GPU Recommendations/Offers

[Blues]

I want to put in a GPU that can do transcoding and some gaming up to The Witcher 3. My initial looking points me toward the GTX 1650 (GDDR6) and its bigger brothers 1650 Super and 1660 all look like viable options but hard to find them for prices that seem to fit my expectations. The GTX 1650 should be a $150 card at best new but right now it is $180 at best new that I can find I honestly don't even really want to spend $150 for it and would happy with a used one for less. I also don't mind alternatives and would even consider giving up the transcoding part as my CPU does well for all my transcoding so far. I would happily buy from anyone here too if they have access to something to offer.

 

[thecomputerguy]

Video cards are still all out of whack.

You got to pay to play my man.

 

[fincoder]

but right now it is $180 at best new that

That's a lot better than a few months ago! Graphics card prices have been insane for the last couple of years.

 

[frase]

You wont find a decent card under $400 really.

 

[Diggs]

Video cards are still all out of whack.

From what I understand (trade journals) they have pretty well returned to normal pricing. It may be a bit of a "new" normal but we shouldn't expect to see much if any further price erosion.

 

[Blues]

I can tell you they are a little ways from normal but they are now in line with MSRP and occasionally below MSRP. I would say most things still tend to retail below MSRP so being mostly at MSRP still is outside the norm. I can also wait it out when the newer ones hit market and if Intel gets more of theirs out to market we might see a reduction again. I will also watch the used market for some bigger drops there which I would hope is reasonable to expect to continue to drop.

 

[SAFCasper]

I had a 1650 Super for a short period back in 2020. It's a great card if like me you are a casual gamer happy with 1080p resolution, 60hz monitor and medium settings on recent AAA games.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Yeah sadly I wouldn't own anything lower than EVGA's 3060, and that's $400.

I put this in my son's rig: https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=12G-P5-3655-KR

It's basically a 1080 with updated features, very comparable to the 1080 in performance. And annoyingly enough, the PRICE of the 1080, before crypto broke everything.

There is no longer a competent $200 option... Something that annoys me to no end.

 

[Blues]

Why nothing below a 3060? I think from what I could see the 3050 is actually a really solid option unless you want 4k.

I do have a good GPU, RX 580, but right now I have 4 main uses for my PC: mining crypto, ripping and converting movies, gaming, and transcoding video. The problem is gaming, transcoding, and mining are all well suited for utilizing the GPU and gaming and transcode are easy to balance and flip between however mining has tweaks and settings to flip off and back on to switch it. I want to leave my mining alone and just bring my gaming and transcoding back to on demand use w/o having to make changes. Right now transcoding is done by the CPU but this can lead to some buffering and AMD cards are not considered very good for transcoding so that is why I lean toward an nVidia card and the 1650 GDDR6 models support some of the most encoding & decoding options without breaking the bank or needing a lot of power. I don't expect to run anything more advanced than The Witcher 3 which can easily run at 60+ FPS on the 1650 as long as a few select settings are turned off or down from High.

 

[sapphirescales]

The 3060 is the minimum I'd recommend for gaming in 2022. It's always been the '60 that's been the starting point for gaming. I remember buying a GTX 760 for mid range games back in like 2013/2014. I also installed 750's in customers computers who were on a budget but it honestly wasn't enough unless they only wanted to run older/low end games. The 750 is on the same "level" as the 3050. The 1650/1660 are outdated cards that you really shouldn't be buying in 2022. If the computer is for a kid to run light games like Minecraft or Fortnite then I might consider a 3050 but honestly the 3060 is the best bang for the buck. I really wouldn't consider a 1650 for anything but light office work these days, but honestly even a 710 would work for an office computer so buying the 1650 for an office computer is a waste of money. The 1650 was an okay card when it first came out in 2019 but it's a 3 year old graphics card and it was a low end gaming card even back then.

 

[frase]

I have a Gigabyte RTX 2070, purchased before Cryptocrazyness for $AUS640, now hovering around $800/900 mark.
Great card though, max's out everything x3 monitors.

 

[Sky-Knight]

@Blues Price...

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=08G-P5-3551-KR This one is a solid deal for $250. But you'll note... it's out of stock... it's ALWAYS out of stock.

And the larger counter part is $330, and now it's not worth saving $70 to cut performance by a full third.

@sapphirescales I agree with your target of the 60 series, but beware one point... When the 20 series launched everything moved up a notch. The 50 series performed like the 60 series prior, and so-forth. Part of the reason why the MSRP's are so much higher is because of this notch moving, and two more being created on the top end.

So the 3050 is a VERY SOLID entry level card. And at $250 is a good price to performance ratio. But if you're going above $300, you may as well go to $400 because the price to performance ratio isn't in your favor in that gap.

 

[cypress]

The 3060 is the minimum I'd recommend for gaming in 2022. It's always been the '60 that's been the starting point for gaming. I remember buying a GTX 760 for mid range games back in like 2013/2014. I also installed 750's in customers computers who were on a budget but it honestly wasn't enough unless they only wanted to run older/low end games. The 750 is on the same "level" as the 3050. The 1650/1660 are outdated cards that you really shouldn't be buying in 2022. If the computer is for a kid to run light games like Minecraft or Fortnite then I might consider a 3050 but honestly the 3060 is the best bang for the buck. I really wouldn't consider a 1650 for anything but light office work these days, but honestly even a 710 would work for an office computer so buying the 1650 for an office computer is a waste of money. The 1650 was an okay card when it first came out in 2019 but it's a 3 year old graphics card and it was a low end gaming card even back then.

Agreed.

 

[Blues]

I have so minimal needs I am looking for cheap top end is $200 but lower is my goal. This also come down to if I can hold onto that much spare cash for long enough too.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I have so minimal needs I am looking for cheap top end is $200 but lower is my goal. This also come down to if I can hold onto that much spare cash for long enough too.

Then the $250 3050 from EVGA is a solid choice. It does just about everything, has a great warranty, and while the GPU is a little weak it's plenty for your needs.

My larger concern is the 16 series is based on the 20 series, I expect the 30 series to enjoy a longer term of support. If the 16 series wasn't a shoehorned product during pandemic shortage... I'd be more trusting. But the way nVidia is behaving, I'm afraid we'll lose driver support of the 16 series once the 50 series launches... and that's just not long enough.

 

[Blues]

I kind of thought about that and with news that there is supposedly a surplus of 30xx series due to the unexpected crypto crash I am hoping to see that price drop or find one used for cheap when the 40xx series launch which news indicates nVidia has over ordered fab from TSMC.

I know outside of video encoding all my games except The Witcher 3, bought after that card went away, ran well or well enough on a AMD HD7750 1GB card.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I kind of thought about that and with news that there is supposedly a surplus of 30xx series due to the unexpected crypto crash I am hoping to see that price drop or find one used for cheap when the 40xx series launch which news indicates nVidia has over ordered fab from TSMC.

I know outside of video encoding all my games except The Witcher 3, bought after that card went away, ran well or well enough on a AMD HD7750 1GB card.

The CEO of nVidia said the shortage wouldn't be over until Q4 of this year, and even with the crypto crash... and more importantly, Etherium switching from proof of work to proof of stake, prices should be mostly normal again around then. What we're seeing now is expected retail price drops, and if they continue we'll be back to prices being below MSRP late Q3ish.

 

[Diggs]

I always liked the fact that the "50s" never required external power nor did they require allot of power. Even low profile are/were available. They hold up well in gaming. My daughter is still gaming on a 5th gen i5 and a 1050Ti and loves it. She has to run a few things on medium and doesn't demand huge frame rates but she's been sticker shocked by GPU prices of late so has stuck with it.

 

[Blues]

The 3050 requires external power IIRC and the 40xx series will too from what I am seeing and hearing. I wish we had more usable GPUs that run on 75W board power or less.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I haven't looked at the 3050 to know, but I know the 3060 does require external power. I also know the 3060 performs about the same as my 1080, but has all the new toys.

The 3060 came with an adapter too, and power supplies are usually cheap.