Best Graphics Card for ~$150 Today

[Babalonian]

As title suggests, I'm jumping into piecing together my new rig.  I need a new graphics card capable of the latest and greatest demands.  I'm partial to nVidia myself, they're the most stable and reliable in the long run imho.

I'm looking at various manufacturer's GTX 550s or 650s I think at the moment, anyone with recent expereince or suggestions with this current market/products?

[TwinBoom]

using this 2gig card runs good 119 after rebate
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=356682

[titanic3]

Radeon 6870 or GTX 560 goes for around $160-170. Performance is more or less the same between the two. I had to make the same choice a month ago, went with the 6870.  

[Babalonian]

Yeah I'm currently figuring out nVidia's present day numbering scheme, understanding the money/value's worth between a GTX 550 or 560.


Processor I'm leaning twords ~3.0g pentium with HTT (I'm sad to finally have to move on from my 10-yo P4 2.3Ghs Prescott), so I definetley don't want to choke it with a wimpy GPU.


And then there's figuring out what OS to use with all the options out these days.... would I be a bad man to stick with a reinstall of my good ol' XP Pro on this rig (for at least a year or two)?

[titanic3]

Yeah I'm currently figuring out nVidia's present day numbering scheme, understanding the money/value's worth between a GTX 550 or 560.


Processor I'm leaning twords ~3.0g pentium with HTT (I'm sad to finally have to move on from my 10-yo P4 2.3Ghs Prescott), so I definetley don't want to choke it with a wimpy GPU.


And then there's figuring out what OS to use with all the options out these days.... would I be a bad man to stick with a reinstall of my good ol' XP Pro on this rig (for at least a year or two)?

A couple of newer games can't even run on XP anymore. I'd go and buy Windows 7 if you can. For 10$ more, the 6870 or 560 is going to be much more cost effective than a 550.

[Pand]

Been very happy with the options and configuration that ATI provides when utilizing an HDTV via HDMI.

[Babalonian]

Interestingly enough TB I am looking at the EVGA series the most.

I'm thinking (oh-boy) that a GTX 560 is ~ = GTX 650, but I'm probabley way off.  These are the cards I'm lookign at.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625 (GTX550Ti 1G ~$120)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130744 (GTX550Ti 2G ~$130)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130828 (GTX650Ti 1G ~$130 (superclocked))
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130830 (GTX650Ti 2G ~$150 (superclocked is $10 more))


I'm seeing 560s at about ~$30-40 more than a standard 550, but I'm not understanding what it is exactly you're paying for that it has vastly above a standard 550.  And then there's at least the three sub-vareints of the 560 (SE, Ti, Ti-448s, etc.) that range from $50-150 more than your standard 550....  price difference between a 650 and 660 is at least $50-100... so is a $200-GTX660 as good as a $200-GTX560Ti?  Is it _worth_ that much more?

I've been using HDMI output for about 8-9 years now, almost all cards come with two standard out ports now too, which is really nice default support for dual monitors or in my cas wil save me from swapping the cord between my old 20" widescreen and 42" TV.  Never had a problem outputing to samsung monitors via HDMI either, they're also just very PC friendly displays.

[Chalenge]

The GTX 650 is actually a step DOWN from the 560 even if the 560 has less memory because the price of the 650 is associated with Cuda cores and not bandwidth. Aces High does better with bandwidth than Cudas.

The GTX 560 with 1GB gives you about half again as much bandwidth as does the 550. That said Aces High does better with 1-1/2 to 2 GB on W7 64 versus 1 GB on W7 32. If you have XP then the GTX 560 with 1GB is about right (by estimation since I have not tried it).

The GTX 660 and above will give you more performance since it offers both more Cudas and more bandwidth but you will pay for it with power consumption and cost.

EDIT: Depending on what else you use your system for another card might be better. For instance the 680s (I know - more money) have 1536 Cuda cores which is slightly less than five times what a 550 or 560 has but if you are using your system for Premiere Pro then it really helps (except CS5 only supports 1 GPU so SLI does not help).

Actually when it comes to Cudas versus bandwidth its a variable situation because there can be an advantage if the program (Aces High) could make use of it. I have not seen where it does. So the bandwidth we get in Aces High is almost never what the manufacturer says it could be.

[gyrene81]

you would be better off with a 560 even over the 550ti for the price you want to pay...

[guncrasher]

babs if you want to give me a couple of days to research and think about it, I may have 2 evga 465 to sell for less than what you will buy one of those for.  one has no warranty but the other has a lifetime warranty.  I can play on 3 monities with everything max and shadows at 4096.  except for the new em option, that one drops fps like crazy.

these are the ones I have, trying to see if there's an upgrade for me that isnt too expensive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130555

semp

[100Coogn]

Babalonian, the 560 is what I'm looking at as well..
The SE looks like a rather weak card. The 560 alone looks like a great buy, especially on newegg. 
I don't know what your opinion is on a refurbished card.  Newegg had some for 159.00, which is the 2GB Vram, super-clocked.  I believe that card goes for 209.00 brand new.
The 560 TI will give a slight performance boost, but at a higher price.  The TI requires a little more juice than the 560, so be prepared to upgrade your PSU, if needed.

Coogan

[MrRiplEy[H]]

As title suggests, I'm jumping into piecing together my new rig.  I need a new graphics card capable of the latest and greatest demands.  I'm partial to nVidia myself, they're the most stable and reliable in the long run imho.

I'm looking at various manufacturer's GTX 550s or 650s I think at the moment, anyone with recent expereince or suggestions with this current market/products?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-3.html gives you comparisons in several price ranges.

[Debrody]

Not sure about the prices, but the 660ti performs about the same as the 580, while the 660 is in par with the 570. The 650 is much weaker, about the same as the 550ti, even weaker than my old ati 5830, what isnt a powerful card at all.

I would check the HD-7850. Same performance as the 660 or the older 6950, only eats 140 watts. Also, in Europe, the ati cards are better in price-performance wise than the nvidia products.

Also, that CPU (dual core pentium, right?) looks pretty much weaker than the new i3s. Not sure if it can drive a 660/7850 level card withouth being a serious bottleneck.

[gyrene81]

Processor I'm leaning twords ~3.0g pentium with HTT (I'm sad to finally have to move on from my 10-yo P4 2.3Ghs Prescott), so I definetley don't want to choke it with a wimpy GPU.

Also, that CPU (dual core pentium, right?) looks pretty much weaker than the new i3s. Not sure if it can drive a 660/7850 level card withouth being a serious bottleneck.

i think he's talking about a single core cpu Debrody... i hope not since it would be like tossing money in the toilet.

[Tac]

I hate to semi-hijack this thread but i'm also looking for an upgrade.

Im currently running an old GT240 and i'm satisfied with how it runs (heck I only play world of tanks, star trek online and skyrim right now and it runs them all fine but with the occasional burp)... but I know any game that comes out soon like mechwarrior online will choke it.


So im looking for something between 50 and 100 bucks upgrade from it.

Any suggestions appreciated. I'm not looking for a powerful card, just something thats considered mid-range today.