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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 23, 2020
A more personal note Using the RX480 (again, its the same as the RX580) for 4 years:

The 480/580 are setup like a highly overclocked card (wich they are) well outside it's efficiency peak, that's why you see so many post regarding underclocking and undervolting. When properly setup they can run against nVidia 10series in efficiency and performance. This is very easy to do in Windows through software, not sure if there are any tools for Linux (used mainly for mining) or the BIOS need reflashing.
AMD video decoders/encoders are not very efficient, at all.
Some games wont work on RX480 as well as comparable nVidia cards. Things have improved a little in the past years but older games, like Kings Bounty the Legend or Populous 3 (those are the ones I tested some fixes without avail.) wont run properly, at least on my setup.
Avoid blower type designs like the reference one. They are no good for a typical "gaming" desktop, since those cards use considerable power, they also produce a lot of heat and "blower" type coolers are loud.

This have to be the most successful card in ATI/AMD history, they were sold like hot cakes and made AMD a freaking metric ton of money.
Posted November 23, 2020
Probably best to buy a PS4 if you want to play HZD.
Posted November 23, 2020
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samuraigaiden: Also, you probably want to start looking around for i7-3770 prices. Those 4 extra threads will make a big difference in newer games.
+1
Keep in mind there is not much "gaming" difference from a i7 3770 k and non-k variant but the used price might be quite different.
The i7 3770 has better virtualization support then the k variant.
If you have a weak graphic card, you can lower the resolution, not ideal but playable. nothing you can do about a weak CPU.
Post edited November 23, 2020 by Dark_art_
Posted November 23, 2020
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Themken:
Ok, thanks again for the detailed advice.

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Lionel212008: 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.
Thanks, that video is very helpful, to see how well it would actually run. It looks pretty fricking good to me on 1080p with that card.

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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.

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.
Yeah, this is another reason why I am keen to switch to AMD, as I have heard their newer cards tend to run better on Linux than NVidia. I agree the RX580 looks good, although it seems the 5500XT would be a noticeably better card, if I can stretch my budget a bit more.

I think what I will probably do is wait for now; make sure the game runs ok on Linux; and see if prices come down over the next few months, once the newer generation of cards become more widespread. Hopefully at some point Guerilla will release a patch to provide better optimization on PC as well.
Posted November 23, 2020
at (sub) $200 you're looking for 5500 xt. 580 is the day before yesterday.
Also 5500 should run cooler.
Post edited November 23, 2020 by osm
Posted November 23, 2020
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Dark_art_:
Thanks for your advice as well. It sounds like I would be better off with a newer 5500XT, if I can find a good deal.

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Strijkbout: Probably best to buy a PS4 if you want to play HZD.
Yeah, that is probably what Sony wants me to do. Perhaps that is part of their strategy: release it poorly optimized on PC, so people figure they may as well buy a PS5, rather than buying an expensive new GPU. He he ;-)
Posted November 23, 2020
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Strijkbout: Probably best to buy a PS4 if you want to play HZD.
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Time4Tea: Yeah, that is probably what Sony wants me to do. Perhaps that is part of their strategy: release it poorly optimized on PC, so people figure they may as well buy a PS5, rather than buying an expensive new GPU. He he ;-)
If you want to cut Sony out of the equasion buy 2nd hand.
Now everyone is running to get a PS5, PS4 prices will drop and so will the games.
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.
I went from a 1050Ti to a 1060 3 gb, which was on one hand quite disappointing but on the other pretty much rewarding since it could handle higher graphical loads, after the 1060 the next card was a 2060super which is a pretty cool card. On 1080p it is pretty much superior, though the rx 5700 ( xt ) or the newest amd release might be more worthwile both in cost and performance but if you plan on nvidia i belief the 2060 super is currently a very good 1080p offer.

also, just upgraded to a 2k screen and most games behave pretty much admirable, though my 10600k might have something to do with that as well. I belief, as long as your aim is 60 fps you are good with the card, could even try out some rtx games if you like since DLSS is a incredible feature and you might even delay the extra ram purchase since the 8 gb's from the 2060 super takes a lot out of the hands of the system your using.

still, as mentioned earlier, a ps5 or xbox x are also good contenders for your gaming entertainment replacements
Posted November 23, 2020
Hmm ... the 5600XT looks like it would be a much more powerful card, if I could stretch my budget, or find a good deal. Why does it seem to invariably come with only 6GB of VRAM though?

Video here of someone playing it on my current card (GTX 1050 2GB): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMgDjbBEgQ. They're getting 25-30 FPS and it hardly looks unplayable.
Post edited November 23, 2020 by Time4Tea
Posted November 23, 2020
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Time4Tea: Hmm ... the 5600XT looks like it would be a much more powerful card, if I could stretch my budget, or find a good deal.
Yup, that's what I wanted to suggest you. Or maybe wait a couple of months and see how prices will go.

Here's a page with relative performance against other GPUs and a list with 5600 XT cards. If you decide getting an AMD GPU card, look for Sapphire and then PowerColor. But do check some reviews first, whatever brand/model you'll get.


Edit: The Best Radeon RX 5600 XT? Final Roundup, (Almost) Every Card Tested!

Attached a pic with how to easily find lots of reviews.
Attachments:
reviews.png (84 Kb)
Post edited November 24, 2020 by ariaspi
Posted November 23, 2020
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Time4Tea: They're getting 25-30 FPS and it hardly looks unplayable.
No dynamic shadows whatsoever on low... gotta say, that's pretty harsh though. I'd aim at something that can get me playable framerates on medium at least.
Posted November 24, 2020
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Time4Tea: Hmm ... the 5600XT looks like it would be a much more powerful card, if I could stretch my budget, or find a good deal. Why does it seem to invariably come with only 6GB of VRAM though?
5600 has a 192 bit memory bus, so it can 'only' have multiple of 3GB for its memory config. Think of it as vehicles driving down a highway, there's no point trying to drive 8 cars abreast down a 6 line highway, 6 is more efficient. A 5500XT can have 8GB which is more, but that is 8 cars driving one behind each other on a 4 lane (128 bit) highway, a 5700 with a 256 bit bus can drive 8 cars down an 8 lane highway. Bigger buses are hotter and take up more space, so they're generally smaller on cheaper cards.

Given your other specifications I'd advise checking your Power Supply Unit too before making any decision. Many 1050s can draw power directly from the PCIe slot, none of the cards you're talking about can and require additional 6 or 8 pin power connectors. You'd need to check that it has enough wattage rating (it should, none of those cards are huge power hogs) but also that you still have any required connectors.
Posted November 24, 2020
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ariaspi:
That's really helpful info, thanks!

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Phasmid: Given your other specifications I'd advise checking your Power Supply Unit too before making any decision. Many 1050s can draw power directly from the PCIe slot, none of the cards you're talking about can and require additional 6 or 8 pin power connectors. You'd need to check that it has enough wattage rating (it should, none of those cards are huge power hogs) but also that you still have any required connectors.
This is a very good point, thanks. Yes, from what I recall, the GTX 1050 gets its power from the slot, so I will definitely need to check what connectors my PSU has available. Otherwise, a PSU upgrade is going to add to the overall upgrade cost. I know I need to also check I have the right slot for it and that it will fit in my case.

Thanks for the info on the VRAM as well, that is interesting.

I think what I will do for now is wait and watch. See how well the game runs in Linux and see if the GPU prices come down over the next several months. What I might do is buy the game sooner and give it a try with my current card. If it seems passable, I'll just play it; if it is bad, I'll put it on the backburner until I upgrade the GPU.
Posted November 24, 2020
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Time4Tea:
Looking at online videos it seems you'll have trouble to hit 60fps with current CPU, just something to consider.

Youtube link, not necessarily the same CPU model but close enough
Post edited November 24, 2020 by Dark_art_
Posted November 24, 2020
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Time4Tea:
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Dark_art_: Looking at online videos it seems you'll have trouble to hit 60fps with current CPU, just something to consider.

Youtube link, not necessarily the same CPU model but close enough
Ok, thanks for the link. Yeah, I'm not expecting I will get 60 FPS, even with a new GPU. I know my whole system is old and really needs a full upgrade, but I don't have the money for that atm. So, I will have to make do with trying to hit the main bottlenecks in priority order. I'd say that is probably:

1. GPU 2GB --> 6/8 GB
2. RAM 8GB --> 16GB
3. CPU/motherboard

Does that sound about right?
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionAdvice on GPU upgrade(37 posts)(37 posts)
(37 posts)