New computer build...GPU suggestions?

M

Mike the Wino

Member
I have a 9 year old PC running Vista 64 Home Premium which will become unsupported next year. It’s time for a new machine so I’m in the process of determining my needs/wants, performance wise.

I use my PC primarily for web surfing, light office work, and video and music streaming…no heavy graphics uses. As far as gaming is concerned, I play mostly adventure games that use 2D or 2.5D graphics. I can’t think of any games in my catalog that are truly 3D nor require it. I don’t play MMOG’s. My current graphics card is an Nvidia GeForce GTX 650Ti with 1GB video RAM, and to this date it has never been over-taxed. (I could overclock it if needed but I have no idea how!)

I would like to speed things up while I have the chance, so I’m going with a faster and more powerful quad core CPU and 16GB of memory, but my real debate is how much of a graphics card do I really need. I’m leaning towards a major brand 2GB GeForce GTX-950 series (which has double the memory of my current GPU), but for another $50 I could step up to a 4GB GeForce GTX-960. My question to anyone here that uses their system as I’ve described above, is would I really even notice the difference between the performance of these two options, and if so where/how would I see it? I mean, $50 for double the onboard RAM doesn’t seem like much, but it’s still $50 that I could spend on a couple nice bottles of wine instead. Is it worth it? Opinions, please!
 
What sort of games do you actually play? (name of titles)

And since you mentioned a new computer, are you planning on building one yourself or are you looking at buying a pre-built one? Also, what's your expected budget for this purchase?
 
Intel_man said:
What sort of games do you actually play? (name of titles)

And since you mentioned a new computer, are you planning on building one yourself or are you looking at buying a pre-built one? Also, what's your expected budget for this purchase?
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I've got between 150-200 titles, almost exclusively adventure games. All the way from Amnesia: The Dark Descent to Zork: The Grand Inquisitor. In between I have titles like the Gabriel Knight games, Broken Sword series, Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango, Remastered...everything Tex Murphy including the latest one, Tesla Effect, almost all the Wadget Eye games, Stasis, Dreamfall Chapters....etc, etc. And a crap-load of casual HOPA games for "She Who Must Be Obeyed". Stuff like that. No resource hogs.

As far as the new system is concerned, I'm configuring it and having it built by one of the "boutique" PC online stores so I can get the 3-year warranty that comes with it. Right now the configuration looks like this:

Intel Core i5 6500 3.2Ghz 6MB Cache Quad-Core |
Stock Intel LGA1151 Heatsink and Fan |
GIGABYTE GA-B150M-D3H (Intel B150, HDMI, PCI-E, 6xSATA, 4xDDR4) |
G. Skill Ripjaws DDR4-2400 (PC4-19200) 16GB (8GBx2) Lifetime Warranty |
1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 6Gbps Western Digital Blue |
24X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD /-RW/CDRW |
4GB GeForce GTX 960 GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI/DP (Major Brand) |
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64bit (Includes DVD + COA) |
Enermax Ostrog GT Blue Case (3 5.25, 8 3.5) 3 Fans, Audio/5 USB 2.0, 3 USB 3.0 ports |
430watt EVGA 100-W1-0430-KR 80 PLUS CERTIFIED |
Onboard 1Gbit LAN included |
Onboard HD 7.1 Sound included |
Wires and Cables ran behind case and tied up for maximum airflow |
3 Year Parts and Labor Warranty |

The only thing I'm considering changing is the GPU to a 2GB GeForce GTX 950 since I've never even come close to taxing my current 1GB card (that I know of). I realize that in the future there may be some 3D adventure games I might like to play, but either of the ones I'm looking at could handle what I see on the horizon. As configured above, it's coming in at just below $1000, which is what I'm comfortable with (I don't really want to spend more than that).

So again, based on what I'd be using it for, do you think I'd notice any kind of performance difference between these two options, and if so where or how would it be noticeable?
 
Mike the Wino said:
As far as the new system is concerned, I'm configuring it and having it built by one of the "boutique" PC online stores so I can get the 3-year warranty that comes with it.
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Apart from a faster turn around time (not having to go through a RMA process to get replacement parts from the manufacturer), the important computer components often carry atleast 3 years of warranty from the manufacturer already.

Ideally, this is what you can get for under $1000 if you build your own.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/swT9NN
 
Seems pretty reasonable. I'd probably opt for an SSD instead. You might want more than a 430w PSU if you're going for a 960.
 
Intel_man said:
Apart from a faster turn around time (not having to go through a RMA process to get replacement parts from the manufacturer), the important computer components often carry atleast 3 years of warranty from the manufacturer already.

Ideally, this is what you can get for under $1000 if you build your own.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/swT9NN
Click to expand...
I've thought about building my own (I did build an XP machine a millennia or so ago, which worked great), and I may still do that. I like the idea of SSD storage as well, but I want at least 1TB and I'm not willing to pay out for it right now. Maybe later when the prices come down, but not now. I can always upgrade to it later, right?.

BUT, back to my original question: Am I likely to notice a difference in performance between the two GPU's I'm looking at as noted above, based on what I've indicated I'd be using it for? Whether I build it myself or have it built, this is the only thing I'm really hung up on. I don't really think frame rates come in to play too much with the games I'm used to playing...so is there something else that might bug me if I go for the "lesser" card?

beers said:
Seems pretty reasonable. I'd probably opt for an SSD instead. You might want more than a 430w PSU if you're going for a 960.
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Are you saying the 2GB GeForce GTX 950 sounds reasonable, or were you referring to Intel_man's build list? BTW, I thought the suggested PSU for the 960 was a little low, too, so thanks for confirming my suspicion....

EDIT: By the way, my monitor supports 2048 X 1152 native at a 16:9 aspect ratio.
 
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