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Recommended Interim GPU before Pascal

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Leopoldshark

Junior Member
I want to get a fairly cheap GPU (around $200 or so) that will last me a few months before the next generation Nvidia GPU is released. Any recommendations? I don't want to shell out $600 on a 980 Ti yet if there are going to be better ones on the horizon. Need something that can run The Witcher 3 decently well.

My potential build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/h2MLhM
 
Leopoldshark said:
I want to get a fairly cheap GPU (around $200 or so) that will last me a few months before the next generation Nvidia GPU is released. Any recommendations? I don't want to shell out $600 on a 980 Ti yet if there are going to be better ones on the horizon. Need something that can run The Witcher 3 decently well.

My potential build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/h2MLhM
Click to expand...

Radeon 380 is what I would say to the risk averse consumer. A radeon 290 on ebay is what I would personally seek out.
 
Leopoldshark said:
I want to get a fairly cheap GPU (around $200 or so) that will last me a few months before the next generation Nvidia GPU is released. Any recommendations? I don't want to shell out $600 on a 980 Ti yet if there are going to be better ones on the horizon. Need something that can run The Witcher 3 decently well.

My potential build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/h2MLhM
Click to expand...

Any chance you could just stick to playing older titles on the iGPU? Could be an opportunity to catch up on your game backlog 🙂

If that's not an option I would buy any NVIDIA card only because NVIDIA cards tend to have better resale value than AMD's. Used GTX 970 gets my vote.
 
380X is your best option in the new market. On the used you want to seek a Radeon 290, GTX 970, or even the elder GTX 780, but finding them for $200 may take some luck and good searching.
 
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7970 on eBay. I just got one last week for $115 shipped. Great card still for 1080p, could even handle 1440p in a pinch thanks to its 3GB VRAM.
 
The price/performance ratio is back to where it was in 2013, its unbelievable that people are recommending Tahiti level performance for $200 bucks.

You're putting down some cold hard cash on that build. If I were you I would either

1) Just buy a Halo or high end card (980ti or 390/x) and accept that you're not picking up the first gen release of the next gen GPUs.

or

2) Slum it with the integrated graphics until next gen is released. If you have an old card that is better than integrated graphics, just lean on that for a while.

Spending $200 on 280x/380x levels of performance with plans to upgrade to Pascal is just absurd IMO. If money isn't an issue, then just go with option 1 above.
 
I think Atheist is right. I should probably just buckle down and get a 980 ti. I am getting an expensive monitor with G-sync so I should also get a graphics card that can utilize it well. Plus when the next generation is released the other models will become cheaper meaning I could possibly pick up a cheaper 980 and SLI.

I'm new at this so some of these decisions can be pretty difficult for me. Thanks everyone for the feedback.
 
Arachnotronic said:
Any chance you could just stick to playing older titles on the iGPU? Could be an opportunity to catch up on your game backlog 🙂

If that's not an option I would buy any NVIDIA card only because NVIDIA cards tend to have better resale value than AMD's. Used GTX 970 gets my vote.
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Haha are you insane? How much was that 780 or 680 at launch? They get utterly destroyed by their AMD counterparts and resale value is reflective of that. A 7970 and 290x have held MUCH bore value both in performance and market value compared to respective 680 and 780ti. Give me a break dude, argue your your "side" of the battle in fanboy threads but don't mislead some random kid based on your brand bias.
 
Gtx 750ti maybe ? I see them for 105$ on newegg and it will minimise loses while still being able to play older titles perfectly. New ones at console cinematic 30 fps experience should also be possible.
 
poofyhairguy said:
Their price (even for blower models) have gone up on the used market recently. $200 can't buy a 290 every day.
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Yeah I mean that's what I would shop for.

And to everyone else, this is classic forum nonsense. Some guy asks for a $200 recommendation straight up, and MULTIPLE people telling him to pay triple that. TRIPLE. For a 980ti.

Grab a 7970 for $120, enjoy your gaming and call it a day. New high end cards still 6 months away.
 
I dont know why people are advising the op for buying amd cards from the moment he states he is waiting for pascal. Obviously he wouldnt touch an amd gpu with a 10ft pole with that kind of claim.
 
swilli89 said:
Haha are you insane? How much was that 780 or 680 at launch? They get utterly destroyed by their AMD counterparts and resale value is reflective of that. A 7970 and 290x have held MUCH bore value both in performance and market value compared to respective 680 and 780ti. Give me a break dude, argue your your "side" of the battle in fanboy threads but don't mislead some random kid based on your brand bias.
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Uh huh. How's the 290X holding up post GTX 970? 😛

Anyway, I have my recommendation and provided a reason, which the OP can either take or leave. If you don't like it, that's honestly your problem, not mine.
 
swilli89 said:
Yeah I mean that's what I would shop for.

And to everyone else, this is classic forum nonsense. Some guy asks for a $200 recommendation straight up, and MULTIPLE people telling him to pay triple that. TRIPLE. For a 980ti.

Grab a 7970 for $120, enjoy your gaming and call it a day. New high end cards still 6 months away.
Click to expand...

A 980 Ti is a great card, I have two of them and they rip through whatever I throw at them. Not sure why you're foaming at the mouth, 6 months is a long time to wait and some people just want to game today rather than wait that long.
 
The OP is buying a G-sync monitor. Why all these recommendations for an AMD card? I think Arachnotronic has the right recommendation.

OP try to find a used GTX 970 for $250 and you're good to go.
 
Either reuse your old GPU from your last build, or use the integrated GPU for a while- you can wait to play the Witcher 3, there's plenty of other games out there 😉
 
GodisanAtheist nailed it.

I looked at your parts list and you are purchasing a $750 144Mhz G sync monitor yet want to wait for the release of the latest Nvidia gpu - I presume a high end Pascal to really run your monitor.

As you can see in my sig. I have BOTH NVidia and AMD cards. Clearly the GTX980TI will really compliment your G sync monitor choice and perhaps the 980. Obviously AMD doesn't support G sync. From my reading of the "tea leave" i.e. my hunch, the BIG Pascal is perhaps 6 months or more down the road.

The 290 is a great card and now appears to be back in demand, thus driving up price. In addition no G sync.
Arachnotronic's recommendation of a used GTX970 may be the way to go as an interim solution. Clearly less expensive than a GTX980TI and able to hold you over until the Big Pascals drop. If you weren't wedded to a G sync monitor I would opt for the R9 290.
 
Arachnotronic said:
A 980 Ti is a great card, I have two of them and they rip through whatever I throw at them. Not sure why you're foaming at the mouth, 6 months is a long time to wait and some people just want to game today rather than wait that long.
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If he can find a 970 for his budget then I'd also agree with that suggestion especially considering the g-sync montitor.

If I read that the guy was considering a 380x or 970 and someone suggested just to get a fury x I'd give the same response.

The #1 limiting factor across the board for almost everyone is money, sure it may make more sense to you to spend $700 on a 980 Ti but that's a months rent to a lot of people.
 
with the Gsync monitor I would personally get something cheap and not 980 Ti waiting for 14/16nm to drop.

I'd get a used 970 so that way when you resell it you wont lose more than $20-40 in additional depreciation. Gsync will smooth out dips until pascal hits.
 
PPB said:
I dont know why people are advising the op for buying amd cards from the moment he states he is waiting for pascal. Obviously he wouldnt touch an amd gpu with a 10ft pole with that kind of claim.
Click to expand...

Basically everybody says waiting for Pascal and a bunch of them mean it as waiting for the next generation. I don't even know if I've seen anyone else say they're waiting for Polaris even among the guys we all know are buying AMD if they're even close. So I can see people recommending AMD right now because there are some really solid performance picks in there.

However, the OP's getting a gsync monitor, which leads to three options, which are something cheap that fits in that $200 budget like a 960 or 950, something that can be sold used after depreciating $200 or less, or going all in because it'll be a while before big pascal.

I'd be personally tempted to go for something like a used/B-stock 970, since they've already had a lot of the depreciation they'll see and still offer good performance, and especially in the case of a B-stock 970 or used card with a transferable warranty, the shorter warranty won't be a big deal for OP's timespan with the card.
 
Used R9 290, and then wait to see what Polaris and Pascal come out with, and what the prices of previous gen looks like.
 
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