GPU Quandry

marathonic

I've never really been a big fan of gaming but I AM a fan of a bargain.

For this reason, I purchased the recent Humble Bundle which included the following titles (for less than 4 euro):

Dead Space
Dead Space 3
Crysis 2 Maximum Edition
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box
Medal of Honor
Mirror’s Edge
The Sims 3 + Starter Pack
Battlefield 3
Command and Conquer:Red Alert 3 - Uprising
Populous

Now I'm in a bit of a quandry, having recently completed a Haswell PC Build - built around the i5-4570 processor.

As I wasn't into gaming before, I didn't bother a GPU - but I did get a decent enough PSU should I decide to upgrade.

Of the games above, I've tried Burnout Paradise and Command & Conquer using the on-board Intel Graphics HD 4600. The results are pretty acceptable to me.

On reading online comments (I haven't downloaded all the games yet to try), Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3 will be a waste of time using on-board graphics.

So my dilemma is, as a non-gamer, do I purchase a cheap GPU to try them all out? I've looked at this one which I can have delivered to my work in Northern Ireland for 78 euro.

Some reviews even say that Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3 won't run well on the 7700 so I may be better just playing the games that do run well for now and, if I get the gaming bug, look for a GPU a few classes above the 7700 at that point.

game4it70

I had a Amd 5770 which is slightly weaker than a 7770 in the family pc and it ran Bf3 well on a 1080p screen.
The graphic options where on auto but it looked good and ran well when i watched my son playing it.

Kagawa10

Decent card to run games on medium to high settings. Don;t be expecting great frames per second though.

Kagawa10

Where did you get all those games for 4 euro :eek:

marathonic

Kagawa10 wrote: »

Where did you get all those games for 4 euro :eek:

Thanks for the responses everyone....

It's better than that - it was a 4 euro donation to the American Red Cross got all the games for free

It's over now unfortunately....

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/humble-origin-bundle-sims-3-battlefield-3-dead-space-3-more-ess-1631695

game4it70

Kagawa10 wrote: »

Where did you get all those games for 4 euro :eek:

https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly

Gumbi

If you want some keys for it I probably still have some unused ones from it.

Kagawa10

Gumbi wrote: »

If you want some keys for it I probably still have some unused ones from it.

yea plz

Icepick

What resolution do you use?
AMD 7790 should be enough for you

TerrorFirmer

7770 is respectable. I used one to run BF3 single player at 1080p at high settings fine. Online might require a slight dial down but it does run respectably on a 7770, if you're only looking for an affordable way to play those games at decent visual levels, it's a good buy.

BloodBath

I'd spend a little more and go for the 7790 1gb.

amurph0

I have all those games and my 6870 runs them all fine at highest settings at 1080p (with AA turned off for some of them). A 6870 is about the same as a 7790, which you can pick up for about €100-120. A 7770 would do the job as well, slightly weaker then the 7790 but you can get one for about €80-90.

And just so you know, AMD's HD9000 series is meant to be coming out in October (they're skipping the HD8000 name). So the 7790's successor the 9790 should be out shortly after they release the higher end cards, which means the HD7000 series prices will drop a bit.

marathonic

I decided to add to the budget a little and just ordered a 7870.

The Pixmania free shipping ends today and the NEWPIXIE 5% discount code starts tomorrow. However, they've activated the discount code early and you can now get the 7870 for €142.41 including shipping.

I also ordered via http://www.fatcheese.ie/ which gets €3.66 cashback. I'm happy enough to spend €138.75 after cashback for that card. It's only 60 euro extra on top of the 7770 I was looking at - less than the cost of a night out

TerrorFirmer

Damn, just made an order myself on Pix because of the free delivery and 5%, forgot about the cashback!