UK accessible competitions for graphics cards

[msknight]

I need a bit of help. Had a bit of a discussion with the place where I usually buy my parts and I'm not needing much. A mid range card like a 3060Ti. But they're still going to be £800-ish and a scrap with the scalpers at the checkout.

 

A check of financing showed interest rates have risen and those kind of rates, on top of inflated costs are just too much to stomach. I'd be irresponsible to go that route. We all know the dangers of second hand cards at the moment. I've already had one that failed with bad RAM.

 

There are, "blue light," discounts for people who work in the emergency services, and among them are Apple, who give various discounts to blue light workers, but that's about it in the I.T. market place. Let's face it, you don't work in the NHS for the money, but I'm not about to change my job for a few extra FPS

 

So it looks like entering competitions is going to be my only way of getting hold of even the mid-range card I need, but many of them are US and Canada only, sort of thing... so I'd be grateful if people can suggest some competitions I can enter being in the UK.

[tikker]

38 minutes ago, msknight said:

of getting hold of even the mid-range card I need want

If you needed it there would be a way to get money for it.

 

JayzTwoCents' givewaways tend to be world wide when they happen, you can try entering in those.

[msknight]

3 minutes ago, tikker said:

If you needed it there would be a way to get money for it.

 

JayzTwoCents' givewaways tend to be world wide when they happen, you can try entering in those.

That is fair comment. I could always unload optifine, etc. and play without shaders. Or revert my server to a few versions prior. So "want" is reasonable.

 

Thanks for the hint on JayzTwoCents' - I'll go check that out.

[tikker]

4 minutes ago, msknight said:

That is fair comment. I could always unload optifine, etc. and play without shaders. Or revert my server to a few versions prior. So "want" is reasonable.

 

Thanks for the hint on JayzTwoCents' - I'll go check that out.

Optifine should have settings to make the load lighter right? Thought depending on the shaders you use that may not do much.

 

You could also try joining discords or hanging out on streams that keep an eye on stock. Every now and then some pop up for near MSRP pricing.

[msknight]

10 minutes ago, tikker said:

Optifine should have settings to make the load lighter right? Thought depending on the shaders you use that may not do much.

 

You could also try joining discords or hanging out on streams that keep an eye on stock. Every now and then some pop up for near MSRP pricing.

I've altered settings until I've gone as far as I can. Looking at a new graphics card in this environment was a reluctant choice.

 

I'll see what discords I can find. If you happen to have any channel names to hand, I'd be grateful.

[msknight]

I've done some monitoring with GreenWithEnvy and a few other bits, altered java arguments, tried a couple of optifine engines and I've concluded that I need a new motherboard and processor. Things have just progressed further than my humble Ryzen 5 can cope with and although I'm not running a stock cooler I wouldn't gain that much from overclocking. So this is now a more major job and I'm probably going to need a lot more time to save up... the bonus being that by the time that's happened the end of 2022 should hopefully have better news for gamers in the hardware sphere. Here's hoping.