Upgrade from GTX 750 Ti to RX 460, worth it?

[caiokn]

Hello there

I currently have a 2GB GTX 750 Ti from EVGA, and I'm considering upgrading to a 4GB RX 460, probably Asus Strix or Sapphire Nitro models. Would it be worth it, considering that I'm gaming on DX 11 at 1080p and don't usually play AAA games? Would a GTX 1050 be a better upgrade?

The GPU will be paired with a Pentium G4400, 8 GB DDR4 2133 Mhz, H110 chipset mobo. I'm fine with 1080p and steady 30 fps, but I'd like to use at least high/very high settings for most games, with some tweaks here and there.

 

[RobCrezz]

I would be looking at the 1050 ti and the RX 470 for it to be a good noticeable upgrade.

 

[caiokn]

I would be looking at the 1050 ti and the RX 470 for it to be a good noticeable upgrade.

Thanks for replying. Won't a 1050 Ti be bottlenecked by my Pentium G4400? I don't really see myself upgrading my CPU for at least 1 year, so I don't want to buy something more powerful than what my CPU could push. The RX 470 is out of my budget unfortunately, but I can try stretching it a bit to get the 1050 Ti.

 

[ErikMcLeod]

Eh, it'll be a really small upgrade. And $115 is a pretty significant portion of the overall worth of that system, so... not worth the investment in my opinion. 1050ti would be a better purchase - it's significantly faster than the 750ti/460, only draws power from the PCIE lane, and is still fairly priced ($150). The G4400 will hold it back a little bit in CPU-bound games, but in all fairness there'll always be slight bottlenecks and complications when working with lower-end systems. You can always save up and upgrade to something like an i5 6400 or whatever else Intel has to offer down the line, assuming you want to stick to the same chipset you're using now.

If you're not content with those options, I'd just stick with the 750ti.

 

[RobCrezz]

I would be looking at the 1050 ti and the RX 470 for it to be a good noticeable upgrade.

Thanks for replying. Won't a 1050 Ti be bottlenecked by my Pentium G4400? I don't really see myself upgrading my CPU for at least 1 year, so I don't want to buy something more powerful than what my CPU could push. The RX 470 is out of my budget unfortunately, but I can try stretching it a bit to get the 1050 Ti.

Depends entirely on the game.

 

[caiokn]

I would be looking at the 1050 ti and the RX 470 for it to be a good noticeable upgrade.

Thanks for replying. Won't a 1050 Ti be bottlenecked by my Pentium G4400? I don't really see myself upgrading my CPU for at least 1 year, so I don't want to buy something more powerful than what my CPU could push. The RX 470 is out of my budget unfortunately, but I can try stretching it a bit to get the 1050 Ti.

Depends entirely on the game.

Well, since I'm mostly playing older or lighter games, the exceptions being Rise of the Tomb Raider and GTA V, I guess I'll be fine with the 1050 Ti then.

 

[caiokn]

Eh, it'll be a really small upgrade. And $115 is a pretty significant portion of the overall worth of that system, so... not worth the investment in my opinion. 1050ti would be a better purchase - it's significantly faster than the 750ti/460, only draws power from the PCIE lane, and is still fairly priced ($150). The G4400 will hold it back a little bit in CPU-bound games, but in all fairness there'll always be slight bottlenecks and complications when working with lower-end systems. You can always save up and upgrade to something like an i5 6400 or whatever else Intel has to offer down the line, assuming you want to stick to the same chipset you're using now.

If you're not content with those options, I'd just stick with the 750ti.

Thanks. I'll se if I can find a good deal on the 1050 ti then. Just one last question: would the extra 2GB make any difference, taking into account that my PC is a basic one?

 

[ErikMcLeod]

I'm not quite sure I understand your question. The extra 2GB will only benefit you. The combination of that plus the rest of whatever makes the card operate so fast at such low wattage makes it a great purchase.

 

[caiokn]

I'm not quite sure I understand your question. The extra 2GB will only benefit you. The combination of that plus the rest of whatever makes the card operate so fast at such low wattage makes it a great purchase.

Sorry, I guess I didn't express myself very well. My intent was to know how the extra 2 GB of VRAM would make a noticeable difference, if my CPU wouldn't be a bad bottleneck that wouldn't let me use the extra VRAM.

From what you guys said and from some research I did I'm now pretty sure the 1050 Ti is a great card, I just want to be as sure as possible if I'd be able to enjoy and benefit of everything it offers before I purchase it.

 

[ErikMcLeod]

VRAM =/= speed in card stratification. VRAM is more like "capacity" than anything else. Having more capacity allows you to use higher settings at less performance cost, but doesn't directly equate to processing speed (although the 1050ti is indeed a much faster card than the 750ti for other reasons).

Using more VRAM will actually take load off of the CPU because it entails higher GPU load (and consequently lower CPU load). So if anything, you should make use of the extra 2GB of the 1050ti's VRAM as much as possible as that's where you'll get to see the card really flex its muscles.

But yes, you will experience everything the 1050ti has to offer you with your CPU. Don't worry about that, as it's not even in question.

 

[caiokn]

VRAM =/= speed in card stratification. VRAM is more like "capacity" than anything else. Having more capacity allows you to use higher settings at less performance cost, but doesn't directly equate to processing speed (although the 1050ti is indeed a much faster card than the 750ti for other reasons).

Using more VRAM will actually take load off of the CPU because it entails higher GPU load (and consequently lower CPU load). So if anything, you should make use of the extra 2GB of the 1050ti's VRAM as much as possible as that's where you'll get to see the card really flex its muscles.

But yes, you will experience everything the 1050ti has to offer you with your CPU. Don't worry about that, as it's not even in question.

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation. I'll order my GTX 1050 Ti as soon as possible.