What's the best video card to get for $230 max

GTX 470 is the best card under $300 at which point the 5870 takes over. The 5850 can be had for nearly $200 right now on Newegg IIRC and is almost as good as the 470 but uses less power and heat. Wow! $225 for that 470. Good gawdamighty is that tempting.
 
LordBritish said:
$230 (US) is my maximum budget.

What's the best video card I can get?
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What are your specs, and do you plan to overclock to the max stable setting possible on the cards.

Unfortunately there is no clear winner here. Both cards have their own goods and bads.
 
The GTX 470 is without a doubt the best performer. They OC like crazy, and beat the 6870 without a OC often. HOWEVER, they are HOT, and that could easily be a deal breaker. If you dont mind the heat though I think the 470's are some of the hotter (heh) deals of the last few years.
 
470 or 6870. They both have some pros can cons as listed above. Pick your poison.
 
470 for sure...however since it uses a ton of power I'd rather have the 6870.
 
as Lord_Exodia said you NEED to list your specs. the best card at 230 bucks is almost meaningless if you don't let us know what your detailed specs are including psu and res you want to play at. OP, you have been here 10 years and should know the drill by now.
 
Lord_Exodia is QFT here.

Assuming that power supply,heat, and noise are not an issue, then I would lean towards the GTX 470.
 
6870s are hard to find in stock for under $230. Even the 6850s are selling for $210 now.
 
I plan to do a full system upgrade around X-mas.

Here is what a plan to get:

Intel Core i5-750
Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650W PSU
Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Motherboard
4gb G.SKILL Ripjaws memory (DDR3 SDRAM)
WD 1TB SATA HDD
Intel X25-M 80gb SSD
24x DVD Writer

My monitor's native resolution is 1650x1080

Yea, almost 10 years on [H] - haha. Old timer - lol.
 
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Well, a GTX 470 would definitely rock with that system.

However, I would wait and check again when its time to buy in December.
Unless you are planning to buy in phases, like buying video card now,
and getting the rest of upgrades in December.
 
LordBritish said:
I plan to do a full system upgrade around X-mas.

Here is what a plan to get:

Intel Core i5-750
Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650W PSU
Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Motherboard
4gb G.SKILL Ripjaws memory (DDR3 SDRAM)
WD 1TB SATA HDD
Intel X25-M 80gb SSD
24x DVD Writer

Yea, almost 10 years on [H] - haha. Old timer - lol.
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Many still know who you are LordBrittish, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott and it's nice to see you still posting. (if it really is you, I think so) I'd ask again though, do you plan on overclocking to max stable settings and running the cards for best speed. Does a bit extra heat and noise not bother you If so GTX 470, if not 6870 as it is FASTER at stock speeds in most scenarios and offers great features such as Morphological Anti Aliasing and eyefinity on a single card which should run 3x 1680x1050 pretty well. Just my 2c. I also think 470 has better Image quality which is debatable but they are both VERY close. Oh and the 6870 is a few dollars (litterally) over $230.00, whereas GTX 470 is a bit cheaper.
 
I'll only be doing mild to moderate overclocking of CPU and GPU.

No H2O or Cryogenic cooling.
 
LordBritish said:
I'll only be doing mild to moderate overclocking of CPU and GPU.

No H2O or Cryogenic cooling.
Click to expand...

Seems like a either would be a good bet for you then. I'd get the 470 simply because it's cheaper then. Also IMO more stable drivers (a little bit more)

I dont think you'll regret the purchase as they are both great cards and you'd be happy with either. Enjoy whatever you pick though.
 
470 or a 6870 hands down. they match pretty even but when it comes to 16x AF 6870 wins but at 4xAA 470 wins
 
my EVGA GTX 470 I just got for $235 only gets up to about 70 degrees C (not 60 like I had thought) while playing crysis maxed out running at stock volts at 703mhz....now I do have a large case... coolermaster haf932 with excellent airflow, but I was expecting far worse from what I heard especially since it's 77 in here.
 
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stockwiz said:
my EVGA GTX 470 I just got for $235 only gets up to 60 degrees while playing crysis maxed out running at stock volts at 703mhz....now I do have a large case... coolermaster haf932 with excellent airflow, but I was expecting far worse. If these 'high temps' are done during stress tests, I don't care as I never run them, I just buy the card and play the game. I was expecting far higher. And it's 77 degrees F in the house right now.
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if that's the reference cooler then I don't believe that. the gtx470 runs damn hot and there is no video card that only hits just 60 C playing Crysis. basically there is no way in hell an overclocked gtx470 is only topping out at 60 C when loaded. clearly the temps are incorrect if that is what you are seeing.
 
they could be, they're just what's showing on EVGA precision. Keep in mind there's 3 large 230mm fans in the case, one blowing air right on the card. Might have something to do with it.
Edit: you're right.. the temp was 70, not 60 .. not sure why 60 stuck in my head. Warm, but I expected 90. I guess the case helps.
 
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