GTX 950 any good?

[socrates]

Looking to upgrade my old Sapphire ATI 6670. I am the occasional 1st person shooter gamer, so not looking into getting a high end card. Just get something which can play the current games like Star Wars battlefront reasonably well.

Thinking of getting at GTX 950 which is priced at $269 at lazada. Is this card reasonably good or should I look for something more value for money? Welcome all comments and advice.

BTW my current PSU is 490 W and also using a QX 2710 1440 p monitor.

 

[royfrosty]

1440p monitor and you are going to put an entry card into your rig?

If you thinking to run that resolution, and the all new frostbite engine games such as the upcoming Star Wars battlefront, the 950 wont cut it. Even at a sacrificed details such as Low mid details will not pull playable frame rates.

 

[socrates]

Any suggestion royfrosty? thanks

 

[socrates]

Any suggestion royfrosty? thanks

 

[MoneyFace =p]

Any suggestion royfrosty? thanks

What game PQ settings level are you expecting with the new card?

 

[socrates]

Perhaps at medium settings.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

Can list down your full system specs? Something else may also be bottlenecking.

Nevertheless you need R9-290 and above to play safe....

 

[royfrosty]

There is a few things you will need to check first before even proceeding with a new gpu.

We need your full specs on your current Pc.

The psu wattage and also the chassis clearance length.

From what I have seen, frostbite engine games are not easy to drive. Back then on battlefield 4 I was running a gtx760 on 1080p. High to ultra settings with no AA turned on and I'm getting Low 40s to 50s fps. It is definitely slow but still playable.

The 960/r9 380 performance should be close to the same performance level of a 760. At 1440p medium settings is only achievable if like what moneyface mentioned, a minimum of r9 290 is needed.

http://www.eteknix.com/sapphire-nitro-r9-380-4gb-graphics-card-review/5/

The above benchmark is 1440p battlefield 4 based on frostbite engine 3. A r9 290 just managed to pull an average frame rate of 57fps. So if you put it to medium high settings, I'm sure you are able to keep it most of the time 6x range. Giving you a much more playable experience.

 

[socrates]

This is my current setup

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz
8GB RAM
msi h81 motherboard
coolmaster mid tower CM690
490 W PSU

 

[royfrosty]

This is my current setup

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz
8GB RAM
msi h81 motherboard
coolmaster mid tower CM690
490 W PSU

Your psu, might need to change if you are taking the r9 290. What is the age of the psu anyway?

 

[socrates]

I think my PSU is about 4 years old.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

I think my PSU is about 4 years old.

Change out la long enough already.

Get the following:

GPU: PowerColor R9-290 4GB TurboDuo OC @ $399 (PC Themes)
PSU: FSP Aurum S 600W [80 Plus Gold] @ $89* (Lazada Singapore)

*Price after Lazada App $20 off $100 coupon

 

[royfrosty]

Change out la long enough already.

Get the following:

GPU: PowerColor R9-290 4GB TurboDuo OC @ $399 (PC Themes)
PSU: FSP Aurum S 600W [80 Plus Gold] @ $89* (Lazada Singapore)

*Price after Lazada App $20 off $100 coupon

+1....... 10 chars

 

[socrates]

Sorry if this is a silly question. I know getting a good GPU like R9-290 would improve gaming experience but would it improve video, picture quality seen on the screen?

BTW would it be able to fit into my current casing?

 

[mib500]

Sorry if this is a silly question. I know getting a good GPU like R9-290 would improve gaming experience but would it improve video, picture quality seen on the screen?

BTW would it be able to fit into my current casing?

depend on what monitor you using... what monitor are you using currently?

 

[socrates]

Currently using a QNIX 2710 2560x1440 monitor.

 

[SEvsNK]

Sorry if this is a silly question. I know getting a good GPU like R9-290 would improve gaming experience but would it improve video, picture quality seen on the screen?

BTW would it be able to fit into my current casing?

Picture quality usually relies on your monitor. Hence the different prices for different 27 inches monitors. Not sure the quality of your monitor but u get what u pay for

 

[royfrosty]

Sorry if this is a silly question. I know getting a good GPU like R9-290 would improve gaming experience but would it improve video, picture quality seen on the screen?

BTW would it be able to fit into my current casing?

You should be able to see the difference and the fludity in the games.

Yes it will fit.

Having a faster cards does helps in gaming experience. Especially fast fps games. Battlefield style, all this are random rendering graphics. Meaning to say, people shooting you, explosions etc. Most of this randomness rendering will cause your gpu to throttle at times. Having a good gpu does means that when it takes a dip in frames, you are ensuring youraelf that it will not slow down nor giving you jerkiness or to some motion sickness or vomitting feel.

Gpu dont just buy something that is just nice specifications. You will end up keep upgrading in the near future. When in reality, if you buy a mid high end card, it probably last at least 2 years generation of games. Which probably you will save in the long run.

 

[socrates]

If I get the R9 and a new PSU that would costs about $500. Looks nice to have but I don't game that much so not so sure if worth spending this sum of money on this upgrade.

Thanks for your advice royfrosty and others.

 

[samloi]

If I get the R9 and a new PSU that would costs about $500. Looks nice to have but I don't game that much so not so sure if worth spending this sum of money on this upgrade.

Thanks for your advice royfrosty and others.

hoot 1 time can last 2 years or more......Since you at it, might as well get a SSD if you dont have one. Having a SSD gives a 100X overall better feel, makes you feel less guilty for spending 400 dollars on a card that only activates during games