Best Budget Card for 1080p/60

[Humpernator]

Looking to add a GPU to a current build but really can't decide what to go with. I really don't want to spend more that $100 USD and I don't mind buying used. I was thinking something along the lines of a GTX 750 Ti, 760 or AMD equivalent. Specs for PC below. I know the PSU is overkill but it was used in a previous build.

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX
Memory: Kingston 8GB DDR3-1333
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 120GB
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5"
Power Supply: Thermaltake SMART 750W 80+ Bronze
Monitor: Asus VC239H 60Hz 23.0" Monitor

EDIT:

Found a Windforce R9 270 2GB over on Reddit's /r/Hardwareswap for $85 shipped. Pretty solid deal. Don't need a card to blow the doors off.

 

[Archaea]

You've almost got that price/performance expectation met. A bit more money and you'd have it for sure.

My little AMD 285 card was good on most games all the way up to 1600p on my Dell 3014, and should run anything at 1080p at 60FPS. It should be reasonably faster than the Nvidia 750 or 760, as it is more in line with a 960 or even a bit faster than a 960.

I'd sell it for $125 shipped since I just upgraded to a Fury X. PM me if interested.

 

[rabidz7]

A used GTX 480 / 470 / 580 / 570 is a good option if you can find one for that price. A 580 is a fast card and will blow away the 750, which is meant for office PCs.

The higher end Fermi cards should be pretty good for 1440x1080 at only 60fps (I don't know why you'd want 60... is your monitor 60 hz or something?). Don't expect to use more than medium settings in most games.

 

[exlink]

1080p/60 for $100 you'll need to buy used if you want to play with high settings.

 

[rabidz7]

You've almost got that price/performance expectation met. A bit more money and you'd have it for sure.

My little AMD 285 card was good on most games all the way up to 1600p on my Dell 3014, and should run anything at 1080p at 60FPS. It should be reasonably faster than the Nvidia 750 or 760, as it is more in line with a 960 or even a bit faster than a 960.

I'd sell it for $125 shipped since I just upgraded to a Fury X. PM me if interested.

Selling / trading is prohibited here. The 285 is an OK card, quite a lot better than 580. It would be a good choice.

 

[BigJayDogg3]

What games do you play?

 

[primetime]

thats not a bad price at all....and much better than a 760..op should consider it

 

[Humpernator]

...is your monitor 60 hz or something?). Don't expect to use more than medium settings in most games.

Yeah I listed the monitor in my specs and I'm not looking for high end graphics on this thing. I'm honestly good with 45-60fps on medium/high settings.

 

[Sikkyu]

I play at1920x1200 on a 280x. I use medium to high settings to get 60 on new games. You should be able to find one for 100-150 USD ish?

if your lucky you can find a 290 or 290x.

card should last a while longer, at least till the next cycle(Polaris), or the one after that.

 

[Archaea]

A used GTX 480 / 470 / 580 / 570 is a good option if you can find one for that price. A 580 is a fast card and will blow away the 750, which is meant for office PCs.

The higher end Fermi cards should be pretty good for 1440x1080 at only 60fps (I don't know why you'd want 60... is your monitor 60 hz or something?). Don't expect to use more than medium settings in most games.

The problem with the old generation higher tier cards is they aren't supported in some of the newer games

Star Wars Battlefront for instance. Minimum requirements are a DX11 -
That's the Dice game engine and used in the Battlefield games too.

Specifically the minimum for this engine =
Graphics card (NVIDIA): nVidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB

 

[BigJayDogg3]

A 580 is a fast card and will blow away the 750, which is meant for office PCs.

I'm not so sure about that. This is just one site and one game with different settings AND different test beds, but based on the results, I'm not certain what you're saying holds true. I've had games halve frame rates due to AA alone. Between AA and other less demanding settings, I don't find it impossible to believe its 5-10 fps from the 580 at 1080p. At higher resolutions the memory bandwidth would become a much bigger issue, but between a used 580 and a new/slightly used 750 (especially Ti) I'd probably grab the newer card.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4008/nvidias-geforce-gtx-580/6

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7764/the-nvidia-geforce-gtx-750-ti-and-gtx-750-review-maxwell/16

 

[rabidz7]

thats not a bad price at all....and much better than a 760..op should consider it

Eh. The 280 is about equal to the 760. 285 is about 10percent quicker. However, the 760 overclocks way better than any AMD cards. This means that it will take an advantage, even over the 285. AMD cards tend to wall out between 1150 and 1220mhz. Kepler cards depend on cooling, but can often hit 1300+.

If ovefclocking, buy the gtx 760

 

[rabidz7]

I'm not so sure about that. This is just one site and one game with different settings AND different test beds, but based on the results, I'm not certain what you're saying holds true. I've had games halve frame rates due to AA alone. Between AA and other less demanding settings, I don't find it impossible to believe its 5-10 fps from the 580 at 1080p. At higher resolutions the memory bandwidth would become a much bigger issue, but between a used 580 and a new/slightly used 750 (especially Ti) I'd probably grab the newer card.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4008/nvidias-geforce-gtx-580/6

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7764/the-nvidia-geforce-gtx-750-ti-and-gtx-750-review-maxwell/16

The 580 is also bigger and better looking and supports SLI.580s also exist with 3 gigabytes of GDDR5.
750s usually don't even have fans or power connectors. They put out no heat. They are fast office GPUs, not for gaming, not for fun.

 

[BigJayDogg3]

The 580 is also bigger and better looking

Who cares?

..supports SLI.

If you're buying into 580 SLI you'd be better served getting a single 960/970, not dealing with the heat and noise, all while having a smaller power demand and more reliable frame rates.

...580s also exist with 3 gigabytes of GDDR5.

That won't really get used since the GPU has neither the power to take advantage of it nor the memory bandwidth to utilize it effectively.

When the 3GB cards were released, few, if any, games were available to take advantage of the extra memory. Now that games are using that kind of memory, the 580 can't process fast enough to maintain steady frame rates in situations the memory will be pushed that hard.

750s usually don't even have fans or power connectors. They put out no heat. They are fast office GPUs, not for gaming, not for fun.

Again, who cares? I have an old GMA3000 (iirc) laptop capable of running Q3A. The laptop wasn't meant for that, but does that mean I should upgrade just because the graphics subsystem was designed for general computing?

If a new, lower level card is capable of performing on the level the user needs it to, why should he buy a 4+ year old enthusiast card with no warranty? Like I said earlier, if the 750 is anywhere near the same performance level, OP would probably be better serviced with a 750Ti.

Like I said earlier, I'm not CERTAIN the 750Ti is within a stones throw, and the 580 is probably better in absolute terms. But based on what I'm seeing in that one game's benchmark from one site, I believe it is in the same ballpark. I believe the trade-off of a handful of FPS is worth a warranty.

Another site:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/nvidia_geforce_gtx_750_and_750_ti_review,16.html

 

[Araxie]

I'll look for a used 280X, unbeatable performance for the price.