Best Video card for under $200-$250?

[mlah384]

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

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

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Well theirs the GTX 480 on for $219 on Newegg and that will net you the higest amount of performance for the dollar no question and without a dought the most performance for you dollars spent.

 

[Zardnok]

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.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Radeon HD 7850, easily.

One of the best cards for overclocking in recent memory. On stock voltage you're pretty much guaranteed to be able to get to 1.0-1.05GHz, which is just over 20%. You'll get around a 15% FPS boost, and the card is a power sipper.

OC HD 7850 is similar to better than OC GTX 480, especially since with the 480 you're limited because of the horrible power consumption.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Radeon HD 7850, easily.

One of the best cards for overclocking in recent memory. On stock voltage you're pretty much guaranteed to be able to get to 1.0-1.05GHz, which is just over 20%. You'll get around a 15% FPS boost, and the card is a power sipper.

OC HD 7850 is similar to better than OC GTX 480, especially since with the 480 you're limited because of the horrible power consumption.

Stock for Stock the GTX 480 is quite a bit more powerful than a 7850 and OC for OC the GTX 480 will still be faster because the 7850 has a tangible gap to close on the GTX 480 before it even matches it's stock performance. That being said if OP has the power supple juice to run the thirsty GTX 480 then it is the clear winner here and at more or less $30cheaper than a 7850 it is a no contest really.

 

[toyota]

once again not a single person is asking what the rest of his specs are.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

once again not a single person is asking what the rest of his specs are.

OP should have posted them right off the hop a rookie mistake but no worries because it still stands that @ $220 the EVGA GTX 480 is the fastest card for the money and it's right with OPs budget. If OP has a PSU on the weaker side of things than without a doubt in that case the 7850 is the card to get but if PSU is in check to run a GTX 480 than that's is the best performance you can get for the money.

 

[toyota]

OP should have posted them right off the hop a rookie mistake but no worries because it still stands that @ $220 the EVGA GTX 480 is the fastest card for the money and it's right with OPs budget. If OP has a PSU on the weaker side of things than without a doubt in that case the 7850 is the card to get but if PSU is in check to run a GTX 480 than that's is the best performance you can get for the money.

no way would I get a power hungry gtx480 at this point. the 7850 will easily match it with a decent oc while still using 100 watts less and running cool and quiet.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

no way would I get a power hungry gtx480 at this point. the 7850 will easily match it with a decent oc while still using 100 watts less and running cool and quiet.

You cant claim a GPU is as fast when it just isn't and claiming it can OC to match is a low ball thing to do because the fair thing is compare stock vs stock and OC vs OC that being said the GTX 480 and can just about match the GTX 580 but the 7850 will just fall short. In the end GTX 480 is just plain faster but the 7850 is a more well rounded card.

 

[mlah384]

In hind-sight I should of just posted a "This is my cheap gaming build" thread... This is what I'm considering buying. I figured the best vid card for the money is usually in the $150-$250 range... to me, I've never seen a game require a card more expensive than this... of course, the vid card eventually outdates, but it should still last awhile.

This will be for my 11yr old son...

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!

 

[toyota]

You cant claim a GPU is as fast when it just isn't and claiming it can OC to match is a low ball thing to do because the fair thing is compare stock vs stock and OC vs OC that being said the GTX 480 and can just about match the GTX 580 but the 7850 will just fall short. In the end GTX 480 is just plain faster but the 7850 is a more well rounded card.

what is fair is to compare EVERYTHING when looking at cards. its a fact that the gtx480 uses a lot of power and runs pretty hot. its also a fact that the 7850 will be able to oc enough to catch the gtx480. a gtx480 is only about 12% faster and than a 7850 and it will certainly oc much more than that.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

In hind-sight I should of just posted a "This is my cheap gaming build" thread... This is what I'm considering buying. I figured the best vid card for the money is usually in the $150-$250 range... to me, I've never seen a game require a card more expensive than this... of course, the vid card eventually outdates, but it should still last awhile.

This will be for my 11yr old son...

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!

Your selected PSU and CPU are plenty enough to accommodate the mighty GTX 480 so really it would come down to what is more important to you and or you son all out max performance in which the GTX 480 takes the cake for the $250 and under bracket or 7850 which is more power efficient which is sorta a moot point, cooler running a valid point, and more quite but it also costs more money which is why I am suggesting the GTX 480. More performance for less money is the GTX 480 and that's the bottom line.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Stock for Stock the GTX 480 is quite a bit more powerful than a 7850 and OC for OC the GTX 480 will still be faster because the 7850 has a tangible gap to close on the GTX 480 before it even matches it's stock performance. That being said if OP has the power supple juice to run the thirsty GTX 480 then it is the clear winner here and at more or less $30cheaper than a 7850 it is a no contest really.

Wrong.

You can easily get a 20% OC on the HD 7850. Good luck getting more than 10% on the 480 before heat becomes a huge issue.

So it does, in fact, overcome its initially lower performance and becomes comparable. As toyota said, stock the difference is 12% and is easily made up with stock voltage overclocking. It's a more recent card, and only consumes a fraction of the power. People always love to talk about price out of the gate, but the truth of the matter is that if you're smart you'll look at price over time which is much, much more important. Even with the low energy costs in the US, it will cost a decent amount more to run a GTX 480 not to mention you'll need better cooling/air conditioning and ventilation for the card, meaning more fans and again higher electricity costs. Buying a GTX 480 because you'll save a measly $30 for a card that is clearly inferior overall is something only a foolish person would do, especially if the person still has those extra $30 to spare.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

what is fair is to compare EVERYTHING when looking at cards. its a fact that the gtx480 uses a lot of power and runs pretty hot. its also a fact that the 7850 will be able to oc enough to catch the gtx480. a gtx480 is only about 12% faster and than a 7850 and it will certainly oc much more than that.

OP has an ample and Beast PSU so power requirements are a none issue and the fact is the 7850 IS slower than the GTX 480 what ever way you spin it.

 

[toyota]

Gordon Freemen, please stop defending the ridiculous gtx480.

peak power consumption in Crysis 2. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7850_HD_7870/24.html

7850
96 watts

gtx480
272 watts


how anybody could possible justify that and call the gtx480 the better choice is beyond me. you could oc that 7850 by 15% and have a faster card while still using just over 100 watts.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Wrong.

You can easily get a 20% OC on the HD 7850. Good luck getting more than 10% on the 480 before heat becomes a huge issue.

So it does, in fact, overcome its initially lower performance and becomes comparable. As toyota said, stock the difference is 12% and is easily made up with stock voltage overclocking. It's a more recent card, and only consumes a fraction of the power. People always love to talk about price out of the gate, but the truth of the matter is that if you're smart you'll look at price over time which is much, much more important. Even with the low energy costs in the US, it will cost a decent amount more to run a GTX 480 not to mention you'll need better cooling/air conditioning and ventilation for the card, meaning more fans and again higher electricity costs. Buying a GTX 480 because you'll save a measly $30 for a card that is clearly inferior overall is something only a foolish person would do, especially if the person still has those extra $30 to spare.

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

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

OP has an ample and Beast PSU so power requirements are a none issue and the fact is the 7850 IS slower than the GTX 480 what ever way you spin it.

If you're an NVIDIA fan, sure it is.

But if you're a normal, unbiased enthusiast then it's clearly not. The GTX 480 is a pretty poor card to buy for the reasons I outlined above, even at $200.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

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

No, it won't. If you want any decent overclock out of the GTX 480 you'll need a very beefy third-party cooler for it and a case with great ventilation. 10% is about the very most you'll get out of it with stock cooling, while you can easily get a 20% OC out of the HD 7850. If you also over-volt the HD 7850 slightly with the reference cooler, which you can, the card will be able to get a 25-30% OC. You'll also have to cope with higher electricity costs and higher cooling costs for the GTX 480.

So again, you're simply wrong.

 

[toyota]

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

yes and at that point you will be using 300 freaking watts or more just to try and match an oced 7850 barely using over a 100.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

yes and at that point you will be using 300 freaking watts or more just to try and match an oced 7850 barely using over a 100.

For high end gaming performance always comes in at a strong first priority and really if you want great power consumption numbers buy a laptop however if you want to have some serious PC gaming framrate pumping performance on the cheap "relatively" speaking then a GTX 480 is a great option at $220 or less.

 

[toyota]

For high end gaming performance always comes in at a strong first priority and really if you want great power consumption numbers buy a laptop however if you want to have some serious PC gaming framrate pumping performance on the cheap "relatively" speaking then a GTX 480 is a great option at $220 or less.

you cant be serious. an oced 7850 and oced gtx480 will perform about the same while the oced gtx480 will use THREE times the power. hell an oced gtx480 will use almost as much power as my whole pc. you would have to be a stubborn jack ass to say that the gtx480 is still the better overall choice when all factors are considered.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

For high end gaming performance always comes in at a strong first priority and really if you want great power consumption numbers buy a laptop however if you want to have some serious PC gaming framrate pumping performance on the cheap "relatively" speaking then a GTX 480 is a great option at $220 or less.

What your argument boils down to:

"WOOOO!!! Look guyz, I bought a GTX 480 and saved $30 from not getting an HD 7850 and am getting getting the same performance OC vs OC with only 3x higher power consumption!!! Who cares about electricity bills or cooling costs, anyway? That's for sissies, and I saved a whole $30 (!!!) to get the same performance and pay hundreds more total in electricity bills over the life of the card."

You do realize the HD 7850 is actually cheaper, right? The GTX 480 costs 3x more to run, so in reality it costs hundreds of dollars more over its life not to mention it's a heat furnace. But hey, keep proving you're a REAL MAN by buying an overall inferior card to save $30 upfront and pay hundreds more later in bills.

And it's already been established that HD 7850 OC=GTX 480 OC, so it's not really necessary to keep saying that the HD 7850 is somehow inferior. If you overclock, performance isn't in the GTX 480's favor anymore. The GTX 480 is a pretty horrible choice of card at $220.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

you cant be serious. an oced 7850 and oced gtx480 will perform about the same while the oced gtx480 will use THREE times the power. hell an oced gtx480 will use almost as much power as my whole pc. you would have to be a stubborn jack ass to say that the gtx480 is still the better overall choice when all factors are considered.

Who gives a toot man a "HIGH" End gaming PC is about high framerates end of story. GTX 480 gives a high end performance for less money than a 7850.

 

[toyota]

Who gives a toot man a "HIGH" End gaming PC is about high framerates end of story. GTX 480 gives a high end performance for less money than a 7850.

they perform about the SAME and the 7850 has way more overclocking headroom and will use nearly 200 watts less.

there is seriously something wrong with you. many of the posts you have made on this forum lack any logic or forethought. you basically make a suggestion and stick to it no matter what.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Who gives a toot man a "HIGH" End gaming PC is about high framerates end of story. GTX 480 gives a high end performance for less money than a 7850.

Yeah, to hell with buying what's reasonable!

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