Best bang-for-the-buck Nvidia based card right now?

[slugg]

I haven't been keeping up lately, and at the rate the consumer electronics industry moves, my knowledge is considered antique. Just a few years ago, buying a video card was simple... Choose ATI or Nvidia, then choose entry, mid, or enthusiast grade. That's it.

Nowadays, it seems like there are 4 versions of the same chip with another 4 variations, but they're all priced so closely to each other. It's quite confusing for someone like me that doesn't keep track of all the new stuff every day.

So I've been out of PC gaming for quite a long time. The last video card I've ever purchased was a 9800GT. Well now I'm interested in getting back into some casual gaming, but I don't want to build a whole new rig. Besides, I would really like to keep all my stuff on one computer, my Thinkpad. I realize that there is a performance penalty for going with an external GPU, which I'm willing to take.

That being said, what's the best bang-for-your-buck option out there? Must be Nvidia so that I can use the Optimus features.

Thanks so much

 

[Gordon Freemen]

GTX 480 hands down. Also just build a gaming rig a think pad will never play a game well.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

9800GT will play most the decent games right now fine.

Laptop? Optimus...


You need to add some info here, desktop or laptop, price range, sli or no, whats your psu...

Too much known.


http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2225141

Copy/Paste the second post and fill the information out, please.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

9800GT will play most the decent games right now fine.

Laptop? Optimus...


You need to add some info here, desktop or laptop, price range, sli or no, whats your psu...

Too much known.


http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2225141

Copy/Paste the second post and fill the information out, please.

9800GT will play most the decent games right now fine. ? maybe on 800x600 resolution with slowdowns. A 9800GT is very very low end now in days.

 

[hyrule4927]

So you want to run an eGPU? The GTX460 seems to be a sweet spot for those since you're so bandwidth limited that the scaling with more powerful cards is just terrible. Plus you can pick one up for just a little over $100 now.

Not sure how much you've researched everything, but here is a thread that is a goldmine of information on eGPU use:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/e-gpu-external-graphics-discussion/418851-diy-egpu-experiences.html

Honestly, eGPU's are rather limited, do you still have the 9800GT system? If you posted the specs for your laptop and any desktops you may have it would help with recommendations.

 

[Mars999]

9800GT will play most the decent games right now fine.

Laptop? Optimus...


You need to add some info here, desktop or laptop, price range, sli or no, whats your psu...

Too much known.


http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2225141

Copy/Paste the second post and fill the information out, please.

Ah IMO no a 9800GTisn't good enough anymore for any recent games... I had a 9800GT awhile back and 1080p would stutter in some new games and not really all that demanding games either...

IMO for $150 you can get a Gfx that blows the 9800GT away...

e.g. Radeon 7770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102993

or

Geforce 560
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125390

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Ah IMO no a 9800GTisn't good enough anymore for any recent games... I had a 9800GT awhile back and 1080p would stutter in some new games and not really all that demanding games either...

IMO for $150 you can get a Gfx that blows the 9800GT away...

e.g. Radeon 7770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102993

or

Geforce 560
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125390

Yup agreed cause even my old GTX 275 which is quite literally double the performance of a 9800GT had slow downs in almost any game old or new alike. For example my old GTX 275 struggled to maintain 60fps in an old and un demanding game such as MW2 it would drop into the 40fps sometimes and that's at 1050P less than 1080P res.

 

[lakedude]

I think the OP is wanting an nVidia for a laptop.

 

[Arzachel]

Amd now has their own switchable graphics system, but I believe neither it nor Optimus work for eGPUs, because you need mobile drivers.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Ah IMO no a 9800GTisn't good enough anymore for any recent games... I had a 9800GT awhile back and 1080p would stutter in some new games and not really all that demanding games either...

I thought mine handled more modern titles fine, of course with an OC and lower settings.

If the OP really is talking about pluggin it into his laptop, I'd actually test it with the 9800GT first and see where you are before purchasing another card.

I don't see a problem with mobile drivers, the gpu's in laptops are the same as their desktop counter-parts, they're just named bigger than what their counter-parts actually are.

 

[Arzachel]

Yeah, but he might have to dig into the guts of the mobile drivers so they recognize a desktop card. Maybe not, never tried using an eGPU.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

If that was the case he'd only need a modified inf file to install them.

I've used workstation drivers with my desktop gpus, I don't thing there is a whole lot of difference if any at the driver level.