GPU Upgrading...

[TonnyKing01]

I want to upgrade my GPU because most games I try to run, I have to run them at medium-low preferences and that bothers me. I'm not sure though whether to upgrade only my GPU or the whole system. 

Specs to my current PC:

 

-CPU: Intel i5 3570 3.4GHz

-GPU: Asus GTX 650 1GB GDDR5

-RAM: 8 GB

 

I wanted to upgrade to a GTX 760 4GB or 2GB GDDR5 by GIGABYTE or a GTX 770 by GIGABYTE. Can you tell me which GPU to pick (I know that the GTX 770 is better but will my specs bottleneck it?) or whether I should even upgrade my GPU, should I just wait and get a better PC all together?

[miyabwah]

CPU and RAM are fine for now (May need 16 GB later), no need to change those. A 3570 wouldn't bottleneck 4x GTX 980s. How much do you have to spend on a GPU?

[Deddie]

If you can spend a little bit more you should get a GTX 970 because it's much more powerful than a GTX 770 and uses less power.

[TonnyKing01]

If you can spend a little bit more you should get a GTX 970 because it's much more powerful than a GTX 770 and uses less power.

I really like nvidia but the AMD cards are much better at price to performance, so what do you think about an R9 280x or R9 280 because they have better performance with a cheaper price tag?

[Samfisher]

I really like nvidia but the AMD cards are much better at price to performance, so what do you think about an R9 280x or R9 280 because they have better performance with a cheaper price tag?

 

Neither the 280 or 280x perform better than the 970.  If comparing to the 770, it should be roughly as good as the 280x.

[TonnyKing01]

CPU and RAM are fine for now (May need 16 GB later), no need to change those. A 3570 wouldn't bottleneck 4x GTX 980s. How much do you have to spend on a GPU?

I don't have much and I'll have to wait to save up some money, that's why I was thinking about getting a AMD card like an R9 280x or R9 280. I will only need to upgrade my GPU to run newer games at better FPS and higher preferences, right?

[TonnyKing01]

Neither the 280 or 280x perform better than the 970.  If comparing to the 770, it should be roughly as good as the 280x.

Yeah, but the 970 is much more expensive than the R9 280x, I can even get a R9 290 for cheaper. I really want the new 970 but the prices are much better with AMD cards and I know that the R9 290 performs really good and even better than the 770 for the same price. I really don't know which one to choose, I have some time to do so though.

[Deddie]

I really like nvidia but the AMD cards are much better at price to performance, so what do you think about an R9 280x or R9 280 because they have better performance with a cheaper price tag?

Yeah, if you want a cheaper GPU then nothing beats the R9 280 in price/performance. The reason I suggested a GTX 970 was because it seemed like you were only interested in Nvidia cards and the GTX 970 is imo one of the only Nvidia cards right now worth its price.

[Alan3345]

Yeah, but the 970 is much more expensive than the R9 280x, I can even get a R9 290 for cheaper. I really want the new 970 but the prices are much better with AMD cards and I know that the R9 290 performs really good and even better than the 770 for the same price. I really don't know which one to choose, I have some time to do so though.

 

Well I have a 7950 (which is the same as an R9 280) and it performs pretty well at 1080p: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpgIucqQhAg

 

However I'd imagine it won't run the next gen games coming out amazingly unless you run medium-ish settings (Struggled to get 40+ fps in Shadows Of Mordor + Ryse Son Of Rome with high settings).

[TonnyKing01]

Well I have a 7950 (which is the same as an R9 280) and it performs pretty well at 1080p: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpgIucqQhAg

 

However I'd imagine it won't run the next gen games coming out amazingly unless you run medium-ish settings (Struggled to get 40+ fps in Shadows Of Mordor + Ryse Son Of Rome with high settings).

Thanks for the reply. Do you think that the R9 280x will be enough for next-gen games?

[TonnyKing01]

Yeah, if you want a cheaper GPU then nothing beats the R9 280 in price/performance. The reason I suggested a GTX 970 was because it seemed like you were only interested in Nvidia cards and the GTX 970 is imo one of the only Nvidia cards right now worth its price.

Yeah, thanks for replying, do you think that the R9 280x or the R9 290 is good enough to run next-gen games at high-max settings?

[Alan3345]

Thanks for the reply. Do you think that the R9 280x will be enough for next-gen games?

 

I'm not sure, the R9 280x is a re-branded 7970 which is a step above the R9 280/7950 but not by a huge leap. If you're looking to max out all new games then you'd be better off with an R9 290 or a GTX 970 otherwise an R9 280/R9 280x will be fine as long as you turn off anti aliasing etc

[TonnyKing01]

I'm not sure, the R9 280x is a re-branded 7970 which is a step above the R9 280/7950 but not by a huge leap. If you're looking to max out all new games then you'd be better off with an R9 290 or a GTX 970 otherwise an R9 280/R9 280x will be fine as long as you turn off anti aliasing etc

ok thanks, nad one more thing, I have a 500W PSU (yes its bad), do you think that I can use the R9 290 with it or do I HAVE to upgrade it too?

[Alan3345]

ok thanks, nad one more thing, I have a 500W PSU (yes its bad), do you think that I can use the R9 290 with it or do I HAVE to upgrade it too?

 

You should be able to use a 500 watt PSU (I'd imagine) though I wouldn't overclock anything. It should work fine, though it is recommended to have at least a 600w PSU for some more headroom.

[TonnyKing01]

You should be able to use a 500 watt PSU (I'd imagine) though I wouldn't overclock anything. It should work fine, though it is recommended to have at least a 600w PSU for some more headroom.

I would love to have a 600+W PSU and no, I'm not going to overclock anything, the CPU is locked and if I get the R9 290 I don't think that I'll need to overclock.