$150 Video card search

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N1GHTRA1N

Gawd
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I'm looking to spend about $150 on a video card. I need 1920x1080 resolution for gaming. The CPU is the i5 2500K running at stock speeds. I play a large variety of games. I usually have ATI card but I'm considering an NVIDIA as I wouldn't mind trying out some Phsyx games like Alice Madness Returns and Batman AA.

Anything worth while at that price? If I get into much higher than that I'll just end up buying a 6970 or new 7000 card for my main rig and move over my crossfired 4870's to the 2500k system. I really don't want to spend much more right now though.
 
While I was looking for my new card beginning in that range (although I ended up in a higher price bracket) I saw some good deals right around the $150 mark on some Nvidia 460 GTX cards that would probably suit you well. There are also some good deals to be had on the Radeon front in the form of some 6790s and 5770s. I have zero experience with the 6790 but I know the 5770 to be a really decent card for 1080 gaming (AMD driver issues notwithstanding).
 
I should have mentioned for around that price I can get a 6790, 6850, gtx 460 or re-certified gtx 465.

Which is best over all?

I can also get a 5830 for $103. That seems like a great value. I should have also mentioned I'm in Canada.
 
Personally I would say go with the gtx460 over 6850. I have a 6850 and the drivers were pretty bad at the start but they are better now but it's kind of made me weary of sticking with ati (I normally buy ati for better performance for the money).
 
munkle said:
Personally I would say go with the gtx460 over 6850. I have a 6850 and the drivers were pretty bad at the start but they are better now but it's kind of made me weary of sticking with ati (I normally buy ati for better performance for the money).
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I sort of leaning towards the 460 too. I'm 100% happy with my ATI 4870's, in fact my last 5 or 6 video cards have all been ATI and I've been very happy with them all for the most part. I am considering moving to Physx support so the 460 is a good place to start. When I'm ready to upgrade my main rig I'll know if I should be buying a GTX 580 or HD 6970 card based on how useful I find Physx support. Problem is from reviews the 6850 seems to perform better in almost every game. I missed out on a 5850 for $130 a few days ago, I would have bought that if I had realized it was a good value at the time.
 
I wouldn't base my whole decision on PhysX support. It's something nice to have but I have yet to play a game with it enabled and have it change the game in any significant way. That being said, a 460 or 465 is probably what you're looking for.
 
The HD5830 is just a cut below the GTX460, but at a $30-$40 discount it remains incredibly competitive. The review I linked doesn't compare it to the GTX460, but just imagine that it's there hanging around the GTX285, or in some cases between GTX275 and 285.
 
The $150 spot is tricky. For just a little more you can get the 5850 or 6870. For a little less you can get the 5830.

Nvidia is terrible at this price point. $150 will land you a 460gtx (which is fine), but in the little less bracket, theres only the 550gts. The next card up from the 460gtx is $100 more (560gtx) and is slower than the competition in the same price bracket.
 
If you are mainly playing DX9 or DX10 games and/or never intend to use a multiple GPU setup then get Sapphire's 5850 re-release. If it's mainly DX11 games that you want to play then, and depending on the specific games mix, either a 1GB 460 or a 1GB 6850, preferably with an enhanced cooler. If you can go just a little higher than you can snag a 6870.
 
N1GHTRA1N said:
I should have mentioned for around that price I can get a 6790, 6850, gtx 460 or re-certified gtx 465.

Which is best over all?

I can also get a 5830 for $103. That seems like a great value. I should have also mentioned I'm in Canada.
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The 465 was a power hungry loser. If you go nVidia the 460's your best bet. It's higher clocks make up for hte lower shader count, and 460's had much larger degrees of overclock headroom. The 465 was a way to use up the dies that were too crappy to turn into 470's.
 
Oh and if you're looking at after rebate prices, newegg has an Evga 460 for $115 AR or an Asus for $120 AR. The Asus has a 50mhz factory overclock and a custom cooler. The Evga's cooler is a more conventional blower type (not sure if it's stock or not), which will probably be a bit louder and hotter; but by venting heat out the back will make things easier on the rest of your systems cooling.
 
How about the Sapphire Radeon Xtreme HD 5850? I can get it for $160 shipped + taxes
Or ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB also $160 shipped + taxes but has a $30 mail in rebate.

I'm pretty sure I'm down to one of those. Seems like the performance is pretty equal overall and they all seem like pretty good deals.

BTW it will be going in this system.

img2484e.jpg


I'm hoping it won't be too loud as it is pretty silent right now. I've added a 2TB Seagate HDD since this photo, it is right below the one in the photo, in the bottom slot of the hdd cage. Not too hot would be good too. I've heard the Nvidia's can run hot.
 
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There's a Sapphire Radeon Xtreme 5850 at N CIX for 147 CAD. It was actually on sale for $129 not too long ago.
 
N1GHTRA1N said:
I'm hoping it won't be too loud as it is pretty silent right now. I've added a 2TB Seagate HDD since this photo, it is right below the one in the photo, in the bottom slot of the hdd cage. Not too hot would be good too. I've heard the Nvidia's can run hot.
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Nvidia uses more power then the identical performing Radeon, but they tend to have better cooling sinks to compensate, so mostly you have worry about having a beefy PSU to drive it. The good thing about the GTX460 is it's built using the cooling system of the power hogging 465 and 480, but isn't clocked as high so they generate less heat thus less noise.
 
DanNeely said:
Oh and if you're looking at after rebate prices, newegg has an Evga 460 for $115 AR or an Asus for $120 AR. The Asus has a 50mhz factory overclock and a custom cooler. The Evga's cooler is a more conventional blower type (not sure if it's stock or not), which will probably be a bit louder and hotter; but by venting heat out the back will make things easier on the rest of your systems cooling.
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Just a fyi, the first one you linked is the SE model.
 
The 5850 is a good card. I'd be weary of MIRs though. They take for ever to get processed and you may never see them. If power is any of a concern (like it was for me) get a 6850.
 
I've got the Sapphire 5850 xtreme you mentioned earlier. So far it has been a great card. It runs cool and I have not been able to hear it above other PC noise during Crysis 2.
 
I finally found something I figured I'd be happy with. I ordered the MSI GTX 460 Hawk edition, it is overclocked out of the box and has the Twin Frozer II cooler. It was $126.99 CAD + Shipping and taxes, I also ordered a USB Bluetooth dongle and my total order was $166 CAD but the video card does have a $20 MIR so I figured this was a good deal. What do you think?

http://www.msi.com/product/vga/N460GTX-Hawk.html
 
Nice, you'll love it. A single 460 can run Crysis 2 maxed (not that that's a big achievement, but it's not bad lol), Starcraft 2 maxed out, and.. handle everything else pretty okay. :) Only games a single 460 has trouble with for me are Crysis 1 and Metro 2033.
 
Aaron11 said:
The 5850 is a good card. I'd be weary of MIRs though. They take for ever to get processed and you may never see them. If power is any of a concern (like it was for me) get a 6850.
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I've received every rebate that I've mailed in, it really ain't that hard, also the 5850 is a beast, I have one, no fancy shmancy deluxe boner inducing model or anything, just a plain 5850 and I never hear it in general computer use (including gaming), the only time I ever hear it is when it's mining at 925/500 and that's because the fan is running 100%, aside from that up to about 65% is silent, at least for me....
 
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