Wasn’t sure where to put this but looking for suggestions for a GPU to replace old tech school workstation computers firepro’s. Trying to make decent gaming computers on a budget for the kids and myself. 4-5 of them.
Constraints:
Budget: don’t want to go much over $100
Don’t want to upgrade the power supply 400W Platinum with one 6 pin connector.
Processor is I7-6700 in most of them.
Currently looking at getting some 6 to 8 pin adapters and some 1660ti’s. Anyone have a better suggestion? That will be around $110-$120 (Used on Ebay) with 125w TDP.
Will be adding SSDs also but hopefully nothing else.
RX580s were what I looked at first they use too much power I think, not as powerful processing either. Would be cheaper though. The other one I looked at was GTX 1060 6GB they are cheaper but less powerful. Something with 8GB would be nice though
Core i7 6700s are really at the end of their servicable life, so even if you do this you probably need to upgrade after only 1-2 years or so. Maybe a 5600G setup could work, reuse case and PSU?
I know it is 2-2.5x the asking price, but trust me this will run circles around what you are planning to build, feel free to lower the RAM to 16 GB and skip the SSD to push price to $225.
As for upgrades to this, an RX 6600 would be a nice addition as well, you can find good versions for as little as $205. Buying a 1660 in 2023 feels just… Icky. But yes, if your budget is constrained it is constrained. Just wanted to show what just a little more money would get you.
And for what it’s worth, here is what I would recommend for a budget gaming PC in 2023 in the US, feel free to ignore what you don’t feel you need and should just work for at least 3 years, the 5600G makes the GPU optional:
If you’re in Europe, I’m willing to ship my GPU (R9 390x) since I’ll be receiving a new one in a couple of weeks. Since it’s for a good cause, I’d be willing to do it for the price of shipping only.
I am aware they are outdated. Right now were using AIO computers with R9-M360 Which is about double most onboard GPUs. We were glad to get them but they barely play Ark.
Were just trying to get something that works. With a 1660 these will be comparable to an Xbox series S but much more flexable being PCs. We were very fortunate to get a series S at the beginning of Covid its still the best thing in the house for gaming.
It has been a long time since I had a gaming computer at all and now need 5 for our family.
I bought 4 with I7 processors for a couple hundred bucks along with some other stuff (one I5 too) and just hoping to get them going without spending a lot. I have 4 NVME drives I can migrate from the AIO units so just need video cards.
RX 6600 [a tough pill to swallow, is the x8 lane would choke it a bit]
RX 5600XT [1-8pin variants*]
RX 570 [8GB versions available]
Radeon Pro WX5100 [no supplemental PCIe – basically a downtuned RX 470/570]
I have an i5 6600 (4.25Ghz OC) and have just installed an AliExpress 6600xt, to replace a 1050ti I’ve had for ages. It’s a rebadged powercolor card and set me back £158. It’s unimaginably better that the previous card, the whole system has come alive like there’s no real bottleneck and everything is balanced. I was thinking anything more powerful than this card would either be a waste or too much for my PSU and cooling system. And yes I realise the 6600xt is only x8 but then the rest of my system is hardly a rocketship either, it fits in well.
I didn’t initially want to go over £100 but I’m glad I did in the end. A 1660 or even 1060 might be a better fit though, that was my plan B. Anything lower and with under 4GB ram would be a waste.
I have a pair of GTX 1060’s 6GB cards I’d let go for $150, one is a PNY ref. design the other is a EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 SSC . Both run very cool in this 97F heat out in the shop @ 68c full load for days at a time. Edit: fan speed set manualy @ 75%
Dell OEM RX 5600 (125W) and the ASRock RX 5600 XT (150W) can be found for anywhere between $95 and $125, should be faster than a GTX 1660 Ti, and can easily be power tuned to work perfectly fine on a 400W PSU. AMD’s drivers have a built in undervolt option which can easily chop 20W off a card’s power draw, not that either card is a huge power hog to begin with. You’ll still want those 6 to 8-pin adapters, though.