[SOLVED] I need advice for the purchase of a new graphics card for a 6 year old puter.

[Johnny Baker]

I have an older computer, that I built, and I need to determine what GPU I can use on it. I have the following motherboard:
MSI Gaming 970 Gaming AM3+/AM3 AMD 970 and SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard - AMD
My old GPU was burnt up by the application of K5PRO to the heatsinks, surrounding my GPU's processor. My temps only raised 10 degrees, after about 8 months of use and I actually went back in and re-pasted them but no improvement. I finally replaced the thermal pads but the damage had already been done and now, it's bricked.

I have been looking at the new Radeon 6600XT GPU's and am wondering if they are compatible with the above motherboard. I can provide any other info that you may require so let me know if you need it. Thanks

Now, as for K5PRO, it may be a good product but I am warning you to use with caution, if you decide to use it. I advise against it.

 

[Eximo]

You would need to provide your power supply to be sure.

Technically, yes, you can run that GPU with that system. I would advise against it though, the CPU is much too old to take advantage of the GPU. You would be limited to PCIe 2.0 and purchasing a PCIe 4.0 graphics card, the CPU would not have enough performance to run many modern titles the 6600XT could easily run.

RX570/RX580 would be my recommendation if you can find one used.

Or upgrade the whole system. An entry level Ryzen CPU like the 3300X, a B550 motherboard, and some DDR4 won't set you back much compared to the current market price of a 6600XT and would be way better than an FX based system.

 

[Johnny Baker]

I am running a 750 watt EVGA PSU. I would love to be able to do the whole thing right now but just can't. I am still in the middle of redoing my house, from Hurricane Michael and it's going to be another year or 2 before I can really sink some solid good money into a new system, a monster system, if you will. Thanks.

 

[Eximo]

750W EVGA is a little vague, but should be fine for most mid-range GPUs.

The used GPU suggestion is a much sounder idea then. 6600XT, while being low in the current line-up, is still a very powerful GPU and current market prices for GPUs far outweigh the cost of a new CPU/Motherboard/Ram.

Cheapest I see available now is $630. MSRP is $379. Even then, that is still expensive and much hate was cast towards AMD for that pricing.

The majority of gamers use things like GTX1060 and RX400 and RX500 series cards, most games are targeted to run with these at typical settings. 6600XT can comfortably run 1440p and higher refresh rate 1080p. However your CPU simply isn't fast enough for many recent titles.

If you can afford a 6600XT today, you might consider something like a Ryzen 5600G, that will include decent integrated graphics and get you on a modern platform that you can upgrade later.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($257.99 @ Walmart)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 660p 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $482.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-10-13 09:59 EDT-0400