Best midrange (~150) graphics card for casual gaming?

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Ycarcomed

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Oct 27, 2014
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My 290x just fried on me and I need a decent card to tie me over awhile till I fully upgrade. I play a lot of low-impact games that don't matter, but also play a few that're more taxing. Has to play well (~60fps avg) at med/high settings on most games at 1200p. I was looking at the 1050ti, and also the Rx 560. I would also consider looking for a used card (Like an used Rx 470.) I've looked at benches but actual owners/people with experience with them are obviously the better source.
 
The RX 470 was a nice card when I had it. Sadly you probably won't be able to find one now at a decent price. 1050 Ti looks to be your best bet for the price.
 
1050ti.

Solid 1080p performer, just don't expect to run all the eye candy at max. Also should be easy to install about anywhere because it draws 100% of its power through the PCIe slot. No external connectors needed.
 
I agree with the 1060 suggestion. Or try to find a used one. Prices are still inflated but not as bad as they were a month or two ago.
 
waderunner said:
Or spend the extra $50 or so, and get a 3GB 1060, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KU2CIIY/?tag=extension-kb-20

It's worth the extra cash for the bump up in performance from the 1050 ti, I'd say.
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for real that 1060 3gb is significantly better. They're also one of the best kept secrets for mining on since so many fools only care about eth. The processing power packed into these is amazing. I'm a 4k snob and had a 1050ti and bumped up to the 1060 and later to the 1070. The 1060 is just fantastic for the price.
 
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I purchased a gtx980 used recently because more than a few people told me the 970/980 is comparable to the 1060 in performance but you can get a good deal on them in the used market.

Good luck.
 
Won't the 3GB on the 1060 be an issue? I'm waffling on a 1050Ti or a 1060 6gb but it's a good $100 difference right now.
 
Check a local Best Buy or Fry's and see if you can find a 470 or 570 for MSRP because they may not have raised the prices when the mining craze hit. At MSRP those are going to be your best bang for the buck new cards.
 
CombatChrisNC said:
Seriously, he said 150 budget.

3gb 1060 are in the low 200's, or over 30% over budget.
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Many of us hold jobs as consultants. We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't let our clients know of potentially much better solutions even if they cost more (within reason). It's just information, no one is being forced to spend more. No one is telling him to go buy a 1080Ti or Titan Xp
 
Algrim said:
Check a local Best Buy or Fry's and see if you can find a 470 or 570 for MSRP because they may not have raised the prices when the mining craze hit. At MSRP those are going to be your best bang for the buck new cards.
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Around here, Frys has absolutely raised their prices. If you’re signed up for their daily promo codes, every once in a while you’ll find one that’s on “promo” for the low price of MSRP.

A few weeks ago they has a 3gb 1060 for 179. I was going to buy it but the frys 20 minutes away from me didn’t have any, the one an hour away had like 20 but it was rush hour and 1 hour away at that time means a 4hour round trip. I went home instead.
 
The budget is pretty firm as it's only meant to be a temporary (few months) card, and I'm not so picky about graphic quality (med/high 1200p), especially after using the 1gb 5770 for the last couple of weeks. Eventually when prices settle down and I have more money I'm going to be purchasing a new chipset entirely so I'll upgrade to a ~300-400 dollar card then. So with that all in mind would you say the 1050ti is my best bet? I found a 470 at Amazon Warehouse for $180 and for whatever reason I hesitated a bit to buy it, only like five minutes or so, and someone else snagged it :(
 
In that price range 1050Ti is probably your best solution it does a pretty good job with 1080p/60 and you can always scale back on some of the settings.
 
Alright well with that in mind I'll be skimming the sold section for a 1050ti to save even a few more bucks if I can. Thanks guys!
 
CombatChrisNC said:
Seriously, he said 150 budget.

3gb 1060 are in the low 200's, or over 30% over budget.
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If he could scrap together another $50 it'd go a long way. I'd say it's at least worth mentioning. The 3GB 1060s are only $200 since they can't be used for ETH. It's 56% faster for $50... awesome deal.

ccityinstaller said:
If you aren't opposed to going used, you could snag a 970 or 290, both of which are on a par or faster then a 1050ti. You should be able to get one for $150~160 used .
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This is also valid.
 
Dayaks said:
If he could scrap together another $50 it'd go a long way. I'd say it's at least worth mentioning. The 3GB 1060s are only $200 since they can't be used for ETH. It's 56% faster for $50... awesome deal.



This is also valid.
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Getting a bigger performance increase than your spending increase is almost always the case until somewhere above $250. On entry level/lower midlevel cards all the parts that aren't the GPU cores dominate the manufacturing cost so spending more if you can always yields good returns. It's only at the top where the huge size of the flagship die starts running into yield issues that it goes the other way - even more for the top of the line models made with binned parts and being marketed at those who're rich enough to be willing to pay a large premium for the fastest they can get.
 
DanNeely said:
Getting a bigger performance increase than your spending increase is almost always the case until somewhere above $250. On entry level/lower midlevel cards all the parts that aren't the GPU cores dominate the manufacturing cost so spending more if you can always yields good returns. It's only at the top where the huge size of the flagship die starts running into yield issues that it goes the other way - even more for the top of the line models made with binned parts and being marketed at those who're rich enough to be willing to pay a large premium for the fastest they can get.
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Usually 33% more cash wouldn't get you 56% more perf though. It's usually 1:1 at best.
 
The 1050TI is a very capable little card. I understand that the 1060 is a good deal faster, but if you must stay around $150.00 then the 1050TI is your best bet. I had an EVGA SSC 1050TI dual fan acx. Was a great card at 1080P.
 
Radeon RX 480 or Geforce GTX 1060 would be equivalent to the Radeon R9 290X.

Anything less would be downgrading.
 
if cost is a hard limit the 1050ti's hard to beat at under 150, another option is a used 970. but at 1200p i wouldn't bother looking at the rx460/560.
 
Dayaks said:
Usually 33% more cash wouldn't get you 56% more perf though. It's usually 1:1 at best.
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In the sub $200 range I thought it was still generally a bit better than 1:1 in previous generations. The current one's probably a bit of an extreme case though the latest generation of 4k video en/decoders are so large that ~half the GP107 die used in the 1050 cards is taken up by them instead of GPU cores.
 
DanNeely said:
In the sub $200 range I thought it was still generally a bit better than 1:1 in previous generations. The current one's probably a bit of an extreme case though the latest generation of 4k video en/decoders are so large that ~half the GP107 die used in the 1050 cards is taken up by them instead of GPU cores.
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I'd generally use data but prices are all fubar right now. I think 1050tis are slightly elevated from where they would have been due to mining. 1060 3GB doesn't work have enough, or optimal, VRAM for mining IIRC.
 
I bought a 1060 3gb here on theforums for 160 was a great price for a secondary PC of mine. I would stretch it to geto to a 1060 if you can
 
ccityinstaller said:
If you aren't opposed to going used, you could snag a 970 or 290, both of which are on a par or faster then a 1050ti. You should be able to get one for $150~160 used .
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you're finding 290's in that range? thought they were still solid miners....

but yeah I'd say if price range is firm its the 560 or the 1050ti. Depending on the game. I think civ plays better on AMD and some random other games do as well. Just avoid 2gb cards. If its a stop gap just get the 560 those are what like $120?
 
Dayaks said:
I'd generally use data but prices are all fubar right now. I think 1050tis are slightly elevated from where they would have been due to mining. 1060 3GB doesn't work have enough, or optimal, VRAM for mining IIRC.
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it still does a lot better at eth than the 4gb 1050ti's but zcash they're without a doubt the best bargain out there and the zcash train is pickin up speed!
 
For under 150 dollars, I strongly suggest and OC GTX 1050 Ti. You can run almost any game on high settings at 1080p. My recommendation is Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti.
 
For your price-point, the 1050 Ti is the way to go.

A 1050 Ti is exactly as fast as my GTX 960, which suits me just fine.

Bear in mind, compared to your old 290x, it will be a significant downgrade.

You should be able to find a used GTX 970 for around $150-160 and that is very close to a 290x in most titles....
 
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I am thinking of upgrading my son's video card from the HD 6950 to a 1050Ti, or one of those short 960 iTX cards (old case that barely fits the 6950). If I can find a shorter 1060, I might go that route instead, as it would be a good deal better increase. He is still rocking a 1366/920 setup, will probably bump him up to a Xeon 5670 while I am still it.
 
txsizzler said:
I am thinking of upgrading my son's video card from the HD 6950 to a 1050Ti, or one of those short 960 iTX cards (old case that barely fits the 6950). If I can find a shorter 1060, I might go that route instead, as it would be a good deal better increase. He is still rocking a 1366/920 setup, will probably bump him up to a Xeon 5670 while I am still it.
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watch newegg emails and amazon, the single fan short 1060 and 1050ti's go on sale all the time. as long as he's gaming at 1080p or lower the 1050Ti does pretty well in most games.
 
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