Best Bang for Buck at $150?

[Termie]

XFX HD6870 is going to be $130AR today only, starting at 1pm Pacific at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellS...m-_-singleitem

Free Dirt3 and Deus Ex. Sounds perfect for your dad.

 

[alkemyst]

If I went to the $200 mark would it be a waste? He doesn't upgrade alot (current card was 2.5 years old).

I see the GTX 560 Ti mentioned above and a lot of 6870's still at that price. Also I see some 6950's at that price point with 2GB...it's still $100 more than that bargain at $139. The benchmarks all seem close though between these cards and all offer decent frame rates even beyond 19x12.

The XFX card seems a great deal + a better game included that Dirt3 for him. Any advice?

I think I am going to do the $139 card.

 

[Leyawiin]

http://www.amazon.com/GeForce-Expres.../dp/B004IQADCC

Get a white box ASUS GTX 460 1GB (256 bit) for $109.99 (no rebate to fiddle with and wait on). Has a year warranty which should be fine for that price and performance level.

 

[Leyawiin]

NVM, double post.

 

[AustinInDallas]

is that Neil deGrasse Tyson?

 

[lehtv]

I'd go for a GTX 560 $145AR

 

[SickBeast]

If I went to the $200 mark would it be a waste? He doesn't upgrade alot (current card was 2.5 years old).

I see the GTX 560 Ti mentioned above and a lot of 6870's still at that price. Also I see some 6950's at that price point with 2GB...it's still $100 more than that bargain at $139. The benchmarks all seem close though between these cards and all offer decent frame rates even beyond 19x12.

The XFX card seems a great deal + a better game included that Dirt3 for him. Any advice?

I think I am going to do the $139 card.

If you're going to push your budget up to $200 you might as well go right up to $230 and get a 7850. Once you overclock it, its price/performance ratio is unmatched.

The GTX 560 and the 6870 are good for $150, but IMO it's worth the $80 extra to get a card that's twice as powerful (overclocked) with twice as much vram.

 

[lehtv]

The GTX 560 and the 6870 are good for $150, but IMO it's worth the $80 extra

Where do you find a GTX560 or a 6870 for $150? Or a 7850 for $230...?

to get a card that's twice as powerful (overclocked) with twice as much vram.

Not going to be twice as fast.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=543

30% faster at stock. Let's be conservative and say a GTX560/6870 will OC by 10%. Then let's assume optimistically that a single-fan 7850 will OC by 40%.

Stock ratio: 1.3/1.0
OC ratio: (1.3 * 1.4) / (1.0 * 1.1) = 65% faster and that's being optimistic

 

[alkemyst]

my dad doesn't buy into overclocking

 

[alkemyst]

trying to decide the $139 6870 vs the $239 7850 now.

Wish the 7850 had a better game selection.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

When somebody says that Nvidia drivers are better then AMD, don't listen. I own modern Nvidia and AMD cards and their driver support is identical.

No need to start a flame war, it just needs to be said.

 

[lehtv]

7850 isn't worth going that much over budget for if you're not going to OC it. With OC it'd also be bottlenecked by X4 955 in CPU limited games

 

[SickBeast]

When somebody says that Nvidia drivers are better then AMD, don't listen. I own modern Nvidia and AMD cards and their driver support is identical.

No need to start a flame war, it just needs to be said.

Do you own a 7850? Because the drivers have been pretty bad, they're still working bugs out like the sleep issue.

 

[SickBeast]

trying to decide the $139 6870 vs the $239 7850 now.

Wish the 7850 had a better game selection.

You can't really go wrong either way. It depends on how much performance you need and how long you are hoping to get good use out of the card for.

 

[lehtv]

When somebody says that Nvidia drivers are better then AMD, don't listen. I own modern Nvidia and AMD cards and their driver support is identical.

No need to start a flame war, it just needs to be said.

I thought driver issues are dependent on the system in question, some systems running a particular GPU on a particular driver suffer from driver issues while others don't. And if there are games that AMD drivers have on average more issues with, how do we know whether you play those particular games? So taking your own experience and extrapolating a universal conclusion out of it does not compute.

 

[alkemyst]

Do you own a 7850? Because the drivers have been pretty bad, they're still working bugs out like the sleep issue.

I was actually just reading about issues with the drivers in the 7800 series. I really don't want to have my dad (which means me) having to go from one flaky card to another.

For $139 and his gaming at 1680res as well as the extra game he'd like more than a driving one, I think I am going with the 6870 and calling it a Happy Father's day.

The card looks like it will put up playable framerates even at 1920 res for most games full eyecandy.

 

[Leyawiin]

When somebody says that Nvidia drivers are better then AMD, don't listen. I own modern Nvidia and AMD cards and their driver support is identical.

I think they are too. The only thing is what's important in GPU/Driver features. I actually want PhysX, Ambient Occlusion, Dynamic Vertical Sync and Digital Vibrance. Some don't and better Bitcoin mining performance (or whatever) might be what tips the scale for them .

 

[alkemyst]

went with the 6870, but the double fan (double D) version for $20 more. It's quieter...

thanks everyone.

 

[Rambusted]

The XFX card seems a great deal + a better game included that Dirt3 for him. Any advice?

I think I am going to do the $139 card.

I have that exact card and while it does produce excellent framerates for the price it does not have a good cooling solution. if he has a cramped case and average airflow the card will run hot. since summer has arrived where I live I have resorted to removing the side of my case and pointing a desk fan at it, doing that the temps still reach 62c. with it closed I have seen it as high as 91c during serious Sam 3, and I only game at 1360x768. I think xfx needs a new approach to cooling.

 

[titan131]

I have that exact card and while it does produce excellent framerates for the price it does not have a good cooling solution. if he has a cramped case and average airflow the card will run hot. since summer has arrived where I live I have resorted to removing the side of my case and pointing a desk fan at it, doing that the temps still reach 62c. with it closed I have seen it as high as 91c during serious Sam 3, and I only game at 1360x768. I think xfx needs a new approach to cooling.

That's interesting, I have noticed that some xfx cards come with less than stellar coolers and have wondered how much difference it made. Quite a lot it seems. But the OP went with a better twin cooling solution in the end so dats good.

 

[Rambusted]

Yeah I agree that the double d will be better didn't notice that post when I was writing mine. I still think he would have been better off going with someone other that xfx as I have heard their dual fan solution is not up to par with other manufacturers, but he is not oc'ing so I am sure it will be fine and a sizeable upgrade over the 5770.

 

[alkemyst]

yeah, I tried to encourage overclocking with him esp that he has a Phenon 955 and all that. However, an ASUS board he had (a very expensive one no less) had an auto overclock function that kept giving him BSODs and no boot situations.

He kept turning it off, but it would somehow activate anyway. That was some major headaches for me.

He's got a nice rig and does use the power of it at times.

I am not sure how Deus Ex compares to Crysis...but I am sure he will find some fun in it.

I am going to upgrade my 4890 one day still debating going from my 955 to a 2600K or equivalent as well. My rig is already overkill for most of what I do.

 

[alkemyst]

I have that exact card and while it does produce excellent framerates for the price it does not have a good cooling solution. if he has a cramped case and average airflow the card will run hot. since summer has arrived where I live I have resorted to removing the side of my case and pointing a desk fan at it, doing that the temps still reach 62c. with it closed I have seen it as high as 91c during serious Sam 3, and I only game at 1360x768. I think xfx needs a new approach to cooling.

He has a Cooler Master HAF case (I think the HAF X), they run their AC at about 68 degrees....

 

[BlockheadBrown]

I've been able to get used or recert GeForce 560s for $100-$137 on Amazon & Ebay over the past few weeks. The price perf. ratio doesn't really get much better in this range.

 

[dust]

M3:hmm: