What is a Good Graphics card for $200?

[richdog16]

What is a Good Graphics card for $200 that I can run games at Max Settings?



Moved from PC Gaming

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[shortylickens]

HI NEWB, WELCOME!

We prefer these questions in the hardware forum, specifically Video.

Also, please tell us what games you wanna play. Crysis 2, Skyrim?
Or stuff like Starcraft 2? Some newer games dont necessarily require lots of power.

http://forums.anandtech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8

 

[richdog16]

Play Like Crysis 2, BF3 and Future Games in 2012

 

[shortylickens]

OK, I hate to say it but a 200 dollar card isnt going to play those games at max settings. especially with all the new stuff coming out which doesnt have solid requirements yet.

 

[skipsneeky2]

OK, I hate to say it but a 200 dollar card isnt going to play those games at max settings. especially with all the new stuff coming out which doesnt have solid requirements yet.

gtx480,card can be had for a decent $210 and with a oc,its gonna be near gtx580 performance but heat and noise may be a issue but worth considering.

 

[lupi]

just wait another month or so and you can start seeing the near top of the line cards from the previous generation start to hit those price points and the new ones come out in numbers.

 

[terry107]

What resolution do you plan to play at? Here is an article you can use as a reference.

 

[PrayForDeath]

OK, I hate to say it but a 200 dollar card isnt going to play those games at max settings. especially with all the new stuff coming out which doesnt have solid requirements yet.

Hate to say it but my sub-200$ gtx560 can max these games just fine.

@op: if you can, wait for nvidias next gen cards. You'll get a better deal then for $200

 

[hdeck]

OK, I hate to say it but a 200 dollar card isnt going to play those games at max settings. especially with all the new stuff coming out which doesnt have solid requirements yet.

my ~$150 6850 plays all my games at high settings no problem.

 

[Nintendesert]

Get a 480 that's on sale or wait for Kepler to release.

 

[Maximilian]

my ~$150 6850 plays all my games at high settings no problem.

Farmville and tetris wont tax that 6850 at all. Play some real games like BF3.

 

[shortylickens]

my ~$150 6850 plays all my games at high settings no problem.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/...renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market/8
If you like 36.1 frames per second, fine.
I need closer to 60 to feel like its an actual game I'm playing as opposed to a show I'm watching.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5625/...-7850-review-rounding-out-southern-islands/13
Heck, for newer games they dont even test the 6850 any more cuz its below the bottom of acceptable.

I'm not criticizing you. If you're happy with your gaming experience thats great. But the OP asked for a 200 dollar card that would play this years games at max settings. And we dont think its a reality yet.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

IMO to get a decent experience min fps should be 45+ and avg 60+ even median 60+. For a perfect experience minimum should be 60+ fps. . For that you need a better card. Anyway, radeon 6950 1 gb is your best bet unless you can source a 480 at 210

 

[Stuka87]

Hate to say it but my sub-200$ gtx560 can max these games just fine.

@op: if you can, wait for nvidias next gen cards. You'll get a better deal then for $200

Your 560 won't even get close to maxing BF3 at be able to sustain 60fps. You can play at decent settings sure, but not maxed.

And if what happened to AMD cards when they released the 7K series holds true for nVidia cards, the prices on current gen cards will go up once production of them stops.

For the OP, try to find a 6950 (may be tough) or a GTX480.

 

[wuliheron]

We need to know your power supply and if you even have a pci-e slot. You could literally buy a video card only to find out you can't plug it in, or plug it only to watch your computer catch fire.

 

[Stuka87]

We need to know your power supply and if you even have a pci-e slot. You could literally buy a video card only to find out you can't plug it in, or plug it only to watch your computer catch fire.

Very valid point. If this is some desktop dell, there is no point in buying an aftermarket card.

 

[slpnshot]

Very valid point. If this is some desktop dell, there is no point in buying an aftermarket card.

Wait really?

I have a custom made comp so I wouldn't have to worry about this, but are pre-made budget computers that static? Wouldn't the OP just need to see if he has the PCI slot and see if the power supply can handle the extra load?

 

[PrayForDeath]

Wait really?

I have a custom made comp so I wouldn't have to worry about this, but are pre-made budget computers that static? Wouldn't the OP just need to see if he has the PCI slot and see if the power supply can handle the extra load?

Yeah, you'd be surprised.

 

[crownjules]

Wait really?

I have a custom made comp so I wouldn't have to worry about this, but are pre-made budget computers that static? Wouldn't the OP just need to see if he has the PCI slot and see if the power supply can handle the extra load?

You know why Dell and HP are able to sell desktops so cheap? Because they go as cheap as they can on parts like the power supply and motherboard.

 

[Rhezuss]

MSI GTX 560 Twin Frozr II/OC 1gb - $184AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127593

MSI HD 6870 Twin Frozr II 1gb - $183AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127545

But those won't last you that long in 2012. Sure it depends on your resolution. 1080p would be the max res for those cards and even there, they won't give you playable FPS i everything recent and new.

Now for a little more money you could get better value like:

EVGA GTX 560Ti 1gb - $225AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130604

Or a HD 6950 1gb for like $240-$250...

Your best option, like other suggested, would be to wait a little moew and see what nVidia has to release in it's GTX600 series. Maybe then you could fetch a GTX 570/HD 6970 for a nice price.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Prices seem pretty stale IMO. I was watching the 6950's for months, waiting for the 2gb to get down around the $200 mark. They got close, then the prices on them went back up and shortly after they disappeared from everyones inventory.

Now I'm just planning on holding out til the 7850's drop down a bit. I'll be rocking the 285GTX for awhile longer I guess.

 

[bryanW1995]

gtx480,card can be had for a decent $210 and with a oc,its gonna be near gtx580 performance but heat and noise may be a issue but worth considering.

Gtx 480 is the best choice here. It was $210 on TD yesterday.

Generally speaking, video card prices suck right now. Sadly, there is no reason to believe that the imminent gf104 launch will change that, either. Gtx 480 is really the only potentially good card available within your price range new.

 

[lehtv]

The only GTX 480 on newegg is $250 at the moment. Besides, it has a puny single fan cooler, it'll run hot and loud. I'd buy a dual fan 560 Ti and overclock it, rather than a blower type GTX 480, even for the same price.

OP needs to share his CPU and PSU model.

 

[skipsneeky2]

The only GTX 480 on newegg is $250 at the moment. Besides, it has a puny single fan cooler, it'll run hot and loud. I'd buy a dual fan 560 Ti and overclock it, rather than a blower type GTX 480, even for the same price.

OP needs to share his CPU and PSU model.

Starting to hate the blower on my 7970,i never hated the blower type coolers before but this is my first serious amd card purchase that had this type of cooler with all prior cards being nvidia.

Beauty about this cooler and card is a bit of a double edged sword,you get cool and quiet at 45% fanspeed but when you oc it,the card is a beast but i found 55% fanspeed keeping my card cool,but i end up needing my headphones to enjoy gaming,but the performance really makes it worth while.

Going from 45-55% is like taking any other card i have ever owned and taking it from 30% to 100%..decibel wise and almost worth nominating louder then a 6990 at 100%.:awe:

 

[Madia]

Wait really?

I have a custom made comp so I wouldn't have to worry about this, but are pre-made budget computers that static? Wouldn't the OP just need to see if he has the PCI slot and see if the power supply can handle the extra load?

I have a 2010 Dell Inspiron and upgraded to a 560ti. To do so I had to replace the PSU (which I did before), make sure the card would actually fit (which it barely did - the uppper tier AMD cards wouldn't) and needed an aftermarket heatsink to keep my cpu cool. So you have to do a bit of reasearch first. Next time I'm building my own.

As for the card, I got a 560ti around June last year for $195 including a MIR. The price hasn't changed since then so I'd wait but the card maxes most of my games out in 1680x1050. Still, in really performance heavy games like the Witcher 2 I have to turn the settings down a bit.