Best GPU for i3-4170?

[Jantsa]

Hey guys, I wanted to know what you think is the best graphics card for the Intel Core i3-4170 and a good PSU that fits it. If it costs $200 or less that'd be great, but I would be willing to increase my budget if you guys think it's worth it. I do plan on upgrading to an i5 or i7 in the future, but as I'm barely starting this build, that'll only happen in a year and a half or two, so take that in mind (maybe less or maybe more, depends on how demanding games get).

 

I intend to use this rig as a gaming machine, but I'll settle for 900p or 720p with high graphics quality (my monitor is not 1080p anyways), and other than that I'll probably use it for some light video and photo editing. If it helps; my motherboard is an MSI h81m-e33. Hope you can help me and thanks in advance. 

[themaniac]

Hey guys, I wanted to know what you think is the best graphics card for the Intel Core i3-4170 and a good PSU that fits it. If it costs $200 or less that'd be great, but I would be willing to increase my budget if you guys think it's worth it. I do plan on upgrading to an i5 or i7 in the future, but as I'm barely starting this build, that'll only happen in a year and a half or two, so take that in mind (maybe less or maybe more, depends on how demanding games get).

 

I intend to use this rig as a gaming machine, but I'll settle for 900p or 720p with high graphics quality (my monitor is not 1080p anyways), and other than that I'll probably use it for some light video and photo editing. If it helps; my motherboard is an MSI h81m-e33. Hope you can help me and thanks in advance. 

the best gpu you can get for $200 is the 380 and 280x(might be able to get a 290 for $200 if you get used) and the i3 wont hold back/bottleneck either

[Amazingasian]

R9 380 or 290 and an EVGA G2/GS or Antec High Current Gamer.

[STRMfrmXMN]

R9 380 would be a sweet spot pairing for it.

[GDRRiley]

get a 950 or 960 and this psu http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii520bronze

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

The GTX 960 or 950 are great options on the NVIDIA side if you're interested in features like DSR, Shadowplay, Gamestream to Shield Devices, and Auto Game Optimization.

Other than that the R9 280 / 280X / 380 are all great options right around the 200$ mark and will typically perform marginally faster than the GTX 960.

 

If you're looking to spend the least amount of money you can and get a great GPU the GTX 950 is the best choice, but if you're good with spending closer to 200$ than the R9 380 is the best choice.

[Br3tt96]

380/960

[Amazingasian]

get a 950 or 960 and this psu http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii520bronze

The 380 easily beats both of those.

[Jantsa]

The GTX 960 or 950 are great options on the NVIDIA side if you're interested in features like DSR, Shadowplay, Gamestream to Shield Devices, and Auto Game Optimization.

Other than that the R9 280 / 280X / 380 are all great options right around the 200$ mark and will typically perform marginally faster than the GTX 960.

 

If you're looking to spend the least amount of money you can and get a great GPU the GTX 950 is the best choice, but if you're good with spending closer to 200$ than the R9 380 is the best choice.

Perfect! thank you guys for all of your answers (especially this one, it was very specific and helpful). I've decided for the 380, as it's apparently the best one in the $200 price range. Should I make a new thread to find opinions on a good PSU for it, or you think you can answer me that in here? Thanks anyway, really appreciate it.

[App4that]

Seasonic is a good brand of PSU, avoid the Corsair CX series.

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

Perfect! thank you guys for all of your answers (especially this one, it was very specific and helpful). I've decided for the 380, as it's apparently the best one in the $200 price range. Should I make a new thread to find opinions on a good PSU for it, or you think you can answer me that in here? Thanks anyway, really appreciate it.

You can just go on here With the 380 you'll want at least a 500w PSU with any extra wattage being for growing room. What's your budget on a PSU?

[Suika]

A CPU heavy, multithreaded game would do better with an NVIDIA GTX 960 due to superior driver optimization and management of CPU overhead. Typically, even if an AMD counterpart has more raw horsepower, the less optimized drivers will not handle CPU overhead as efficiently as NVIDIA counterparts, and fall behind in actual FPS numbers.

If the games you play are more GPU intense or single threaded, you could easily get away with an R9 280X or R9 380.

As far as power supplies, XFX power supplies have been going on sale recently and are rebranded SeaSonics, which means they're very good budget options.

[App4that]

A CPU heavy, multithreaded game would do better with an NVIDIA GTX 960 due to superior driver optimization and management of CPU overhead. Typically, even if an AMD counterpart has more raw horsepower, the less optimized drivers will not handle CPU overhead as efficiently as NVIDIA counterparts, and fall behind in actual FPS numbers.

If the games you play are more GPU intense or single threaded, you could easily get away with an R9 280X or R9 380.

As far as power supplies, XFX power supplies have been going on sale recently and are rebranded SeaSonics, which means they're very good budget options.

2003 wants it's driver comments back. Both Nvidia and AMD have the same level of drivers.

[Suika]

2003 wants it's driver comments back. Both Nvidia and AMD have the same level of drivers.

The issue isn't stability of drivers, the issue is that AMD drivers aren't efficient in DX11 when dealing with CPU overhead. If there is no CPU overhead, there is no issue, but OP has an i3, which in more CPU bound or multithreaded loads, will fall behind, and one driver manages that overhead better than the other.

Last I checked, CoD:AW was multithreaded to an extent, and... The R9 280 was more powerful than the 750 Ti.

[App4that]

-snip-

 

*cough*

[Suika]

*cough*

I don't see a point to you posting that.

[App4that]

I don't see a point to you posting that.

You made the assertion that Nvidia drivers supported CPU demanding games better than AMD. I corrected you.

[Fate]

You made the assertion that Nvidia drivers supported CPU demanding games better than AMD. I corrected you.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-grand-theft-auto-5-pc-performance

 

i7 and 750ti gets a min fps of 47

i7 and 280 gets a min fps of 73

i3 and 750ti gets a min fps of 42

i3 and 280 gets a min fps of 34

 

A 280 is a lot more powerful than a 750ti, yet it's doing worse when both paired with an i3? Hmm, what could it be?

[Jantsa]

You can just go on here With the 380 you'll want at least a 500w PSU with any extra wattage being for growing room. What's your budget on a PSU?

If it's less than a $100 then it would be perfect, but I know how important PSUs are in the long run so I wouldn't mind investing a little bit as long as it's worth it. 

[App4that]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-grand-theft-auto-5-pc-performance

 

i7 and 750ti gets a min fps of 47

i7 and 280 gets a min fps of 73

i3 and 750ti gets a min fps of 42

i3 and 280 gets a min fps of 34

 

A 280 is a lot more powerful than a 750ti, yet it's doing worse when both paired with an i3? Hmm, what could it be

So the average fps mean nothing, way to cherry pick.

 

Core i3 4130 42.0 / 59.1 34.0 / 61.0 Core i7 4790K 47.0 / 86.0 73.0 / 92.8

[Fate]

 

So the average fps mean nothing, way to cherry pick.

 

Core i3 4130 42.0 / 59.1 34.0 / 61.0 Core i7 4790K 47.0 / 86.0 73.0 / 92.8

 

Nice strawman, I never said average fps means nothing, go ahead and think whatever you want about this topic though.

[App4that]

Nice strawman, I never said average fps means nothing, go ahead and think whatever you want about this topic though.

LOL, I love it when fallacies are used incorrectly.

 

You left out the average fps which were almost identical. The lower minimum fps is interesting but as I've shown other games don't seem to show the same issue, so it looks to be specific to GTA V, not a driver issue.

[Fate]

LOL, I love it when fallacies are used incorrectly.

 

You left out the average fps which were almost identical. The lower minimum fps is interesting but as I've shown other games don't seem to show the same issue, so it looks to be specific to GTA V, not a driver issue.

"So the average fps means nothing"

I never said that, you're trying to get me to defend a point I never took a stance on in the first place to win the argument, completely ignoring my minimum FPS statement.

 

"so it looks to be specific to GTA V, not a driver issue" That's why it's happening in CoD too, right? Did you not see the picture Suika linked? How about I link the video explaining it?

 

Are you going to disagree with a respected youtuber who actually tested it with no backing? If so, don't even reply because I don't want to continue this anymore. 

[don_svetlio]

R9 380 is optimal - 15% faster than a 960, consumes the same amount of power +/-10W, doesn't output a lot of heat and can actually make use of a 4GB frame buffer properly.

Even IF, and that's a big if as new drivers improved CPU overhead drastically, you lose 10% horse power by going with a 380, you are still 5% better than a 960 - not to mention that in DX12 the 380 is ahead by 20 fps, 20 freacking frames per second. 960 is a joke and is not worth as a card.

[don_svetlio]

"So the average fps means nothing"

I never said that, you're trying to get me to defend a point I never took a stance on in the first place to win the argument, completely ignoring my minimum FPS statement.

 

"so it looks to be specific to GTA V, not a driver issue" That's why it's happening in CoD too, right? Did you not see the picture Suika linked? How about I link the video explaining it?

 

Are you going to disagree with a respected youtuber who actually tested it with no backing? If so, don't even reply because I don't want to continue this anymore. 

Are you accounting for the new driver that came out a month ago that improved CPU overhead by increasing draw calls by, I don't know, 25%?