Budget 0-20k Best GPU for i5-4440 processor

S

smk98

Recruit
My current system configuration:
  • Motherboard: B85M-G
  • Processor: i5-4440
  • RAM: 16GB DDR3
  • Current Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce GT 710
  • PSU: Cooler Master 450W
  • Monitor: Benq EW2480 (Will be gaming at 1080p)
I am planning to play GTA 5 and WWE2k series games on my system which is not supported by my current GPU. I'll be buying a used GPU and considered the GTX 1660 Super but heard that it bottlenecks my CPU on various forums and YouTube. Please suggest a good GPU that won't bottleneck my CPU and also allows me to play the popular games of the last 5-6 years, if not the latest ones.
GTX 1050 or GTX 1060 or GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 or RX 570 or RX 580?

PS: I'm not into hardcore gaming, just felt like playing a few games to pass the time whenever I'm bored.
 
greekgecko said:
i think the gtx 1660 would also bottleneck with your processor, i say get an rx 570 or rx 580.
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Okay but what about the 1060 or 1650? How do they compare to the 570/580? Because I don't see used 570/580 GPUs often here and might have to wait a lot to grab it.
 
The 1650 might not be the best option as it's not as powerful as the 1060 or the RX 570/580. The 1060 and rx 570 are relatively equal in terms of performance. If you can't find an RX 570/580, then the gtx 1060 would be a solid choice.
 
greekgecko said:
The 1650 might not be the best option as it's not as powerful as the 1060 or the RX 570/580. The 1060 and rx 570 are relatively equal in terms of performance. If you can't find an RX 570/580, then the gtx 1060 would be a solid choice.
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  1. First preference RX 580
  2. Second preference RX 570
  3. Third preference 1060
Should I be avoiding the single fan (mini) version?
 
i think the dual fans are better at cooling than a single fan version. If you can find the dual fan versions definitely go for it. Post a thread in the wanted to buy section, you might get some offers.
 
1060 ~ 1650 Super ~ RX580 - see at what prices you are getting these used
RX 570/RX 480 comes close to them as well, but is bit inferior & GTX 1650 is inferior to RX 570. Prefer the first 3 IMO, else RX 570/RX 480. Prefer dual fan.
 
@OP if you can't find something here, gameloot has rx570/rx580 for 6k-8k. Do not get 4G version: rx 580 8G will let you play modern games at 40+ fps or better if you tweak settings. 1060 should be around that price too but that extra VRAM in RX 580 doesn't hurt.

Do check here at TE before buying elsewhere though.
 
Dual fan cards only. IMO there is no point in going for an old out of warranty GPU when you want to play games and want a future proof setup too. I recommend you pick a 1660s. Don't go for an old GPU like 1060 without warranty because once you start playing games it is highly likely you will invest more in your setup and 1660s will keep you happy for a longer time.
 
greekgecko said:
i think the dual fans are better at cooling than a single fan version. If you can find the dual fan versions definitely go for it. Post a thread in the wanted to buy section, you might get some offers.
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Sure. I'll do that. Do you think it's worth to upgrade my cpu from i5-4440 to i7-4790 and get a better GPU? I've seen only one post regarding the sale of i7-4790 cpu but I heard that it's the best cpu my motherboard can support without having to change everything.

OMEGA44-XT said:
1060 ~ 1650 Super ~ RX580 - see at what prices you are getting these used
RX 570/RX 480 comes close to them as well, but is bit inferior & GTX 1650 is inferior to RX 570. Prefer the first 3 IMO, else RX 570/RX 480. Prefer dual fan.
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That makes sense now. Thank you very much. Btw if I find a used i7-4790 cpu, would you recommend to buy it and get a better GPU or keep my existing cpu and buy the above mentioned card.
I won't be able to change my entire system as I've recently purchased two DDR3 RAM.

powervgx said:
Dual fan cards only. IMO there is no point in going for an old out of warranty GPU when you want to play games and want a future proof setup too. I recommend you pick a 1660s. Don't go for an old GPU like 1060 without warranty because once you start playing games it is highly likely you will invest more in your setup and 1660s will keep you happy for a longer time.
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But the 1660S and my CPU will definitely bottleneck. If I find a used i7-4790 / i7-4790k, will it be worth swapping my CPU and using the 1660S as you suggested?
 
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smk98 said:
Sure. I'll do that. Do you think it's worth to upgrade my cpu from i5-4440 to i7-4790 and get a better GPU? I've seen only one post regarding the sale of i7-4790 cpu but I heard that it's the best cpu my motherboard can support without having to change everything.


That makes sense now. Thank you very much. Btw if I find a used i7-4790 cpu, would you recommend to buy it and get a better GPU or keep my existing cpu and buy the above mentioned card.
I won't be able to change my entire system as I've recently purchased two DDR3 RAM.


But the 1660S and my CPU will definitely bottleneck. If I find a used i7-4790 / i7-4790k, will it be worth swapping my CPU and using the 1660S as you suggested?
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Upgrade to i7 4790 might not be worth it, but depends on the price as well. If it is very cheap in the used market, maybe like 2-3k, get it. It should help a bit with average fps & more with 1% low fps to give a relatively non-stuttery experience. Else the old architecture is just old now. Even a basic quad-core i3 12100 outperforms older 6 core R5 3600 for gaming.

New i3 12100F + H610M + 2x8GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM should cost like 20k. Just to put things in perspective.

I will still not recommend spending more on the GPU with i7 4790. But say you get a good deal relative to RX580 on 1660 or 1660S in the used market, can consider it.
 
smk98 said:
Sure. I'll do that. Do you think it's worth to upgrade my cpu from i5-4440 to i7-4790 and get a better GPU? I've seen only one post regarding the sale of i7-4790 cpu but I heard that it's the best cpu my motherboard can support without having to change everything.
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Don't the performance gain won't be worth it (unless you get it for free or really-really cheap). Save that money and spend it on GPU instead. Or keep saving some money and you can eventually upgrade your mobo and get a (10th or 12th gen) i3 and that won't cost you much (I know it's subjective but it will help you in long run). I have seen a couple of used H510s (or b450s if you wanna go that route) here.
 
OMEGA44-XT said:
Upgrade to i7 4790 might not be worth it, but depends on the price as well. If it is very cheap in the used market, maybe like 2-3k, get it. It should help a bit with average fps & more with 1% low fps to give a relatively non-stuttery experience. Else the old architecture is just old now. Even a basic quad-core i3 12100 outperforms older 6 core R5 3600 for gaming.

New i3 12100F + H610M + 2x8GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM should cost like 20k. Just to put things in perspective.

I will still not recommend spending more on the GPU with i7 4790. But say you get a good deal relative to RX580 on 1660 or 1660S in the used market, can consider it.
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The used 4790 costs around 4k and 1660S around 10.5k
As you've suggested if I spend just 5k more I can buy a new mobo+cpu+ram combo. I thought the i3-12100F was almost similar to 4790, hence thought of buying 4790. But, if there's huge difference I'll better aim for a new one if possible or just stick to GPU for now instead of wasting on 4790. Thank you
 
I was using 4790k without any overclock and it was doing fine with a 3070 ti. The performance was definitely lower but still there was no frame drops or huge performance loss. I have noticed that the bottleneck is also heavily dependent on RAM usage. If even a few brower tabs are open while gaming the performance loss depending on the GPU is a whopping 20-30 fps.
I recommend getting the best GPU you can while keeping in mind your budget for an upcoming upgrade and build your rest of the system later. Building a balanced system is only an obsession and people sometimes spend too much on a cpu, fans, AIO and good looking cables. Just get a good GPU and if you notice a bottleneck then upgrade your system later.
 
powervgx said:
I was using 4790k without any overclock and it was doing fine with a 3070 ti. The performance was definitely lower but still there was no frame drops or huge performance loss. I have noticed that the bottleneck is also heavily dependent on RAM usage. If even a few brower tabs are open while gaming the performance loss depending on the GPU is a whopping 20-30 fps.
I recommend getting the best GPU you can while keeping in mind your budget for an upcoming upgrade and build your rest of the system later. Building a balanced system is only an obsession and people sometimes spend too much on a cpu, fans, AIO and good looking cables. Just get a good GPU and if you notice a bottleneck then upgrade your system later.
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This seems to be a better option. I'll invest in a used GPU considering future proofing in mind and in case my CPU doesn't support it, I'll go to a 4790, or else I'll change Mobo+RAM+CPU after a few years keeping that used GPU throughout.
 
OMEGA44-XT said:
New i3 12100F + H610M + 2x8GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM should cost like 20k. Just to put things in perspective.
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You could also spend about 3-5k more than this and get a R5 5600G + B450M, since the integrated graphics is good enough to play the kind of games OP was talking about. Yeah, you'd have to lower the settings, but if it's just for casual gaming once in a while it should be good enough; IIRC you can get playable framerates all the way up to 1080p medium on GTA V with a 5600G. Not only would this would be a substantial upgrade over OP's current build in basically every way, the CPU would be good for quite a while, and they could add a better graphics card down the line if they felt like it.

That said, they'd be spending about 3 times more than what it seems like they originally intended, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
SirVer said:
You could also spend about 3-5k more than this and get a R5 5600G + B450M, since the integrated graphics is good enough to play the kind of games OP was talking about. Yeah, you'd have to lower the settings, but if it's just for casual gaming once in a while it should be good enough; IIRC you can get playable framerates all the way up to 1080p medium on GTA V with a 5600G. Not only would this would be a substantial upgrade over OP's current build in basically every way, the CPU would be good for quite a while, and they could add a better graphics card down the line if they felt like it.

That said, they'd be spending about 3 times more than what it seems like they originally intended, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Good to know about an alternative option. I don't think I can spend more than 7-8k for now. So, I'll stick with my existing system. Thank you
 
smk98 said:
The used 4790 costs around 4k and 1660S around 10.5k
As you've suggested if I spend just 5k more I can buy a new mobo+cpu+ram combo. I thought the i3-12100F was almost similar to 4790, hence thought of buying 4790. But, if there's huge difference I'll better aim for a new one if possible or just stick to GPU for now instead of wasting on 4790. Thank you
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How much are you comfortable spending?

The problem with your old rig is that mobo might just fail (my parents have a i3 530 system, changed its mobo twice in 12 years or so, last change was made last year at 4k). So I personally don't feel its good to invest a lot in an old, almost 9 year old system. 4k is alright for a new CPU. Still a gamble on how long it might run.

That being said 14.5k for 1660S is a good combo for the price to run any game that is available & will launch in future for a few years at a lower setting as some games would demanding. You can't get anything better for even 25k. A new i3 12100F rig + that used 1660S will cost you 30k, you will get a bit better average fps & 1% low fps but get peace of mind that the PC might not just die. o iGPU in F CPUs, so won't run w/o dGPU.

So take your call after assessing pros & cons.
 
My initial budget was 6k and had considered buying a used 1050 ti card. But, I was suggested to increase just 1-2k more to go for a better one such as 1060/1660.

Currently, my first preference is just purchasing a used graphics card and running a few games such as GTA 5, WWE, Spiderman/Batman, etc., In case, my CPU i5-4440 is not powerful enough, I might sell it and get a 4790 (non-k) one for 4.7k as the k version costs 6k.

If I can continue with my existing i5-4440 itself then I won't buy 4790 or change anything for the next 4-5 years as I'm not too much into gaming. I just wanna play a few random games when I'm bored. Basically, I would have spent just 8k-12k max with this plan hoping my motherboard doesn't die.
 
Buy the 1650 super if possible OR get 1060 6GB or RX 580 8GB.
If you can find a 1660 anything in your budget go with that.

Don't get the 1050Ti or below that is very weak compared to the 1060/580.
 
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