Best card for 300 or less?

[z2akuma]

I currently have an nvidia GT 240 and I want to get back into PC gaming. I have around 300 I am willing to drop on a card but I am not sure what to get at this point. I am completely out of the loop.

I game mostly in 1900 1200 and I am a big emulator user as well (wii, ps2)

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

I believe I have an Antech 550 watt power supply (possibly 500)
Asus p5q pro
4 gigs of ram
wolfdale e8500 I think?
ddr2 800 cosair memory

 

[xboxist]

People here are going to want to know what your other hardware is to give you the best recommendation. List your CPU and power supply at the very least.

 

[darkewaffle]

1GB GTX 460 will probably be your best bet, regardless.

But in addition to cpu/psu, what games do you [want to] play?

 

[TemjinGold]

When are you buying? Now? In a few months? I ask because AMD's next launch is in like 2-3 months.

 

[z2akuma]

People here are going to want to know what your other hardware is to give you the best recommendation. List your CPU and power supply at the very least.

My bad -
I believe I have an Antech 550 watt power supply (possibly 500)
Asus p5q pro
4 gigs of ram
wolfdale e8500 I think?
ddr2 800 cosair memory

Thanks

 

[z2akuma]

When are you buying? Now? In a few months? I ask because AMD's next launch is in like 2-3 months.

Now - as in today impulse buy

 

[darkewaffle]

1gb gtx 460

 

[z2akuma]

1gb gtx 460

Thats what I had my eye on, why not a 465? Any name brands to buy or to avoid? I ususally go BFG or EVGA

 

[darkewaffle]

At stock the 460 actually beats the 465 often.

Really, they're about equal but the 460 overclocks quite well (enough to pull it ahead) and uses far less power and produces far less heat. And it's cheaper (normally).

Edit: And any of the 'big' names. Unfortunately BFG is out of the game, but EVGA is a good choice. I'm also fond of ASUS video cards, and MSI offers some good ones too.

 

[Pneumothorax]

Why not the 5850? Due to price drops, they're going for less than $300 as of today. Around $279 shipped at the egg without tax. I wish they did that before I bought my GTX 460 1gb for my gaming/HTPC! C'mon Nvidia, fix the TrueHD bitstream driver!

 

[bryanW1995]

I assume you mean 5850.

@ op: what resolution do you play? 1680x1050 or less then gtx 460 768 or 1gb is the way to go. 1920x1080 gtx 460 1gb is probably still ok, 1920x1200 or up and 5850, while more expensive, is probably your best bet.

 

[Termie]

Definitely GTX460 1GB. While 1920x1200 gaming may benefit slightly from the HD5850, new games that would benefit from more GPU power might bottleneck slightly on your dual core anyway. And at current prices, the GTX460 is simply a much better deal. If you're actually ready to buy today and can purchase from Newegg, there's a one-day 12% discount (coupon code VGA127511) for the MSI Cyclone, bringing it down to $210 shipped. Here's the card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127510. It's highly-rated by various websites.

 

[happy medium]

MSI Cyclone, gtx460 1gb

 

[Bill Brasky]

Just like the others said, gtx 460 is probably the best bang for the buck, but a 5850 would handle that resolution better. Do you plan to OC your card any?

 

[RussianSensation]

If you are going to be overclocking, GTX460 for $210-220. MSI Cyclone, Gigabyte or EVGA.

If you are not going to be overclocking, but still want a quiet card, 5850 such as this one for $270: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-330-_-Product

Otherwise, if you want the fastest card <$300, but it's also the hottest and loudest, then GTX470 by Gigabyte for $250 is a sweet deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-320-_-Product

Performance wise, the cards stack up as follows: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...-460/20/#abschnitt_performancerating_mit_aaaf

1920x1200 4AA/16AF
GTX460 1GB = 100%
5850 1GB = 108%
GTX470 = 120%
5870 = 128%
GTX480 = 149%

Of course performance will depend more on the games you play.

 

[GaiaHunter]

As most people said in here the 460 1GB is great price/performance.

The 5850 is faster but has a premium for its speed.

Avoid the 465 because it isn't faster than the 460 and consume much more power.

The 470 can be a good value from a performance point of view, but also consumes much more power.

New cards are rumored to be coming soon (October/November) and price drops for the current AMD cards are also rumored.

So, IMO, you can either buy a GTX 460 and have the best performance for the price, pay a premium for the 5850 or wait a bit.

 

[Pantlegz]

frys has the GTX 470 on sale for $270, might be worth it to check it out.

 

[Bill Brasky]

If you are going to be overclocking, GTX460 for $210-220. MSI Cyclone, Gigabyte or EVGA.

If you are not going to be overclocking, but still want a quiet card, 5850 such as this one for $270: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-330-_-Product

Otherwise, if you want the fastest card <$300, but it's also the hottest and loudest, then GTX470 by Gigabyte for $250 is a sweet deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-320-_-Product

Performance wise, the cards stack up as follows: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...-460/20/#abschnitt_performancerating_mit_aaaf

1920x1200 4AA/16AF
GTX460 1GB = 100%
5850 1GB = 108%
GTX470 = 120%
5870 = 128%
GTX480 = 149%

Of course performance will depend more on the games you play.

Great summary. This is what I would've written if I wasn't lazy. :thumbsup:

 

[Insomniator]

I don't understand why people are dropping 250+ on 5850's when the 460 and 470's are both priced under them.

 

[Athadeus]

5850 still has slightly better perf/watt, and then there's a lot of other things that influence buyers like brand loyalty, current product popularity, how it looks...

I wonder if any of that emulation software supports SLI or CF?

 

[bryanW1995]

I don't understand why people are dropping 250+ on 5850's when the 460 and 470's are both priced under them.

b/c 5850 is faster, and it doesn't have the crappy power/heat/noise issues of 470 that push many away from it. plus, 5850 shines at higher res where gtx 460 starts to fade. don't get me wrong, it's not much of a bargain now and I would wait a few weeks if I was considering one, but overall it is still a very good card.

 

[OCGuy]

470.

 

[Pneumothorax]

b/c 5850 is faster, and it doesn't have the crappy power/heat/noise issues of 470 that push many away from it. plus, 5850 shines at higher res where gtx 460 starts to fade. don't get me wrong, it's not much of a bargain now and I would wait a few weeks if I was considering one, but overall it is still a very good card.

Not to mention ATI has a WORKING PAP (Protected Audio Path) driver right now that allows TrueHD audio playback straight into my Pioneer elite SC-25 receiver. I went from a 5570 to a GTX 460 and lament the loss of bass management when going from TrueHD decoded by receiver to PCM output decoded by software when playing back blurays.

 

[Bill Brasky]

I don't understand why people are dropping 250+ on 5850's when the 460 and 470's are both priced under them.

Is it really that hard to imagine someone wanting slightly less than 470 performance without the heat and noise? Not to mention they are nice overclockers, like the 460.

edit: darn I need to refresh my threads before posting.

 

[RussianSensation]

My 470 clocks to 750mhz on stock voltage. So 470 can get within 5&#37; of the 480s speeds too. All 3 cards are good overclockers, but the 470 is louder and hotter without a doubt. The fact that OP has the older Antec 500? may also play into his decision. Unless that PSU can pull at least 38-41A from 12V rail, I'd probably choose the other 2 cards.