Looking to spend ~$200 New/Used.

[Zanovar]

You dared to look at a different metric besides raw 3D perf/$ in making your recommendation, that's why you're receiving all of this hostility. You are such a terrible, terrible person for trying to take into account the usage case that the OP was looking for.

And one of those was gaming*scratches head*.

 

[Zodiark1593]

The op said he wanted a gaming /htpc card for 1080p. Since when is a card that gives off over 230watts of heat and is known to be loud with no real htpc features a good card for the op?

And don't forget gameworks titles...... it is starting to give NVIDIA more of an advantage as they line up game devs.

I do not dispute the value of the old 280x 's gaming performance, it is quite good, but I weigh in all the advantages not just gaming performance alone.
There is a reason I didn't buy my gtx960 when the price was 200$+, at that price it was not worth it.

Look at post #19, I recommended the op to buy a GTX 960 if he could find one at170$ like I did.

I don't understand all the hostility....I think my recommendation was just.

The op is considering other cards from the Radeon family as well, and mentioned he found they were better than the 960. This indicates op places a higher preference for performance/dollar over other factors. My suggestions were based on this. As for the hate storm, it seems to follow the 960, though as I explained, aside from price it really doesn't deserve this hate storm.

 

[happy medium]

As for the hate storm, it seems to follow the 960, though as I explained, aside from price it really doesn't deserve this hate storm.

I agree, I've had many cards in the past 20 years and its far from the worst card I've owned.
You just have to snag one at a decent price.

 

[Silverforce11]

I agree, I've had many cards in the past 20 years and its far from the worst card I've owned.
You just have to snag one at a decent price.

960 4GB at $170 is a good price, I wouldn't mind that for a 1080p gaming card. Just that at $200 onwards, it's really crap compared to 380X 4GB (which you should know, are all custom cards that run cool & quiet).

Power usage isn't that major, given its less than the GTX 770 which nobody would consider as being "power hungry".

For your reference whenever you seem to describe AMD GPUs as being noisy:

It also runs at 69C under load, for the temperature reference.

The 960 when it launched at that price was already a bad buy, the 380X just makes it obsolete. People who choose to buy the 960 4GB over a 380X don't do so on non-bias metrics. However, it's fine to have a brand preference and be bias, its your money after-all.

 

[happy medium]

Silverforce, as far as noise...i was talking about someone's 290 recommendation.

 

[Noo]

Since it doesn't look like anyone has asked...

What features of the card do you want to make it an HTPC card? Just any card that will fit in a computer hooked up to your TV, or something more?

I play games like tomb raider & bioshock on the couch using an Xbox controller. I watch movies, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon prime on it when I'm not gaming. The Radeon 7850 I have is showing its age as I have to turn effects off more and more with each new games.

 

[Zodiark1593]

I play games like tomb raider & bioshock on the couch using an Xbox controller. I watch movies, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon prime on it when I'm not gaming. The Radeon 7850 I have is showing its age as I have to turn effects off more and more with each new games.

None of the aforementioned cards I feel will warrant their price as an upgrade. I'd suggest at least a 290 or something of similar/better caliber.

 

[tential]

I play games like tomb raider & bioshock on the couch using an Xbox controller. I watch movies, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon prime on it when I'm not gaming. The Radeon 7850 I have is showing its age as I have to turn effects off more and more with each new games.

The real reasons to get a GTX 9 series are
HDMI 2.0 support
Lower power usage (save the environment. You can put a GTX 980Ti in an HTPC... it's an HTPC, not a low power computing unit. My next HTPC will have hopefully a Dual GPU chip in it for 4K gaming).
Some Decode for HEVC( ON the 960?)

For the HDMI 2.0 support, the adapter is now out for AMD, but if you don't own a 4K TV, then don't buy one.... get a 4K monitor instead. The 4K Korean Import monitors are where it's at. Just look over in the Display section for someone who just bought the Wasabi Mango. Great options, and you get Freesync in your TV for if you have an AMD GPU. If you don't, no harm, you can't get Gsync in a large screen monitor/TV anyway.

You have not mentioned a single thing so far though that would make me recommend a GTX 960/970. Other Radeon cards offered are far better options.

You really should go with as much power as you can afford. Just because you're at 1080p, doesn't mean you can't get better fidelity.

If you haven't played a game like Battlefield where it has a resolution scale, set it to 100%, then set it to 150% and if you like the difference, that's similar to what you can get with an R9 290 over a GTX 960 most of the time in games.

But I mean really, you have a TON of graphs in this thread. Just look at those. See if you'd rather be at a GTX 960 level, or a R9 290 level of performance.

Just realize that just because you're at 1080p doesn't mean you're at a limit of performance. Even a GTX 980Ti would still be beneficial due to extra features/DSR at 4K/etc. Every bit of performance on your card will be utilized no matter how fast of a card you get, so might as well get the best bang for your buck no matter what card that is.

 

[Gikaseixas]

as far as noise...i was talking about someone's 290 recommendation.

Besides that, the HTPC is connected to my receiver with 5.1 speakers setup, pc noise is rarely an issue. Whenever I watch movies or play a game, the surround sound system drown everything out.

I have my 7970 non reference on my HTPC system, on top of that it is overclocked and can barely ear anything with my Surround speakers off. Noise won't be a problem with a non reference card period.

 

[tential]

AMD has the 6 top Price/Perf cards right now, and still is having a hard sell. Pretty much sums up why the company is doomed.

 

[Arachnotronic]

AMD has the 6 top Price/Perf cards right now, and still is having a hard sell. Pretty much sums up why the company is doomed.

Trying to compete on price is the tried and true strategy of losers, as you can see here. You win by improving the (perceived) value of your product in the eyes of consumers, not by slashing prices to undercut the winner.

 

[Silverforce11]

Trying to compete on price is the tried and true strategy of losers, as you can see here. You win by improving the (perceived) value of your product in the eyes of consumers, not by slashing prices to undercut the winner.

See, I'm not a share holder. So I am the winner when companies compete on price and not worthless perceived value.

It's why I don't buy Mac Books and am a PC guy.

 

[Arachnotronic]

See, I'm not a share holder. So I am the winner when companies compete on price and not worthless perceived value.

It's why I don't buy Mac Books and am a PC guy.

No, but if you are actually interested in seeing "competition" you should want AMD to actually be able to make a buck on the stuff that it sells because they can't keep running this money-losing charity indefinitely.

What people seem to really mean when they say they want "competition" is that they want companies to compete so fiercely on price that neither company actually makes a dime. And these people call corporations "selfish" and "greedy"

Right now, AMD's GPU margins are in the toilet compared to NV's because they can't convince people that their cards are as valuable as lot of the pro-AMD people feel.

Me? I'm happy to pay extra for dGPUs if it means that I'll be able to keep buying dGPUs in the future. I'm not made of money, but I recognize that R&D costs only go up from here and the market for dGPUs overall isn't exactly growing. This means in order for this to be a viable business for both NV and AMD, they need to find ways to increase their revenue per GPU.

That's why the "top tier" for dGPUs is now $650, not $500.

Full disclosure: I own no shares in either AMD or NV.

 

[Gikaseixas]

AMD's problem is lack of or proper advertisement. They need to invest more on that area.
They lowered prices because they're not selling as much as they would like, not because they want too. Believe me, if they could sell Fury X for $800 they would but market behavior dictates that.
By selling at those price points, AMD can move some inventory and from a business standpoint its a clever move. polaris won't be cheap, specially if Nvidia cannot respond right away.

 

[Gikaseixas]

AMD has the 6 top Price/Perf cards right now, and still is having a hard sell. Pretty much sums up why the company is doomed.

See my post above
Most humans fall for great advertisement, only a few see things as they really are.

 

[AtenRa]

Yea, AMD doesnt need to spend more on R&D, they dont need more engineers, they only need to hire 3-4 PHD Psychologists to help them pass the message to the customers worldwide that buying a 3.5GB slower card when you can buy an 8GB faster card at the same or lower price is NOT the correct thing no matter what the public was made to believe so far.:sneaky:

 

[Silverforce11]

What people seem to really mean when they say they want "competition" is that they want companies to compete so fiercely on price that neither company actually makes a dime. And these people call corporations "selfish" and "greedy"

That's right. Consumers aren't a charity, neither are corporations.

If you're happy to pay more for less, that's your choice, I'm sure the corporations love that.

Just like when all the great custom R290 4GB were priced $180-$220 vs 970 3.5GB at $330 a year ago, NV still sold heaps of 970... they love consumers like that.

I don't run AMD, I'm not employed by them. If they sell a good product at a good price, I buy it. Whether they are profitable or not is none of my concern. If they fall, another will take their place, like it always happened in the history of the free market and capitalism.

You're happy to pay more for GPUs, I'm not. I don't see it as my job to subsidize corporations.

ps. I don't think it's my responsibility as a consumer to make this guy any more wealthier by willingly paying more:

 

[myocardia]

Some Decode for HEVC( ON the 960?)

The only two video cards available today with full hardware decode, as well as full hardware encode of H.265/HEVC @4k, are the GTX 960, and its little brother, the GTX 950. Since the OP hardly seems to ever upgrade, he'd be crazy not to buy one of those two cards, since the chances of him having a 4k TV in the next year or two are much higher than the chance of him just wanting to upgrade his card, if we go by his past upgrades, or lack thereof.

See if you'd rather be at a GTX 960 level, or a R9 290 level of performance.

This I agree with quite a bit. If this upgrade is much more for gaming abilities than for HTPC abilities, then a new 380X/used 290 make more sense, as long as you don't mind having to buy a GTX 960 or newer card, the second you decide to buy one of the increasingly cheap 4k televisions.

edit: Since the OP only has a 3.0 Ghz Ivy Bridge, upgrading his GPU very far isn't going to be much of a performance upgrade, since he's gonna be CPU-bound quite quickly, once he goes above the performance of a GTX 960/HD 280.

 

[tential]

See my post above
Most humans fall for great advertisement, only a few see things as they really are.

It's more annoying to me to see a bunch of desktop gamers give htpc gaming advice though lol. Most of the arguments against the amd card for htpc gaming just prove people have no idea about htpc gaming.

Also it's mind boggling to me how few gamers use dsr/vsr and instead just game at their resolution. I'd never game at 1080p on my 1080p screens ever again. Ever. 2 gtx 980ti sli is justified on 1080p if you use dsr (and hopefully plan to upgrade your monitor/tv).

With being able to easily render at the resolution you want, no one is resolution locked and picking the fastest gpu you can for your money becomes even more important than ever before.

 

[Noo]

I've been checking the price on the r9 290 on eBay and they are around 230-250. I may as well bite the bullet and get the gtx 970 for 300. As someone mentioned how I don't upgrade that often, I guess that makes sense. And the hdmi 2.0 is very important now that I took about it. I'm more likely to get a 4k tv in the future than upgrading my htpc again.

 

[Noo]

Luckily my receiver is also 4k ready (denon avr-x2100w)

 

[tential]

Luckily my receiver is also 4k ready (denon avr-x2100w)

I honestly think using a monitor with Freesync (If Gsync was an option for a large screen monitor I'd recommend it too), rather than an HDTV.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/Wasabi-Mango-UHD420-42-4K-FreeSync-and-HDMI-20-800
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfcejpl0it4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV4Na9afDMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPXdOpaNUtg

Something like this.

This is how it worked out for a forum member here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37988828&postcount=15

But if you're dead set on an HDTV, that's fine. But just had to put that knowledge out there for you, since it changed my mind when I found it out.

That's a cheap price for 4K, with the added option of Freesync for when you upgrade your GPU to be able to have smooth gaming.

 

[Zanovar]

ive just splurged on a x4200w,the online manual is making my brain ache..This is way off topic i apologize beforehand.what are your thoughts on dynamic eq?do you use it?.

 

[Phynaz]

You dared to look at a different metric besides raw 3D perf/$ in making your recommendation, that's why you're receiving all of this hostility. You are such a terrible, terrible person for trying to take into account the usage case that the OP was looking for.

^This.

 

[Zanovar]

It's for my HTPC which I also use as a gaming pc 1080p.

Currently it have:

Intel Core i5 3330 w/cooler master EVO 212 HSF
Thermaltake 750watts, SLI/Crossfire ready modular PSU
16gb ddr3
XFX Radeon 7850 1gb.

I'm looking to spend around $200 new/used and I've been looking @ Nvidia GTX 770, Radeon 280x, Radeon 7970. Not sure which is a better option? GTX 960 is inferior to those right?

This.*laughs*