GPU for I7 2600k not OC

[decto]

Putting together a couple of older PC's for Lan gaming when the kids have friends round.
Currently games like Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, Rocket League etc.

One of the systems:
I7 2600k
H61 (I think) no OC
16GB
Antec 450W (very light usage)
Kolink Satellite (so space is tight)
RX550 2GB

Will be 1080p, 60 fps if possibe and the RX550 is pretty limitted.
I have a RX6600 I could slot in but thought that would be better with a more recent CPU / platform as it's x8 PCI-E which is even more restrictive.
RTX 3050 is also x8 PCI and still expensive used.

Was thinking grabbing a used GTX 1660 or similar for 6GB VRAM.

Seems the sweet spot.... any better suggestions?

 

[Rroff]

I've lost touch with those older systems and how they stack up but I'd imagine anything more than a nVidia 1070 is probably wasted and something like a 1060 likely more suited.

 

[tamzzy]

yeah would opt for a 1660 super or a 1660ti
those are around a 1070 in performance, but with less power draw (to save you having to swap out your psu)
but that being said, you could run a 1070 with a 450w psu, but it may cutting it close given the psu's age

 

[Tetras]

I have a RX6600 I could slot in but thought that would be better with a more recent CPU / platform as it's x8 PCI-E which is even more restrictive.

It would be better, but it is a great budget card and should still work fine.

GTX 1660 is decent if the price is good, but in HUB's testing AMD RDNA 2 cards performed better with slower/older CPUs.

 

[Rroff]

but in HUB's testing AMD RDNA 2 cards performed better with slower/older CPUs.

Despite the insistence of a couple of posters here I've not seen it be a massive impact, unless you are running an older system on bog standard RAM like 1066MHz CL11 or something or slower for a 2600K as there seems to be a substantial memory performance component to the nVidia driver overhead.

 

[jeffspuds]

a 970 would play them fine a cheap 980 or similar, ati rx 480 second hand cheap enough, ati or nvidia will be just fine.

 

[Tetras]

Despite the insistence of a couple of posters here I've not seen it be a massive impact, unless you are running an older system on bog standard RAM like 1066MHz CL11 or something or slower for a 2600K as there seems to be a substantial memory performance component to the nVidia driver overhead.

I can only go by what I saw in the videos, I've not seen more testing that ties it to memory performance.

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[Rroff]

I can only go by what I saw in the videos, I've not seen more testing that ties it to memory performance.

Nvidia Has a Driver Overhead Problem, GeForce vs Radeon on Low-End CPUs

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Yeah I watched the videos some time back, but I can't see any mention of the actual setup of their older system(s). I've some experience of it including with my older 4820K with quad-channel in the equation and it seems to mostly manifest itself if using budget memory i.e. the Intel spec frequency with loose timings (there are some exceptions i.e. low core count i3 CPUs, etc. can really struggle with the way nVidia manages software scheduling).

 

[tamzzy]

don't forget that the op only has a 450w psu. that psu won't be able to run a vega series card. hence for the red team, will only be looking at a rx580 (basically a gtx 1060) or a 5600xt (which is rare as hen's teeth)
the 1660s/1660ti is a fairly good compromise

 

[decto]

Thanks for the comments. Seems I'm at least in the ball park.

PSU quite solid, was clearance a few years ago on the shelf of a superstore for £20 BNIB. Too cheap to walk past. (Much to the wife's dismay) Has 400W @ 12V and likely less than 200 hours run time.

1070 likely to big for the case and could be hard to cool in a small case though a mini would be nice.

Not after every single FPS, just a reasonable balance for a 12 yo CPU. 1660 seems similar price to 1060 and a bit cheaper than RX5600XT / 1660 Ti/Super...

Expect will depend on what comes up but should be a nice upgrade on the RX550.

 

[Tetras]

Not after every single FPS, just a reasonable balance for a 12 yo CPU. 1660 seems similar price to 1060 and a bit cheaper than RX5600XT / 1660 Ti/Super...

Expect will depend on what comes up but should be a nice upgrade on the RX550.

Practically anything that isn't really old would be a good upgrade on the 550

Just to clarify though, I assume you have an alternative use for the 6600? Otherwise, it is better than pretty much all those cards (equal to the 5600), even when used on an old PC and it has relatively low power usage too.

 

[cjgardens]

Shame you cant overclock that cpu, its one of the easiest CPUs to overclock.

 

[decto]

Practically anything that isn't really old would be a good upgrade on the 550

Just to clarify though, I assume you have an alternative use for the 6600? Otherwise, it is better than pretty much all those cards (equal to the 5600), even when used on an old PC and it has relatively low power usage too.

The RX550 is better than the iGPU... just but really showing it limits.

Putting together a number of older PC's for that Lan experience (on an isolated subnet) with the kids and their friends. They are still under 10 so no hardcore gamers who will notice occasional dropped frames.
Have a right mix of stuff I never got around to getting rid of which should be good enough but trying to keep costs down as shiny hardware is too easy to buy...

Have a R5 2600 or R7 3700X with a B550 that will likely get the 6600.
Also a 4590S H81 (ITX) & 2500k Z68 (ATX) that may get similar treatment with a 1660 class.

Right now the little Sattelite box just needs a better GPU while the others all need a budget case + GPU.

Keeping my options open to add to the pool

 

[Tetras]

Have a R5 2600 or R7 3700X with a B550 that will likely get the 6600.

Ahh right, that makes sense.

The RX550 is better than the iGPU... just but really showing it limits.

Yeah, I have two of them and I was actually surprised how much they can manage, but the 64-bit one is quite a lot worse and definitely struggles @ 1080p.

 

[decto]

So a quick update for anyone else reading later.

I remembered that Sandy Bridge 2xxx series is only PCI-E 2.0, While Ivy Bridge 3xxx series is PCI-E 3.0.

It's already proven that cards such as the Radeon 6500XT (4 lanes PCI-E v4.0) perform signifincatly worse on PCI-E 3.0 as 4 lanes of PCI-E v3.0 is not enough bandwidth.
Any PCI-E x8 card will have the same issue on Sandy Bridge as x8 PCI-E 2.0 is approx equivalent x4 PCI-E v3.0.

This means any x8 card... 5500 XT, 6600 XT, RTX 3050 etc. will likely experience an exagerated bottle neck if paired with Intel 2xxx chips.
x8 Lower performance cards RX 550, RX 460, RX 560 probably minor impact as their performance is likely below that requirement.

x4 cards such as 6400XT and 6500XT would be near completely crippled vs their potential on 2xxx chips.

Cards which use x16 should be fine, such as GTX 1050, GTX 1060, GTX 1070, GTX 1650, GTX 1660, RTX 2060, Radeon RX 5600, RX 5700, RX 6700

One solution is to throw in a 3xxx chip which solves this problem, but at the time or writing an i7 is ~£30 and an I5 £10, which may or not be worth it when you can avoid the problem selecting a different GPU.

 

[Tetras]

One solution is to throw in a 3xxx chip which solves this problem, but at the time or writing an i7 is ~£30 and an I5 £10, which may or not be worth it when you can avoid the problem selecting a different GPU.

FYI: I think that's motherboard dependent. You might be able to get a cheaper Xeon equivalent (they were dirt cheap once).

This means any x8 card... 5500 XT, 6600 XT, RTX 3050 etc. will likely experience an exaggerated bottle neck if paired with Intel 2xxx chips.
x8 Lower performance cards RX 550, RX 460, RX 560 probably minor impact as their performance is likely below that requirement.

Keep in mind that part of the reason the 4 lanes throttles the 6500 XT so bad is because it only has 4GB of VRAM. If the card has 8GB of VRAM, then it doesn't need to use the bus to shunt data between the card and the system RAM so often, which lessens the impact.

 

[Armageus]

Xeon 1230v2 is £15, a little slower than the top i5 or i7, but still respectable 3.3ghz/3.7ghz turbo and importantly still has the 8 threads of the i7

 

[decto]

Xeon 1230v2 is £15, a little slower than the top i5 or i7, but still respectable 3.3ghz/3.7ghz turbo and importantly still has the 8 threads of the i7

Sadly my board only has Bios support for Xeon V1 (Sandy) though it supports 2xxx and 3xxx.
I guess it could work but if not on the list, may not be recognised.

 

[EdGey]

2600k was a beast. I abused mine in my main system for 10 years with multiple gpu upgrades - never faultered. Still going strong in my wife's PC now.

I also may have a 1070 going soon - can't imagine they're worth much these days.