Need help/advice on GPU upgrade

[Chad29]

Hey Carbies,

So my current GPU is an AMD HD7790 (1GB) and it's served me well for some light 1080p gaming but now I would like to play some AAA titles at 1080p60 at high settings.

I have the option of getting a 1060 3GB here on the forum so should I bite the bullet and go for it?

Current budget is ~ R1800

PC specs: 2500K
8GB RAM (1600MHz)
450W Thermaltake PSU (only 1 6-pin)

I do realize I need a better PSU but right now I can only afford to upgrade the GPU.

TIA

 

[Star_22]

Personal opinion coming up, you might be left without some parts for some time so prepare for some downtime possibly.

Buy a GTX970 on carb for around R1200-1400. With the R400 left over from your budget check on carbonite there are some good PSUs 650-750W going for R500 and less. Sell your PSU and and you possibly might get around R300-R500 for it. Next sell your i5 2500k for around R500-R750. With this CPU money R500 + PSU money let's say you got around a R1000 now. Buy a 2600k for R1000 and you are sorted for 1080P 60FPS and if you already have a P67/Z68/Z77 and know how to OC you are more than future proof should you decide to upgrade your GTX970 to a 1080 or something.

Source: I have 2 GTX970s + 3 rigs with i7 2nd / 3rd gens and can tell you they are suitable for 1080P 60FPS if you know how to tune your PC. With regard to how the GTX970 fares with the 1060 3GB Google is your friend

 

[Chad29]

Personal opinion coming up, you might be left without some parts for some time so prepare for some downtime possibly.

Buy a GTX970 on carb for around R1200-1400. With the R400 left over from your budget check on carbonite there are some good PSUs 650-750W going for R500 and less. Sell your PSU and and you possibly might get around R300-R500 for it. Next sell your i5 2500k for around R500-R750. With this CPU money R500 + PSU money let's say you got around a R1000 now. Buy a 2600k for R1000 and you are sorted for 1080P 60FPS and if you already have a P67/Z68/Z77 and know how to OC you are more than future proof should you decide to upgrade your GTX970 to a 1080 or something.

Source: I have 2 GTX970s + 3 rigs with i7 2nd / 3rd gens and can tell you they are suitable for 1080P 60FPS if you know how to tune your PC.

This is not a bad plan but unfortunately I can't afford any down time ATM as I use my PC for work (currently studying). I don't want to upgrade on the current platform too much as in a few years I will just do a full upgrade anyway. Also, most 970s I've seen on here still go for around R2000+. The 1060 3GB I mentioned is going for R1600 ATM.

 

[Dr Evil]

If you going 1060 i would suggest going for the 6gb version, I've seen some on carb for just over 2k. I had a 970 and the extra bit of memory does help.


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[Star_22]

This is not a bad plan but unfortunately I can't afford any down time ATM as I use my PC for work (currently studying). I don't want to upgrade on the current platform too much as in a few years I will just do a full upgrade anyway. Also, most 970s I've seen on here still go for around R2000+. The 1060 3GB I mentioned is going for R1600 ATM.

The 970s might be listed for R2000+ but trust me they are not selling at R2000. Anyway if downtime is an issue and you intend on a major upgrade soon just buy the 1060 3GB and be done with it but seriously that i5 2500k is not going to cut it for a smooth 1080p60. You will get terrible FPS drops even though the average fps will be 40-60fps. I had/have an i5 2500k as well and can confirm this. The difference you will feel compared to an i7 2600 is worth it. Those extra threads really help.

 

[Chad29]

The 970s might be listed for R2000+ but trust me they are not selling at R2000. Anyway if downtime is an issue and you intend on a major upgrade soon just buy the 1060 3GB and be done with it but seriously that i5 2500k is not going to cut it for a smooth 1080p60. You will get terrible FPS drops even though the average fps will be 40-60fps. I had/have an i5 2500k as well and can confirm this. The difference you will feel compared to an i7 2600 is worth it. Those extra threads really help.

Yeah I was referring to the listings rather than the 'recommended selling price'. I will mostly be playing older AAA titles though such as The Witcher 3 , Fallout 4, etc, basically just all the games I can't enjoy using my current GPU. With newer titles I will be happy to drop to medium settings as long as it's not a stuttering mess. I'll just have to get used to the FPS drops my 2500K will bring.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

Yeah I was referring to the listings rather than the 'recommended selling price'. I will mostly be playing older AAA titles though such as The Witcher 3 , Fallout 4, etc, basically just all the games I can't enjoy using my current GPU. With newer titles I will be happy to drop to medium settings as long as it's not a stuttering mess. I'll just have to get used to the FPS drops my 2500K will bring.

I'd also recommend trying to push your budget for a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 580 8GB, I don't think less than 6GB VRAM is recommended nowadays if you planning to play Witcher 3 and other new AAA games as they can easily eat up more than that when at High settings and those 2 GPUs are the perfect spot if you want to play on 1080p/60Hz at High settings.

You can easily find those GPUs going for R2K-R2.5K.

 

[Chad29]

Thanks all for the advice. I think I'll just try to push for a 1060 6GB close to R2K as it only requires one 6-pin and will be fine for my current PSU until I can upgrade it.

 

[JollyJamma]

Thanks all for the advice. I think I'll just try to push for a 1060 6GB close to R2K as it only requires one 6-pin and will be fine for my current PSU until I can upgrade it.

The price of something is only what someone is willing to pay for it. I can ask $1 000 000.00 for a 1070 on the forum but no one is going to actually buy it.

You'll still get people on here asking R10 000.00 for their pile of shit Pentium 478 extreme edition but they won't actually get it.

I'd say R1 000.00 for a 970 is about right. I'd also add another 8gigs of RAM to your rig as you'll probably hit the limit of 8gigs.

 

[Zoltan2222]

Some info

UserBenchmark: AMD HD 7790 vs Nvidia GTX 1060-3GB

Based on 636,383 user benchmarks for the AMD HD 7790 and the Nvidia GTX 1060-3GB, we rank them both on effective speed and value for money against the best 705 GPUs.

gpu.userbenchmark.com

HD 7790 vs 1060 3gb, 135%+ performance increase (should get around R1400 I think)

UserBenchmark: AMD HD 7790 vs Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB

Based on 1,376,609 user benchmarks for the AMD HD 7790 and the Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB, we rank them both on effective speed and value for money against the best 714 GPUs.

gpu.userbenchmark.com

HD 7790 vs 1060 6gb, 148%+ increase (Still doing R2000 and up)

UserBenchmark: AMD HD 7790 vs Nvidia GTX 970

Based on 842,828 user benchmarks for the AMD HD 7790 and the Nvidia GTX 970, we rank them both on effective speed and value for money against the best 714 GPUs.

gpu.userbenchmark.com

HD 7790 vs 970, 123%+ increase, haven't checked their prices
The 900 series gpu's where heavy on power consumption thus a PSU would be needed. (970 = 292W)
The 1000 series are fuel savers, so the 450W should be fine. (1060 = 120W)
I would go for the 1060 3gb and also agree to add some RAM with the change.

Hope this helps