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Upgrade GPU worth my time for ~$300

Sulaco

Sulaco

Diamond Member
So I'm wondering...

I'm seriously toying with the idea of building myself a new system. I've been out of the loop for a couple of years, but have been pricing components and it looks like I can get a pretty decent setup for around $1200.

However, I was shocked to see that my GTX 260 c216 card is still going for around $200, when I payed $300 brand new over 2 years ago.

With all the different classes and levels of cards, I'm confused what the real hierarchy is, and how they compare to older cards like mine.

Question: For around $300 (give or take $50 or so), what is the best overall card I can buy right now for gaming that will be a real step-up from my current card? Or is there one?
I can push the budget to maaaaybe $400, but thats only if the performance is substantially better over the $300 offerings.

So is there a happy medium? Can I get a serious upgrade for that amount of $$$, and if so, whats my best bet?

Thanks a ton, guys!
 
At this time it's best to wait a few weeks to see what the Radeon HD 6900 will offer and what Nvidia's GTX 560 and 570 cards can do. They should fall in your price range, specifically the HD 6950 and GTX 570, and either will most likely be worthy upgrades.
 
you paid 300 bucks for a gtx260? I bought mine 2 years ago for $185. they also dropped to around 140-160 bucks for a while and then went back up in price.

as cusideabelincoln said, just wait a few more weeks to see what happens with some of the newer cards. be aware that your cpu is going to hold back any high end gpu a bit in some games though. what res are you wanting to play at because if you are below 1920x1080 then you might not really notice the upgrade in some games?
 
Yes happy medium is here have no fear!

Woah happy medium soo I should wait for a 560 instead of a 460 1GB

I mean if the 560 is 300 dollars how much would the 460 go down too. But also I like how they redesigned and its a cooler chip using less power. gl
 
tweakboy said:
Yes happy medium is here have no fear!

Woah happy medium soo I should wait for a 560 instead of a 460 1GB

I mean if the 560 is 300 dollars how much would the 460 go down too. But also I like how they redesigned and its a cooler chip using less power. gl
Click to expand...
be careful because the 660 will be releasing next year too...
 
toyota said:
be careful because the 660 will be releasing next year too...
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's the kicker to this refresh. Have a really good refresh coming this time around, then going to have a really, really good launch next year (I imagine) of 28nm parts. Still, if buying along this refresh,the performance should be enough to be able to wait until Maxwell or whatever AMD's equivalent is because the games out don't really demand it per se just yet.

In regards to 560 vs 460. Sure, the 560 is going to perform better, but given the discounts available on the 460s atm....will it be enough performance to really justify the extra $$? With the rebates floating around, you can get good factory overclocked 460s for around $160-#170 bucks now. I doubt the 560 will cost less than $249. Toss up I guess, but the 460s are still good buys atm imho.
 
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if you can get a gtx460 1gb for around $150 if and you have something slower than a gtx260 then go for it. even when the 560 comes out it will likely be $100 more at launch. also you can always sell the gx460 later and lose very little money.
 
MrK6 said:
This. There's nothing else out there that comes close to this in bang-for-your-buck.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

HD5870 for $215 is the best upgrade from a GTX260 imo at this time. GTX480 costs at least $365, which is a 70% increase in price for a 15-20% performance increase.

If the OP sells his 260 for $80, the upgrade cost will be about $135, which is very reasonable.
 
I think 2xGTX 460/1GB SLI is an incredibly potent gaming setup if you are SLI capable then look into this. This setup is just $320 or so, but reaches into the GTX580 range.
 
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