What GPU would bring my old Alienware back to life?

[SpicyWeeb]

Budget (including currency): ~$300

Country: USA, Alaska, Anchorage (Bonus points for buying local to avoid shipping delays)

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: BeamNG, Cyberpunk, RimWorld

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 
Hello all,
I have an old Alienware Aurora R4 that I want to last a little longer before I build a new PC. 
Specs are Intel i7-3820, 16gigs DDR3, a GTX 660, and lastly an Intel SATA SSD

Right now it runs BeamNG at about 30fps on lowest.
I'm not expecting a miracle to happen like 4k at 300fps, but a more realistic 1080p at 60fps (120 would be nice).
My budget being ~$300 may be weird to some, but I plan on repurposing the GPU later for a home server. 
All recommendations welcome

Update:
Threw an RX 6650 XT in it and got it to run Cyberpunk 2077 at 60 FPS avg. (Even though the CPU is pegged at 100% the whole benchmark)
I'm happy, bought myself a little more time before I have to start with a fresh build.

[ulookuglynoob]

Maybe an rx 7600. you could also get a 3060. your CPU would slightly bottleneck em though. its 3rd gen after all.

[8tg]

Used GTX 1080, would be a massive step up for very little money.

[TatamiMatt]

3 hours ago, SpicyWeeb said:

Budget (including currency): ~$300

Country: USA, Alaska, Anchorage (Bonus points for buying local to avoid shipping delays)

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: BeamNG, Cyberpunk, RimWorld

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 
Hello all,
I have an old Alienware Aurora R4 that I want to last a little longer before I build a new PC. 
Specs are Intel i7-3820, 16gigs DDR3, a GTX 660, and lastly an Intel SATA SSD

Right now it runs BeamNG at about 30fps on lowest.
I'm not expecting a miracle to happen like 4k at 300fps, but a more realistic 1080p at 60fps (120 would be nice).
My budget being ~$300 may be weird to some, but I plan on repurposing the GPU later for a home server. 
All recommendations welcome

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4RrRsY/xfx-radeon-rx-6750-xt-12-gb-speedster-qick-319-core-video-card-rx-675xyjfdp

 

This is just over budget and very overkill, but you can take it to your next PC too if you upgrade, or if you upgrade CPU down the line this will keep up with no issue

[BahnStormer]

Firstly: I would be careful about buying a gaming GPU to then use in a server later - even when not under load, it will be less power efficient, run hotter and make more noise. Home servers, even if they double as a HTPC are better with lower spec or onboard graphics - a i3 iGPU or AM4 5500G/5700G is plenty for plain server work.

 

Regarding the immediate need for GPU: you are stuck between a rock and a hard place....

 

Normally with a CPU that is OVER 12 years, that will very, very quickly become the main bottleneck, so I was going to say to avoid nVidia..... as you step up the GPU tiers, the nVidia GPU's have an increasingly high CPU overhead for the way they manage their drivers (AMD GPU's manage this on the GPU hardware, so reduce load on the CPU) - so in instances where the CPU has become the extreme bottleneck, the performance will go DOWN with a better GPU, even with everything else being the same.

 

However since you've flagged this is focussed specifically on BeamNG, the game is apparently heavily optimised for nVidia's Maxwell GPU (e.g. GTX970), but should have some carry over to something newer like Pascal or Turing.

 

GTX1070 will be WELL within budget (likely ~$100) and should be significantly above the recommend/top spec of a GTX970.... you will probably get diminishing returns after that as you'll hit CPU and game engine limits. If you wanted something newer, then a GTX1660Super is a really solid card and also <$200.

 

I had a quick look into other options:

 

RAM: Make sure you are running FOUR matched memory sticks to get the benefit of that quad channel memory!

 

CPU: it is Sandybridge "E", so it is a Workstation Socket 2011E... in theory you could upgrade that to a 3960X (6 core), but they're a crazy price premium $75-$100 and you would be better off with an AM4 B450+R5 1600X (similar performance and it will have some future cheap upgrade options), but you'd also need new RAM, etc... so worth looking at a full system replacement (e.g. AM5 7600, B650 motherboard and DDR5 6000 CL30 will set you back around $450-$500 for a solid starting point). You might want to consider putting some of the remaining budget into the 3960X if you wanted to max out that old platform though?

 

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

980ti (bonus points if its the classified version) 

[Mark Kaine]

6 minutes ago, BahnStormer said:

Firstly: I would be careful about buying a gaming GPU to then use in a server later - even when not under load, it will be less power efficient, run hotter and make more noise. Home servers, even if they double as a HTPC are better with lower spec or onboard graphics - a i3 iGPU or AM4 5500G/5700G is plenty for plain server work.

 

Regarding the immediate need for GPU: you are stuck between a rock and a hard place....

 

Normally with a CPU that is OVER 12 years, that will very, very quickly become the main bottleneck, so I was going to say to avoid nVidia..... as you step up the GPU tiers, the nVidia GPU's have an increasingly high CPU overhead for the way they manage their drivers (AMD GPU's manage this on the GPU hardware, so reduce load on the CPU) - so in instances where the CPU has become the extreme bottleneck, the performance will go DOWN with a better GPU, even with everything else being the same.

 

However since you've flagged this is focussed specifically on BeamNG, the game is apparently heavily optimised for nVidia's Maxwell GPU (e.g. GTX970), but should have some carry over to something newer like Pascal or Turing.

 

GTX1070 will be WELL within budget (likely ~$100) and should be significantly above the recommend/top spec of a GTX970.... you will probably get diminishing returns after that as you'll hit CPU and game engine limits. If you wanted something newer, then a GTX1660Super is a really solid card and also <$200.

 

I had a quick look into other options:

 

RAM: Make sure you are running FOUR matched memory sticks to get the benefit of that quad channel memory!

 

CPU: it is Sandybridge "E", so it is a Workstation Socket 2011E... in theory you could upgrade that to a 3960X (6 core), but they're a crazy price premium $75-$100 and you would be better off with an AM4 B450+R5 1600X (similar performance and it will have some future cheap upgrade options), but you'd also need new RAM, etc... so worth looking at a full system replacement (e.g. AM5 7600, B650 motherboard and DDR5 6000 CL30 will set you back around $450-$500 for a solid starting point). You might want to consider putting some of the remaining budget into the 3960X if you wanted to max out that old platform though?

 

 

 

that's a really longwinded way to say 980ti tho

[BahnStormer]

17 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

980ti (bonus points if its the classified version) 

I thought about that for nostalgia-sake and to get something more era-appropriate for the CPU and game.... but lots of people still like those for retro-gaming and nostalgia, so they're the same price as GTX1070!

 

My concern about going for the GTX980Ti (or similar) is on several fronts:
1) future driver support

2) 25% less VRAM (GTX980Ti = 6Gb, GTX1070 = 8Gb)

3) Power/Thermals for a variety of reasons*: a GTX1070 is 150W peak, compared to his current 140W peak on a GTX660 and 250W on a GTX980Ti.

4) performance... the GTX1070 is consistently 10-20% faster than a GTX980Ti.

 

*I was worried about the future use-case that was presented (as a server/HTPC machine).... the last thing you want is something that is really "maxing out" what was possible on Maxwell, while the upper-mid range Pascal is 10-20% faster and uses 40% less power (150W vs 250W), so it may need a new PSU, both for his current PC AND the server....

[BahnStormer]

1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

that's a really longwinded way to say 980ti tho

Ermmmmm.... more like a really explicit, rational list of reasons why a GTX980Ti is a really bad idea...

 

Why pay more to have a GPU that is slower, hotter, more power hungry (cost to run and need for a new PSU?) and has less future life; both in terms of the 980Ti being a wrung-out Maxwell that has been running hotter for 9+ years and obviously for driver support.

 

The only reason for getting a 980Ti is niche retro-gaming or to say "I once had one of those"... and you don't need to mention it was 10 years after they were really relevant

[SpicyWeeb]

6 hours ago, BahnStormer said:

Firstly: I would be careful about buying a gaming GPU to then use in a server later - even when not under load, it will be less power efficient, run hotter and make more noise. Home servers, even if they double as a HTPC are better with lower spec or onboard graphics - a i3 iGPU or AM4 5500G/5700G is plenty for plain server work.

 

Regarding the immediate need for GPU: you are stuck between a rock and a hard place....

 

Normally with a CPU that is OVER 12 years, that will very, very quickly become the main bottleneck, so I was going to say to avoid nVidia..... as you step up the GPU tiers, the nVidia GPU's have an increasingly high CPU overhead for the way they manage their drivers (AMD GPU's manage this on the GPU hardware, so reduce load on the CPU) - so in instances where the CPU has become the extreme bottleneck, the performance will go DOWN with a better GPU, even with everything else being the same.

 

However since you've flagged this is focussed specifically on BeamNG, the game is apparently heavily optimised for nVidia's Maxwell GPU (e.g. GTX970), but should have some carry over to something newer like Pascal or Turing.

 

GTX1070 will be WELL within budget (likely ~$100) and should be significantly above the recommend/top spec of a GTX970.... you will probably get diminishing returns after that as you'll hit CPU and game engine limits. If you wanted something newer, then a GTX1660Super is a really solid card and also <$200.

 

I had a quick look into other options:

 

RAM: Make sure you are running FOUR matched memory sticks to get the benefit of that quad channel memory!

 

CPU: it is Sandybridge "E", so it is a Workstation Socket 2011E... in theory you could upgrade that to a 3960X (6 core), but they're a crazy price premium $75-$100 and you would be better off with an AM4 B450+R5 1600X (similar performance and it will have some future cheap upgrade options), but you'd also need new RAM, etc... so worth looking at a full system replacement (e.g. AM5 7600, B650 motherboard and DDR5 6000 CL30 will set you back around $450-$500 for a solid starting point). You might want to consider putting some of the remaining budget into the 3960X if you wanted to max out that old platform though?

 

 

 

Thanks for this. 
I think I was eventually going to gut it and put an AM5 system in it. I still like the case.
Would you see any downsides to me putting a RX 6650XT in it for now until I upgrade the rest of the system?

[BahnStormer]

6650XT is a decent card, but BeamNG seems to focus on nVidia - it will be a MASSIVE step up either way!

 

Are you sure the case has generic ATX PSU/motherboard mount points? For the last 15+ years, Alienware has just been re-badged Dell and Dell are infamous for making things just that little bit different to stop people doing too much DIY :s

[SpicyWeeb]

Looking at this video it looks like it would take it with the stock PSU, I plan on opening it up this weekend for a clean, so I can look then.