New Hardware Video Card - What's good

DragonD

The Division of None
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Jan 12, 2009
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I currently have a GTX 560 TI.

I'd really like to upgrade it.

What's the current "bang for the buck" Nvidia card out there?
 
I currently have a GTX 560 TI.

I'd really like to upgrade it.

What's the current "bang for the buck" Nvidia card out there?

Nothing because its not black friday yet and we cant predict the price cuts on graphics cards.

Currently? Possibly on black friday a price reduction?

A GTX 970. Cheaper than a 780 and has similar performance to a TITAN black. If you're not up for buying that then I would look at a 770 before they stop making them. Try to find one on a black friday deal and you can probably get one for under $200.
 
A $400 card is the best "bang for the buck"?

I thought they prices had gone down...
 
A $400 card is the best "bang for the buck"?

I thought they prices had gone down...

Its actually a $300 card and could probably be had for anywhere in the $200-$250 range on a cyber monday/black friday deal.

So yes. It would be the best bang for your buck seeing how it out performs a titan at over 3 times less the cost.
 
A $400 card is the best "bang for the buck"?

I thought they prices had gone down...

Why would the prices go down? The prices never go down, but the performance gets better. You can always get a cheaper card, but the 970 has the best price/performance ratio.
 
only Nvidia?

Because the Best Bang for you Buck cards atm are the Radeon R9 series.

R9 270x - $190 (this is what I own and its a very nice card)
R9 280 - $220
R9 290 - $290

However I do agree with Cloakedsphere and that Black Friday / cyber Monday deals are on their way if you're not in a rush and can wait 4 weeks.
 
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Prices are in flux. At the moment, the R9 cards that Jake listed are the best bang for the buck in those price tiers, with the nVidia GTX 970 as the $300-350 performance king.

I want to buy a 970, but I also am waiting on Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals to see what happens (not to mention that two models I add to my wishlist have been sold out for a month or longer now) It's a joyful price war right now between nVidia and AMD as the 970/980 took top spots, which forced AMD to lower the R9 prices down, which is forcing nVidia to lower theirs for the 780/770 series. Everything is in a wonderful lowering-price flux.
 
Toms hardware has a nice , up to date, lost of best bang for your buck graphics cards

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-8.html

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ benchmarks their cards almost daily. Updates their lists at least 4 times a week.

And not to sound rude but no. The AMD R9 290X is not the best bang for your buck when it is the same price as a 970 and the 970 out performs it by almost 3000 points according to their benchmark tests. Thats easily 5+ cards inbetween that range that price anywhere from $320 all the way up to $5000.

Honestly if you think you're going to get the best card for a price of $150 it aint gonna happen. Although card prices have dropped (which they have slightly.) the performance and technology has increased which also makes the prices stay very stagnant. Your best bet is really to wait for black friday and cyber monday to find a 970 for cheap. I am sure someone will be selling them for at least $50 off retail.

But $320 is still an amazing price for one of the highest performance cards on the market right now.
 
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@Cloaked Considering the average price for the 970 is around $350 and the R9 290 is around $290, the R9 still is a legitimate alternative. Best bang-for-the-buck card overall? That's up to dispute, but at the sub-$300 price range, it's an available pick. And before you discount the $150 GPUs and such, you have to take into consideration that the best bang for the buck card depends on the situation or likely use. Some people don't need what the $250 cards offer. A blanket statement doesn't work when you're doing best-bang-for-the-buck.

Note; I said the R290. Not 290X.
 
@Cloaked Considering the average price for the 970 is around $350 and the R9 290 is around $290, the R9 still is a legitimate alternative. Best bang-for-the-buck card overall? That's up to dispute, but at the sub-$300 price range, it's an available pick. And before you discount the $150 GPUs and such, you have to take into consideration that the best bang for the buck card depends on the situation or likely use. Some people don't need what the $250 cards offer. A blanket statement doesn't work when you're doing best-bang-for-the-buck.

Note; I said the R290. Not 290X.

Noted.

But still like snipeye said discredit the $150 cards. If you dont play the most new games almost all the time as soon as they come out then you probably dont need a high performing card.

But the 970 will do everything you're looking to do. I believe you can game on 4k with those as well since I have been seeing 4k gaming become more popular.
 
There is a lot of factors to consider.

--- 1 The price range your looking at.---

180-250$ the r9 270 is best in that range. - Ati also has a current deal of Starcitizen and another game ( cant remember off hand). There was a 4 gig version for 175 just last week on newegg. A notable second is Nvidia's 770 series cards. While the r9 does get bit better depending on specs / games the 770 can also outperform it.



300-350 range the 970 GTX Nvidia.

400-500 range the 980 GTx Nvidia. is best bang for buck


---2 Current specs of your pc / pci express slot ---

This one here is the biggest. If your pc is older say a first or second gen i7 it does not make sense to go and put a 350 dollar video card in it. The limitations of other hardware and processor would limit the max fps of the 970 gtx. In this scenario the 770 gtx or the equivalent and slightly better r9 270 from ati would make more sense.



* edit adding this as its an amazing price range for the 290 r9 currently*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127774
 
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Noted.

But still like snipeye said discredit the $150 cards. If you dont play the most new games almost all the time as soon as they come out then you probably dont need a high performing card.

But the 970 will do everything you're looking to do. I believe you can game on 4k with those as well since I have been seeing 4k gaming become more popular.

I actually said before you discount... as in I was telling you to not write them off CLoaked. :P
 
I have a gtx 780 "ftw" version, I love this card. I wish I would have waited though, not long after I bought it the new 970 came out... for cheaper, like wtf? /facepalm big time. Buy the 970 if you got the money its well worth it.
 

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