$200 GPU Recommendation. NVIDIA GTX 660 vs ATI 7850

[geokilla]

Starcraft 2 is a great game but a single GTX 460 will run it extremely well at 1080P. There is no need for anything greater and both the GTX 660 and the 7870 are overkill for that game IMO.

GTX 460 768MB is not enough. I'm on medium settings and still getting those 20FPS lags when I'm having 200-200 battles. Can't get into Masters if I can't split my units My macro is solid apparently.

I paid $190 for an XFX Double D 7870 through NCIX close to a year ago now. $220 sounds like too much to me. I'm pretty sure I've seen the 7850 2gb cards hit as low as $160. You need to look for hot deals. Try the redflagdeals.com forums.

These cards are long overdue for a major price drop.

I'm a frequent poster of RFD, but I haven't found much GPU deals lately. At least not decent ones. Plus RFD has the mindset of "going back in time to get a hot deal". And they flame for posting a deal so a lot of people don't bother posting Regardless, I'll stick with a NVIDIA GPU. Is the GTX 650 TI Boost a worthy upgrade to GTX 460? Found some for like $160 or so. I'm helping my friend do a build as well so I'm thinking of picking that up for him. Basically same rig as my sig.

 

[notty22]

Tom's Hardware says the 7850 2GB is slightly faster than the GTX660 (in general). So I would go with whatever benches higher with the games you play, if that's the 660 then get it.

I think you have that confused with the 7870

Up until now, the GeForce GTX 660 was overpriced compared to the slightly-faster Radeon HD 7870. But after a considerable reduction to $200, Nvidia's GK106-based board is one of the better values currently available.

Simultaneously, the Radeon HD 7870 goes from best-in-class to, frankly, a hard sell. Particularly with the Tahiti-based Radeon HD 7870s selling around $250, Pitcairn-based boards just aren't as attractive.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-3.html

 

[Rezist]

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69494&vpn=GV-R785OC-2GD&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1288

There they have a 7850 2gb for 180 with free shipping which still isn't great since they were like 160ish at one point but it is the best deal I've seen in a while for Canada anyways. It's clocked to 975mhz stock and I believe most 7850's are 850 but most would do over 975. But if your friend doesn't want to mess with OCing could be an option. It does have 3 included games

For nVidia theres a 650ti boost here
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=81803&vpn=ZT-61201-10M&manufacture=Zotac&promoid=1288
looks kinda dinky but it's 160$ with a 15$ MIR and it is a 2gb version and has free shipping.
Also a galaxy for 170
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=81615&vpn=65NPH7DN7WGU&manufacture=Galaxy Technology&promoid=1288

 

[rancherlee]

As said above, No overclock, 660 wins. With overclocking based on the averages hit by each card the 7850 has a slight advantage. I've seen 7870 dropping below 200$ fairly often recently and wouldn't be surprised to see 7950's under 250$ soon if you hold off for a week or two and save up an extra 50$

 

[geokilla]

I got $210 to spend on Newegg.ca within the next year so I was thinking of getting a 7870 Tahiti LE. However the only manufacturer that sells it is Powercolor? Anyone know what's up with that?

 

[tweakboy]

All the way 660 Ti You will get phsyx which you wont with ATI and also most games are optimized for nVidia cards.

 

[Will Robinson]

I got $210 to spend on Newegg.ca within the next year so I was thinking of getting a 7870 Tahiti LE. However the only manufacturer that sells it is Powercolor? Anyone know what's up with that?

Sapphire also make HD7870GHz Edition(LE).

It is a very good card.:thumbsup:

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Within the next year you should be able to get a better card for that price.

 

[geokilla]

Sapphire also make HD7870GHz Edition(LE).

It is a very good card.:thumbsup:

Unfortunately it's not available on Newegg.ca, so limiting it to Powercolor.

 

[Vesku]

Gigabyte Radeon 7870 OC on special at ncix.ca, $219.99 no rebate ends 6/26/2013.

http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=69492&vpn=GV-R787OC-2GD&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1065

 

[BYOGamingPC]

Here is a great deal on a 2GB 7850 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MJGN5I I'd scoop one up.