[SOLVED] Graphics Card Upgrade: Choices and Avoiding Bottlenecking

[Zorozephyr09]

My pc currently has an Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 ti for a gpu and an Intel core i5-2500k processor. I'm looking for a suitable gpu upgrade that would allow me to (and this is the primary motivation for my upgrade) play The Witcher 3 at 60+ fps and high settings with no issues. Also the gpu has got to be able to handle Nvidia's dope HairWorks feature for the game (and not just on Geralt, but on all creatures in the game as well; its just that cool to look at). With that specific requirement down in the books, I wanted to know what my best and most viable options are.

Also, here are the rest of the specs for my PC:

Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-P8Z77-V-LX-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B007MKGF82

CPU
Intel Core i5-2500k Quadcore processor

https://www.amazon.com/INTEL-Core-i5-2500K-Processor-BX80623i52500K/dp/B004FA8NX2/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3?hvadid=177308009445&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9052045&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5922163530290810061&hvtargid=aud-647006051489:kwd-29913063083&keywords=intel+core+i5-2500k+processor&qid=1553465110&s=gateway&sr=8-3-fkmrnull

Graphics Card
MSI Geforce GTX 650 ti

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GeForce-Graphics-N650Ti-1GD5-OC/dp/B009WIW87E

Power Supply Unit (PSU)
Corsair CX750M (750 Watts)

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Bronze-Certified-Modular-CP-9020061-NA/dp/B00ALK3KEM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?hvadid=177319818126&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9052045&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4602500332941362171&hvtargid=aud-647006051489:kwd-55947916075&keywords=corsair+cx750m&qid=1553465175&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

RAM
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

PC Case (Tower)
NZXT Guardian 921RB 921RB-001-BL Blue LED SECC Steel / ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146070
-Case Dimensions (H x W x D): 18.07” x 8.11” x 20.55 in

Right now, I'm looking at the Geforce GTX 1050 ti, 1660 ti, or the Radeon RX 570. All three have really juicy prices online at the moment. But if there are any others that you think could be better choices, I'm all ears. Another thing is that I want to avoid (as much as possible) running into bottlenecking issues with the new gpu while playing W3, which is a concern I have for the 1660 ti and others due to their high performances and power demands. With the 650 ti I have currently, the game runs smooth enough, but there are definitely times when frame rate just plummets for a bit and atmospheric rendering just slows down.

Thanks in advance!

 

[NoMercyBeAst]

My pc currently has an Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 ti for a gpu and an Intel core i5-2500k processor. I'm looking for a suitable gpu upgrade that would allow me to (and this is the primary motivation for my upgrade) play The Witcher 3 at 60+ fps and high settings with no issues. Also the gpu has got to be able to handle Nvidia's dope HairWorks feature for the game (and not just on Geralt, but on all creatures in the game as well; its just that cool to look at). With that specific requirement down in the books, I wanted to know what my best and most viable options are.

Also, here are the rest of the specs for my PC:

Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-P8Z77-V-LX-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B007MKGF82

CPU
Intel Core i5-2500k Quadcore processor

https://www.amazon.com/INTEL-Core-i5-2500K-Processor-BX80623i52500K/dp/B004FA8NX2/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3?hvadid=177308009445&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9052045&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5922163530290810061&hvtargid=aud-647006051489:kwd-29913063083&keywords=intel+core+i5-2500k+processor&qid=1553465110&s=gateway&sr=8-3-fkmrnull

Graphics Card
MSI Geforce GTX 650 ti

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GeForce-Graphics-N650Ti-1GD5-OC/dp/B009WIW87E

Power Supply Unit (PSU)
Corsair CX750M (750 Watts)

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Bronze-Certified-Modular-CP-9020061-NA/dp/B00ALK3KEM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?hvadid=177319818126&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9052045&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4602500332941362171&hvtargid=aud-647006051489:kwd-55947916075&keywords=corsair+cx750m&qid=1553465175&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

RAM
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

PC Case (Tower)
NZXT Guardian 921RB 921RB-001-BL Blue LED SECC Steel / ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146070
-Case Dimensions (H x W x D): 18.07” x 8.11” x 20.55 in

Right now, I'm looking at the Geforce GTX 1050 ti, 1660 ti, or the Radeon RX 570. All three have really juicy prices online at the moment. But if there are any others that you think could be better choices, I'm all ears. Another thing is that I want to avoid (as much as possible) running into bottlenecking issues with the new gpu while playing W3, which is a concern I have for the 1660 ti and others due to their high performances and power demands. With the 650 ti I have currently, the game runs smooth enough, but there are definitely times when frame rate just plummets for a bit and atmospheric rendering just slows down.

Thanks in advance!

I suggest a full pc upgrade .
Moving to a good cpu, mobo, ddr4 ram.
Or if you dont want to do full upgrade get gtx 1660ti.
And see with bottleneck also the gtx 1660ti will perform better then all.
So you can buy 1660ti for now and when you have some saving upgrade the rest parts.

 

[Zorozephyr09]

I suggest a full pc upgrade .
Moving to a good cpu, mobo, ddr4 ram.
Or if you dont want to do full upgrade get gtx 1660ti.
And see with bottleneck also the gtx 1660ti will perform better then all.
So you can buy 1660ti for now and when you have some saving upgrade the rest parts.

Do you think that the 1050 ti and Radeon are not worth it, then? I still would rather not have to deal with bottlenecking on W3 if it can be helped; even if that means upgrading to a slightly less powerful card than the 1660 ti. And I have neither the time nor the resources to conduct a full upgrade, so that is out of the question. Any other suggested gpus for my current build as it is now?

 

[NoMercyBeAst]

Do you think that the 1050 ti and Radeon are not worth it, then? I still would rather not have to deal with bottlenecking on W3 if it can be helped; even if that means upgrading to a slightly less powerful card than the 1660 ti. And I have neither the time nor the resources to conduct a full upgrade, so that is out of the question. Any other suggested gpus for my current build as it is now?

The gtx 1660ti is the newest and powerfull than both of them.
Its equivalent to gtx 1070.
So with some bottleneck also it will outperform rtx 570 and gtx 1050ti.
You are understanding bottleneck in wrong way.
Even with bottleneckthe gtx 1660ti is more powerful and will perform alot better in W3

 

[dontlistentome]

I'd pair it with the RX 570. The 570 is substantially more powerful than the 1050 Ti. I also suggest looking at benchmarks/Youtube videos of people running Witcher 3 with the 570, so you can get an idea of what to expect. Keep in mind that in certain situations you may see slightly lower performance due to CPU differences. From what I remember seeing, I don't think you'll be over 60fps at all times with anything less than a 1070 or equivalent.

Back in the day, Hairworks was such a hit to performance I don't think anyone thought it was worth it, which is why it's not something popular today. However, if you've been gaming on a 650 Ti all this time then maybe the performance hit won't bother you since you're used to worse performance. I had a 650 Ti and remember how it struggled with demanding games like Witcher 3.

I would not buy a faster card than the 570, but I would live without Hairworks.

 

[Zorozephyr09]

That's what I thought. I had begun to read about bottlenecking online but I hadn't quite gotten a good grasp of what it meant entirely. Thanks for clearing it up a bit more for me. I guess what I'm really trying to find out is how intense the bottlenecking may be when I play a game like W3 with a card like the 1660 ti? Will I have to worry about any problems stemming from the bottlenecking? I plan to upgrade this pc further in the future (maybe eventually just turn it into a brand new pc) but I just need to know the immediate effects of the card without other upgrades.

Thanks

 

[Zorozephyr09]

I'd pair it with the RX 570. The 570 is substantially more powerful than the 1050 Ti. I also suggest looking at benchmarks/Youtube videos of people running Witcher 3 with the 570, so you can get an idea of what to expect. Keep in mind that in certain situations you may see slightly lower performance due to CPU differences. From what I remember seeing, I don't think you'll be over 60fps at all times with anything less than a 1070 or equivalent.

Back in the day, Hairworks was such a hit to performance I don't think anyone thought it was worth it, which is why it's not something popular today. However, if you've been gaming on a 650 Ti all this time then maybe the performance hit won't bother you since you're used to worse performance. I had a 650 Ti and remember how it struggled with demanding games like Witcher 3.

I would not buy a faster card than the 570, but I would live without Hairworks.

I was afraid to hear that about the HairWorks... what do you think about the 1660 ti compared to the 570? With either of these, would I really be cutting hard on fps with the HairWorks on? I guess I could live without it but its just something that really fascinated and impressed me when I saw it in action in videos.

 

[Zorozephyr09]

I doubt this helps but I also plan to install an additional 8gb of RAM at the same time as I install a new gpu. Would that possibly help with the bottlenecking or at least dealing with high-intensity features like HairWorks? (longshot ik but I'm curious nevertheless)

 

[Gmoney06ss]

View: https://youtu.be/o4WF6ZNbics


This is with a g5400, which is a dual core cpu. So your 2500k should be at least on par if not better.

 

[Zorozephyr09]

View: https://youtu.be/o4WF6ZNbics


This is with a g5400, which is a dual core cpu. So your 2500k should be at least on par if not better.

Thanks so much for sharing that! It definitely entices me to get the 1660 ti... though the RTX 570 is also so good for just literally half the price on Amazon... idk. It's a hard one for sure. Though I recently saw an article showing amd card users how to use the nvidia HairsWorks feature on W3 without suffering the massive performance hit; if that ends up truly working then its the 570 for me all the way.

 

[Gmoney06ss]

I definitely agree with the price to performance of the rx570, if going further with your upgrades the 1660ti will take you farther. That may just be the fanboy in me talking though!

 

[Zorozephyr09]

I definitely agree with the price to performance of the rx570, if going further with your upgrades the 1660ti will take you farther. That may just be the fanboy in me talking though!

You know, you are definitely right about the 1660 ti taking me farther with future upgrades to the machine; that combined with my familiarity with nvidia over AMD is making me lean more towards it now. If nothing else changes and it's price remains what it is at the moment, then its looking like I'll be picking up a 1660 ti!

Thanks so much, Gmoney!

 

[NoMercyBeAst]

You know, you are definitely right about the 1660 ti taking me farther with future upgrades to the machine; that combined with my familiarity with nvidia over AMD is making me lean more towards it now. If nothing else changes and it's price remains what it is at the moment, then its looking like I'll be picking up a 1660 ti!

Thanks so much, Gmoney!

Can you check the rate of gtx 1660ti and rtx 2070 in your country and lemme know?
Cuz in my country there is a difference of 30-40$ and the rtx 2070 is a beast
Take a look at this
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/co..._BwE&is=REG&lsft=BI:514&pcur=XGBP&sku=1437851

 

[Zorozephyr09]

Can you check the rate of gtx 1660ti and rtx 2070 in your country and lemme know?
Cuz in my country there is a difference of 30-40$ and the rtx 2070 is a beast
Take a look at this
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&IWB=IND&O=&Q=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6cmS9dOc4QIVhwsrCh00GAWoEAUYASABEgKgG_D_BwE&is=REG&lsft=BI:514&pcur=XGBP&sku=1437851

From what I can see on Amazon, the rtx 2070 is $489 something like in your link; the 1660ti is about $310 on Amazon here in the US. What country are you from?

 

[NoMercyBeAst]

From what I can see on Amazon, the rtx 2070 is $489 something like in your link; the 1660ti is about $310 on Amazon here in the US. What country are you from?

Well in my country 1660ti is expensive i guess.
Am from india

 

[Zorozephyr09]

Well in my country 1660ti is expensive i guess.
Am from india

Ah ok, cool.