Question Looking to replace a 9 year old HIS HD 6870 Video Card for a light gamer. (Mainly SIMS)

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The current video card gave up after 9 years. Banding and PC shutting down, so it needs to be replaced. However, when I go to searching, I'm completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of video cards that are there. I'm not sure which will work in this machine, which will be the upgrade that suits best etc.
This is the current video card:
HIS HD 6870 Fan GDDR5 1024MB Native HDMI 2x Display Port Dual-DVI
http://www.hisdigital.com/ro/product2-574.shtml

It was purchased back in 2011 along with all of the parts for a whole build that was put together back then. Here are the other parts of the system that may be important to know:

Motherboard: MSI P67A-C45 (B3), Intel P67, ATX, DDR3
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/P67AC45_B3
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...-2500k-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-70-ghz.html
Power Supply: Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Flower-GmbH-SF-550P14HE-Super-Flower/dp/B002XUIP5W

If possible, could anyone recommend the best options for a card, but as I don't expect them to cost too much, could anyone also recommend any other upgrades (without it being a complete overhaul and trying to keep costs down) what might also improve performance (main game played is SIMS, but I think a few others are also played Nothing too heavy afaik. The less things that need to be changed for options would be better, but I plan on helping with an upgrade over time anyway, just at the minute, hoping to start with a graphics card and go from there.
 
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jojesa said:
What's your budget?
I would look into upgrading that system but if you cannot.
Look into the GTX 1060 /1660.
If you OC the i5 2500K to at least 4.4GHz, then you might be able to squeeze some more power.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I am not sure about the budget, it's not for me, but I know it's not a lot. I will try and help with any expenses, but I think best bet is now just to upgrade the Graphics. Maybe if she can, add more.
I will look into Overclocking, never tried it, and as it's not my PC, I'm not sure about doing any damage. 😬

EDIT - I guess you are referring to the Nvidia GTX's?
As I have also seen MSi GTX 1660, Palit GeForce GTX 1660 and Zotac GTX 1660 etc.. What is the difference with all of these?
 
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jojesa

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madmatt30

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Even a 1650 super is around twice as powerful as that old 6870 so honestly you can't really make a bad decision here.

Base your decision on what you want to spend.

1650 super can be had for €159, 1660 super for around €230.

Steer clear of the standard 1660 is my advice its too close price wise to both super cards.

The 1660 super is worth the extra if you're in the habit of keeping a gpu a long time (which considering the last one was 9 years old you are)
 
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Thanks all, I have decided to go for the super, as the sale is now over for the GTX. I am in a queue to buy the super so I hope that hasn't gone back up too.

Thanks again. :)
 
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hang-the-9

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Toolbar said:
Thanks all, I have decided to go for the super, as the sale is now over for the GTX. I am in a queue to buy the super so I hope that hasn't gone back up too.

Thanks again. :)
Click to expand...

1650 Super or the 1660 super? For SIMS the 1650 Super is more than enough to play at high settings, even at 1440 resolution. 1660 Super unless playing several demanding games is not worth the extra cost.

Make sure the BIOS is the latest one for the motherboard also, quite a few older motherboards won't run newer cards without an update.
 
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Thanks again (again). I am about to buy it now. I did think about the 1650 (and still am a little). But (the PC is not mine/for me) I am thinking if she can afford the 1660 super now, and in a few months maybe upgrade around it, it might be a better option for her.
I will look at that one in mindfactory and will remember to update the BIOS.
Thanks. :)
 
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If you have no other cards to tide you over until the new cards are all out and available in large quantities, then you should spend as little as possible. I think maybe a used GTX 1060 6gb would be a good bet to hold you until the new cards are out. It will be faster than a GTX 1650 and slightly cheaper.
 
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Thanks for all the replies, and sorry if this feels like I am reviving an old thread, but it took until now to receive the card as the mail service is heavily delayed at the minute here.

The GTX 1660 Super is the one I went for. It arrived yesterday and I had a chance to install it this evening. I removed the drivers and software from the old card and put it in.
It booted up (took a while) after one or two reboots, and then I went to geforce.com/drivers to install it. I download and installed Geforce experience which took up two thirds of the screen and asked me to sign in.
I couldn't sign in as I haven't registered yet and the screen was illegible. After minimising the sign in screen, I couldn't see any install options etc. So I waited a bit and then rebooted.
Same thing.
So I took out the card and put back in the old one.
But it was stuck in a boot loop (booting for about 3 seconds and then power off and rebooting) - not even enough time to see BIOS screen.
I changed out the cards, but the same issue.
I tried it without any card at all, and the same issue.

Is there any way to get this back to booting up?
 
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hang-the-9

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Toolbar said:
Thanks for all the replies, and sorry if this feels like I am reviving an old thread, but it took until now to receive the card as the mail service is heavily delayed at the minute here.

The GTX 1660 Super is the one I went for. It arrived yesterday and I had a chance to install it this evening. I removed the drivers and software from the old card and put it in.
It booted up (took a while) after one or two reboots, and then I went to geforce.com/drivers to install it. I download and installed Geforce experience which took up two thirds of the screen and asked me to sign in.
I couldn't sign in as I haven't registered yet and the screen was illegible. After minimising the sign in screen, I couldn't see any install options etc. So I waited a bit and then rebooted.
Same thing.
So I took out the card and put back in the old one.
But it was stuck in a boot loop (booting for about 3 seconds and then power off and rebooting) - not even enough time to see BIOS screen.
I changed out the cards, but the same issue.
I tried it without any card at all, and the same issue.

Is there any way to get this back to booting up?
Click to expand...

Reset the motherboard by unplugging the CMOS battery, unplug the power supply and hold in the power button for 30 seconds. Plug everything back in and turn it on with the new card. You don't need to sing into anything to install the drivers, just download the drivers and run them. You should also be able to change the screen resolution in Windows before you do anything.
 
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hang-the-9 said:
Reset the motherboard by unplugging the CMOS battery, unplug the power supply and hold in the power button for 30 seconds. Plug everything back in and turn it on with the new card. You don't need to sing into anything to install the drivers, just download the drivers and run them. You should also be able to change the screen resolution in Windows before you do anything.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply, unfortunately I hadn't seen it and ordered a motherboard bundle as I was hoping to get it before Christmas. I guess it was needed anyway. It arrived today so I still have the other mobo, I will keep it and try that, hopefully it works and I can use it for something else. I had removed the CMOS battery and left it out for a while and reinserted it, but I never realised I had to press the power button for 30 seconds.. :oops:
 
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spentshells

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Toolbar said:
Thanks all, I have decided to go for the super, as the sale is now over for the GTX. I am in a queue to buy the super so I hope that hasn't gone back up too.

Thanks again. :)
Click to expand...
You wanted an upgrade? 4 extra threads and this is a drop in cpu for your motherboard. I included the option that gives you intergrated graphics as well.

www.aliexpress.com

50.99US $ |Intel Xeon E3 1275 E3 1275 3.4 GHz Quad Core CPU Processor 8M 95W LGA 1155|CPUs| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com www.aliexpress.com

I feel like you might be overshooting with a 1660, A 1650super or rx470/480 or 570/580 would be a huge upgrade for you.
Alternately, you could find a used gtx 970 for 70 on ebay plus the cpu I listed above and that is a substantial upgrade for you for like 120 usd.
 
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