Best Video card for under $200-$250?

[Gordon Freemen]

Yeah, to hell with buying what's reasonable!

Also, the GTX 480 costs more money than the HD 7850.

Newegg prices 7850 for the cheapest is $240 and an EVGA GTX 480 is now only $220 and has more raw power than a 7850 case closed.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Newegg prices 7850 for the cheapest is $240 and an EVGA GTX 480 is now only $220 and has more raw power than a 7850 case closed.

Incorrect. That initial price difference is made up for in months of using the card and after goes in favor of the 7850. The GTX 480 costs 3x more to run; 4-5x if you count additional cooling requirements.

And if the GTX 480 had more "raw power" than the HD 7850 it wouldn't end up the same speed as the HD 7850 OC vs OC. The only reason why it's faster initially is because AMD clocks the 7850 so low. You get more overclocking headroom with the 7850, it costs significantly less to run, the upfront price difference is negligible, and it's more modern.

Since it's now been established the GTX 480 is neither cheaper or faster, then it's inferior to the HD 7850.

 

[arkcom]

XFX 7850 is $240 shipped. It is highly over clockable and would IMO give you the biggest bang for your buck and be the most future proof.

I'd spend the extra $5 to get the Gigabyte Windforce OC model.

coupon code - TRIBUTE

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?...785OC2G&show=r

 

[3DVagabond]

If we're talking just bottom line price in that performance category there's The Sapphire 6950 for $199.99 w/free shipping). There's even a real good possibility it will unlock to a 6970 with this model. Between the 3 I'd still get the 7850 though. Once all 3 are unlocked, overclocked, and anything else they'll do, the 7850 is still likely to be the fastest and most efficient. Plus it's the most up to date design. PCI-E 3, Dx11.1, latest OCL/OGL compliance.

 

[ZimZum]

7850

I'd only recommend a 480 if you live in Winterfell.

 

[mlah384]

I run dual monitors and noticed that the 7850 doesnt have dual outputs...

If we go outside the budget, what's a step up from the 7850? or what's the "best bang for the buck" video card to get these days?

 

[azeem40]

Gtx 670.

 

[blastingcap]

I run dual monitors and noticed that the 7850 doesnt have dual outputs...

If we go outside the budget, what's a step up from the 7850? or what's the "best bang for the buck" video card to get these days?

Best bang for the buck is probably a used HD6850 or GTX460-1GB or HD5850.

If you mean something about as powerful than the HD7850 that has better bang for the buck, a used GTX470 might be okay as long as you are okay with higher power/noise/heat; the extra power cost will eat into any cost savings from getting the used GTX470 but you'll still come out ahead unless you game a LOT. Used GTX 570s aren't much cheaper than new HD7850s but if they fall a little more, they would be a better bang for the buck at the expense of somewhat higher power/noise/heat.

If you mean something more powerful and new, then a GTX 670 is the next step up but it's going for $400+ which makes it somewhat worse in price/perf. But like the HD7850, it comes with 2GB VRAM and is a 28nm GPU, meaning lower power/noise/heat.

 

[Magic Carpet]

or what's the "best bang for the buck" video card to get these days?

Perhaps, 6850/6870?

But, I'd personally settle with 7850, too.

 

[lehtv]

^ I'd say GTX 560 is a good contender as well. Performs the same as 6870, costs the same too.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Yeah, another thing is drivers and games you play. Some games favor Nvidia, last I checked.

 

[mlah384]

actually, the XFX 7850 has dual outs... but I've never had good luck with that brand... would it be worth getting?

 

[Magic Carpet]

actually, the XFX 7850 has dual outs... but I've never had good luck with that brand... would it be worth getting?

I never had an XFX card myself but I don't see a problem getting one for the right price. I assume, you can always replace / mod the fan if it turns out a bit loud.

 

[reallyscrued]

7850.

 

[N4g4rok]

actually, the XFX 7850 has dual outs... but I've never had good luck with that brand... would it be worth getting?

I've owned three XFX cards, and put one other in a friends build. two were 5830s in Crossfire, and the other two were 7900 cards. The drivers they've supplied work well, and i've yet to hear the coil whine some consumers have mentioned. I would say it's worth it.

 

[Don Karnage]

7850. Nvidia's current 5 series cards are severely overpriced

 

[Gordon Freemen]

^ I'd say GTX 560 is a good contender as well. Performs the same as 6870, costs the same too.

GTX 560 non ti is not a good value at all it is more money than a 6870 and has less performance for 6870 sits clean in between the performance of a GTX 560 and GTX 560 ti.

 

[Azuza001]

First time posting here guys.

As someone who just dropped 2 GTX 295's and is looking to go to something new I'm saying the 7850 is the best bet.

To everyone who's saying that "Power doesn't matter, it's all about the FPS" thats a very poor way of looking at it. Trust me, 2 GTX 295's KILLED my power bill. Going from them to a single Radeon 6870 even for a month has not only dropped my power bill by a noticable amount but it also has cooled the room down, it used to get HOT with those cards going at it.

7850, easy.

 

[Seven]

I would go with a used GTX570. Seems like it can be found for around $200 and definitely performs better.

 

[toyota]

I would go with a used GTX570. Seems like it can be found for around $200 and definitely performs better.

a 7850 can be had for about 20 bucks more than what most used gtx570s go for. a 7850 only has to be oced by 15% to beat a gtx570 and most will easily do 25% or more. a 7850 will also be brand new, uses way less power and has more vram.

 

[Falkenad]

Context, everyone. I believe that for an 11 year old, the gains however slight of the 480 are not worth the hassles associated with heat and power consumption that are attached to it. The 7850 is the best option when performance, power consumption, and price are considered. Keep in mind that extreme overclocks are never a guarantee, but the low thermals and power characteristics of the 7850 ensure there is good headroom for overclocking without damage.

 

[zijin_cheng]

Ya, I think it you do not pay for electricity and your country is very cold or do not care about heat, the GTX480 is probably a bit faster than the 7850.

However, you probably will only pay about $50 more MAX on electricity if you go with the 480

I have a 7850, and I can run skyrim highest 1920x1080 50fps dropping to 45, and crysis highest 1920x1080 45fps dropping to 35

 

[Dark Shroud]

The GTX 480 is not faster than an OC'd 7850. Pretty much all 7850s OC upto 1100Mhz on air without much tweaking of the voltage. Add in a 3rd of the energy usage and 2GB of memory and it's simply no contest anymore.

Do some web searches since some of you don't want to believe any of us telling you this.

 

[lehtv]

GTX 560 non ti is not a good value at all it is more money than a 6870 and has less performance for 6870 sits clean in between the performance of a GTX 560 and GTX 560 ti.

Well done not clicking the link and not checking the prices

 

[lehtv]

a 7850 can be had for about 20 bucks more than what most used gtx570s go for. a 7850 only has to be oced by 15% to beat a gtx570 and most will easily do 25% or more. a 7850 will also be brand new, uses way less power and has more vram.

This.