Best < $250 video card?

A

ATW

Limp Gawd
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Jan 27, 2003
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Been on the Mac side for a few years and planning a budget PC build solely for the purpose of gaming. Would prefer to just spend around $200, but if there's a substantially better option for upwards of $250, I can budge. So what's the absolute best option under the 250 mark? I have no allegiance whatsoever to either side, just want it to be reliable, relatively quiet, and no annoying driver issues.
 
For that price I'd have to go for the Radeon HD 6850. For $300 the 6950 gives better performance, but if that's definitely out of your budget a 6850 would suit you well (assuming your power supply is half-decent and there's room in your case for one). Plus, if you have a crossfire capable motherboard, two 6850s provide near 100% scaling for an easy and effective future upgrade.
 
The 6870 is the fastest card under $250 ($240). The GTX470 is neck and neck but runs $10 more, uses more power and puts off more heat.

If you can stretch to $280, the 5870 is a bad ass card and will max out pretty much any game at 1920x1080.
 
With rebates you can get a 5870 for under $250. Shop around a little bit, the sapphire one has dipped down as low as $215 with rebates a couple times already in the last month and a half. Right now I think its $239-$249 with rebates on newegg.
 
Either the 6870 or GTX 470. It really comes down to your preference between AMD and Nvidia.
 
Look into the pre-overclocked Nvidia 1GB GTX460s. Most are less than $200, perform well, and very, very quiet. The GTX470 and AMD 6870 are pretty noisy, at least in my opinion.
 
I've been comparing the 470 and the 6870 and it seems the 470 is a little faster, but uses up a lot more juice. Can a 650W unit power it or will it require more?
 
ATW said:
I've been comparing the 470 and the 6870 and it seems the 470 is a little faster, but uses up a lot more juice. Can a 650W unit power it or will it require more?
Click to expand...

A good one should have no problem. A lower end one might struggle. What brand and model it is?
 
You are in luck. Tom's Hardware produces a monthly artice on "The Best Video Cards for the Money" and just published the December update. At the $185 level they declare a tie between the GTX 460 1 GB and the HD 6850. The next level is $245 for which they declare a tie between the GTX 470 and HD 6870. In each case they provide some information on features that can be used to differentiate them. If the features are not very relevant, then look for the sales particularly from top vendors.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-recommendation-upgrade,2803.html

Note that if you use a monitor of 1920x1080 or less, the less expensive cards will provide a good gaming experience.
 
You can get the GTX 460 for 150 most of the time - check out the deals forum.
 
those <$200 GTX460 1Gb cards are a beast, especially the factory overclocked ones, like the MSI Hawk, which runs nearly as fast as a GTX470 for around $100 less.....

of course the 470 has more headroom and it is the faster card, im not saying they are equals.....but if you aren't really into overclocking, dollar for dollar, the overclocked GTX460 1Gb cards really really deliver amazing value out of the box and with warranty

like this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518

$179 + $20 MIR = $160 for pretty much GTX470 reference performance

or the GTX470 for $250

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550&cm_re=gtx_470-_-14-130-550-_-Product
 
On one level I like what Tom's hardware does there but with a little shopping around you can get better prices then what they list. Which ends up skewing the results. Like I said earlier a Sapphire 5870 is more powerful then the 470 and the 6870 and can be gotten for less then $245 with MIR. While other name brands can be gotten for $250 with MIR's.
 
You can get the GTX460 mentioned above (1gb overclockable version) in the hot deals threads here for $159 shipped.

Get 2 of those for < $250 after you use (just one) of them for a little while until you need more graphic card juice. The single GTX460 can play almost every game out at full settings. Then buy a 2nd in the near future to SLI after a few months (they will go down in price as well, so more $ savings) and it will easily own anything mentioned in this thread for sure.

This will give you the best "bang for buck" right now for the long run while keeping under 250..... as I see you are on a budget this might be the best bet (IMHO)
 
I snatched a gtx460 1gb for 150 shipped, it's not even for my computer and I want one. I was holding out for a 6970...but I don't know now lol.
 
that 6870 for $200 looks like a good value also, although i cant see the less power less heat being true, the reviews seem to say the 460 is a cooler less power hungry card
 
Seems as though the 470 outperforms both the 5870 an 6870 by a slim margin and can be had for $229 after MIR. Will a 650 watter power that thing though?
 
ATW said:
Seems as though the 470 outperforms both the 5870 an 6870 by a slim margin and can be had for $229 after MIR. Will a 650 watter power that thing though?
Click to expand...

Easily.
 
If were spending my own cash and were looking at that 240usd price point, I'd grab an HD 6870 and drop an OC on it. If I were looking @ 200 and below I'd get the Asus DirectCU GTX 460 1Gb or the MSI Hawk. Those cards should do 810-850 on the core with stock voltage. I know quite a few guys with volted up DirectCUs doing 900 on the core.

Below is a decent overclocking comparison of the 460, 6870 and 6850.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...d-6850-vs-gtx-460-1gb-overclocking-study.html

The 470 is a great card and some folks aren't going to want to deal with the heat and noise that card puts out when overclocked. Even at stock the 470 will typically do 82C load while an Asus DirectCU GTX 460 1Gb @ 850 on the core will idle @ about 32C and load at 61-65C.

The MSI Hawk is currently 180usd. If you use the rebate the price is 160. (Click see price in cart) That's a lot of card for that price and it should handle a decent OC well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7518&cm_re=gtx_460_1gb-_-14-127-518-_-Product

The reason my overclocked 480 isn't noisy and hot as hell.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118066
 
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