Which GPU should I buy?

[MrDorito]

My birthday is coming soon and I am planning to get a GPU for my prebuilt system, my current system haves an AMD A8 5500 cpu, and no GPU, I choosed this system because I only play smite and minecraft, but I want to play more games like BF4 and GTA V at probably mid settings and 720p, or even more if it's possible, my plan was to get the R9 280 GPU from Tiger Direct, because of it's price (I will post the link at the end of the post), the problem is that it will bottleneck my system and I don't want that, which GPU do you suggest I get to get a really good performance on games without bottlenecking?
My budget is 200$ max

Link to R9 280: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8927265&Sku=RLH-102352162

 

[disturbed force]

How many watts is your psu?

 

[MrDorito]

How many watts is your psu?

500W

 

[fkr]

need to know the exact pre-built system that you have.

or you can provide the exact power supply you have, maybe there is some model number or something on it

also need to make sure that the GPU will fit in your system


also because that is a pretty weak CPU I would not get anything higher end than that r9 280 as you will already be CPU limited. you may even want to just consider a gtx 750ti

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6347/amd-a10-5800k-a8-5600k-review-trinity-on-the-desktop-part-2/6


gtx 750ti
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750-13.html

the nice thing about the gtx750ti is that they come in a small package and they do not need anything other than pcie lot to power them so your current power supply is perfect

 

[MrDorito]

how about the R9 270 or R9 270X, will it bottleneck my system?

 

[jerdle]

you shouldn't have any problems with the 270 line

 

[MrDorito]

you shouldn't have any problems with the 270 line

Both 270 & 270X will be fine? Because I might plan to get the R9 270X

 

[jerdle]

yes. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150720 however, this is a much better deal for $10 more than a 270x.

 

[MrDorito]

yes. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150720 however, this is a much better deal for $10 more than a 270x.

Thanks a lot for your reply, but the problem with that card is that my cpu is really weak, so the gpu won't reach it's full potential and I won't get a lot of good performance on games.

 

[jerdle]

For $10 it's still better to get that card. You'll likely get better performance.

"and I won't get a lot of good performance on games." - Getting a better GPU than your CPU can take full advantage of will not reduce performance. It just means that in that situation it wont improve performance.

 

[fkr]

the biggest issue is what your power supply on the 12v rail. the 270x can take allot of watts almost 300

anandtech article on power consumption:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7503/the-amd-radeon-r9-270x-270-review-feat-asus-his/16


I know that he has a 500watt power supply but i would like 25amps on the 12v rail and without knowing the power supply the gtx is the best bet.
If I could find a spec on that power supply then like I said earlier I would consider going all the way up to the old 7950 or rebranded r9 280.

There is no reason not to buy a graphics card that at times with certain games will be fully utilized. sure there will be games that your card is wasted on but there will be others that you will max out also. there is also the fact that your GPU will have 3GDDR.

In the end it comes down to how much you want to spend and if your power supply can handle it.