Need advice comparing graphics cards

[Don Desfosse]

Granted, my rig is now getting a bit "vintage" (coming up on 5 years old), but I don't fly all that often and as such I've been OK with what I have.

 

Someone has offered me a used GPU as a partial trade toward a monitor I'm selling, and not really having ever played with GPUs, am wondering if there are folks that are knowledgeable enough about both cards to be able to tell me if they think it's worth upgrading the card. I also don't really know anything about the "new" GPU, and am not totally sure it would go in my PC. Finally, the only thing I do on my PC that is even remotely graphics-dependent is FSX and watching the occasional YouTube video. On FSX, probably 85-90% of my flights use default or freeware aircraft (I know, I know....).

 

Anyway, my existing graphics card is a Radeon 5750, and the one being offered is an EVGA GTX 960 SSC. I have done a lot on Google research, but am trying to figure out if my flight sim experience will benefit greatly enough from having a GTX 960 vice the Radeon 5750 (the partial trade value is $90, so am trying to figure out if I should essentially dump $90 into a machine that so far suits me just fine for what I do, or will I be so blown away by the experience with the new card that I'll feel the investment is worth it).

 

I know it's really all up to me and what value I place on a better experience; I just have no clue how much better of an experience it would be.

 

Thanks very much for your thoughts and advice.

[Ryan Savara 1369362]

I've got the 960 and it works quite well. I've got it over clocked a bit, nothing too much, and it runs v4 and and add on scenery just fine.

 

Don't forget simming is also cpu heavy. A good cpu, paired with a good gpu is your best bet. But if you're just running default everything, the system requirements for your Sim should keep you running smooth.

[Randy Tyndall 1087023]

Don,

 

I am computer challenged so I won't be of any help to you on this, but what prompted me to reply was an experience I had with a GC change I made.

 

I had an ATI Radeon Card, I honestly cannot remember the series, installed and when my son upgraded his computer to a new card he offered me his ATI Radeon HD 4550, which at the time was light years ahead of the one I had installed.

 

Wow, what a difference. I couldn't use FSX before. Now I could. I was (and still am) using FS2004. I maxed out all the sliders for it and still got vastly superior performance over the old card.

 

I can only [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume the 5750 is better than my 4550 so I would encourage you to perhaps do a "let me see if the card will work" type arrangement before agreeing to the partial trade. install it, try it, and if the difference is noticeable enough that you go "Wow" like I did, then go for it. As I said, no computer whiz, but i think the Power Supply also has to be looked at to see if it can handle the 960 requirements.

 

Randy

[Antony Radley]

Key points to note, the core clock of your current GPU is around 700mghz the new one is around 1279mghz so you are getting a pretty big leap in performance there. You're main benefit will be texture handling and visual display. While also increasing FPS. I guess if you are looking to do a little more with your setup then the value is there, otherwise if you are currently happy with what you got. I would save the money, with the goal to eventually enter this generation of GFX cards.

[Andrew Ogden]

I have a GTX 1080 and an i7 6700k 4.00gHz overclocked a bit and it runs P3Dv4 like clockwork. As stated above a good graphics card paired with a good cpu can run just about anything. My pc is coming up to a year old and it performs as well as it did when it was brand new.

 

Cheers,