I am looking for a card that is equivalent or exceeds this minimum:
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GTX 550 Ti 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or equivalent
If I don’t get one of these exact cards, what specs will tell me if a card meets or exceeds these requirements? These seem to be older cards that have limited availability new (though I am seeing used ones).
I built my own computer but have pretty limited knowledge about video cards.
Pretty much everything will surpass those now.
If you are looking for budget and don’t mind your electric bill then look for an r9 290x. A 1080ti should be in reach too.
I got an rtx2060 and am very happy with it.
The R9 290x came out around 2013. I don’t know why you are recommending a vintage part like that. And 1080 ti cards are over $800, last I checked.
According to benchmarks, an RX570 or GTX 1050 will outperform the GTX 550 Ti by a huge margin. You should be able to buy either one for under $150. Though I believe GTX 1650 has now replaced the 1050 series, it’s even faster and only slightly more expensive.
The gist of video naming conventions is that the first numbers are the generation and the last numbers are the performance tier. Nvidia and AMD switch their naming conventions enough that it can get muddy, but that’s mostly it.
GPU equivalency is usually that the card from the next generation is on par with the next highest tier of the previous generation. For example, you’d expect a 970 and a 1060 to be on par. The 10-generation cards are faster than the 9-generation so the 60-tier now equals the 70-tier.
So if a game needs an Nvidia 550, you’d go 640… 730… 920… 1010… 2000. Those aren’t real models, but you get the idea that today’s lowest tier card is more than enough. (There is a caveat here is this is limited to gaming-class cards. There are very cheap GPUs designed for web browsing that likely won’t work.)
But you don’t want to run a game at its minimum spec because those are usually lies and result in very disappointing performance. The recommended spec is an Nvidia 780. Recommended is the real minimum.
So 780… 970… 1060… 2050. For whatever reason, a 2050 is called a 1660 Ti. So get a 1660 Ti for Fallout 4.
All that said, the GPU is the most important piece of a gaming PC. If you’re able to stretch your budget, this is the place to do it. Finding a used 1080 Ti would be a tremendous value. The 7-tier is a popular balance between value and performance for many people: Nvidia 2070 or AMD 5700. The Super and XT variants offer even more performance for a bit more.
Or get a 2080 Ti for $1000 and laugh. That’s what I’d do personally.
Not directly related to performance, but don’t forget to check the physical specs as well.
Some of the newer cards may be longer or thicker than your existing hardware and may not fit in your case.
Also make sure you can supply power.
And check if it has the right outputs for your setup. Some of the newer cards don’t have DVI, which may be relevant.
This at least shouldn’t be an issue, unless the OP is still using (gasp!) VGA. HDMI can be converted to DVI with a cheap passive adapter or cable. But yeah, most new gaming cards have 1 HDMI and 2-3 DisplayPort outputs.
You may want to ask for this thread to be moved to the Game Room (where the GPU-knowledgeable posters hang out) or to IMHO (since this seems to be asking for opinions), but to give a GQ answer:
This page has GPUs sorted by best value:
The GTX 550TI has a benchmark score of 1922. The highest value Nvidia card (the GTX 1650, $150) has a benchmark score of 8028. The highest overall value card (Radeon RX 460, $75) has a benchmark score of 4330. My video card (GTX 970) has a benchmark just a little higher than the GTX 1650 above and I’m very happy with it. However, if I were buying something right now, I’d probably reach a little higher. I think that was all GQ-allowable.
For my opinion, what’s your budget? The GTX 1660 ($209) is pretty high on the value list and has a benchmark of 10,782. That should be good for a while.
I like the Passmark list mentioned upthread. I’d just add the Graphics Card Hierarchy from Tom’s Hardware, as perhaps an easier to digest list of which card is better, and which cards are really about the same. GPU Benchmarks Hierarchy 2023 - Graphics Card Rankings | Tom's Hardware The list goes back quite a ways so you can see what was comparable to your old GPU, and what would be a worthwhile upgrade.
Pcpartpicker.com is excellent IME for determining whether that new component is compatible with your old stuff: will fit in your case, or needs another motherboard, or more power, etc… https://pcpartpicker.com/
I’m debating grabbing a 1080ti off Ebay for my next GPU upgrade.
Thanks to all for the feedback so far. The card I have now is a Radeon RX 460. I am not really much of a gamer so I don’t want to spend a lot. I recently got Fallout 4, and my card does not meet minimum specs for that game. I looked up those specific cards and prices start at over $200 for used ones. I am surprised that newer cards that exceed those specs can be had cheaper.
I’ve got to think that Black Friday sales at someplace like newegg.com, slickdeals.net, Fry’s, etc… would get you what you want. A 1060 or RX 580 should fit the bill for your use case, and I imagine they’ll be discounted in favour of the current generation of GPUs.
There comes a point where the a specific card is so out of date that it really isn’t worth wasting warehouse space on, so they become pretty rare. Then if for some reason you need to get that specific card it is a rare commodity that they can just make up a price for, for anybody who has one.
Or sometimes the seller just ran out of stock years ago, and never had a reason to update the price from what it last was when they were for sale, so the aggregators find those long forgotten prices on archived pages and report them as though they are for sale.
Minimum and recommended specs are like expiration dates on your food. I yet to have to find some app that it would’t run on my 9yo general purpose handmade workstation with Radeon 6850, which was then mid tier card (granted, FPS are abysmal, but I’m not into that fetish). Main reason for (forced) upgrading nowadays is running things properly at 4K. And for that reason I disencourage anyone to buy something less than vanilla GTX 1660. AMD has something in that price/performance niche too, but they tend to be more energy (and heat) problematic.
Youtube is your friend. There are a lot of videos like this:
that give you performance benchmarks on several popular games, which is usually more reliable than synthetic benchmarks like PassMark.Also note that much depends on your personal preferences with regard to level of detail, frame rate, screen size, etc. Many people are very happy playing on a monitor that is 1080p and 60Hz, with the game set to medium detail. If you prefer higher game settings on a 1440p/144Hz monitor, then you will have to step up to a higher tier of graphics card. Again, the reviews on Youtube usually show frame rates for several different resolutions and settings.
Finally, note that while there are just two major video card makers (AMD(Radeon) and Nvidia), most cards are sold by third-party brands who modify their clock speed, cooling solution, etc., and those mods make a big difference. For example, the Radeon RX 5700 is thought by many to be the best combination of power and value right now, but the basic model runs hot and noisy, while for just a few dollars more, the Sapphire Pulse 5700 is much quieter and cooler, and even a bit faster. Again, read and watch reviews on the internet to see which brand fits your needs best. Also be aware that Nvidia cards usually require a G-Sync compatible monitor to give full benefits, and those monitors are more expensive than the Free-Sync monitors that AMD cards require.
You’re buying at the right time — the sales over the next two weeks should be great. Cards last for years, and games have increasingly higher demands (the new Red Dead game requires a card costing over $1000 to get frame rates over 60 at the highest detail and resolution), so consider buying more than you think you need now if you find a good sale.
The game runs on the card I have, but the machine freezes up randomly (only when playing this game) with video noise on the screen and becomes unresponsive and requires a hard reboot. I posted about that problem in the past and someone noted that my card does not meet minimum requirements. I am not 100% sure the card is the problem but I figured it won’t hurt to upgrade.
The freezing symptoms you describe are consistent with what I’d expect from an overheated video card.
As others have said, nearly every modern video card will exceed the specs you refer to. There’s nothing special about the individual cards listed in the spec. Those cards are just a lower bound for video card performance. Anything exceeding those specs will run your game better than the listed cards.