Best sub $200 video card ?

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Stereophile

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Simple question, what's the best sub $200 video card out now ?

I'm building a new system for the first time in a long while. I'm looking for something to go with an i5-2500k.

I'm inclined to go with Nvidia since I haven't bought one of their cards since NV25. But ultimately I just want the most bang for the buck. Whatever has the best benchmarks and overclocks in that price range. I don't care about power draw, heat, or noise.

I could spend a little higher if it makes a big difference, but I'm trying not to go crazy on the video card because I believe this is a somewhat non ideal time to buy. I guess the new generation gpus will be announced soon. But probably not before December right ?

But I'm ready to buy now so I can be playing Rage, Skyrim, and Battlefield 3.

I was looking at GTX-560s. Are the titaniums editions worth it ? Does AMD offer something better ?
 
hmm, you are right it's not an ideal time to buy, especially when you are thinking of upgrading again when the new stuff comes out.

None of the games you want to play will be available until November, apart from Rage which is due out the 7th of october. Why don't you wait until the first week of october and see if there is any news about the next line of cards from Nvidia and AMD.

If you are in a rush to buy, then either the 6870 mentioned already or the 560ti for about $40 more would both be great choices.
 
Yea the 6850/6870 seem to be a good fit. Some of the 560ti's AR are also decent.

AMD is supposed to announce (but i don't think sell in large numbers this year) the 7000gen later this year. Might push prices down a little. But prices usually drop right before Thanksgiving I noticed last year.
 
reaper12 said:
hmm, you are right it's not an ideal time to buy, especially when you are thinking of upgrading again when the new stuff comes out.

Why don't you wait until the first week of october and see if there is any news about the next line of cards from Nvidia and AMD.

If you are in a rush to buy, then either the 6870 mentioned already or the 560ti for about $40 more would both be great choices.
Click to expand...

I'm not planning to upgrade again that soon. I'll wait for Maxwell or AMD's future equivalent models.

I could wait until October to buy the card, but if they aren't getting announced until December, there is no way I can wait that long. I don't even have a decent "old" card to use. I skipped dx10. :)

Marlin1975 said:
Yea the 6850/6870 seem to be a good fit. Some of the 560ti's AR are also decent.

AMD is supposed to announce (but i don't think sell in large numbers this year) the 7000gen later this year. Might push prices down a little. But prices usually drop right before Thanksgiving I noticed last year.
Click to expand...



Yeah I'm not concerned if prices drop soon in anticipation of the next cards. You win some and lose some. I just wanted to make sure the new cards won't be for sale next month. Black Friday is too long to wait. And I read they might only release the high end SKUs. A 6870 or 560ti will be a tremendous leap compared to what I'm used to on PS3.

I haven't been keeping up at all, how many times more powerful than an 8800GTX are the current high end single gpu cards ? G80, G80 spin offs (9000 series), Fermi, Fermi refresh (GTX-5000s) ? Is that right ?

The 560ti costs a bit more than the 6870, and I suppose it's a little faster ? I read the Nvidia cards have a bit more oc'ing headroom ?

Do the regular gtx-560s overclock like the titaniums ? What's the difference, the cooling ? Is the silicon binned ? AMD is faster stock ?

I felt like trying Nvidia again, but if AMD is the clear performance winner at this price point, that should be the way to go. How far does a plain gtx-560 lag behind a 6850/6870 once they are both oc'd ?

The 6870 is the upper midrange R800 ? I guess if the new tech getting announced in December blows these cards away I can sell it and cut my losses. So maybe I should strictly keep it under $200 and not get the 560ti.
 
I noticed that card before. It looks like a bargain. The code is worth that much huh ?

I think I'll bite.
 
GTX460 1GB / HD6850 - c. 2.0x 8800GTX
GTX560Ti / HD6950 - c. 2.5x 8800GTX
HD6970 - c. 3.0x 8800GTX
GTX580 - c. 3.3x 8800GTX
 
Yeah that looks good. OC'd the 6950s are supposed to be faster than stock GTX-570s.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-1gb-vs-geforce-gtx-560-ti-review/18

I guess I should pick a price and stick to it. I know it's subjective, but have AMD's latest drivers been good ? Any games they have problems with ?


samuelmorris said:
GTX460 1GB / HD6850 - c. 2.0x 8800GTX
GTX560Ti / HD6950 - c. 2.5x 8800GTX
HD6970 - c. 3.0x 8800GTX
GTX580 - c. 3.3x 8800GTX
Click to expand...

Thanks this helps me visualize things.
 
The reason why I prefer the 6950s over the 560s, is the 560s perform better the less work you give them, whereas the 6950s perform better the more work you give them. At high resolutions and memory usage, the GTX560Ti falls flat due to its 1GB of memory, and different architecture to the bigger geforces, whereas the HD6950 is really designed for high-res, high-memory with 2GB, and underperforms somewhat at reduced resolutions (by comparison). At my resolution for example, the HD6950 is clearly above and beyond the HD5870, but on smaller displays particularly without AA, it falls behind the HD5870, and sits close to the HD6870.
 
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