Graphics card upgrade - 1050 or 1050Ti (or AMD) for 1080p gaming

[scottxxx]

I'm after upgrading my (aging) system. Specs are:

• CPU - Core i5 2500k overclocked to 4.5GHz
• Secondary Storage - 1TB 7200rpm HDD + 500GB 7200rpm HDD
• Windows/OS drive - 256Gb Crucial M4 SSD
• RAM - 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 667MHz
• Graphics - 1GB Radeon 6870
• PSU - 550W Coolermaster

Main use is for programming/internet use.
I don't game too often but I'm aiming to be able to play at 1080p resolution (mostly titles 2-3 years old probably). I'm looking to spend somewhere around £100-£150 on a graphics card, but not sure whether the 4GB 1050TI justifies the premium over the standard 2GB 1050, or whether the Radeon 460 provides decent competition.

I'm aiming to have a near silent system shortly in the future, so the 1050 sounds promising because the fan turns off when it's cool enough and going by reports, it is very quiet in use anyway and it should be good enough for gaming at 1080p resolutions so it should be quieter and more efficient than anything AMD have right now. I think the CPU is fast enough as-is and I'd rather not replace it or the motheboard for now if I can help it.

Does anybody have any opinions on what's the best option for some (probably fairly light) gaming - CoD, Battlefield etc. around the £100-£150 price bracket that will be pretty quiet (especially when not gaming) and able to play titles from a year or so ago at 1080p?

[cptwhite_uk]

I'd probably opt for the 4Gb RX 460, for a basic 1080p graphics card.

A quick look online show you can get this for around £106 + del:

https://www.ballicom.co.uk/xfx-rx-46...op4BoC_LHw_wcB

[EndlessWaves]

I'm aiming to have a near silent system shortly in the future, so the 1050 sounds promising because the fan turns off when it's cool enough and going by reports

That's pretty common behaviour these days, you'll find most cards do it whatever their GPU.

should be quieter and more efficient than anything AMD have right now.

Actually it's comparable, nVidia don't bother about producing particularly efficient low end chips:

The Gigabyte RX 460 is popular at the moment as it's £110 with 4GB of memory, compare the power consumption benchmarks here for example:
https://www.computerbase.de/2016-10/...indows-desktop

(I believe it also turns off the fan at low temperatures)


You don't mention what your current screen situation is, but a big advantage of the lower end AMD cards is the wide availability and low price of freesync screens, which means they produce smoother results from the same performance for anyone buying a new sub-£300 monitor within the life of the card.

[Daneel]

I'm aiming to have a near silent system shortly in the future, so the 1050 sounds promising because the fan turns off when it's cool enough and going by reports

Steer clear of the Zotac 1050 Ti Mini then. As I've just discovered, the fans are locked at a minimum of 45% in BIOS, so it's never silent. Also, I'd check specifically for user reports than the fan stops at idle, assumption is what got me into trouble!

[Bambooz]

Lower end EVGA cards do the same crap with the locked minimum fan speed hardcoded in the video card BIOS... highly annoying

[ToastQ]

I'd suggest either the 1050Ti or RX 470, depending on your price range. The 1050 Ti you can get for around £150, but at £180 the RX 470 is a significantly better card for such a small price difference.
If both of those stretch your budget I'd honestly go for the standard 1050, which you can find for around £110