2019 Best value card as of today

Snooble

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I've been looking around at video cards lately and have been trying to decide what the best value video card is.

I see lot of opinions and even more options out there, so the questions I pose are :

What do you look for when you're looking for a best value card?

As of today, knowing that the 2060 is out and the 7 is due in a couple of weeks, what would you classify as a great value?

How long does a card have to last for it to be a good value card?
 
for 1080p gaming... I would say the RX 570 should be in discussion for bang-for-buck.

but everyone's budgets are different.. what you define as best value, might not even be realistic for a majority of gamers out there..
 
I bought my GTX 1080 FE from Best Buy 2 years ago at $549. It overclocks nicely to 2050mhz core. It’s paired with my 2500k at 4.7ghz and a 1440p 165hz GSync . Plays games nicely at high to ultra settings. Definitely gonna have to upgrade my entire cpu platform soon. Been eyeing Ryzen.
 
So you're like me, a 2-3 year timeline of good performance prior to the next upgrade.
 
So many variables. How long do you want it to last? What resolution do you play at? How many fps do you need to maintain, do you play on a high refresh monitor & need/want constant high frames? Do you play with every detail stetting maxed, or are you ok with medium? Do you play all the latest AAA games, do you play older titles, single player or mmo etc.?

For my gf's pc I picked up a 580 used off the forums here with an extended 2 year warranty for $180 a few months back. It will be for occasional 1080p gaming, without the need for maxed visual settings on a regular 60hz screen. I figure it will last her for two years minimum, probably more. FOr me, that held value for my conditions.

For me the 1080 ti I got for $840 was a value because my screen is 1440p with a 165hz refresh and I wanted a big jump from my old 560 ti, and it had a waterblock on it already so I didn't have to worry about warranty issues because of my water cooling. I also don't want to swap out my parts too often, so lognevity was important to me as well.

Try sharing some more details about your needs, and what value means to you. It can mean so many things, certainly you have something to work with (a budget, at least good for a year, etc.)
 
Im not asking for a card for myself, the original questions had to do with what you considered makes a decision on whether a card was a value or not, and what you'd consider a modern value card as of today.
 
Well, here's how I justified it:

I was using a GTX 960. All I game on is a 1080p screen.

It felt like about half of what I wanted power-wise, so I found a 980 Ti on CL for $220.

Problem solved and a great value.
 
Im not asking for a card for myself, the original questions had to do with what you considered makes a decision on whether a card was a value or not, and what you'd consider a modern value card as of today.

I think the ultimate test for value is longevity - how many years you can use a GPU before it starts to run the games you play too slow. The 980 Ti I sold last year would still be a good GPU for 1080p and 1440p today. The 1080 Ti is looking to also be a good value for money as it trades blows with the second fastest card on the market.

For buying new cards my two main concerns are performance and noise levels along with the price point. I'm planning on buying a 2080 Ti despite knowing that it will most likely be surpassed by 7nm Nvidia cards coming out next year. But even after that it will most likely run 4K resolutions pretty well as long as you don't use the raytracing eyecandy, which I feel is still a few years from becoming a big thing in PC games. At this point I'm just waiting for the right deal to come along to hit a price point where I feel it's expensive but not like I am being ripped off.
 
I would say RX 570 as I have been running one since Black Friday $149 for the Power Color Red Dragon 8Gb one which is why it is a must have as tested Wolfenstein II with the card and it can run the highest 1080p settings the game has to offer that tells 4Gb cards to play somewhere else as 5948Mb off the card is a lot for 1080p .

 
A used RX580 is tough to beat in the value game. Then again, a new 570 with games can be had for around $130 which is also tough to beat.

Value has to be in the context of resolution though also. I mean a 4k experience on a low end card isn't really going to cut it.
 
at the moment, i would buy a 2060RTX card, which may be an unpopular opinion, but i would use it with RTX off and see it lasting 5 years for 1080P gaming with high/ultra settings, And 1440P for Medium/High settings.

What i have seen of it so far, is that it overclocks to 2070RTX performance very easily so you could probably stretch out to 6-7 years, depending on the settings your happy with.
 
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at the moment, i would buy a 2060RTX card, which may be an unpopular opinion, but i would use it with RTX off and see it lasting 5 years for 1080P gaming with high/ultra settings, And 1440P for Medium/High settings.

What i have seen of it so far, is that it overclocks to 2070RTX performance very easily so you could probably stretch out to 6-7 years, depending on the settings your happy with.

hmm not really buying that argument about it getting 2070 performance. IF you know everything can overclock. yes its a good value for performance. But rumor is nvidia is releasing 1100 or 1600 series or whatever they want to name it without RTX cores. So there is no point buying a 2060 and pay the rtx tax. I believe they should have the turing version without tensor cores for the xx60 series below the 2060 probably below 300or so. Around 1070 performance. If I was OP i would look for something to get buy until Navi drops like used rx 570 4gb minimum or just hold off a few more months.
 
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hmm not really buying that argument about it getting 2070 performance. IF you know everything can overclock. yes its a good value for performance. But rumor is nvidia is releasing 1100 or 1600 series or whatever they want to name it without RTX cores. So there is no point buying a 2060 and pay the rtx tax. I believe they should have the turing version without tensor cores for the xx60 series below the 2060 probably below 300or so. Around 1070 performance. If I was OP i would look for something to get buy until Navi drops like used rx 570 4gb minimum or just hold off a few more months.

It could just as well be mobile chips or the replacement for the 1050/1050 Ti models.
 
For New Cards:

1080p: RX 570
1440p: RTX 2060
4K: RTX 2080
4K+ RTX 2080 ti

Move up to next tier if you want higher FPS, greater longevity, etc...

For Used Cards:

It's too situational to the specific deal you get, but I would make sure you are getting significant savings over the new cards above to cover the lack of warranty, older feature set, etc...
 
New. Rx 570. Solid 1080p.
Used. Rx 580 for solid 1080p. 60hz
Used 1070 for 1440p
 
vega 56 that I just got for $270ish. Overclocks well and you're looking at 1080 performance when overclocked
 
As considering today's market there are two cards who give best price to performance ratio First is RX580 and the secong one is RTX2060
 
As considering today's market there are two cards who give best price to performance ratio First is RX580 and the secong one is RTX2060

I really can't see the 2060 as good value. Not at $350 anyhow.

A
 
I really can't see the 2060 as good value. Not at $350 anyhow.

A
based on some of the videos it seems to trade blows with Vega 56 1070ti and sometimes stock 1080. To me the gtx 2070 is the card that does not makes sense imo. Still used or new card in the 250ish...
 
Nothing in the RTX lineup is value oriented at all. 2060 is about $100 above what it should be priced at.

1080 - New RX 570 or used RX 580.
1440 - Gtx 1060 or used 980 ti
4K - Used 1080 or maybe used 1070ti 4K is good for the value market.

Best “value” right now? Hands down the RX 570. I’ve thought about building some budget rigs for my nephews around these cards and some of the first generation Ryzen cpus. The value you get for $130 is unreal at 1080p and even with adjusted settings at 1440. Even as a mid range card, this one should last a couple more years depending on what you want to play and the settings.
 
I really can't see the 2060 as good value. Not at $350 anyhow.


It would be nice if it was cheaper, but that isn't the world we live in.

You have to go to used cards, to get better value in that range. It bests Vega 56, and 1070Ti (very close to 1080) and is often not that far behind the 2070, making the 2070 a real bad value.

If I was looking for a new $300-$400 card, I would be looking for a 2060.
 
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Nothing in the RTX lineup is value oriented at all. 2060 is about $100 above what it should be priced at.

1080 - New RX 570 or used RX 580.
1440 - Gtx 1060 or used 980 ti
4K - Used 1080 or maybe used 1070ti 4K is good for the value market.

Best “value” right now? Hands down the RX 570. I’ve thought about building some budget rigs for my nephews around these cards and some of the first generation Ryzen cpus. The value you get for $130 is unreal at 1080p and even with adjusted settings at 1440. Even as a mid range card, this one should last a couple more years depending on what you want to play and the settings.

I don't agree with that. It seems you are putting bare minimums. They will all struggle with current games and will have little longevity.

I'd ditch the RX 570/580 and go straight to GTX 1070/980Ti for 1080p
Used GTX1080/GTX1070Ti/Vega56 for 1440p
used GTX 1080Ti for 4k (if you can find one)

Now, if you are buying new, the RTX2060 is hard to beat.
 
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It would be nice if it was cheaper, but that isn't the world we live in.

You have to go to used cards, to get better value in that range. It bests Vega 56, and 1070Ti (very close to 1080) and is often not that far behind the 2070, making the 2070 a real bad value.

If I was looking for a new $300-$400 card, I would be looking for a 2060.

For $400 you can get a VEGA 64.

The 2060 with 6gb VRAM at $350? I don't think I would personally do that.

A
 
The RX 570 4GB is so cheap right now that I amost want one as a backup GPU. It is priced so well, that all GPU's at lower performance seem overpriced.
Vega 56 below $300 is also a great deal. I do struggle with recommending 64 as the performance difference is very small.

It will be interesting to see how well these cards have aged in 2 to 3 years. Which will be on top? 2060 or V56/64?
I too would prefer the extra 2GB down the road. I certainly was happy I bought an R9 290 vs the GTX 780 due to the extra VRAM.
 
For $400 you can get a VEGA 64.

The 2060 with 6gb VRAM at $350? I don't think I would personally do that.



Best perf/$ in that range, and similar to what he says above, about Vega 56, it's typically only the crappy reference design Vegas that go cheap. A decent dual fan cooler on a Vega 64 is typically more than $500, and it really doesn't best the 2060 by a significant amount.
 
As of now RTX 2060 is a great bang for buck. However, RX580 and 590 are not that bad either considering their price tags
 
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