it happening.

What I would try to get:
The low end models of the new generation.... not yet launched.
AMD 5600XT (as Clarry suggested)
Nvidia GT 1660 Ti > GT 1660 S > GT 1660

Perhaps there is a super offer for an AMD 5700, AMD RX 5500 XT 8GB (do NOT consider 4GB models with your motherboard!), AMD Vega 56, Nvidia GTX 1070 Ti > GTX 1070, Nvidia RTX 2060
If you find any of those above for 200 or less I would suspect it to be a s-y model that needs tweaking or underclocking to work well.

Remember to check the graphics card has the connection type you need or look for adapters or converters and factor in the cost of them too.
Post edited November 23, 2020 by Themken
Posted November 23, 2020
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Time4Tea: Hey, I have to say that Horizon Zero Dawn looks super cool and is probably the first 'new'(ish) game that I've actually been excited about for quite a long time. So, I am tempted to use it as a good excuse to upgrade my rig so I can play it.

Right now I have a desktop with a core i5-3330, 8 GB of RAM and an NVidia GTX 1050 (2 GB), which seems like its a bit below the minimum specs. I use Linux, so the first thing will probably be to wait and make sure the game is confirmed to run reliably in Wine/Proton.

I play on a 1920x1080 monitor and I'm not going to be after max. graphics settings. All I really want is to be able to play newer games with a reasonable FPS. The GTX 1050 has been a great card and tbh, I feel like I haven't really even tested its limits. Although I haven't tried playing any very recent games - the most demanding thing I have played on it is probably Oblivion, which is obviously pretty old by now.

So, I could give HZD a try on the GTX 1050, but I suspect it would be a bit of a stretch with only 2GB of VRAM and might not be a pleasant experience. So, I am looking at a Radeon RX 580/590 as a replacement. I have been keen to switch to Radeon for some time, as I like to support the underdog and they seem to have better support for free software drivers in Linux, which I like. These GPUs also seem to be great value and my upgrade budget is not very big (probably ~$200 max). They seem to be some of the best value GPUs at the moment, according to this site and a few places seem to have them for ~$200.

So, I am wondering if anyone has any experience with these cards - are they good value? Would this upgrade make sense? Is it likely this would allow me to play newer games with reasonable settings for the next 3-4 years?

It would probably be good if I could upgrade my RAM as well to 16GB, so I might keep an eye on the Black Friday and/or January sales, to see if I can spot any good deals.
Should work just fine, if you lower some settings. Here, check some benchmarks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMzjDomkDMA

Something like a 5600xt would be a great fit, depending on your budget. I think that AMD is working really hard to get the software side of things fixed. Go for it, bud.
Post edited November 23, 2020 by Lionel212008
Posted November 23, 2020
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Time4Tea: Hey, I have to say that Horizon Zero Dawn looks super cool and is probably the first 'new'(ish) game that I've actually been excited about for quite a long time. So, I am tempted to use it as a good excuse to upgrade my rig so I can play it.

Right now I have a desktop with a core i5-3330, 8 GB of RAM and an NVidia GTX 1050 (2 GB), which seems like its a bit below the minimum specs. I use Linux, so the first thing will probably be to wait and make sure the game is confirmed to run reliably in Wine/Proton.
Word of warning, HZD is known to run worse on Nvidia in Linux. Even the developer of vkd3d and dxvk said this - source.

The RX580 is a great choice for that budget, you might also want to consider the RX 5500XT (8GB Model) for a similar price and performs a bit better in some games. I'm running the latter on my 2nd Linux system, haven't had any issues and performs as I expect it.

I find the AMD drivers to be more stable and Mesa offers better flexibility. I'm saying this as an Nvidia RTX 2060S user waiting to get rid of it in favor of a AMD 6800XT (whenever they're available). Simply put, the card never gave me issues but the drivers are a hassle to maintain and update.
Posted November 23, 2020
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Ganni1987: Word of warning, HZD is known to run worse on Nvidia in Linux. Even the developer of vkd3d and dxvk said this - source.
*Sigh* Thanks for mentioning this, as it happens I was planning to give it a go at launch without double checking what performance levels to expect... Nvidia Linux drivers have been going down a black pit of inconsistency lately, that much is certain.
Posted November 23, 2020
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Time4Tea:
At the moment I have here a GTX 1050 2Gb, my old used and abused Rx480 (is the same as Rx580) and a GTX 1650 (non-super).
From the youtube videos, it seems the 1050 can delivery roughly 30fps on lower settings so anything like a Rx580 or GTX 1650 Super will be good enough.

My opinion on the RX580? Is expensive for a 4 year old card with 200€ launch price... But then again, all cards are more expensive than in the past, so there's that...

Since you are using Linux, the AMD drivers seem good enough and not having to install nVidia proprietary means you can change the GPU (even for integrated Intel) all you want without any problem. However, last time I checked there were still some rough edges, like no hardware decoding on 4k videos, e.g. youtube using the vp9 codec, it's been a while since I last checked though.
Keep in mind that OpenGL performance is not great either, compared to nVidia and even intel, this may also be better nowadays.

All in all is a ok card, that uses a lot of power compared to modern cards and this means you must have a "beefy" power supply, At least with 30amps on the 12V rail is around the mininum to be safe (providing the supply is not made of chinesium).
My choice would be a GTX 1650 Super every day (twice on Sundays) or a 1660 Super for a shigtly higher cost.
Avoid used AMD cards.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionAdvice on GPU upgrade(37 posts)(37 posts)
(37 posts)