Graphics Card Question

Kinja'd!!! "Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
03/30/2020 at 11:31 • Filed to: None

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I will include dog and car photos as payment for services rendered.

My friends and I have been playing a lot of computer games in quarantine and while my desktop is... fine, I am beginning to suspect my video card is letting the computer down a bit. I’m seeing 100% utilization on most games and while the performance has been fine, I am of course worried about starting to create problems.

The computer is nearing EOL, it was built in 2016, but probably has another 1-2 years in it before I need to move on.

I poked around a bit only to discover that video cards are... expensive? The one I have now sells used for more than I paid for it new. As such I’ve been struggling to find a card that meets my needs and when I do, struggling to compare it to the old card in a meaningful way.

Help!

Current Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB

Requirements: 3+ Video out (DP preferred)

Budget: $200ish; used is O K

Other system specs:

Processor: Intel Core i5-6600 3.30 HHz

Motherboard: Asus H170 Pro Gaming

RAM: 32GB

PS: 850 Watt

The card that I’ve found that seems... fine. Is a Radeon RX 5500 XT w/ 8GB for $220, but I am struggling to compare it to the existing card to see if that is money well spent. I have little patience for the bullshit process of comparing computer hardware outside of doing a deep dive for a build, so I figured one (or more) of you might have an oppopinion.

As promised: dog and cars from our most recent trip to NM.

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DISCUSSION (33)


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 11:37

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GTX1070. Done.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GIGABYTE-GeForce-GTX-1070-G1-Gaming-8gb-OC-Edition-VR-Ready-WINDFORCE/174235154060?


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 11:39

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I made a very similar post just the other day, and got some really good input from Nibby. I’m currently looking to get two GeForce GTX 1060 6GB used off eBay for $136 each. 


Kinja'd!!! JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 11:39

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See if you can find a GeForce GTX1070 (or maybe a 1060, but for the very minor price difference the extra VRAM in the 1070 is worth it). That’ll be quite a bit beefier than your current card without breaking the bank, and your CPU should be able to make good use of it. The RX 5500 XT has good specs on paper, but in my experience the Nvidia cards just have better software and driver support.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.XGTX+1070.TRS0&_nkw=GTX+1070&_sacat=0

FWIW: I have a 4gb GTX960m in a 2017 Dell gaming laptop with an i5 63 00HQ @ 2.3 ghz, i find I have no problem ach ie ving playable fram e rates at acceptable settings in modern titles at 1080p. Sure it’s not gonna do modern AAA titles at full settings at reasonable rates, but it’s still entirely usable... A GTX 1070 should *STILL* be usable in a few years though, and if you want to run modern titles at 4K, or full detail, it will handily outperform the 960.


Kinja'd!!! facw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 11:46

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https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/2547?vs=2577

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That said, if you are just looking for performance, you’ll get a better deal with an 8GB Radeon 570 or 580, which get you most of the performance of a 5500 at a way lower price point (albeit with more noise, heat, and power consumption)

Used, you can look at the 1060 and 1070 as well. Don’t bother with the 3GB 1060 (or the 4GB AMD cards, they aren’t terrible today, but you’ll almost certainly be hurting going forward with one of those). You can play around on the link I’ve sent you to compare your card to the other options.


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > ttyymmnn
03/30/2020 at 11:51

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Kinja'd!!! JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > facw
03/30/2020 at 11:51

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that said:

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/2528?vs=2577

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Kinja'd!!! facw > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/30/2020 at 12:04

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Yep. I actually own both! And you can be sure that the 1070 is in my gaming computer.

However, it’s not quite right to compare a new card with a warranty and a games bundle to a used card, with the risk it doesn’t work, and a decent chance it has lived a hard life as a miner.  


Kinja'd!!! Grindintosecond > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 12:18

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I have a 1070. It’s perfect for any 1080 gaming. It’s worth it. Its equivalent today to a standard 2060 without raytracing, or possibly a 1660ti.

The only card better is a 206 super (+ 30% better) or a 2070super (+ 50%) but to be honest, I se e myself needing those now only because I’m using a 21:9 1440 monitor and it’s a lot more pixels to push to 120hz. So if your at 1080, all you need is a 1070 but shop against the 1660ti or even a 2060 if you plan to keep your rig mainbits a while.

Speaking ourof which, your system is still with it. You have ddr4 memory and a ton of it. Pcie 3.0, which is all modern spec today. So it’s not EOL, especially if you shop a faster cpu in the used market. Say a i7-6700k for that nice 8 threads. Or -8700 6-core. Which will hold you over for a good while longer. Go much more down that road and your specving a new rig.

Ddr5 is 2021 fall stuff I think, so just hold this rig till then. Plus, rtx 3000 gpu cards will be out and has huge jumps in performance scheduled.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Nibby
03/30/2020 at 12:26

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Fair enough.  I’ve got my eye on an auction presently.


Kinja'd!!! Grindintosecond > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 12:30

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I had to add more here.

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Its actually beating the 1070 by a hair, and is related to the 2060 chip, so it features generational imp rovements over the 1070.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Grindintosecond
03/30/2020 at 12:34

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Yeah I do a lot of RAM intensive stuff on this machine so I made sure to load it down when I made it.


Kinja'd!!! JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > facw
03/30/2020 at 12:41

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Ture, I guess I have never foun d myself actually wanting any of the games in the card bundles, and I have always considered GFX cards as one of the safest used purchases (provided you buy from a reputable seller) in all of computerdom. I feel like unless it’s been physically mishandled or massively overheated they’re pretty unkillable.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Grindintosecond
03/30/2020 at 12:47

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Man you had me tempted on throwing an i7 in there, but I am shocked to find out the reasons I went with an i5 back in the day still hold. Even today the 6700 looks like it is about $150- $200 and doesn’t offer major gains over the i5. 10-25% maybe?  Hard sell to pay that much for a 5+ y/o CPU...


Kinja'd!!! Nom De Plume > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 12:47

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I have a timely solution. This will make a noticeable difference.

NEW THERMAL PASTE IN  THE CARD

CLEAN THE CARD

Your larger problem is the 4GB part and not the 1060. I think you would be amazed how much a difference having a 6GB 1060 would make. This is what finally made the 980 lose relevance.

Higher end (3 fans, 1070 (not used for mining) or mid grade 2060 on up the line would make a huge difference.


Kinja'd!!! Nom De Plume > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 12:53

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i7 are always inefficient and run hot to eke out more OC.

i5 9400F , H370 mb, 4x8 DDR4 3000 w/low latency, current card cleaned and repasted, case with good cooling = $400 maybe. Maybe $500-$600 if you get a better used card.


Kinja'd!!! facw > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/30/2020 at 12:59

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I think they’re relatively safe if you are buying used through Amazon or some other “known” storefront. If you buy from a private party, it’s basically your word against theirs with regards to who broke it if it doesn’t work out of the box, and I can imagine that turning into a mess quickly.

As for the cards themselves, the solid-state stuff isn’t likely to fail (though if it’s been mining non-stop for years, who knows), though components like fans can definitely go, even with normal use, and may or may not be easy to replace depending on the cooler design.  


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Grindintosecond
03/30/2020 at 13:01

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Yeah the 1660 v s 1070 is an interesting comparison. Less RAM in the 1660 but seems like it outperforms slightly overall. For no good reason I’d gravitate towards the additional 2gigs on the 1070.  Also Nibby said so.... 


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Nibby
03/30/2020 at 13:04

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Well that one is gone now haha. Is this an acceptable alternative ? How important is the 3-fans vs 2?


Kinja'd!!! Grindintosecond > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 13:14

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Well. 1070 is nice for the gigs, but as the video showed, it processes better for processing things, but games worse. So if your just gaming mostly, and want some bit of future proofing, you can 1660ti . But...a new 1660 ti is same price of a refurb/used 1070, which is several years old at this point


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 13:23

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i’d just find a buy it now one instead of an auction... I have a 2 fan GIgabyte WINDFORCE one and it runs like a charm


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nibby
03/30/2020 at 13:25

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I’ve been folding with the Precision workstation you specked for me. 6 cores, 12 threads, gainfully employed, though I guess it’s not very efficient compared to a decent GPU.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Nibby
03/30/2020 at 13:50

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Fair.  Thoughts on the 1070 vs 1660 Ti?


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/30/2020 at 14:06

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good to hear!


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 14:07

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1070


Kinja'd!!! Jason Spears > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 14:46

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I just ordered a replacement for my GTX 960 2GB. If I’d had your budget I’d have gone with Nibby’s recommendation. Instead I have a non-Ti 980 on the way, which is still twice the card I have now.

Do bear in mind you’ll need to consider available space if the new card is longer than what you have. I’m going to have to remove a drive cage and move my platter storage, probably into one of the 5.25"  bays.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Jason Spears
03/30/2020 at 15:07

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RE SIZE: Haha yeah some one posted a video and all I could think is “HOLY SHIT THAT CARD IS HUGE (or that dude is tiny)“. Luckily looks like this case was built for monster cards and the video card bay goes from the front of the case the the back. (please excuse the dust)

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Kinja'd!!! DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/30/2020 at 15:14

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If your happy with the performance I wouldn’t bother upgrading yet, espically with a new gen coming later this year.

Unless you have VSync on, or limiting the framerate another way, something is always gonna be near 100% since its trying to make as many frames as possible.


Kinja'd!!! Tyrannokek > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
04/01/2020 at 05:51

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2nd hand RX 580's are a steal now, and don’t fall much behind from GTX 1070, even beat  it on certain games. They sell  as low as $100


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Tyrannokek
04/01/2020 at 09:54

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ONE DOES NOT DEFY THE NIBBY!  Err which is to say thanks for the tip!  I found a decent deal on a 1070 so I went with that.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Nibby
04/02/2020 at 21:36

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It is done. Last question: do you recommend redoing the thermal paste on the card? I’d never even heard of it before this thread and now I’m paranoid .


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
04/02/2020 at 21:39

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check the temps... make sure before you install it though give the fans a gentle clean. if your temps are 80C+ under full load (you can try furmark to stress test it for a few minut es ) you should probably redo the paste... arctic MX-4 is really good. or the noctua one too


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Nibby
04/02/2020 at 22:07

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Thanks for the tip. Temperatures seem stable.

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Kinja'd!!! Nibby > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
04/02/2020 at 22:25

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sweet, enjoy!