[SOLVED] Any good graphics card recommendations?

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
Hey there! I have been trying to get a new graphics card for about a year now but a lot has been stopping me from doing so. Now, I think it's the best chance to do it since black Friday and cyber Monday are coming up. I have a budget of around 320USD at the moment. What graphics card should I get. I was thinking a 1660 ti. Also, I would prefer an NVIDIA card.

Best regards, Nonkii
 
Solution
If you were considering a GTX 1660 Super or a 1660 Ti, I would not recommend them.

The RX 5600 XT is about 1660 Super or Ti price, while giving RTX 2060 performance.

That said, I would still wait. Navi 2 is being announced in a few days, and the RX 3070 is also being released soon. This may shift prices around. Beyond that, the holiday shopping season, Black Friday, etc., are also going to result in sales.

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
Ask this question a week before Black Friday. AMD and Nvidia are both releasing new-gen cards. No guaranteed they'll be down to your price range by BF, but the pricing on existing cards is sure to change in preparation.
Will do , thanks!

Actually, forgot to mention that my psu won't be able to handle the new cards, unfortunately :sweatsmile:.
 
1660 Super is actually just 2% weaker than the Ti.
980 Ti is very close to 1660 Ti, but requires a stronger PSU and draws more watts.
1070 also, shining more in very high game settings and bigger resolutions
1070 Ti beats 1660 Ti & 1070 it with ~13%
1080, if it comes to it, is ~13% stronger than 1070 Ti and very close (like same) to RTX 2060.
2060...maybe if its price falls down enough much or used s.o. sells it really cheap to you.
New gen. cards? Mb a 3060 'd be cheap? It'd be amazingly cheap if <= 320 USD.
And so on. Like tennis2 tries to mention, wait, prices are going down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nonkii

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
It's a pretty bad one. I got a pre built about two years ago already since I didn't know what I was doing. I've been upgrading my components for a while now and was thinking about upgrading my PSU. Asked the pre built company what psu they use for their machines and they responded with Apex 500w for lower end machines. I've never heard of that brand. Also, I'm a very lazy person so I personally hate the fact that I have to do the cable management if I upgrade my PSU. I just suck at it and the current cable management is really good so I don't really want to mess with the cables and make it look worse.
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
Well, first thing's first - get a good quality PSU before installing any new video card. The first link in my sig is my go-to guide for that.

As to what GPU is most appropriate, it depends on several things - what are the rest of your PC's specs being the first question (CPU, RAM, etc), but, more specifically beyond that:
  • What is your monitor's resolution?
  • What is your monitor's refresh rate?
  • Does your monitor have FreeSync, GSync, or neither?
  • What specific games are you looking to play?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nonkii

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
Can you take the side panel off your case and report the model number of your PSU to us? (it's on the sticker on the side of the unit)

Apex PSUs aren't good. Can you share what CPU you have also, the PSU quality is going to limit GPU recommendations.
Well, not lazy for that but the sticker is on the other side and I have to take the PSU out of there which I'm pretty scared to do and I'm taking school at the moment. Ryzen 5 3600.
 

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
=
Well, first thing's first - get a good quality PSU before installing any new video card. The first link in my sig is my go-to guide for that.

As to what GPU is most appropriate, it depends on several things - what are the rest of your PC's specs being the first question (CPU, RAM, etc), but, more specifically beyond that:
  • What is your monitor's resolution?
  • What is your monitor's refresh rate?
  • Does your monitor have FreeSync, GSync, or neither?
  • What specific games are you looking to play?
I'm aware that my psu is garbage.

A320M-K
Ryzen 5 3600
gtx 1050 ti
2x 8gb corsair vengeance stick 3000mhz
500w psu (APEX)
A western digital 1tb if I recall correctly.

I don't really play heavy games. Mostly play games like CSGO, Valorant, Minecraft, Sea of Thieves. I enjoyed the new Call Of Duty Cold war beta with my friends and my pc could barely run 60 fps low settings. I play 1920 x 1080. Currently have a 60hz but upgrading to a 144 after buying a graphics card.
 

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
Will that new monitor also be 1920x1080?

Are you expecting to get those high frame rates, or would you be happy if it settled on say, 75, or 90, or 100 fps steadily?
Yea, Im good with 75 - 100 fps avg. I was watching my friend play the game with a 1660 super and it was running decently on high settings ( 80-100 fps)

New monitor will be the same resolution ( 1920 x 1080)
 
Look at what aux pcie connectors you have available coming out of the psu.
A quality 500w psu will have two 6+2 connectors.
A GTX1660 super will be in your price range.
They usually need a 8 pin connector(equivalent to two 6 pin connectors.
Your psu may have two 6 pin connectors, but a cheap unit will not deliver full power in a heated case.
Here is a handy chart as to what different graphics cards require for power:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

Consider a quality psu as a long term investment. They do not go obsolete easily.
Look for a seasonic focus in 550-650w,, Perhaps about $100.

Or, buy a lesser card like a GTX1650 super from evga.
They have a free 90 day trade up option in case you decide you need something stronger.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nonkii

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
Look at what aux pcie connectors you have available coming out of the psu.
A quality 500w psu will have two 6+2 connectors.
A GTX1660 super will be in your price range.
They usually need a 8 pin connector(equivalent to two 6 pin connectors.
Your psu may have two 6 pin connectors, but a cheap unit will not deliver full power in a heated case.
Here is a handy chart as to what different graphics cards require for power:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

Consider a quality psu as a long term investment. They do not go obsolete easily.
Look for a seasonic focus in 550-650w,, Perhaps about $100.

Or, buy a lesser card like a GTX1650 super from evga.
They have a free 90 day trade up option in case you decide you need something stronger.
I remember opening the back case and it did have a 6 + 2 connector.
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
If you were considering a GTX 1660 Super or a 1660 Ti, I would not recommend them.

The RX 5600 XT is about 1660 Super or Ti price, while giving RTX 2060 performance.

That said, I would still wait. Navi 2 is being announced in a few days, and the RX 3070 is also being released soon. This may shift prices around. Beyond that, the holiday shopping season, Black Friday, etc., are also going to result in sales.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nonkii
Solution

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
If you were considering a GTX 1660 Super or a 1660 Ti, I would not recommend them.

The RX 5600 XT is about 1660 Super or Ti price, while giving RTX 2060 performance.

That said, I would still wait. Navi 2 is being announced in a few days, and the RX 3070 is also being released soon. This may shift prices around. Beyond that, the holiday shopping season, Black Friday, etc., are also going to result in sales.
Never knew that. I'm not a big fan of AMD cards since I have no experience with them lol. Thanks for letting me know, I'll be checking prices.
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
On top of that, when you get a new monitor, I would suggest FreeSync, and not GSync.

FreeSync is an open standard, and AMD supports it. GSync was Nvidia only, proprietary, and an otherwise identical monitor that had GSync instead of FreeSync cost quite a bit more.

Nvidia started supporting FreeSync with with their 10-series cards and later, though they call it "GSync-compatible" - they list a relatively small number of FreeSync monitors as being "GSync-compatible", but many more monitors work than Nvidia actually lists.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nonkii
If you decide to change PSU, you can check here:
and try to go for something at least from Tier B
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nonkii

Nonkii

Respectable
Jul 27, 2019
615
15
1,895
On top of that, when you get a new monitor, I would suggest FreeSync, and not GSync.

FreeSync is an open standard, and AMD supports it. GSync was Nvidia only, proprietary, and an otherwise identical monitor that had GSync instead of FreeSync cost quite a bit more.

Nvidia started supporting FreeSync with with their 10-series cards and later, though they call it "GSync-compatible" - they list a relatively small number of FreeSync monitors as being "GSync-compatible", but many more monitors work than Nvidia actually lists.
Thanks for letting me know! Will keep that in mind.