Video card shopping time..

[Ratsel13]

So I need something to replace my ancient AMD HD6570 (ya ya lol.. APU is a AMD A4-6300) So any recommendation for a GPU to get a fairly

smooth running SKYRIM SPECIAL EDITION experience with all the bells & whistles? TIA :D

 

PS.. for some 'ungodly' reason.. I don't take a FPS hit using 'god rays' on high :/

Edited December 15, 2016 by Ratsel13

[goranpaa]

Hi!

 

If you have at least a 500W powersupply that is of decent quality? Then you have the Radeon R9 380 4gb and the Radeon RX 480 4 gb. The latter card is a bit faster. As you say you want to run quite much bells and whistles. Do not get a card with less than 4gb of VRAM. VRAM with at least a 256 megabit memory bus is what you want. A 128 megabit bus will always be a bottleneck.

 

Just make sure that the card in question will fit into your case? And that you have the proper power connectors. If not? you can always get adapters. Check out AMD home for the specs.

 

MSI and Sapphire are good brands.

 

Another option is the Geforce GTX 1070 8gb if you have the funds for it? And want a card that have a lot of horsepower. Check out NVIDIA home for the specs.

 

Remember to disable the integrated graphics in the BIOS when installing the new card. If not this is done automatically that is? This differs from motherboard bios to motherboard bios.

Edited December 15, 2016 by goranpaa

[Ratsel13]

'disable the integrated graphics'.. haha what do you do when your card takes a dump then? Pretty sure my comp already disables

the IGC when a video card is detected. Anyways thanks for the recommendations, I'll check em out. :D

[goranpaa]

" haha what do you do when your card takes a dump then?" Well, that could be a tricky thing really. :smile:

 

You're welcome.

Edited December 15, 2016 by goranpaa

[flyddon]

From Personal experience... Nvidia cards run the Skyrim and Fall out better in details. I had an R9 390X when Fallout 4 first came out, settings on Ultra 2560X1440, turn Shadows down to high and Godrays off.... it ran prefect ! It was smooth, clear, and just great (AMD R9 390X but not the "Strix" version). I had read @ Tom's hardware and other sites that Bethesda had made some kind of deal with Nvidia and FO 4 was designed to run better on Nvidia cards, never really found a factual answer on that...BUT it got me wondering. So my friend and gaming buddy (who has a Nvidia GTX 980 ti) tested the cards in my computer. The difference was NOT night and day, both cards ran great.... but there was differences, things like Godrays, the effect was more clear, more visible, smoke as better and shadows seemed more smooth. It was the details that seemed to be better and more visible.

My system spec Z97 AR mobo, i7 4790K 4 GHz CPU, Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 16 Gb Memory, NOW a EVGA GTX 980 ti 6Gb Video card and a Dell 27" S2716DG 144Hz monitor.

 

So my Suggestion depending on your Budget Nvidia GTX 980 or higher. Or if your in the AMD house the R9 390X or higher.

[LeddBate]

@Ratsel13: You should be PUNished for that last line in your first post. LOL, sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Would you be willing to list your rig's equipment? Particularly your mobo, PSU and case dimensions. In particular, how much room do you have for a GPU. This would help us on suggesting a GPU for you.

 

In the meantime, I would like to second goranpaa's recommendation of the 1070. It is quite possibly king of the "best-bang-for-the-buck". However, like you, I upgraded from a much earlier video card (a 670 to be exact) so when the 1070 came out, I waited in the hopes that the 980 would drop in price down the road. And it did! I was able to buy one for $329 back in September. A quick look around shows that they're hard to find now, but refurbished ones can be had for that price or lower. I don't know if you want to trust a refurbished card though.

[paulobrito]

Low budget - 1050 Ti - 4 gb

Medium budget - 1060Ti - 6gb

Big Budget - 1080 - 8gb

 

Yes, i prefer Nvidia cards.

[Ratsel13]

Thanks guys.

 

What CPU-Z said:

 

mobo: ASUSTeK / model ASSEM-PLUS Rev X.0x

memory: Crucial Technology 8gb DDR3 dual channel 1607.6 MHz

VC: AMD Radeon HD 6570

CPU: AMD A4-6300 APU with Radeon HD Graphics Socket FM2 (904)

PSU: 450watt

case dimensions: 16"L x 7"W x 15"H (old Compaq persario case from 2006 LOL)

Edited December 17, 2016 by Ratsel13

[flyddon]

You may want to upgrade more than just you video card. Your CPU is lacking a bit also, along with your PSU. Again, wish list is great but it is controlled by your budget, figure that out then go to www.pcpartpicker and build your self a PC within your budget.

 

My opinion is the 3 main items you should spend your money on are CPU, Video card, PSU. Your CPU will dictate your MOBO, which will dictate your memory. Also invest in a SSD.

[goranpaa]

I agree to what flyddon says. But upgrading the processor, means that you likely will have to get a cpu socket compatible motherboard too. Socket FM2 is pretty old by now. And the cpu's that are supported is not worth the effort / cost for you.

 

But you could begin with getting a nice modular power supply at 650 or 700W. EVGA and Corsair are good brands. Then you have a decent future proofed psu. But make sure that the new psu will fit your case. When it comes to getting a new video card as long as you have this APU. I would advice you not to get more than the AMD 380 4 gb, if you plan to keep your present cpu and motherboard for a longer period that is? But that card will unfortnatly still be somewhat bottlenecked by that cpu. Or bite the lemon and get the RX480 or the GTX 1070 and try to live with the bottleneck until you can get a new motherboard and cpu. Both these cards is as future proof as any video card can be.

 

For cpu and motherboard, look at Intel I 5 or I 7 cpu's and Asus or Gigabyte motherboards. But as said, make sure that the motherboard cpu socket is compatible.

Edited December 17, 2016 by goranpaa