Need a new GPU at a reasonable price?

[ascendant]

Ok, so I had this:

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

and it is now dead. I'm on a REALLY tight budget right now, but also figure that if I have to buy a new one, I would prefer to get something that is at least a moderate upgrade.

Since I don't have much to spend, I'd like to know what I could go for that would be an upgrade from this, but without leaving me unable to pay my bills. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I tried shopping Newegg, but with all the specs that go along with GPUs, I really wasn't sure what would be worthwhile.

 

[IllogicalGlory]

Whether this will still be active when you click I can't know, but there was/is a 750 Ti FTW available for $80 from EVGA: http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=02G-P4-3757-RX

Which is a great value and a good replacement for your 460.

Otherwise, I'd recommend an R7 360 or 750 Ti. You can get either for around $90 new.

Apart from that, you could getting something used. I'd recommend a 650 Ti, a 7770/7790 or above.

 

[ascendant]

Whether this will still be active when you click I can't know, but there was/is a 750 Ti FTW available for $80 from EVGA: http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=02G-P4-3757-RX

Which is a great value and a good replacement for your 460.

Otherwise, I'd recommend an R7 360 or 750 Ti. You can get either for around $90 new.

Apart from that, you could getting something used. I'd recommend a 650 Ti, a 7770/7790 or above.

Thanks for the information. One question I would have is that my old card was 256 bit, whereas the one you linked to is only 128 bit. Does that just not make much of a difference because of the other specs? When I was looking on Newegg, it seems that there are FAR more with 128 than there are with 256, so I'm thinking that is maybe just not that important compared to other specs?

To add, considering the price for that same GPU is $152 on Newegg, that is definitely a great deal. Only thing is I won't have the money for it until later this week. Hoping they will still have it up there for that price by then.

 

[ascendant]

When I looked at Newegg prices initially, most of the cards I found that seemed decent were around $200. However, seeing that buying directly from EVGA offers a more affordable option, I think I may be able to fit this one into my budget:

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=02G-P4-1954-KR

How much better would this one be compared to the 750 Ti? I know it's a decent jump in price, but at the same time, I want to time-proof my comp a bit and if it's a pretty big jump in perfomance upgrade, would rather go for the 950.

What confuses me is on EVGA's site, they have both a 950 and a 750 both at $139, when Newegg has a price difference of about $30 between them. Odd.

 

[RussianSensation]

Newegg has 950 for $120:


EVGA GeForce GTX 950 DirectX 12 02G-P4-1950-KR 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?s..._-cables-_-na-_-na&itemnumber=N82E16814487225

If you don't mind the hassle of selling the game, you can get an R9 380 for very close to a 950.
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814127880

750Ti offers very crappy performance and awful price/performance compared to the 950/380. Unless you can find it for $70-80, stay away:
http://www.techpowerup.com/mobile/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_XtremeGaming/23.html

Also, if you want HDMI 2.0 and a better card for 4K HTPC, I would pick 950. If you want more gaming performance, pick the 380.

If budget is of utmost importance:

$105+$4 shipping:
PowerColor Radeon R9 270 DirectX 11.2 AXR9 270 2GBD5-DHV2/OC 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814131688

R9 270 and 370 are roughly equal. Having said that, I'd probably spend the extra $11 on a 950 at that point.

 

[fralexandr]

560 ti vs 750 ti
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1337?vs=1130

950 vs 750 ti
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1670?vs=1662

 

[IllogicalGlory]

That price for a 950 is pretty poor, here's one for $20 less.

Compared to a 750 Ti, its about 40% faster, so not a bad value at all (50% extra cost for 40% extra performance, though the card is new).

I don't think EVGA normally has great prices; I only buy (or rather recommend buying) from their B-stock, refurbished cards with warranties, which sometimes are available for really good prices.

As for the 128-bit bus, don't worry about it. There are a lot of factors that determine performance, memory bus width is only one of them. The 750 Ti's performance is in line with a GTX 480.

 

[PontiacGTX]

if you really need the vram and similar performanc eof the GTX 950 you could get an used 7950, but if 2GB is fine, then a 950

 

[Silverforce11]

if you really need the vram and similar performanc eof the GTX 950 you could get an used 7950, but if 2GB is fine, then a 950

Want to see something amazing?

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-evga-gtx-960-ssc-amd-xfx-r9-380-oc/

OC gtx960 (1.45ghz) vs sub 1ghz 380. 380 basically puts up an even fight and even manage to win overall.

Now the crazy thing is the 380 performs on the level of the 285 and 7950B. 7950 are also crazy good overclockers.

If you can get a used 7950 3GB, go for it, nothing down there from NV matches it on performance or bang for buck. It still beats the 960 OC ($200+) if you give your 7950 a mild OC.

 

[RussianSensation]

Want to see something amazing?

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-evga-gtx-960-ssc-amd-xfx-r9-380-oc/

OC gtx960 (1.45ghz) vs sub 1ghz 380. 380 basically puts up an even fight and even manage to win overall.

Now the crazy thing is the 380 performs on the level of the 285 and 7950B. 7950 are also crazy good overclockers.

If you can get a used 7950 3GB, go for it, nothing down there from NV matches it on performance or bang for buck. It still beats the 960 OC ($200+) if you give your 7950 a mild OC.

Of course. 380 smashes a 960 easily. This guy took a Gigabyte xTreme 960 4GB that boosts out of the box to 1362mhz, and it lost by a lot too to a stock R9 380.

However, if the OP cannot stretch his budget to an R9 380, 950 is the next best bet. 960 is just a horrible card as it falls nowhere between a 950 2GB and R9 380 4GB/R9 380X. Nearly every objective reviewer has shown how a 960 is overpriced and/or underperforming but it's ironically the 3rd or even 2nd best selling card this generation.

I would personally buy an R9 380 and sell the gaming coupon. This would make it very close to a 950 2GB. If the OP doesn't want to go for a used 7950/7970 card, and budget is a key priority, then I'd still lean towards the 950 even though for sure R9 380 hammers that card even more than the 960. The issue with $150 range 380s is they also have 2GB of VRAM. Just a crappy market now to buy anything below an R9 380X 3GB.

I want to time-proof my comp a bit and if it's a pretty big jump in perfomance upgrade, would rather go for the 950.

What confuses me is on EVGA's site, they have both a 950 and a 750 both at $139, when Newegg has a price difference of about $30 between them. Odd.

Can you please list the rest of your system specs, like PSU model and wattage, CPU, and RAM?

 

[Silverforce11]

^ RS, that's the point, why waste money on a 750Ti or 950, when a used 7950 (similar to 380 performance) is delivering 960+ performance for the cheap. It's also got 3GB vram, better than the 950 option by far.

If you're on a tight budget, definitely consider used cards because it's unbeatable bang for buck.

 

[RussianSensation]

^ RS, that's the point, why waste money on a 750Ti or 950, when a used 7950 (similar to 380 performance) is delivering 960+ performance for the cheap. It's also got 3GB vram, better than the 950 option by far.

If you're on a budget, definitely consider used cards because it's unbeatable bang for buck.

It might be very hard to find a well-cared for after-market 7950 for a reasonable price. Ethereum miners probably ensured these cards are selling for $100+.

 

[Headfoot]

Used AMD cards are indeed hard to find cheap now. I got a 7950B used in december for $100 though, which was awesome.

 

[Leyawiin]

380 smashes a 960 easily

Not really. Its slightly faster.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_XtremeGaming/23.html

The R9 380X is the card to get between the GTX 950 and GTX 970/R9 390. I think it would be out of the OP's budget though (did he ever state a max amount?).

 

[ascendant]

Thanks for all the feedback. As far as my budget, I can do the GTX 950, but the R9 380X. With how much of an upgrade it's going to be from my old card, I think I'll be good for quite a while with it.

 

[poofyhairguy]

If I had to buy a card today for less than $200 I would probably get this:

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-14-131-673&tpk=9b-14-131-673

4GB ram and no rebates.