During the pandemic, I rebuilt my computer but with GPU prices being insanely inflated, I decided to limp along with my old GPU (a GeForce GTX 760). The issue is that I have a 4k monitor and my current card can barely handle my desktop, never mind a game.

I have heard that prices are coming back down to a sane level, so I am looking for part suggestions. I am not looking to play new games or ultra high settings, but I would want to at least be able to handle older/indie games, on medium settings, at a steady 30 FPS.

Current parts: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DhFPy4

  • @Aceticon
    5•4 months ago

    Keep in mind two things:

    • That board is PCI Express v3, so assuming your motherboard is the same, there are some newer graphics cards with PCI Express v4 that, although backwards compatible, won’t perform quite as well in a motherboard with only v3 as they do in their benchmarks. This depends on the game: roughly the higher the number of vertices on screen the worst the impact of it running on a lower speed bus than it’s capable of.
    • That board has a TDP (roughly how much power it uses) of 170W. From what I’ve seen recently, that’s actually on the mid-low range of power consumption. Some cards out there can be real monsters using something like 350W. Higher power consumption means more demands from you PC power source (which itself has a maximum power it can supply, and whi lst the one ypu have is surelly fine for what you have, it might not be enough if you get a card that consumes 200W more). Also more power consumed means more heat being emitted, so more fans running for longer and harder, hence more noise. So take it into account.

    I’m currently upgrading my own GTX 1050 Ti mostly because I need more GPU memory to run Stable Diffusion locally and ended up just getting an RTX 3500 in part chosen because its TDP isn’t much higher (the GTX 1500 Ti was maybe one of the best desktop boards ever in terms of GPU power per Watt and had a TDP of 70W(!)), partly because it’s v3 so “only” one PCI generation beyond my motherboard (which is v2) and partly because my entire rig is old and near end-of-life and I’m just doing a short-term upgrade until I put together whole new rig (and I’m tempeted to get a Mini-PC whe AMD finally gets around to making a suitable CPU core with their new and very promising 960m GPU core available to generic Mini PC makers) and thus refuse to spend tons of money on a card meant to be a temporary thing so that I can run advance AI engines now.

    Beyond this and more in general, as always remember that the performance per dollar curve peaks at cards somewhere in the mid consumer levels - buy a high end monster and you’ll be paying a lot more for only a tiny bit more performance and it’s probably going to be something that uses a lot more power (higher end stuff tends to run at higher clock speeds) hence put out more heat and be more noisy. It’s seldom worth it to spend a ton on top of the range IMHO, as with the same money you could get a good card now PLUS in a few years get a good card then which will beat present day top of the range cards (whilst consuming a fraction of the power and making a fraction of the noise).

    My recommendation is that you look in one of the many comparison sites out there at their “value” (I.e. performance / price) charts and limit yourself to PCI Express v3 boards unless you’re planning on updating your motherboard and CPU at a later date whilst keeping the card (or it already supports v4).