[SOLVED] How Low Can I Go......GPU Wise?

[Matt_ogu812]

I'm in the process of building/bench testing a PC to replace one dating back + - five years.
Brief hardware components:
-ASUS TUF Z390 + Gaming w/wifi
-Intel i5 9600k 3.6Ghz
-Samsung 970 EVO 500Gb.
-16 Gb Memory
-650 W PS
-GPU ......undecided. Temporarily using an EVGA GTX 1050 Ti SC new never used. It was free.

My question is since I'm not a gamer, mainly Photoshop, internet, email and 3-5 other tabs open.
How low on the rung of GPU's can I go to put a decent GPU card to handle my current needs.
The budget is $225 and that's a stretch.
Anything above the built-in motherboard video and the EVGA 1050 Ti I'm sure would be an improvement.
I'm using two monitors mainly so I can have Photoshop running on one and mail and internet on the other.

Many thanks to those who give me their opinion on this nagging question I've been pondering on.

 

[johnsoner13]

Best bet if you only want to buy new is a 1660 imo. It’s $10 off here with a promo code

 

[Matt_ogu812]

1660 is a good starting point to start thinking about.
Thanks!

 

[Gam3r01]

Before spending any money see how the planned setup goes as is, the 1050Ti, while on the lower end, should still be sufficient for most tasks.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm in the process of building/bench testing a much overdue PC dating back + - five years.
Brief hardware components:
-ASUS TUF Z390 + Gaming w/wifi
-Intel i5 9600k 3.6Ghz
-Samsung 970 EVO 500Gb.
-16 Gb Memory
-650 W PS
-GPU ......undecided. Temporarily using an EVGA GTX 1050 Ti SC new never used. It was free.

My question is since I'm not a gamer, mainly Photoshop, internet, email and 3-5 other tabs open.
How low on the rung of GPU's can I go to put a decent GPU card to handle my current needs.
The budget is $225 and that's a stretch.
Anything above the built-in motherboard video and the EVGA 1050 Ti I'm sure would be an improvement.
I'm using two monitors mainly so I can have Photoshop running on one and mail and internet on the other.

Many thanks to those who give me their opinion on this nagging question I've been pondering on.

If you are not playing games on it, why do you need a video card past onboard? The 1050 Ti you have is already several steps over what you need for basic use.

Also that CPU came out in 2019, not sure what you mean the PC dates back 5 years, the CPU is at most a year old. Unless you mean your current PC is that old and this is what you are replacing it with.

 

[King_V]

I assumed OP meant that their existing PC is around 5 years old, and this is what they're building to replace it.

 

[Matt_ogu812]

If you are not playing games on it, why do you need a video card past onboard? The 1050 Ti you have is already several steps over what you need for basic use.

Also that CPU came out in 2019, not sure what you mean the PC dates back 5 years, the CPU is at most a year old. Unless you mean your current PC is that old and this is what you are replacing it with.

"I'm in the process of building/bench testing a much overdue PC dating back + - five years"

Clarification: The i5 is to replace the computer that is +- 5 years old.
Sorry about the vagueness.

 

[Matt_ogu812]

I assumed OP meant that their existing PC is around 5 years old, and this is what they're building to replace it.

Clarification: The i5 is to replace the computer that is +-5 years old.
Sorry about the vagueness.

 

[Matt_ogu812]

Before spending any money see how the planned setup goes as is, the 1050Ti, while on the lower end, should still be sufficient for most tasks.

Agree that in the present test mode(on the bench not in the case yet) it's working fine. But I haven't run Photoshop and all the programs in background yet.

 

[hang-the-9]

Agree that in the present test mode(on the bench not in the case yet) it's working fine. But I haven't run Photoshop and all the programs in background yet.

How the programs run on the computer have very little to do with the video card unless you are using the video card to accelerate processing of stuff like rendering video or images. The card you have now is good enough to use, even for gaming at 1080 resolution. If you want to spend some money on the new build look for a nice keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakers instead of a faster video card. I would also drop a level on the motherboard and CPU, you don't really need a k version for overclocking, and a good quality 100-120 motherboard will be just as good as the $180 one you picked. The higher end boards tend to have features most non-gamers don't need. You can save $100 or more on just those two parts if you are not interested in playing around with overclocking.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

If you are effectively using this as a workstation, I would advise skip the i5 completely. I would probably suggest for the money, go AMD with a Ryzen 3600 or higher. Those give six cores and have hyperthreading. Whereas the i5's are 6 cores and no hyperthreading. You mention photoshop and having multiple tabs open. My thought is that the i5 will bog down quicker than the other cpu with hyperthreading. It's your money of course, but that would be my thought.

As to the graphics, I would just stick with the 1050ti. The 1050ti for not gaming is overkill.

 

[Matt_ogu812]

If you are effectively using this as a workstation, I would advise skip the i5 completely. I would probably suggest for the money, go AMD with a Ryzen 3600 or higher. Those give six cores and have hyperthreading. Whereas the i5's are 6 cores and no hyperthreading. You mention photoshop and having multiple tabs open. My thought is that the i5 will bog down quicker than the other cpu with hyperthreading. It's your money of course, but that would be my thought.

As to the graphics, I would just stick with the 1050ti. The 1050ti for not gaming is overkill.

Many thanks for your thoughts regarding the i5 and the 1050ti.
I've only bumped into one for-instance with Photoshop/Lightroom when it balked at the 1050ti/driver. I deselected the 1050ti in the Preference. Reran again without then with reselected and no more warning message.
Not sure what that was all about but will keep tabs on it as I load up apps running in the background.