Recommend a cheap (used?) graphics card please

[bernie_eccle]

I have just purchased a new ultrawide monitor running at 3440 x 1440. Unfortunately I didn't think to check if my current card could run at this resolution and was surprised that it couldn't as I have been running dual monitors for a couple of years.

My current card is an AMD Radeon 5870 HD. My processor is an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz. My mobo is an Asus M4A89TD with PCI Express 2.0 slots.

I am only a very causal gamer so not looking for a full upgrade just really a gfx card that can run at the required resolution. I'm looking to spend no more than about £60 and would be happy to pick up a used card from eBay. Unfortunately I'm really out of touch on these things so would welcome some suggestions on a suitable card.

Gaming is likely to be iracing and Assetto Corsa.

[Derek Smith]

bernie_eccle said:

I have just purchased a new ultrawide monitor running at 3440 x 1440. Unfortunately I didn't think to check if my current card could run at this resolution and was surprised that it couldn't as I have been running dual monitors for a couple of years.

My current card is an AMD Radeon 5870 HD. My processor is an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz. My mobo is an Asus M4A89TD with PCI Express 2.0 slots.

I am only a very causal gamer so not looking for a full upgrade just really a gfx card that can run at the required resolution. I'm looking to spend no more than about £60 and would be happy to pick up a used card from eBay. Unfortunately I'm really out of touch on these things so would welcome some suggestions on a suitable card.

Gaming is likely to be iracing and Assetto Corsa.

I went on the ebuyer chat when I had a similar problem. The person on the other end asked for my budget, set up, software use, and then, remarkably, gave two options, both of which were below budget. I bought one and then later that month Computer Shopper had the card as their best budget buy and sang its praises. I felt cool. I was with it.

I've used ebuyer chat before and found it helpful. They seem knowledgeable.

[mmm-five]

You should be able to find a used AMD RX570 on ebay for that price - which is about 3 times more powerful than your old GPU (supports up to 4096x2160).

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 3rd July 10:06

[Drive Blind]

i've got a used gtx1050ti I'm looking to move on, if that's any use to you?

gaming at 1440 might be a stretch for it though, 1080 will be OK.

[bernie_eccle]

Derek Smith said:

I went on the ebuyer chat when I had a similar problem. The person on the other end asked for my budget, set up, software use, and then, remarkably, gave two options, both of which were below budget. I bought one and then later that month Computer Shopper had the card as their best budget buy and sang its praises. I felt cool. I was with it.

I've used ebuyer chat before and found it helpful. They seem knowledgeable.

Thank you, I didn't even think of anything like that. I'll see if I can get a chance to do so. Out of interest what card did you end up with?

mmm-five said:

You should be able to find a used AMD RX570 on ebay for that price - which is about 3 times more powerful than your old GPU (supports up to 4096x2160).

Thanks, that sounds good although looking on eBay they appear to go in about £100 which is more than I would like to spend. I also have no idea how much of a bottleneck my cpu might be?

Drive Blind said:

i've got a used gtx1050ti I'm looking to move on, if that's any use to you?

gaming at 1440 might be a stretch for it though, 1080 will be OK.

Thanks however I would prefer to try and run at the monitor's native resolution, but again not sure if that will be possible.

[daddy cool]

bernie_eccle said:

I have just purchased a new ultrawide monitor running at 3440 x 1440. Unfortunately I didn't think to check if my current card could run at this resolution and was surprised that it couldn't as I have been running dual monitors for a couple of years.

My current card is an AMD Radeon 5870 HD. My processor is an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz. My mobo is an Asus M4A89TD with PCI Express 2.0 slots.

I am only a very causal gamer so not looking for a full upgrade just really a gfx card that can run at the required resolution. I'm looking to spend no more than about £60 and would be happy to pick up a used card from eBay. Unfortunately I'm really out of touch on these things so would welcome some suggestions on a suitable card.

Gaming is likely to be iracing and Assetto Corsa.

Im using an AMD R9 390X card on my 3440x1440 LG ultrawide - runs most games at high-ish levels. Looks like you might be able to get one 2nd hand.
What monitor do you have? If it supports Freesync then you're best off getting another AMD card to take advantage of that. Conversely, if its the NVidia tech (whos name I forget) then get yourself an nvidia card.

[Derek Smith]

bernie_eccle said:

Derek Smith said:

I went on the ebuyer chat when I had a similar problem. The person on the other end asked for my budget, set up, software use, and then, remarkably, gave two options, both of which were below budget. I bought one and then later that month Computer Shopper had the card as their best budget buy and sang its praises. I felt cool. I was with it.

I've used ebuyer chat before and found it helpful. They seem knowledgeable.

Thank you, I didn't even think of anything like that. I'll see if I can get a chance to do so. Out of interest what card did you end up with?

An 8GB RX570. I forget the price, but my budget ran to £180 'or so' and it came £30 or 40 below that as I bought an XP remote Express Pad (well recommended) on the money I (hadn't really, but you know what I mean) saved; £32 if memory serves.

I have two screens, 1 x 27" QHD and 1 x 24" HD. I don't play games. My software is the Affinity series, particularly Designer, various video editing suites, the most GPU hungry one being Resolve but I mostly use PowerDirector, and Blender 3D. A bit sad I know. Not relevant I know, put the XP-Pad is brilliant. I bought it specifically for Blender, but use it for the shortcut keys in Designer and PDirector as well. Speeds up my work remarkably. I've got a Huion tablet with 9 programmable keys and you'd think that's be enough. but another 9 makes a significant difference.

The increase in speed was noticeable, especially with Resolve, but also with Blender as well. I'll eventually go for 2 x 27" I suppose and the card can cope with the demand quite easily.

I'm pleased with my choice.

[bernie_eccle]

daddy cool said:

Im using an AMD R9 390X card on my 3440x1440 LG ultrawide - runs most games at high-ish levels. Looks like you might be able to get one 2nd hand.
What monitor do you have? If it supports Freesync then you're best off getting another AMD card to take advantage of that. Conversely, if its the NVidia tech (whos name I forget) then get yourself an nvidia card.

That's a good point, it is a Philips 346p1crh and is freesync enabled so I will stick with AMD as you suggest. I will search for a site showing the various AMD offerings from recent years although still happy to hear further recommendations. In true PH style I can already feel my budget creeping towards £100

[bernie_eccle]

By way of an update, I bought a used ASUS AMD Radeon RX 570 4gb Rog STRIX OC card from eBay. £90 delivered. It was like new.

My system is running well and I am impressed with gaming performance, not that I have done much.

Thanks again as without your help I wouldn't have known where to start.