Reckon its time for a new graphics card :(

Damo 2k9

Howyas lads, back at the start of 2013 ye' were all kind enough to help me build my first PC (well apart from college) and now im back to try get some more help :P

After downloading GTA (and noticing it in other games) ive noticed that ive not been getting the frames I want, now I know that as time goes on I knew it was going to happen.

Currently have a Sapphire 7850 2gb, 8gb ram with an i5 3470, and ive only a 450W PSU aswell so chances are ill have to upgrade to a 500/550W, correct?

Been a while since ive looked at parts etc, ive been fairly happy up till now.

Thanks in advance for the help lads!

Digital Solitude

Budget?

How are your settings for the game, can't imagine it's too far off Medium 60fps?

Gumbi

Your card should be OK at mid settings tbh. Have you overclocked it? No doubt you'd get a nice boost from that.

Eoinmc97

Budget >€200
Don't bother. The R9 270X is essentially a re-branded version of your card.
Budget ~€200
The GTX 960 is ok, but with such a small bus width, the card can only lay claim to it's good frames due to superb optimisation by nVidia.
On the AMD side, the R9 285 is slightly more inclined to be better with a 256bit bus, so minimun frames will be high.
Budget €220
If you can find a R9 280X, then buy it. Excellent value and easily capable of 1080p gaming. No need to upgrade PSU here.
Budget €270
The R9 290 is an awesome card for it's price, which excels at 1440p gaming.
Budget €340
GTX 970 hands down for that Maxwell architecture. No need to upgrade PSU for this one.

If you want to wait, AMD unveiled the R9 300 series today, which will offer new architectures.

TerrorFirmer

The 270X is a fair bit faster than the 7850, it's not a re-brand. It's closer to the original 7950.

I think the best value card in the mid-range is the 280X, and in the upper range the R9 290 offers the best price to performance ratio - heavier on power though. I wouldn't use it with a 450W PSU unless it was a very good quality PSU. Any half decent 450w PSU is fine for the 280x or gtx970.

Damo 2k9

Sorry for lack of reply lads..

On the framerate, I wasnt running a program to keep track of it but it was noticeably worse then what im used to playing, even with most settings turned down as im more performance over prettiness

As far as budget goes, id wouldnt want to go too mad on it, sub 200 if at all possible! How much do 7850s go for these days?? I could sell it on, or even trade it into CEX off another card (280X as TF recommended)

Id rather not get a new PSU if I could get away with it, ive a SuperFlower Amazon 450W (80 plus) so would I get away with that for a 280X? And would I get much of a improvement? A lot of questions I know, ive been out of this forum for a long, long time (I got a PS4...)

Thanks again lads, appreciate the help.

Digital Solitude

7850s are worth about €120 second hand from what I've seen lads listing

Second hand 280x is €195 in CEX, handles most games close to ultra at 60fps

Gumbi

Digital Solitude wrote: »

7850s are worth about €120 second hand from what I've seen lads listing

Second hand 280x is €195 in CEX, handles most games close to ultra at 60fps

I wouldn't pay 120 for a 7850. I sold my quality non reference 7950 for 135 about 4-5 months ago. I'd pay 100 at most for a 7850.

OP, I'd go with the deal suggested above, or have a look on adverts for a 280x/7970 second hand.

Your PSU should be fine.

Digital Solitude

I may have mistaken it for the 7950 then.

Check out prices on adverts anyways OP, to get a feel

Damo 2k9

Thanks lads, yous are a great help. I reckon ill sell my 7850 and move up to a 280X, one of the lads works in Cex and I think he mentioned something about a 15% discount (I think) and if none left there ill grab one off adverts!

TerrorFirmer

Yeah at this point I wouldn't pay more than 75-80 for a 7850. CEX sell the 2GB model for 105 with a 12 month warranty for example and the 1GB model for 85.

The going rate for the 270X is around €120 and that's a much better card.

CEX have one 280X in stock so get a move on

They also have several 7970's in stock for €185 which isn't bad if you want the 12 month warranty - in my opinion it's great to have that peace of mind.

Also, the 280X is pretty much just a 7970 re branded anyway.

Damo 2k9

Right lads this had to be put on the back foot for a while because of a few things, but im able to order one now. Want to get one fairly soon, budget still around 200, not really any more. Even a small improvement over a 7850 would do me tbh, it looks like its between a 270X and a 280X from what I can see? I only have 450W PSU (Amazon Super Flower 80plus bronze) so im not sure if ill need a new one depending on the card I get.
Thanks again for the help lads, this PC is what I built a few year back from the help of this forum

Digital Solitude

450w is grand for a 280X so I wouldn't worry there.

SterlingArcher

Again make sure it has enough pci connections for the card.

Damo 2k9

Yep checked that, seem to be good to go.

I know I can get a 280x for around 200 used, but anywhere im looking is over 200 new? I want to buy new, bit weird like that, so would there be anything close to the performance of the 280X for around the sub-200 mark? If needs be I can go over, but looking to get a few more new bits so would like to keep cost down if possible, thanks.

TerrorFirmer

CEX sell the HD7970 pre-owned for €185, with a 12 month warranty. That is basically a 280X, they just rebranded it to the 280X.

Otherwise you'll have to buy a new 280X or GTX960. If you really want to stay sub-200 just get a cheap GTX950 for about 180, it's not that far behind.

You should get €70 for your 7850.

Damo 2k9

GTX 960 seems to be bit cheaper then the 280X, performance wise would there be much of a drop? I really am clueless when it comes to GPUS, so excuse the silly questions haha.

TerrorFirmer

They are the same price really, obviously various brands cost different amounts but the cheapest and most expensive models of either would be pretty much the same. I'd prefer the 960 because Nvidia have better driver support and use less power.

Damo 2k9

Right thats grand, ill go with the 960 so! Any specific brands to stay away from? Thanks again for the help, really appreciate it!