[SOLVED] $300-$400 Upgrading Graphics Card for current PC

[Ed Hull]

Hello Community--

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: This Week

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) $300-400
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Only gaming & surfing
Are you buying a monitor: Yes / No --NO



Parts to Upgrade: (e.g.: CPU, mobo, RAM) Upgrading Video Card from GTX 1050 to GTX 1660Ti and possibly RAM --How would I find out my power supply number on my computer?
Do you need to buy OS: Yes / No
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard. NO

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (e.g.: newegg.com, ncix.com -- to show us selection & pricing) New Egg is fine

Location: City, State/Region, Country - we need to know where these parts are being assembled and whether there are good store-only deals available--Tucson, Arizona

Parts Preferences: by brand or type (e.g.: I would like to upgrade to Intel CPU) Nividia is preferred

Overclocking: Yes / No / Maybe--No--Not sure what that is to be candid

SLI or Crossfire: Yes / No / Maybe--Don't know what that is

Your Monitor Resolution: (e.g.: 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200 or if you're upgrading please state what you'd want to get) My monitors are 1920x1080 but using triple monitors for Iracing and X Plane 11 so actually 5760 x 1080

Additional Comments: (e.g.: Need to have a window and lots of bling, I would like a quiet PC. Please also list specific software or games you're using) I am looking to upgrade this video card and perhaps RAM if that is possible going to 16 MB in my machine.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: (e.g. I'm having trouble running game X or my PSU broke) I need more Video Card to run the 3 monitors and X Plane. Minimum & Recommended specs are as follows:

• MINIMUM Specs
• CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 CPU with 2 or more cores, or AMD equivalent. (Dual-core CPUs slower than 3 GHz should try the demo before purchasing.)
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Video Card: a DirectX 11-capable video card from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with at least 1 GB VRAM

• RECOMMENDED Specs
• CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K at 3.5 ghz or faster
• Memory: 16-24 GB RAM or more
• Video Card: a DirectX 12-capable video card from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with at least 4 GB VRAM (GeForce GTX 1070 or better or similar from AMD)

My computer specs are as follows:
Processor-AMD A12-9800 Radeon R, 12 Compute Cores 4C+8G 3.80GHz
RAM 12.0 GB
Windows 10 Home 64 bit
Nividia Geoforce GTX 1050
PCI Express x8 Gen 3


My List needed is this at the present time unless my machine will not accept the size in the slot.

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti DirectX 12 GTX 1660 TI GAMING X 6G 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

• 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6
• Boost Clock 1875 MHz
• 1 x HDMI 2.0b 3 x DisplayPort 1.4
• 1536 CUDA Cores
• PCI Express 3.0 x16

Thanks.

Ed Hull

 

[Phaaze88]

Download HWINFO: https://www.hwinfo.com/
Close the browser, and open HWINFO.
When it opens up, select the Sensors Only checkbox, and leave the program running in the background.

Now, run X-Plane for... 30mins, I guess. Close it, and pull up HWINFO.
Record/note:
Core 1 max usage
Core 2 max usage
Core 3 max usage
Core 4 max usage
Ram max usage
Gpu max usage

The weakest link will determine which benefits the most from an upgrade. Now, unlike the ram and gpu, the cpu can be the weakest link if even ONE core is at 100%.

 

[cryoburner]

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti DirectX 12 GTX 1660 TI GAMING X 6G 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

What sort of price are you seeing for that card? Checking prices online, that model seems a bit expensive compared to some other cards, at around $300.

Nvidia has since released the GTX 1660 SUPER, which is typically only around 5% slower than the Ti, with some models selling for as little as $230...

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=450&sort=price

Or there's the RTX 2060, which tends to be more than 15% faster than the 1660 Ti and offers some additional hardware features for things like raytraced lighting effects and upscaling in certain games, with some models available for as little as $300...

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=436&sort=price

The 1660 Ti in general doesn't seem to be priced all that attractively right now, when it's possible to get significantly more performance for just a little more, or slightly less performance for significantly less.

And as Phaaze88 was hinting at, you might want to make sure that your CPU performance isn't holding you back. Simulators tend to often be relatively demanding on the CPU, and that A12 processor is probably going to limit frame rates to some degree.

Of course, if you are running games across three 1080p displays on a 1050 Ti, I suspect upgrading the graphics card would make more of a difference than anything. One way to check would be to lower your resolution way down, for example, by limiting it to just a single display, or dropping to something like 1280x720 resolution, and see if performance improves a lot. If it does, then a new graphics card would likely result in similar performance gains at your usual surround resolution.

 

[Ed Hull]

Thank you both for your responses, they are very helpful. I will try to run that program to test my core usage and go from there. I think I was going with the 1660Ti due to slot size, but could have been wrong with that.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

Ed

 

[cryoburner]

I think I was going with the 1660Ti due to slot size, but could have been wrong with that.

Probably worth asking, is this in a normal-sized computer case, or a slim one? If this is a pre-built computer, do you happen to know the model number? I'm just wondering what kind of room you have to work with for a graphics card.

Also, I don't think you mentioned what model of power supply your system has. A GTX 1050 can run on a pretty low-end power supply, but a more powerful card might require something better.

 

[Ed Hull]

Probably worth asking, is this in a normal-sized computer case, or a slim one? If this is a pre-built computer, do you happen to know the model number? I'm just wondering what kind of room you have to work with for a graphics card.

Also, I don't think you mentioned what model of power supply your system has. A GTX 1050 can run on a pretty low-end power supply, but a more powerful card might require something better.

 

[Ed Hull]

I ran the test the other gentleman sent me to run and I have attached the results...I am thinking it is a RAM-Video Card & CPU issue. I will try to attach the results on here somehow.

Thanks Again

Ed

 

[Phaaze88]

Imgur.com.
Here's an example:

https://imgur.com/0X4r04R

View: https://imgur.com/0X4r04R