Replacing a GTX 970 with a better GPU for 285 USD - possible?

[ObserverOfClouds]

Hi people,

Christmas is coming up and since my kid wants to up his 1440P game, we’re considering a joint venture. Can we get a better GPU for 285 USD?


Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K @ 3.50GHz 32 °C Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM: 16,0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (9-10-9-26)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 (MS-7817) (SOCKET 0) 50 °C
Graphics: 4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (ASUStek Computer Inc) 40 °C
Storage: 465GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (SSD) 32 °C
Storage: 931GB Western Digital WD My Passport 082A USB Device (USB (SATA)) 31 °C
Optical Drives: ASUS BC-12D2HT
Audio: NVIDIA High Definition Audio

Cheers from Denmark

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 4GB NITRO+ Video Card ($284.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $284.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-17 08:06 EST-0500

Better option ^ but have a decent 550w for both cards.

OR

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Dual Video Card ($279.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $279.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-17 08:07 EST-0500

Only a little better than a 970 ^

1070 would be a better upgrade but out of your price range.

 

[ObserverOfClouds]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 4GB NITRO+ Video Card ($284.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $284.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-17 08:06 EST-0500

OR

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Dual Video Card ($279.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $279.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-17 08:07 EST-0500

Thanks a lot, I forgot to specify this part of the question is: Does buys like these add actual improvement in 1440P gaming? 😀

 

[n0ns3ns3]

there is no real upgrade for 970 under 300$
In this price range. the best cards are GTX 1060/RX 580 that perform just slightly better. not anywhere close to 285$ better.
the cheapest card that is also a viable upgrade is GTX 1070 which is around 400$.
GTX 1070 also happens to be the minimum recommended for 1440p.

 

[ObserverOfClouds]

there is no real upgrade for 970 under 300$
In this price range. the best cards are GTX 1060/RX 580 that perform just slightly better. not anywhere close to 285$ better.
the cheapest card that is also a viable upgrade is GTX 1070 which is around 400$.
GTX 1070 also happens to be the minimum recommended for 1440p.

Yeah, I suspected as much. Well, 970 on medium/1440P works quite fine on that rig (my old) when the game is solid and optimized

 

[n0ns3ns3]

The next GPU cycle (should happen late spring, early summer for nvidia) will bring the GTX 1070 performance to under 300$ cards.
For now, may be you can make some other improvement like SSD or nice keyboard and/or mouse. During black friday you can get something with significant discount. it will cost much less than 285$ and you can have both a kid happy with a present and some budget reserved for the future GPU upgrade.

 

[TrueChocolateTaco]

Hi people,

Christmas is coming up and since my kid wants to up his 1440P game, we’re considering a joint venture. Can we get a better GPU for 285 USD?


Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K @ 3.50GHz 32 °C Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM: 16,0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (9-10-9-26)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 (MS-7817) (SOCKET 0) 50 °C
Graphics: 4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (ASUStek Computer Inc) 40 °C
Storage: 465GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (SSD) 32 °C
Storage: 931GB Western Digital WD My Passport 082A USB Device (USB (SATA)) 31 °C
Optical Drives: ASUS BC-12D2HT
Audio: NVIDIA High Definition Audio

Cheers from Denmark

At that price you can get a gtx 1060 on eBay decently priced. There's a 6gb and 3gb model. You could test your luck with the 3gb model but at higher resolutions is recommend the 6gb although the 3gb model is around 40-50 usd cheaper.

Here's a 1060 6gb on ebay for 275. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F322880835724

With the gtx 1060 you should be able to play games at 1440p 60fps with medium high mixed settings on newer games even 60fps ultra on older games

 

[JoeMomma]

In that range, moving up to 1440p from 1080p is more about the available video memory than GPU horsepower.

I bought my used GTX 1070 for $320 last month and after I sold my old GTX 970, total out of pocket cost was $140.
Scan craigslist and ebay constantly my friend.