Another vote for the GTX 960

If you are on the low 200 € range and don't want to change the PSU, that's probably your best choice. I had a 7870 which died this summer and replaced it with the asus 960. I am very happy with it and, even if it could be cheaper, it's the sweetspot for me.
And now that it is ~30 € less (the ASUS model, 199€ at a spanish shop, which I think is adecuate) I'd get it.

Unless you need a more powerful model or prefer an AMD solution (I looked at this and you might look the r9 380, but I have sworn off of ati, so couldn't help you there), I think you should look into getting this one.

A lower budget option would be a 950 or 750 Ti, but if your card works, I can't really see them an improvement, as their performance is very similar.


tl;dr: I think the 960 is what you are looking for.

Lemme check...

# hwinfo --short|grep sd
/dev/sda WDC WD5000AAKS-2
/dev/sdb WDC WD5000AAKS-2

oh, shi- !!!

You're telling me now, when I've decided to wait. I'll keep it in mind, though, and still appreciate the reply. (No tl;dr necessary, btw, when someone takes the time to reply to my question, I better take the time to read it, eh.)

o.ô?

forget all about upgrading your PSU, you don't need to upgrade it. So don't waste your money on it!
I run an i5+gtx960 with a seasonic gold 360W and it's rock solid. I'm sure it'll run with a gtx980ti / 1080 too if I really wanted.

as far as what videocard to buy, your probably best bet is the new amd 480 at $200. Or if you prefer nvidia then wait for the inevitable price drop or the new gtx1060

gl!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3077432/components-graphics/polaris-confirmed-amds-200-radeon-card-will-bring-high-end-graphics-to-the-masses.html

Wait for this and get high power for little money (maybe). Hope it lives up to the hype.

Yeah, I agree with waiting. Sorting out a new PSU should be priority in the meantime.

But the thing is, going by past experience, the 10 series is probably going to be the most cost effective option. For instance, if you're considering the 960 then you'll probably find the 1050 cheaper. Which is undoubtedly going to be a better, less power hungry version of the same damn card.

Of course there's a lot of speculation in that. I'm not interested in doing any research into the matter as I'm also playing the waiting game right now. But generally that's how it goes with Nvidia cards. So I doubt it will be much different this time around.

That's --

... confusing.


That 480 sounds good, though if my PSU really isn't enough, I can't. In which case I'd wait for those new cards to come out, which would hopefully mean a price drop for older ones. Waiting game it is either way.

A lot of people exaggerate the psu wattage because they just don't know any better.
Trust me, for gtx960/rx480/gtx1060 you wont need to upgrade your existing (brand) psu.

IT IS enough.

I have to chime in here and recommend you stay FAR away from the fx-6300 if you want to play anything newer or that can only use a couple cores. I had to upgrade from it just last month because games from 2014 "shadow of mordor" "the crew" ect. Require a more powerful processor than the fx-6300.

You should get a 750w power supply and as Mike said a 750 or a 950. But I highly suggest spending a few more dollars and getting an i5, even if its last gen. Cause I just upgraded to the 8 core 4.0 8350, but the skylake i5 4 core 3.2ghz beats it alot in single core, and even by a little in multi core, with no hyperthreading. I upgraded to the fx 6300 from a phenom 2 1100T, and the 6300 is actually a tad bit worse for gaming. Its just not a good chip. The 8350 is passable because of high core count and stock clock speeds.


In fact, the 6300 i took out is sitting in the 8350 box now, only a little over 1 year of use on it. The 8350 is about 33% more powerful than the 6300. I highly recommend spending the extra 50 bucks if you are dead set on an amd processor.
If you need a new case as people say you need one. Look into the Thermaltake Overseer and Chaser MK-1. They are both fantastic cases for airflow/cable management. And are not very expensive at all.

Yeah, sorry. For clarity, it's not really just about wattage. I've not heard of be quiet! before. I've looked them up and they seem to exist at the cheaper end of the spectrum. That sets off alarm bells. This is from experience here: You need a decent PSU no matter what you intend to do with the system. Gaming just makes it all the more important.

Plus there's the issue of rails - a PSU at the cheaper end of the spectrum might not have the rails a higher end GPU needs. If that's the case then all the wattage in the world won't make a difference. You won't be able to power the card.

Of course, further research might reveal that be quiet bucks the trend and is a rock solid option with a proven track record and has all the rails a man could need. If that's the case then ignore me.

If you only have the one hard drive as you've listed, it will be fine.

Remember, it's not really the watts that matter but rather the amps on the 12v rail.

It's the cheap and shitty $20 Yum Cha 1000 watt PSUs that struggle and cause issues.

Your PSU is a quality brand, it shouldn't have any problems in a basic system.

Dude, he's not looking to run three of the buggers in SLI. 500W is more than enough for a single GPU system, regardless of what the GPU is. Making sure it's got the necessary rails and isn't a cheap piece of crap is infinitely more important than having an extra 450W going spare for a rainy day.

Hey, I'd love to, but you have to consider that I really, really don't have any knowledge of my own in that regard, so when different people tell me different things and I have no reason to not believe any of them, it adds to my default confusion.

And then someone else comes along and drags my CPU into it as well.

Ah. Ha. :<
Could I even, physically? I think I have an AM3+ socket?

They seem to be at least decent, but of course, that is once again only based on recommendations. I'm at least aware that wattage isn't everything and even then 400W may be a little on the low side.

Now that would just be silly, wouldn't it.
I do, though I'm painfully aware that sooner or later I'll have to win the lottery and upgrade that as well, or add some kind of baby SSD.

That is good news.

Yeah i brought the cpu into it. I struggled with the fx-6300 for over a year before having to upgrade. Im just trying to help someone from making the same mistakes. You sure dont need a 750w. But if you get a gtx 950, later you could add another when the prices on them drop in the dirt and get more life out of it. For a marginal increase in price in psu. You can get an rx750 corsair for 100 bucks. And that is rated gold also.

Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

No. But an AM3+ socket leaves you with a lot of very cost effective upgrade options that also have some real overclocking potential without adding too much to heat and system wear and tear.

There is a definite question about where the expense of upgrading will ever end. But ideally you want a balanced system. You've got a balanced system right now and spending all your money on jamming a powerful GPU in there is not going to get you the best results.

I'd only recommend that if you're planning on getting a whole new system and simply want to get the GPU for that new system now and use it in your current rig. If that's what you've got planned then fair enough. If not then you might want to look at spreading your money over a more balanced array of upgrade options. Which from a power point of view in your case principally revolves around the CPU and GPU.

Yeah, forget that then. I just get twitchy when it comes to budget PSUs. Just check the rail requirements of the card you wind up going for, which should be available on the manufactuer's site.

EDIT: looking into it, Phenom 2 is pretty much the peak CPU type your board can house. The problem you might have there is that those aren't made any more. Which means that new ones might be more expensive than they once were and therefore a good refurbished CPU from a reliable source would be about the only cost effective option and that's not without risk. Still, it could be an option if you can find something somewhere - maybe locally?