New video card?

[csc]

I want to get my son a new video card ,for xmas, for his pc...

amd fx 4130 quad 3.8
4 gig ram
bfg 450 psu
8800gts
40" 1080p lcd

He games a lot on it. What card should I get? Price range is subjective to what I need to spend to see a good performance boost. Some of his games get low frames and it can be annoying. I may also get 4 gig more ram????

Thanks for the help.

 

[kawi6rr]

NewEgg has the Saphire R9 290's for $250 which I just picked up. This price as just way to good to pass up.This gaphics card would give you son some major boost in gaming, more then he probably needs but the price is to good.

 

[csc]

I don't get any return when I search that on the egg.

 

[Actaeon]

He is likely referring to this card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202080

It is a good one. $250 is a good deal. This cooler is one of the best for this card. Also comes with 4 games, though AMD is doing a piss poor job of supporting people having trouble with the codes.

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=468&threadid=181371&enterthread=y

 

[csc]

Has a lot of bad reviews on new egg. May be a bit more then we need. Any other opinions?

 

[Actaeon]

4 out of 5 eggs is bad? Ok

 

[nurturedhate]

I really wouldn't go much faster than a 280 like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131570

It is 170.99 after the instant discount code. 140 after the 30 rebate. Probably the best value for the money atm.

 

[Leyawiin]

An R9 290 would be total overkill for that system and he'd need a new power supply. An R9 280 / GTX 760 does make more sense, but given the power supply is a BFG brand it must be at least four years old and is only 450W. Probably need to replace it before upgrading.

 

[TemjinGold]

What games is your son playing?

 

[frozentundra123456]

An R9 290 would be total overkill for that system and he'd need a new power supply. An R9 280 / GTX 760 does make more sense, but given the power supply is a BFG brand it must be at least four years old and is only 450W. Probably need to replace it before upgrading.

Yea, I agree. Even something like a 270 or 270x would be a good improvement, but would probably require a new PSU to be safe.

A GTX 750Ti would be a nice step up and would not require a PSU replacement.

Is this a prebuilt computer or one you built yourself? Is there space in the case for a long GPU? Honestly, that CPU is not a gaming powerhouse, so a mid-level card is probably as high as would be useful.

 

[SlickR12345]

Definately get additional 4GB of ram. That would be around $40. As far as GPU I'd go for AMD R9270x for that system. Its about $180-$190 right now

I think a R9 280 might be okay as well, but anything more would probably need a better PSU as well and that CPU might start to bottleneck the performance.

 

[csc]

4 out of 5 eggs is bad? Ok

The first handful give 4 stars but complain of black screen problems.



He plays rome total war2 and it gets pretty choppy, a bunch more im not sure what they all are. I built the pc, its all in a antec p180.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Can't an R9 270 be easily overclocked to R9 270x levels? Thought I read that in a review at Tom's Hardware. I'd go for an R9 270 (newegg has a PowerCooler one for $140 up front with a $30 mail in rebate) and a nice 500-550W power supply, like the XFX TS 550W or the Seasonic S12II 620 (it's like $4 more than the 520W version at newegg). I know it's a little overkill (Antec VP 450 could save you a few bucks), but it's always nice to have a power supply that can last a long time. Rosewill Capstone 550 (or even Capstone 450) is another really nice PSU.

 

[escrow4]

The first handful give 4 stars but complain of black screen problems.



He plays rome total war2 and it gets pretty choppy, a bunch more im not sure what they all are. I built the pc, its all in a antec p180.

That CPU would be badly bottlenecking any half decent card. In Rome 2:

http://gamegpu.ru/rts-/-strategii/total-war-rome-ii-patch-2-test-gpu.html

 

[frozentundra123456]

Maybe, Rome TW definitely favors intel. However, I am sure there would be considerable improvement with any modern mid-range video card moving up from an 8800 GTS. If nothing else, he could crank up the visuals now and use the card later if he does a full system upgrade.

 

[JeffMD]

If you stuck with what you got there, I would get the 750gtx because it will give you as much performance as the cpu will possibly give you and work with your current PSU. Otherwise it is time for a new PC. I wouldn't even worry about upgrading the RAM, you couldn't carry the ddr2 memory over to the new ddr3 based system anyways.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

If you go that route though get the GTX 750 Ti instead of the GTX 750, since you get 2GB RAM with the Ti.

 

[thejohnfist]

If you do decide to go the 750 route, I've got a GTX 750 for sale(asking $90 shipped), new in box. Got it as part of a combo deal on Newegg but already had a better card for the setup.

If he's still running an 8800, you've got a lot of room there for growth, and I'm sure he'd appreciate any.

 

[csc]

If you stuck with what you got there, I would get the 750gtx because it will give you as much performance as the cpu will possibly give you and work with your current PSU. Otherwise it is time for a new PC. I wouldn't even worry about upgrading the RAM, you couldn't carry the ddr2 memory over to the new ddr3 based system anyways.

The memory is ddr3, mobo is ga-78lmt-usb3.

 

[Wild Thing]

A friend of mine bought a GTX750Ti recently and I have to admit it runs his games beautifully.
If AMD I'd wouldn't go higher than a 280X with that platform.

 

[Ryanrenesis]

Honestly, you'd want some decent future proofing, something that will last 3-4 years. Or your son might just find that 6 months down the road, something else needs to be upgraded, or that a new game is giving him FPS trouble, which it likely will with that system.

My best advice is to forego the GTX 750 upgrade. It'll be a waste of money when his system won't be able to run newer games as your son grows up. You'll save money replacing the whole system now (during Black Friday/Christmas sales) than re-upgrading CPUs and GPUs down the road.

Build a new system during Black Friday sales that will last him 3-4 years is my best advice.

 

[96Firebird]

The 750 Ti would be a good card for that system, which can be had for as little as $94.99 after rebate and coupon codes at Newegg.

However, that would probably shift the bottleneck from the GPU onto the CPU, so you won't be fully utilizing the 750 Ti. But you can upgrade those parts later on if you want.

 

[csc]

I have a while to consider my options. What would a whole new system cost me? What parts would need upgraded? Is the mobo ok?

 

[csc]

Would a cpu, ram and video card, work?

 

[Leyawiin]

The 750 Ti would be a good card for that system, which can be had for as little as $94.99 after rebate and coupon codes at Newegg.

However, that would probably shift the bottleneck from the GPU onto the CPU, so you won't be fully utilizing the 750 Ti. But you can upgrade those parts later on if you want.

Really, an FX-4130 would be a pretty balanced match for a GTX 750 Ti @ 1080p (and a big jump from an 8800 GTS). Add in another 4GB of RAM and he should see a pretty solid improvement. I wouldn't invest much more in that system though.