[SOLVED] Wondering which graphics card will work for my current (rather old) setup

[Staehren]

Hello all,

Context:

I have a rather old gaming desktop that I recently cleaned up and put back in use, however it has some problems performing optimally in most modern games. Based on the specs, I figured that I should look into getting a new GPU instead of the old one it currently has, I reckon if I pair a modern GPU with the rest of the hardware, it will fair quite alright. I have considered a Radeon RX 7800 XT or 6800 / 6950 as they seem rather cost effective (based on FPS GPU benchmark charts I have seen).

My question:

Do you guys think this GPU upgrade is a good choice? will there be compatibility issues with my ancient motherboard? Perhaps there might be a lack of cabinet space.

Specs:

Cabinet: Corsair Crystal 570X RGB White - Cabinet - Miditower
Motherboard: TUF B360-PRO GAMING (WI-FI)
Power Supply: Cooler Master V650S, 650W PSU (Purchased in march 2014)
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB VRAM
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3600 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
Processor Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (Rather large CPU cooler)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB DDR4 (capped at 2666mhz due to old motherboard
Harddisk: 1TB
SSD #1: 1TB
SSD #2: 500GB

Games:

I enjoy playing mostly shooter games, such as Escape from Tarkov, Apex Legends, but occasionally dabble in MMORGPs such as New World. I don't care for amazing graphical fidelity in my games, but I prefer a high FPS.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Lutfij]

Make and model of your PSU and it's age? Either of those choices are a good route to take. Perhaps if you could include your budget for your GPU purchase, the case you're working with so you don't run into clearance issues, your preferred site for purchase and the sort of games you want to tax the GPU with.

 

[Staehren]

Make and model of your PSU and it's age? Either of those choices are a good route to take. Perhaps if you could include your budget for your GPU purchase, the case you're working with so you don't run into clearance issues, your preferred site for purchase and the sort of games you want to tax the GPU with.

My apologies, it would appear I posted my thread too fast, I added the PSU in my post.

 

[Lutfij]

Power Supply: Cooler Master V650S, 650W PSU
Is this your PSU;

V650 Semi-Modular | Cooler Master

The V650 Semi-modular power supply features 80 PLUS Gold certification and powerful single rail configurations.

www.coolermaster.com

?
How old is the unit?

 

[Staehren]

Power Supply: Cooler Master V650S, 650W PSU
Is this your PSU;

V650 Semi-Modular | Cooler Master

The V650 Semi-modular power supply features 80 PLUS Gold certification and powerful single rail configurations.

www.coolermaster.com

?
How old is the unit?

It was bought in March 2014, also added cabinet and CPU cooler to specs

 

[Staehren]

Make and model of your PSU and it's age? Either of those choices are a good route to take. Perhaps if you could include your budget for your GPU purchase, the case you're working with so you don't run into clearance issues, your preferred site for purchase and the sort of games you want to tax the GPU with.

I added more info, based on my cabinet etc. do you think the 7800 XT will be compatible?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

What monitor do you game on?

Your CPU is getting on the old side, but is still potent enough to game. I think any card you've mentioned, will work fine with your CPU. Any new games however may struggle a little. If you're playing at 1080p, your CPU will hold back the new GPU a little. If you game at 1440p, then it will balance out more as the load shifts to the GPU more than CPU.

You can go for a dual fan GPU which will mean you won't have to worry about fitting in the case.

I'd be swapping out the PSU straight away with before powering up the new GPU. Whilst the CM may have been okay in it's day, it's 10 years old, and liable to take out some components if it goes.

 

[Staehren]

Hey there,

What monitor do you game on?

Your CPU is getting on the old side, but is still potent enough to game. I think any card you've mentioned, will work fine with your CPU. Any new games however may struggle a little. If you're playing at 1080p, your CPU will hold back the new GPU a little. If you game at 1440p, then it will balance out more as the load shifts to the GPU more than CPU.

You can go for a dual fan GPU which will mean you won't have to worry about fitting in the case.

I'd be swapping out the PSU straight away with before powering up the new GPU. Whilst the CM may have been okay in it's day, it's 10 years old, and liable to take out some components if it goes.

My monitor is a 34 inch samsung 100hz curved monitor, 3440x1440 resolution so it's 1440p, i also have two other monitors from ASUS both 24 inch screens with 144hz that i used for gaming before 1080p

is there any PSU you can recommend? not looking for anything fancy, just something that will work with say a 7800 XT card, im planning on buying it from amazon.de as they have some good prices

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

My monitor is a 34 inch samsung 100hz curved monitor, 3440x1440 resolution so it's 1440p, i also have two other monitors from ASUS both 24 inch screens with 144hz that i used for gaming before 1080p

is there any PSU you can recommend? not looking for anything fancy, just something that will work with say a 7800 XT card, im planning on buying it from amazon.de as they have some good prices

Okay, so, in that case, yeah, I'd go for the higher end card.

The 7800XT requires a min of 700w. I'd suggest going for a good quality 850w PSU to allow some headroom and plan for further more power hungry components.

Any of Corsair RMX/RMi/RMe/TXM. Seasonic Focus GX/Prime, Super Flower Leadex VII, MSI MAG/MPG among many others. But do get something quality, gold rated at a min, and a 7-10 year warranty. It will then last to your next build.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

3440x1440 resolution so it's 1440p

This is a bit more pixels than a traditional 1440p (2560 x 1440p). So add in another 15-20% of GPU grunt.

 

[Staehren]

This is a bit more pixels than a traditional 1440p (2560 x 1440p). So add in another 15-20% of GPU grunt.

Alright, worst case scenario I can just go with one of the 24 inch 144hz monitors I have - I read somewhere that an old motherboard can severely bottleneck a modern GPU, is this true? will there be bottleneck issues with that GPU on my board you think?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Alright, worst case scenario I can just go with one of the 24 inch 144hz monitors I have - I read somewhere that an old motherboard can severely bottleneck a modern GPU, is this true? will there be bottleneck issues with that GPU on my board you think?

You're talking about PCIe 3 v PCie 4. No, even newer PCie 4 GPU's can't fully saturate the PCIe 3 bandwidth. You're fine there.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

worst case scenario I can just go with one of the 24 inch 144hz monitors I have

The 7800XT will perform admirably at 3440x1440p

 

[Staehren]

The 7800XT will perform admirably at 3440x1440p

Thanks for the help

I marked your answer as solution, i'll get the 7800 XT and a PSU as you recommended, hopefully these additions will give my old PC some new life and last me some years.

Do you think the triple fan 7800 XT will be too large?

I have a Nvidia 1070 GTX with triple fan currently, as you can see on the screenshots I attached, there's plenty of room for a longer card, but it's relatively close to the PSU at the bottom though.

https://ibb.co/WDh0SG0

20241022-171027 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20241022-171027 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Thanks for the help

I marked your answer as solution, i'll get the 7800 XT and a PSU as you recommended, hopefully these additions will give my old PC some new life and last me some years.

Do you think the triple fan 7800 XT will be too large?

I have a Nvidia 1070 GTX with triple fan currently, as you can see on the screenshots I attached, there's plenty of room for a longer card, but it's relatively close to the PSU at the bottom though.

https://ibb.co/WDh0SG0

20241022-171027 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20241022-171027 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Excellent. Let us know how it goes.

Yes, if the 1070 was triple fan, then it's highly likely the new GPU will fit, if it has 3 fans.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Ah, looking at your pic, you don't need to worry about card length 👍

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

You might wanna get a PC blower/hoover and clear out some dust on your fans and internals 😉

I use something similar to this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/KACNON-Vac...621a95ec1bcc305cb8fb61c8796096b1&gad_source=1

It's a god send