Best bang for your buck single video cards on Feb 1st. 2011.

[tviceman]

Honestly I think competition is so ridiculously close at any price point other than the gtx580's that it's easily justifiable to pick one card over another. Despite the divergence in design both companies have taken, they're extremely competitive right now and if a consumer spends an hour or two to inform themselves on what would perform best on their setup and games they play, they really can't go wrong.

 

[3DVagabond]

Just rereading the OP....

There is no such a thing as "Best bang for the buck" within price range.

Both Nvidia and AMD are neck in neck in almost all categories.

Best bang for the buck is a card that does a lot for the least money spent. That is usually dictated by the next card up performance and price range.

4601 gb and 6850 are the best bang for the buck right now...with 6870 borderlining. Anything past that and you are spending 50-100 bucks (50%-75% more) for 5-10% performance gain.

Meh

I have an Asus 6850 and I've tried every game I play at the moment and I can honestly do 8xAA and 16xAF in all of them at 1920x1080. All the games are above the threshold of 30fps, smooth and without lows in minimums either. What games should I not be able to run at that resolution with high AA, and AF? I'll see if I have and can run to see what I get, and whether it's playable

I've quoted these two together because they almost perfectly sum it up. You can nit pick the absolute accuracy of the posts, but that doesn't change the overall conclusion they've come to.

While there are going to be a few games that can't be run max detail with 4AA/16AF @1080 on a ~$150 card, is it worth spending $100 more for those couple of games? Or, is it better bang for the buck just to reduce shaders/AA or something a bit in those games?

If we are truly talking best bang for the buck then anything more than ~$150 or so is out.

W1zzard (Techpowerup) already breaks this down for us. Now, he's not always accurate to the "deal of the day" pricing, especially with the EOL cards who have large price cuts below MRP/RRP. That's where we can move a card up based on current deals. The 460 1gig and 5850/5870 have often been promoted low enough to catapult them, at or near the top of the list, just as an example.

 

[3DVagabond]

I dont know ANY factory BIOS unlocked cards, however Factory overclocked cards are aplenty

Is there a company selling factory unlocked cards????????

Yes, there is.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...50-pcs-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

 

[badb0y]

Yes, there is.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...50-pcs-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

LOL, bet no one saw that comming.

 

[WelshBloke]

Yes, there is.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...50-pcs-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

I wonder if those are approved by AMD?

 

[SolMiester]

Yes, there is.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...50-pcs-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

Wow, way to cripple the 6970 sales!.....very nice!.....who knew that was out there?

 

[3DVagabond]

Wow, way to cripple the 6970 sales!.....very nice!.....who knew that was out there?

The vast majority of the population is oblivious. It's going to do more to boost AMD sales from those in the know than it will ever hurt 6970 sales, overall.

 

[SolMiester]

The vast majority of the population is oblivious. It's going to do more to boost AMD sales from those in the know than it will ever hurt 6970 sales, overall.

LOL, Tui ad?

 

[happy medium]

Yes, there is.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...50-pcs-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

Give me a link to a retailer, and we can put it in its spot, if its under 300$.:thumbsup:

 

[happy medium]

What about this for the high end? 570 oc'ed can reach 580 speeds for $300 AR. Only $25 more than the 560 soc.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-185-_-Product

There is another gtx570 on newegg thats 315$AR, that one is 320$ AR.
If they fall below 300$, I'll consider it. I don't feel comfortable listing cards more then 300$ for this peticular thread.

It is a real good deal though.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the input.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

You missed the $20 off coupon code on the zotac.

 

[happy medium]

You missed the $20 off coupon code on the zotac.

hmmm now your talking!

What do you think ? Do you think its favorable to gtx560 soc? ( about 2% slower ) for 275$?

Do you think a 300$ card should be in the list?
My opinion? I think its a super deal, but I would feel more comfortable if it was 300$ before rebate.

I'm on the fence,

 

[MentalIlness]

What is the exact length of a EVGA GTX560 reference card ? I only have an hour to have this question answered correctly.

 

[3DVagabond]

9 inches

 

[MentalIlness]

9 inches

Are you 100% sure on that ? I can't find anything online that tells the lengths.

 

[3DVagabond]

Well, I guess it depends on whether or not you trust Guru3d. I don't actually have one in my possession to measure it myself.

The 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 memory is clocked at an effective data-rate of 4000 MHz, well 4008 MHz to be precise. The design is sophisticated alright, we like that. Nice black PCB, which is 9-inches in length. This card will eat up two PCI slots.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-ti-review/3

 

[MentalIlness]

Well, I guess it depends on whether or not you trust Guru3d. I don't actually have one in my possession to measure it myself.



http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-ti-review/3

WTF ???

I've searched for almost two hours now for something like that, with no luck. And you just pop it in there. Two thumbs up for you man.

Thanks :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[3DVagabond]

WTF ???

I've searched for almost two hours now for something like that, with no luck. And you just pop it in there. Two thumbs up for you man.

Thanks :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

You're welcome. I just remembered it, that's all.

 

[Skurge]

The purpose of this thread is to determine what SINGLE card gives us the best performance for our dollar at the 3 top resolutions gamers play.

No single card will give you best performance, it all depends on the game

Please include a link to where the card can be purchased (please no weekend blowout sales) and a link to a legitimate review to back up your claims. and at what resolution and rank you think it should be.
I want to list the top 2 cards based on price/performance! Power usage, noise, and temps are non-factors and to be determined by the buyer.

Disclamer ; WE are looking for the cards for the average user, this is why voltage overclocking is included just like it states on the box of the retail cards. Nothing that will void your warranty.

Any enthusiast mods, including, watercooling,aftermarket air cooling, bios edit voltage tampering, bios unlocking is not included in this thread and should be left for the advanced users only.

I already have a problem with this. Why does what is stated on the box matter? Physx is on the box of every card, but I can't use it with my AMD card without hacks.

So if a $250 asus 560 says I can overvolt my card i should include that, but I cant include a $249 msi card that doesn't say so on the box even though its the exact same card, that does the exact same thing? How does that make any sense? Also, overvolting is as dangerous as bios unlocking, maybe even more so in this case and neither is covered by the warranty.

Also are you trying to say advanced users wont buy these cards? Also, how do you decide what is for an advanced user and what isnt? Why is overclocking for an average user, but aftermarket cooling isn't? XFX cover after market coolers in their warranty, why isn't that for the average user too?

IIRC most companies even those that put overvolting and overclocking on the box don't cover any of that in the warranty. So is that for the average or advanced user?

With that said.

I think the cards you listed are too expensive for their resolutions. I think you should move each card up one tier. You haven't included 5770/5750/450 even though you have a 5750 and find all the games you have playable. I have a 5770, I just turn down the AA (I doesn't do anything in crysis anyway) and some settings that make minimal difference. Even metro, I run on high not very high. It still looks great. I could put it on medium and get great FPS all round. This is all with 1920x1080

I just have a problem with you using 2 games at MAX settings, that can have settings turned down and still look great.

Personally I don't think an average user is going to be spend more than $200 on a card. I think you should start at something like $70 and end at $200 without arbitrary rules on what should be included and what shouldn't the poster can link to a guide on how to overvolt or water cool or bios unlock and the user can decide if its too advanced for them or not. Someone who is going to spend $300 on a card usually knows what they are doing or is smart enough to ask for help for his specific situation. PSU, card size, ect.

Also are going to make a thread about this every month? As prices change on a daily basis?

EDIT: Some people also have unusual uses for their cards. I want a 2gb card cause I emulate PS2 games and I have to run the games at 4x1920x1080 to make them look any good and I routinely hit my 1GB frame buffer limit. Infact it GT4 I can't even run 2x1920x1080. Just saying.

/rant

 

[badb0y]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687
6950 1 GB 239.99$ after MIR

 

[evolucion8]

That's a lot of power for such low price.

 

[edplayer]

Just rereading the OP....

There is no such a thing as "Best bang for the buck" within price range.

Totally agree.

Wasn't going to post in this thread because of how silly it is (title says "best bang for the buck" then his post talks about something else).


How many people are going to care about the best deal on a single day (apart from those buying on that exact day, of course)? I've posted several times that, in general, the best bang for the buck videocard now is the GTX 460 768MB. You can get it right now for $90 AR at Tigerdirect. No card comes close to it.

 

[Aristotelian]

Totally agree.

Wasn't going to post in this thread because of how silly it is (title says "best bang for the buck" then his post talks about something else).


How many people are going to care about the best deal on a single day (apart from those buying on that exact day, of course)? I've posted several times that, in general, the best bang for the buck videocard now is the GTX 460 768MB. You can get it right now for $90 AR at Tigerdirect. No card comes close to it.

I think this post clearly shows that many people (at least on this forum) don't really care about "bang for the buck". They care about what catches their eye at the time, what's on sale at this specific Best Buy, what their friend's computer has inside that allows her to play at x resolution, and a host of other things.

I like the idea of this thread, but it's far too dynamic a standard [absolute best bang for the buck] to maintain without constant updates. The thread is also not indicative of the buying patterns of individuals. I mean, people point to 20 dollar video card price differences as deciding between a card that might last you 1 year, but fail to see that someone might be willing to sacrifice his next mcdonalds meal in order to obtain that longer lasting pleasure (even if it's not a 'best bang for the buck' increase over the original card). Opportunity cost calculations are vastly different between people (shrug).

 

[f4phantom2500]

...I mean, people point to 20 dollar video card price differences as deciding between a card that might last you 1 year, but fail to see that someone might be willing to sacrifice his next mcdonalds meal in order to obtain that longer lasting pleasure...

holy shit. that is a ton of money at mcdonalds. i think thats like 100 chicken nuggets.