Hi there!

So, i'm having this problem. I am finishing my first gaming PC by myself, since it's my first PC and i don't have that much money (actually really low money) it's a cheap pc. So far, this is my pc:

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2400mhz
Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VH Plus
HDD: 1 TB (No SSD)
Power Source: Thermaltake 500w 80 Plus
Mouse & Keyboard: Thermaltake Commander Kit
Chassis: Thermaltake Versa N27

As you can see, it's a humble pc, but my main goal is to play in 1080/720 at least in medium/high, so i'm very happy with this.

BUT, there's something missing, the video card, currently i have a GT 430.....yep, that old, and it's the final thing that i want to change. I want a GTX 1050, really good and cheap, but it's only 2GB, and in my country there's a big gap between the GTX 1050 and the GTX 1050ti.

So, back to the title, you think that 2GB VRAM it's enough for modern gaming without 4K and ultra settings? Or i save one more year and make suffer a little more my poor GT 430?

6 years ago

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It's enough?

View Results
Yep
Noup

Even if it had 4GB of VRAM, you wouldn't reach that cap before running out of computing power. I'd suggest getting the 1050ti, however, if that's completely out of your budget get the 1050 and enjoy.

6 years ago
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I don't know too much about this subject, but I recently built my own PC with a 1060 6GB. This is what I'd say:
(Take this with a grain of salt)
It'll be fine for now. For the settings that you said.
It's just that next year you'll be at low. Then at 720p low. Then you'll start struggling a lot.
So, if you're fine with it being kind of viable for the next 2 years or so, then go on ahead. Plus, a lot of games have config files and people like the LowSpecGamer help people with slightly weaker PCs (Like, Intel HD graphics level gaming) to run modern games.
Just remember that recently the VRAM requirements have skyrocketed. My 6GB is already being challenged with the HD texture pack for Shadow of Mordor and R6: Siege :D

6 years ago
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I'm using radeon video card with 2gb vram, for most games it is totally enough, for other it is playable but not 100% comfortable, anyway i finished with it dishonored 2 and deus ex: md with good details textures because i"m fan of this series. I did bought it thinking i will upgrade it soon but than all prices went high and can't buy anything.. i would like something like "geforce 1070" or similiar powerhouse but it cost almost same as 1080..

6 years ago
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Remember that 2GB VRAM is the minimum requirement with open-world games due to many textures. I myself still have 1GB VRAM and my games are capped (slowed down) in loading and unloading textures with otherwise decent performance. So if you like to play open-world games buy at least 4GB VRAM (or you'll be capped soon); if not, go with the 2GB VRAM.

6 years ago
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I would consider buying a used GPU instead

6 years ago
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Unfortenaly here in Argentina it's a really big risk, everyone is trying to scamm you

6 years ago
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That is indeed unfortunate. Maybe you can find a place that still have older GPU in stock that they sell at a discount. like a 980 or 970.
If that is not possible you will be fine and happy with a 1050. Its gonna be a huge step up from a 430.
And lets face it.. 2GB vram is not ideal but neither is having 8GB ram these days or having a dual core... so yeah. Just buy the 1050 if getting a older high end card is not a option. I wouldn't wait a year anyway

6 years ago
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soy de Argentina... y sigo jugando con mi fx6300 y la r7 250x 2gb ddr3 con 8gb ram... imginate que mi PC tiene 6 años... y cuando la compré no jugaba nada en ultra... ví que te decían que no podías correr doom. hablan bosta porque es queda chico el pito.... jugué Doom a calidad desente, metal gear v, corre fluido, GTAV me corre de pelos, salvo en algunos momentos, termine hellblade hoy... calidad alta 1080p.... estoy muyyyyyyyy lejos del 4k a 60fps... pero disfruto de los juegos actuales...

6 years ago
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"you think that 2GB VRAM it's enough for modern gaming without 4K and ultra settings?"
Yes.

More is always better ofcourse. But since you're on a small budget that 2G 1050 is an excellent GPU..
Its an extremely powerful gpu when you consider its price.

6 years ago
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Depends on the game.

Or i save one more year and make suffer a little more my poor GT 430?

Depends on your suffering tolerance. How many years have you suffered, OP?
It's my second year of suffering now. All because of those internet monies.

Anyway, if the 1050 meets your standard (fps, graphic quality, heat, noise, etc) on the games you want to play and you can't wait anymore, then buy the card.

6 years ago
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Like, +4 years using my poor GT 430, even the cooler died so i change it with a normal cooler attached to the disipator

6 years ago
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Maybe it is the time to change it. I don't think we'll see a new budget gpu soon.
There's the new Ryzen apu next month (though that might not be an alternative)

6 years ago
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I'd say get the 1050 and enjoy your games. The vram size affects mostly the texture quality and not the other graphics aspects of the games. So just lower the texture resolution in the demanding games to medium or low and you are good to go. This is much better than having to suffer for one year just for a slightly better picture quality.

6 years ago
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I replaced my old GTX 760 because of its VRAM limit (2GB). Don't go cheap on that. Games like Doom are unplayable with less than 3GB of VRAM, don't listen to people who deny that, they have not experienced later parts of the games.

6 years ago
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In a few games I passing 4GB for 1080P but I still wait to around 2020 to replace my GTX 970

6 years ago
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The beauty of PCs is the modular design and the fact that you can upgrade your card at any time in a couple of minutes. Whether you do it now really depends on what sort of games you want to play. I still run a GTX 275 and manage to run it at maximum detail graphics settings on almost everything I play, using a 1680x1050 display. It won't drive it at 60 Hz but that doesn't bother me (Blu-ray and film run at 24 Hz, after all). This might be because I don't tend to play with a twitchy style, jerking the viewpoint around rapidly (perhaps because of the type of games or perhaps just my style (old & slow)), which might expose the artefacts that people seem to complain about with <60 Hz rendering, but I don't know. What I have noticed is that more and more games are being released with DirectX 11 shaders as a minimum requirement, and any card more than a couple of years old cannot play them at all. I have a number of games in my library (some gifts, some won on SG, some that I foolishly purchased) that I can't run until I upgrade my hardware. I suggest taking a look at the minimum and recommended system requirements on the Steam Store pages for the games you are interested in. The DirectX information in the minimum requirements column will tell you if you need a new graphics card just to run it. The Graphics information will give you an idea of what your card needs to do If you buy a new one, and I think you should look at both columns for this because what is in the recommended system requirements for current games may become minimum requirements for comparable games in a couple of years when you are still running the card you buy today. I think it's sensible to drive monitors at their native resolutions, so I wouldn't choose a card based on 720p performance if you have a 1080p monitor. Tom's Hardware has a regularly updated GPU shopping comparison worth looking at, with the various comparison pricepoints based upon performance at practical levels, e.g. Good@720p; Best@720p, Good@1080p; Best@1080p. They recommend the GTX 1050 in the Best@720p category, noting that it still performs well at 1920x1080 using medium-quality settings, and they recommend the GTX 1050 Ti in the Good@1080p category, and they delve into the technical differences beyond the extra RAM that is behind the extra performance. If it was my money (and I would like to make a similar purchase sometime soon) and I had a 1080p monitor, I would want to save up for the 1050 Ti because I know I will be using it for years. This is based on the prices they considered, which show the GTX 1050 Ti to cost about 20 to 25% more than the GTX 1050, so the decision might not be the same if the relative pricing is different in your part of the world.

6 years ago
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So after hearing everyone's opinion i think i should give you my experience with a really similar build as the one you want to have. I own a gtx 1050 2 gb and a g4600 with 8 gb of ram. 2 gb is enough for every single game if you dont want to game at ultra. I even play gta v with textures on very high and the game runs fine. Plus a gtx 1050 isnt that strong in general so 4 gb would be useless. If you want to game while on budget the 1050 would be fine. In reality the most troublesome hardware in your build would be your g4560 as it can cause stutter here and there like my g4600.

6 years ago
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IMHO, get the best GPU you can afford at the time. If you're running a 430, any newer card is going to be a huge step up for you, so I believe the speed and quality increase will impress you. You aren't going to be able to max out every game at 60fps with a 1050, so don't go into your purchase expecting that - instead, compare it to what you're running currently and I think you'll find the upgrade worthwhile. Secondly, do some research, read some reviews (even game reviews usually include benchmarks), and compare framerates and quality settings in those reviews and be sure they're similar to what you'd like to see in your own game. Be prepared to do some give-and-take with some settings, and you won't come away disappointed.

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1050-vs-Nvidia-GeForce-GT-430/3650vsm7745

TLDR: Go for it.

6 years ago
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I think if I was in your case I would probably save up to get at least a 4GB GPU so it is more future proof (so your GPU will last a good 4 years and can run games at like your 1080p). Even thought having the 2GB GPU is better then what you currently have, you might only get a year or so out of that card before it can be outdated. So you would want to ask yourself if you want a good card now, and then maybe have to get another one in a year or so... or wait to get a more future proof card.

I have a 2GB card myself, and the card I have lasted me 5 years. I got it January, 2013. I can play GTAV 60FPS 1080p on normal, I can only chose that since not enough VRAM. But for ARK I only get 30-60 1080p on medium, and then JC3 which is I think is optimized I have an issue with stuttering, not sure if that could be related to GPU or RAM.

I think newer games you will struggle, since a lot of newer open world games require more VRAM, but I think for non-open world games you could be fine with the 2GB?

My Specs are:
FX 9370
8GB RAM (soon to be 16GB)
7870 OC Edition 2GB
650w PSU

I think my next upgrade will probably be my GPU, and when I would upgrade my GPU, my PC should be top of the line again and then won't need to upgrade till 3-4 years and when I would do a CPU upgrade, I would have to do an entire PC upgrade, since the FX line ends with the 9xxx line, not sure its worth it to upgrade from 9370 to 9590.

6 years ago
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LATAM market works different, that's what people need to understand. In here GPU prices from old generation to the new one will be exactly the same. Only few vendors do some special sales that have U.S. prices and tax included. Example: a GTX 750Ti still has the same price or even a bit more than when It was released. Some big vendors here just wont cut It because they know the price performance of each product well and that model It's between the 1030 and the 1050. Something tells me the hardware market in your country works the same.
The card will do great at 900p and many titles at 1080p. There's nothing else that compares to It right now, unless you can grab a gtx 960 brand new for the same price (that happened here but theyre odd sales and límited to few pieces).

6 years ago
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