Question Advice on which video card to get?

[Shargrath]

Hello,

I am totally out of the loop on current hardware. I have a build that is around 5 years old and my video card is giving me hints that it might give out soon (occasional green screens, occasional flickering). Obviously I don't want to get the best of the best because it wouldn't make sense for such an old PC. I don't really do anything too intense, occasional games but I'm happy to play at 1080p, 1024x720 resolution, I don't really do anything graphic intensive like 4K video or streaming.
My current specs are,

Ryzen 7: 3700X
16GB Ram
RX580 GPU

I looked around sales on Amazon for black friday and don't know if it makes sense to get an RX6600 or pay more for an RX6750XT.
Any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[Tech Junky]

I put a sparkle a380 in my setup for transcoding for $100. Works great for that up to 1000fps on some media. I had a pair of 580s in the past through for mining and offloaded those awhile ago.

Arc should work fine for modern games and is constantly being patched for older titles though as well.

 

[Shargrath]

I put a sparkle a380 in my setup for transcoding for $100. Works great for that up to 1000fps on some media. I had a pair of 580s in the past through for mining and offloaded those awhile ago.

Arc should work fine for modern games and is constantly being patched for older titles though as well.

I just looked that up and looks, strange. I'm not too familiar with newer tech as I haven't been following it. Is it like a full fledged GPU? Would it be a better options that the ones I chose?
I forgot to mention that I also use my PC for CAD work with Solidworks, that might demand more GPU power as well.

 

[tamz_msc]

Eh, upgrade your CPU to a 5700X and get an RX 7600. For around $450, you are set for another 3-4 years minimum gaming at 1080p 60Hz with high-ultra settings w/o upscaling.

 

[Tech Junky]

It's a full GPU though there's a few options for each tier of Arc. The A380 has 2-4 brands pushing them right now and some like ASRock need a PCIE power lead connected for more power or the Sparkle is simply powered off the slot itself.

A380 / A750 / A770 are the primary tiers but there have been other tiers mixed in at different price points as well. Anywhere from 4GB >> 16GB of vram

I can't speak to CAD as for how much it would tax it though. From the standpoint of compute though it's pretty decent as setting it up for QSV transcoding invokes the openCL code which is similar to when I was mining with the RX cards.

I think there's a bit of hype when looking at GPUs though and sometimes we all get a bit laser focused on one particular thing or another and forget to look around to see what else is around us. Any of the RX cards should be fine though.

I would go on pcpartpicker.com though and check real user reviews and compare the specs there a bit easier.

 

[Shargrath]

Thank you for the advice so far, very much appreciated. One other question, for a RX7600, would my 750W power supply suffice?

 

[Tech Junky]

If you put your build into PCP it will give you a max load and if it's too close to the PSU max it will warn you as well. If you click on the power estimate it will also break down the min/max loads per part.

 

[Hitman928]

Thank you for the advice so far, very much appreciated. One other question, for a RX7600, would my 750W power supply suffice?

Last I looked, there were some really good deals on RX6800 ($380-$400) and RX6700/6750 ($300) cards that would be solid value buys.

What is your budget for a new card and CPU?

 

[Thunder 57]

Hello,

I am totally out of the loop on current hardware. I have a build that is around 5 years old and my video card is giving me hints that it might give out soon (occasional green screens, occasional flickering). Obviously I don't want to get the best of the best because it wouldn't make sense for such an old PC. I don't really do anything too intense, occasional games but I'm happy to play at 1080p, 1024x720 resolution, I don't really do anything graphic intensive like 4K video or streaming.
My current specs are,

Ryzen 7: 3700X
16GB Ram
RX580 GPU

I looked around sales on Amazon for black friday and don't know if it makes sense to get an RX6600 or pay more for an RX6750XT.
Any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance.

You are getting recommendations for things you don't need based on your use case. An RX 6600 fits what you are looking for and is rather inexpensive. I don't know why people are saying to upgrade your CPU when you never mentioned it. That is certainly an option too but I don't think it's necessary at this point.

I would also stay away from Intel unless you only play newer games. Their drivers have gotten better but anything DX11 or older could cause problems. Just look at this thread to see for yourself. Usually it works. Somestimes it needs tweaking to work. Sometimes it just doesn't. Not recommended unless you like messing around with things.

 

[Shargrath]

Last I looked, there were some really good deals on RX6800 ($380-$400) and RX6700/6750 ($300) cards that would be solid value buys.

What is your budget for a new card and CPU?

I am not really planning on a new CPU, I don't think I need one at this point, that's one of the reasons I'm not looking for a top of the line card. My budget is around $300 for a new card but I might go for $400 if it's really a huge improvement.

You are getting recommendations for things you don't need based on your use case. An RX 6600 fits what you are looking for and is rather inexpensive. I don't know why people are saying to upgrade your CPU when you never mentioned it. That is certainly an option too but I don't think it's necessary at this point.

I would also stay away from Intel unless you only play newer games. Their drivers have gotten better but anything DX11 or older could cause problems. Just look at this thread to see for yourself. Usually it works. Somestimes it needs tweaking to work. Sometimes it just doesn't. Not recommended unless you like messing around with things.

Yeah, I don't think I need a new CPU, like I said, I only game occasionally on lower settings and most of my use is regular web browsing and CAD work. I currently run an AMD system that's why I've been only considering Radeon cards. They seem to play better together. I've just been completely out of the loop for years on PC hardware and parts that's why I have no idea on what's a good value and the smartest choice in my case.

How is ASrock as a brand? I've never really heard of them before, mostly reliability wise?

 

[Shargrath]

Also, not too keen on XFX cards. I know this can happen to any brand, but many years ago I had an XFX card which completely stopped working after less than a year (no overclocking or any issues with PSU to my knowledge).

 

[Hitman928]

I am not really planning on a new CPU, I don't think I need one at this point, that's one of the reasons I'm not looking for a top of the line card. My budget is around $300 for a new card but I might go for $400 if it's really a huge improvement.


Yeah, I don't think I need a new CPU, like I said, I only game occasionally on lower settings and most of my use is regular web browsing and CAD work. I currently run an AMD system that's why I've been only considering Radeon cards. They seem to play better together. I've just been completely out of the loop for years on PC hardware and parts that's why I have no idea on what's a good value and the smartest choice in my case.

How is ASrock as a brand? I've never really heard of them before, mostly reliability wise?

Ok, I would be looking at either of the options I gave as they fall in line with your budget and are currently the best value there when you take VRAM into account. Agreed on the CPU, you should be able to get some more time out of what you have just fine. It will be significantly behind from an absolute performance perspective but should still give you perfectly playable performance.

 

[tamz_msc]

CPU is "just fine" is you're playing at 60 Hz. If you are targeting high FPS, and play with reduced settings, the 5700X will smoke a 3700X, even with a card like the RX 7600.

 

[Seba]

my video card is giving me hints that it might give out soon (occasional green screens, occasional flickering)

Before buying anything, try another (HDMI or Display Port) cable and/or different ports (in both the graphics card and in the monitor - if you have more ports in that, too). Maybe also another monitor/TV.


Based on your description of your needs (it looks like CAD is your primary focus), if the current graphics card is indeed failing, an Nvidia graphics card might be a better choice.

Also, if the current monitor is 1920x1080, a 27" 2560x1440 monitor would be a huge improvement for CAD.

 

[SolidQ]

Also, not too keen on XFX cards. I know this can happen to any brand, but many years ago I had an XFX card which completely stopped working after less than a year

That was many years ago, now XFX is fine.

My budget is around $300 for a new card but I might go for $400 if it's really a huge improvement.

There is on newegg RX 6800 for now XFX = 369$, Powercolor Fighter = 389$, Sapphire Pulse = 399

 

[DeathReborn]

That was many years ago, now XFX is fine.


There is on newegg RX 6800 for now XFX = 369$, Powercolor Fighter = 389$, Sapphire Pulse = 399

I can very much recommend the 6800, you can easily get it running at under 200W (I have one running at 960mv 2.3GHz @ ~170W load) and will happily run at 1080p, 1440p or even 4K. If you want to keep it for years, it's the best bet.

 

[Shargrath]

Thank you for the help everyone, Very much appreciated!
Ended up ordering a Powercolor Hellhound RX6600 on Amazon since its on a black friday deal for $187. Hopefully this will hold me over for a couple of years.

 

[igor_kavinski]

ARC A770 16GB is $249 on Newegg with a $45 free game. Can't get a better deal than that.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Ended up ordering a Powercolor Hellhound RX6600 on Amazon since its on a black friday deal for $187.

Well, a 16GB card could keep you from upgrading even longer. You can always cancel and get the Intel ARC.

 

[In2Photos]

I know you ordered a new card but it's possible that your 580 just needs to be repasted. What kind of temps are you seeing on the card? Worth a shot, there are lots of videos showing how to do it.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Well, a 16GB card could keep you from upgrading even longer. You can always cancel and get the Intel ARC.

Also if you're willing to shop at newegg on the tiktok shop (app only) you can get an RX6600 or ARC A750 for $130-140 depending on which model you choose.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Also if you're willing to shop at newegg on the tiktok shop (app only) you can get an RX6600 or ARC A750 for $130-140 depending on which model you choose.

Personally, no. That would be scary territory for me

 

[Thunder 57]

Thank you for the help everyone, Very much appreciated!
Ended up ordering a Powercolor Hellhound RX6600 on Amazon since its on a black friday deal for $187. Hopefully this will hold me over for a couple of years.

Should do you well. I saw today a 6700 for $230 (!) that would've been good but it sold out in no time. A 6700 XT would last a bit longer probably but by the sounds of it you wouldn't benefit from it and it costs more like $300.

Before buying anything, try another (HDMI or Display Port) cable and/or different ports (in both the graphics card and in the monitor - if you have more ports in that, too). Maybe also another monitor/TV.


Based on your description of your needs (it looks like CAD is your primary focus), if the current graphics card is indeed failing, an Nvidia graphics card might be a better choice.

Also, if the current monitor is 1920x1080, a 27" 2560x1440 monitor would be a huge improvement for CAD.

Nvidia might be a better choice for CAD? Why is that?

 

[Seba]

Nvidia might be a better choice for CAD? Why is that?

Outside of "Pro" cards with official support in various CAD programs (cards which are not an option in this case, I presume) there are some claims that CUDA cores might be useful in (at least some) CAD software. And CUDA is Nvidia-only.

There is a distinct lack of extensive tests on this matter (usage of "gaming" graphics cards in CAD software), so this is why I said "might".