Best Video card for under $200-$250?

[Denithor]

PSU - Antec 750w (because it's on sale... if it wasn't on sale it would be the Corsair 650w) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371051

CPU - i5 2500 sandy 3.3ghz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

HD - WD 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136767

Case - Antec three hundred black http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042

Memory - Gskill ripjaws 8gb ddr3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

Motherboard - Gigabyte http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128502

Thanks!

Suggest you consider this instead of the 2500K + Z68 + DDR3.

i5 3570K + Z77 + 2x4GB DDR3 combo for $370
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.942848

If you aren't going with an SSD (strongly suggested), upgrade that HDD to a WD Black.

PSU + Case are great - I actually have both of those same models for my second system.

Add a 7850 or a GTX 670 to this and you'll be set for gaming for several years.

EDIT: Just realized, this combo deal is better performance and lower cost than the parts you listed above.

 

[Seven]

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.

You are forgetting the fact that the GTX570 can be OCed to. Therefore, you can buy OCed already and even more OC on top of it. The 7850 is not a better card.

 

[toyota]

You are forgetting the fact that the GTX570 can be OCed to. Therefore, you can buy OCed already and even more OC on top of it. The 7850 is not a better card.

I am not forgetting that at all. if you compare a typical oc on a gtx570 to a typical oc on a 7850 then 7850 will still end up the faster card or at least even. not to mention the massive power consumption difference between an oced gtx570 and oced 7850.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Stock 7850 is like 95-99% of a stock 480. In modern games like BF3 7850 is probably faster or at least as fast even at stock.

Wherever VRAM is needed or will be needed 6-12 months down, stock vs stock 7850 will pawn the 480.

Once both are overclocked to the max on custom reference,
480 is slower than a 580 stock
7850 is faster than a 580 stock
7850 is btw 580 stock and 7950 stock
7850 is nearly as fast as 580 OC.

Considering the fact it has more VRAM as well, is newer tech, consumes less power etc, I would say that btw a 7850 oc and 580 oc there is tough competition with paramount points being VRAM for the near future even at 1080p with AA, and power hog and stuff.
At the same price there will be takers for both if both are guaranteed to oc and the 7850 is guaranteed to oc at least 30-35% which means 25-30% additional performance for free.
Btw a 570 and 7850 at the same price, I would anyday choose the 7850, even if it was $20-40 costlier in fact.

A 7850 custom is guaranteed to overclock 25-35% at stock volts, and nearly 35-45% with volt mod on stock custom cooling.
So that means 20-30% performance increase at stock volts and with volt mod 25-35%+ performance boost.

This means that with a guaranteed overclock, it is at least as fast if not faster than a stock 7870 or close to 580 stock.

480s don't guarantee 580 stock performance with the stock cooler, in fact, it is nearly impossible. And this is the worst of a 7850, if you overclock high enough you reach 7950 stock territory approx. No 480 can come close on air.

Besides, high temperatures, higher power usage, older tech, less VRAM, probably worse tess perhaps etc.

If a 7850 is $240 then a 480 should be $170-180 tops.

 

[Jaydip]

stock 7850 is like 95-99% of a stock 480. In modern games like bf3 7850 is probably faster or at least as fast even at stock.

Wherever vram is needed or will be needed 6-12 months down, stock vs stock 7850 will pawn the 480.

Once both are overclocked to the max on custom reference,
480 is slower than a 580 stock correct
7850 is faster than a 580 stock 7850 oc not stock
7850 is btw 580 stock and 7950 stock ???
7850 is nearly as fast as 580 oc.???

considering the fact it has more vram as well, is newer tech, consumes less power etc, i would say that btw a 7850 oc and 580 oc there is tough competition with paramount points being vram for the near future even at 1080p with aa, and power hog and stuff.
At the same price there will be takers for both if both are guaranteed to oc and the 7850 is guaranteed to oc at least 30-35% which means 25-30% additional performance for free.
Btw a 570 and 7850 at the same price, i would anyday choose the 7850, even if it was $20-40 costlier in fact.

A 7850 custom is guaranteed to overclock 25-35% at stock volts, and nearly 35-45% with volt mod on stock custom cooling.
So that means 20-30% performance increase at stock volts and with volt mod 25-35%+ performance boost.

This means that with a guaranteed overclock, it is at least as fast if not faster than a stock 7870 or close to 580 stock.

480s don't guarantee 580 stock performance with the stock cooler, in fact, it is nearly impossible. And this is the worst of a 7850, if you overclock high enough you reach 7950 stock territory approx. No 480 can come close on air.

Besides, high temperatures, higher power usage, older tech, less vram, probably worse tess perhaps etc.

If a 7850 is $240 then a 480 should be $170-180 tops.

fyi

 

[Don Karnage]

You are forgetting the fact that the GTX570 can be OCed to. Therefore, you can buy OCed already and even more OC on top of it. The 7850 is not a better card.

Problem with overclocking 570s is that they tend to blow vrms after a certain point and voltage.

The cheapest 570 you can overclock to the max is the power edition and its 309 dollars.

 

[Silverforce11]

An OCed GTX 480 can come close to a GTX 580 and an OCed 7850 will still be just under it.

Wrong. An OC 7850 is faster than a gtx580 stock, its equivalent of gtx580 +10%.

Given how easy it is to OC these cards and get 35-40% OC without breaking a sweat (for me it was 45% but meh)... no contest.

 

[lehtv]

45% OC... by the gods... D:

 

[Don Karnage]

45% OC... by the gods... D:

45% is just for the guys who don't try hard enough. How's 51%?

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3413841

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/7283c/

 

[lehtv]

O_O

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Wrong. An OC 7850 is faster than a gtx580 stock, its equivalent of gtx580 +10%.

Given how easy it is to OC these cards and get 35-40% OC without breaking a sweat (for me it was 45% but meh)... no contest.

It is cute how you think an OC 7850 is that much better than a 7870 which I will remind you that a 7870 at stock is still just barley matching a GTX 580s performance in most games. What happens when you compare stock to stock and OC to OC I mean lets be fair, honest and unbiased here.

 

[Jhatfie]

It is cute how you think an OC 7850 is that much better than a 7870 which I will remind you that a 7870 at stock is still just barley matching a GTX 580s performance in most games. What happens when you compare stock to stock and OC to OC I mean lets be fair, honest and unbiased here.

Wait, and please correct me if I am worng, your version of fair and honest is comparing a $230 card (7850) to a $380 one (GTX580) or $330 one (7870) stock for stock? Not sure why, but I fail to see how that is a fair comparison considering the 580 and 7870 are both way more expensive. The fact that the 7850 can exceed the performance of both substantially more expensive cards with easy overclocking sure seems like a good deal to me.


Unrelated to above....I know it is not 78xx series card, but do not forget about the awesome OC potential of 7950's compared to stock clocks. How about 59% core OC and 42% memory OC.
1270/1790
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2813675

 

[BD231]

The 7850 is slower the 580. The GTX 580 kicks the 7850's ass in way to many benchmarks to be considered its equal. 580 is faster than a 7850 no question about it, but the 7850 has about 90% of the performance in a lot of titles using less than half the power of a 580. 7850 is the better tech, but it's in no way faster than a 580/480. You guys need to start posting some numbers on your BS claims, looking at any benchmarks of the two show a constant seesaw in favor of the 580 oc'd or not.

If I *HAD* to buy now I'd go with the 7850, if it were my choice I'd wait for the 660.

 

[blastingcap]

Topic for today:

7850 oc headroom = 30% easily (might not even have to bump up voltage), 40% possible with good cooling and a mild overvoltage, 50% possible with very good cooling

gtx 580 oc headroom = ???

Discuss.

 

[Jaydip]

I would say its around 15-20% max save for some exceptions.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Wait, and please correct me if I am worng, your version of fair and honest is comparing a $230 card (7850) to a $380 one (GTX580) or $330 one (7870) stock for stock? Not sure why, but I fail to see how that is a fair comparison considering the 580 and 7870 are both way more expensive. The fact that the 7850 can exceed the performance of both substantially more expensive cards with easy overclocking sure seems like a good deal to me.


Unrelated to above....I know it is not 78xx series card, but do not forget about the awesome OC potential of 7950's compared to stock clocks. How about 59% core OC and 42% memory OC.
1270/1790
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2813675

Edit not you but member "Silverforce11" is comparing the GTX 580 to the 7850 NOT me. If 7850 was so baller like you guy's claim it would have had 2 6pins like it's more powerful bigger brother.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

The 7850 is slower the 580. The GTX 580 kicks the 7850's ass in way to many benchmarks to be considered its equal. 580 is faster than a 7850 no question about it, but the 7850 has about 90% of the performance in a lot of titles using less than half the power of a 580. 7850 is the better tech, but it's in no way faster than a 580/480. You guys need to start posting some numbers on your BS claims, looking at any benchmarks of the two show a constant seesaw in favor of the 580 oc'd or not.

If I *HAD* to buy now I'd go with the 7850, if it were my choice I'd wait for the 660.

Agreed and thanks for calling it like it is and I would love to see these legit numbers that states that an 7850 is faster than a GTX 580 LOL I looked and found nothing and I will interject anyone else whom claims a 7850 is faster than a GTX 580 will come up no dice.

 

[kwaneowong]

Somehow this thread just turn into a discussion of performace.
Keep in mind you are choosing a video card for an 11yr old.
I would suggest to get something that could last at least about 2-3 years.
So yea if I have the money $350+, I would go for 7870, GTX580 or even GTX670.
But around $250, there's the HD7850, GTX570, GTX560Ti & 448cores, HD6950, and ofcourse GTX480.
I must admit I am a fan of NV, however, when you a working around a budget, ATI seems to have an edge over NV.

So which cards should you pick?
I would suggest HD7850 actually in spite of the fact that I favoured GTX. Here's why.
Among them, HD7850 is the newest card. It has a better power/temp/performance ratio. It can definitely handle most of the recent games with high to max settings @ ~30fps+. So what else to ask for if you are 11 yrs old.
In addition, if you find 7850 is not up to the performance 1-2 years from now, get another one and do CF. The fact that it runs with less power and less heat, it's easier to do CF than a pair of GTX480 SLI. In fact, you might find them run with less power than a single GTX480.

If you still want to get GTX instead of ATI. I would say go for GTX570.
It performs a bit better than HD7850. And the fact that it runs with less power and less heat than GTX480 give you an opportunity to SLI as well.

 

[tweakboy]

What's the best video card under $200-$250 for gaming?

Will be used for modern games such as Diablo 3, BF3, etc...

How about 140 dollars,, grab a GTX 460 1GB. gl

 

[Zebo]

Best deal out of the box is the $219 GTX 480 but it's massive power consumption, noise and lack of OC head room makes it quickly fall behind to any 7850 Radeon.

I simply can not abide a video card using 250-300W in this day and age when top cards are using 180W and mid cards like 7850 are using 100W.

Once you figure in power consumption in at a national average of 15 cents per kW/h you'll be losing money with a GTX 480 rather quickly. Every 5 hours is another 15 cents extra you are spending over 7850.

 

[Zebo]

Topic for today:

7850 oc headroom = 30% easily (might not even have to bump up voltage), 40% possible with good cooling and a mild overvoltage, 50% possible with very good cooling

gtx 580 oc headroom = ???

Discuss.

Even when you can OC a GTX 580 like I did to 950/2200 @ 1.1V nvidia drivers throttle your card so it's not a real OC anyway.

In actuality people like bitching about dynamic OC of 6xx cards? Well 5xx was much worse since they'd cut over 400Mhz off your card when it started using too much power instead of 80-100Mhz.

 

[blastingcap]

Best deal out of the box is the $219 GTX 480 but it's massive power consumption, noise and lack of OC head room makes it quickly fall behind to any 7850 Radeon.

I simply can not abide a video card using 250-300W in this day and age when top cards are using 180W and mid cards like 7850 are using 100W.

Once you figure in power consumption in at a national average of 15 cents per kW/h you'll be losing money with a GTX 480 rather quickly. Every 5 hours is another 15 cents extra you are spending over 7850.

No. Peak means peak and doesn't tell you how much power a card uses over time. You need to look at "Average" which they define as playing Crysis 2.

TPU: "Average: Crysis 2 at 1920x1200, Extreme profile, representing a typical gaming power draw. Average of all readings (12 per second) while the benchmark was rendering (no title/loading screen)."

The biggest problem with GTX 480 isn't its sky-high average, but its sky-high idle, because that's where most of us spend our time (except for people who game all day every day). But yeah its sky-high average is atrocious as well and may even require a PSU upgrade, especially if oc'ing or ov'ing.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_670/26.html

GTX 480 idle/load is 55/257W.
GTX 580 idle/load is 32/214W.
HD7850 idle/load is 10/87W. <----- despite running 2GB VRAM

With oc'ing and especially ov'ing those numbers will go up. Way up if you are ov'ing by a significant amount of volts.

 

[Zebo]

Good point BC. 45 extra watts 24/7 i like leaving a light on 24/7.

 

[kalrith]

Good point BC. 45 extra watts 24/7 i like leaving a light on 24/7.

45W is how much my entire HTPC uses at idle . I figured it out once before, and even at my low rate of 12 cents per kWh, it comes out to about $30 per year.

So, if the 480 is $30 cheaper than 7850 up front, then it will wind up being $60 more expensive after 3 years. And this is assuming that you never run it at load . Also, more expensive electric rates will make this number increase.

I made the mistake two times of buying the last gen power hungry card over the new gen power sipping card (X800XT and 2900 Pro). Both times I regretted it. I probably saved $30-40 each time compared to a similarly performing new gen power-sipping card. The resulting furnace of a room, loud fan noise, and high electric expenses were not worth even close to $40.

Edit: I will admit to having been tempted by the 480 when it originally dropped to $210, but I proved that I can learn from history and refrained from buying one.

 

[TonyScott]

Nvidia GeForce GTX 480. I believe you can buy one for approximately $250. Nvidia has other high end graphics card but they are way so expensive. However, if you really want real power, going for those that are priced at $600+ will be worth it. Some even reach the $1,000 threshold.