The best video card for a Core 2 Quad CPU. lol

[Turtle Rig]

Ok my buds is still on a Core 2 Quad system he got in 2009 I believe or 2008 lol.  He bought it ready to go and didn't build it himself.  It has a Q8300 I believe and its at 2.9Ghz stock.  One day the motherboard or CPU might blow up then hes forced to upgrade.  He does Photoshop and Video Editing and web creation and gaming.  The current card we just got him is a 960 but Chinese made lol it has no company name on it.  It was only 55 bucks and doesn't play newer titles like DX10 or DX11.  So Im just gonna surprise him with a video card.  What is the best video card for this POS CPU AMD or nVidia used or new ?

[SolarNova]

newer than a 900 series. .probably a 1050ti then.

[LukeSavenije]

maybe a 570 at best?

[emosun]

3 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

The current card we just got him is a 960 but Chinese made lol it has no company name on it.  It was only 55 bucks and doesn't play newer titles like DX10 or DX11. 

thats becuase that is a fake gpu that had its bios changed

if you bought a real 960 that would be a considerable upgrade over what is most likely a comepletely software borked 450

[Firewrath9]

R7 270/370/270X/7870/7950/280/285/280x/380/380x/560/550/460,

GTX 660/670/680/760/770/780/960/970

[Firewrath9]

1 minute ago, SolarNova said:

newer than a 900 series. .probably a 1050ti then.

what?

600 series can play DX11

[191x7]

The GTX 960 is far more than the system can power, no sense to get something newer/stronger.

[Jurrunio]

5 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

It was only 55 bucks and doesn't play newer titles like DX10 or DX11.

I'm smelling a rebadged Geforce 7000 series?

 

I might put a GTX 970 or just RX 570 in there, as cheap as a a good value new card (so you cant get scams) get.

[191x7]

A new RX 550 or a GT 1030 might be right. Wouldn't go above RX 560 or GTX 1050.

Older; RX 460, R7 370, R9 270, GTX 950, GTX 750Ti, GTX 760 ...

[emosun]

3 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

The GTX 960 is far more than the system can power, no sense to get something newer/stronger.

(depending on how its loaded)

[Turtle Rig]

Wow I love this place and you guys.  Thanks for all the great responses.  The 1050Ti or a used 960 or 970 not from china Singapore lol

[Firewrath9]

18 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

Wow I love this place and you guys.  Thanks for all the great responses.  The 1050Ti or a used 960 or 970 not from china Singapore lol

oh, heres what I pulled on ebay in 20mins

 

75$ HD 7950 3GB VRAM (basically a slightly slower 280/285/380, about a 1050 ti/1050 3GB) https://www.ebay.com/itm/XFX-Radeon-HD-7950-Double-D-3GB-GDDR5-FX-795A-TDFC-PCIe-Gaming-Graphics-Card/233196689845?hash=item364b9b19b5:g:urQAAOSwtYRcsW9t - Plays DX12, good card (XFX dual fan)

 

65$ o_O 7970 XFX DD (55+10 shipping)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/XFX-AMD-Radeon-HD-7970-FX-797G-TDFC-3GB-3GB-max-GDDR5-SDRAM-PCI-Express/202660558351?epid=129895368&hash=item2f2f82b60f:g:VWgAAOSwkNFcpkoE

almost as fast as 1650, 3GB VRAM ABSOLUTE STEAL (DX12)

 

Some nvidia options

GTX 770 2GB for 70$ (haha) (60+10)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-770-02G-P4-2774-RX-2GB-GDDR5-Graphics-Card/264295290103?epid=170081377&hash=item3d893a14f7:g:KiEAAOSwHSVcnAlG

pretty much identical as 7970, just 2GB VRAM tho.

 

GTX 680 blower for 50$, basically a 770

https://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-GeForce-GTX680-2GB-DDR5-2DVI-HDMI-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-Video-Card/283440104571?epid=141799097&hash=item41fe58c47b:g:9rsAAOSww4BcpRkN

 

 

Higher-end:

R9 Fury TRI-X (one of the best models)(non-x) 4GB vram, 140$ Slightly worse than 1070, better than 980.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SAPPHIRE-Tri-X-Radeon-R9-FURY-4GB-Graphics-Card-CR321/183784297539?hash=item2aca65d443:g:DqYAAOSwOKlcbBuw

 

R9 390x 105$, basically a RX 580 8GB, good card

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-299-1E324-000SA-SAPPHIRE-TRI-X-EDITION-R9-390X-8GB-GDDR5-Graphics-Card/163655335328?hash=item261a9e3da0:g:IrUAAOSwnJpcuHlF

 

 

I tried not to get any blower cards, or mining cards.

Reccommendations:

50$ budget: the 680. basically a 1050 ti, downclock/undervolt for noise reasons due to stock blower, also repaste

60-80$, the 7950 all the way, the 7870 isnt bad, neither is the 770, if you prefer nvidia

80-100$ save up for 105$

105-130$, 390x,

150$, r9 fury

200$ evga b-stock 980 ti

250$+ 1660 ti

 

[asand1]

That Chinese 960 is probably a 450ti sold as a counterfeit 960. No way is a 960 going to be the limiting factor in a Core 2 machine.

[Turtle Rig]

3 hours ago, asand1 said:

That Chinese 960 is probably a 450ti sold as a counterfeit 960. No way is a 960 going to be the limiting factor in a Core 2 machine.

Yup my friend, now if I may ask you before I place a order for his video card for his Q9550 stock.  A 570 4GB or a 570 8GB ?  would 8GB be over kill and provide no performance enhancement ?  Hes playing at 1080p 75hz game settings at medium possibly high ,, for some settings.

[aezakmi]

A 4 gigs 570 would be okish, maybe a real 960 and not a 210 in disguise

[Turtle Rig]

1 minute ago, aezakmi said:

A 4 gigs 570 would be okish, maybe a real 960 and not a 210 in disguise

LMAO yup  Since hes playing at 1080p with no real AA methods going on then 4GB would suffice no ?  Ill get the 570 if its equivalent to a 960.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

5 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

Ill get the 570 if its equivalent to a 960.

570 is pretty much the same as 970, best value on used right now

[Turtle Rig]

Just now, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

570 is pretty much the same as 970, best value on used right now

Ok cool thank you for that, Ill grab it,  4GB is enough uh for 1080p 75hz medium settings possibly some at high.

[191x7]

On 4/25/2019 at 6:13 AM, Turtle Rig said:

Ok cool thank you for that, Ill grab it,  4GB is enough uh for 1080p 75hz medium settings possibly some at high.

The thing is, with a heavily overclocked Core 2 Quad a card like the RX 570 can't be utilized above 50-60% in most games so it will perform similar to an RX 560 and in some cases even worse.

[Firewrath9]

On 4/25/2019 at 12:13 AM, Turtle Rig said:

Ok cool thank you for that, Ill grab it,  4GB is enough uh for 1080p 75hz medium settings possibly some at high.

yup. I use a 570 4gb for 1080p 75hz gets 60-75 most games at max settings, newer ones I have to turn down AA & some settings to high, get the sapphire pulse/nitro, those are the best models.