Best video card under $150? (Also how is this build overall?)

adamvk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 16, 2008
Messages
433
Hello, so I decided to build a new computer, for gaming and photo editing. My budget is low, ($700), so I can't blow too much money on a video card unless I get good deals.

Right now the specs that I'm looking at:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHZ
Mobo unknown (What would be good?)
8GB DDR3 Ram
1TB 7200RPM HD
Windows 7 Home Premium X64.

So...it's been a while since I've built a computer, so I've lost my knowledge of video cards. So what would be a good one with my budget? Also how do the overall specs look? Anything I should change?
 
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HD6850 Probably best performance below $150. Maybe find a deal on a HD6870.

But I would probably spend the $200 on a HD6950 for a large jump in performance or
grab a HD5770 for less than $100.

The GTX5830 or GTX460 are also options at the ~$120 but the HD6850 probably better buy for a little more.

Also 4GB of ram is probably enough.
 
well cutting corners and going the AMD route just means you will be upgrading sooner than later again. even a Sandy Bridge dual core is faster than any AMD cpu and uses way less power. plus you can upgrade to Ivy Bridge later on the same mobo.

anyway you need to list your res which is about the most important factor when getting a a video card. 150 bucks pretty much locks you in to 6850 or gtx460 for the best choices though.
 
well cutting corners and going the AMD route just means you will be upgrading sooner than later again. even a Sandy Bridge dual core is faster than any AMD cpu and uses way less power. plus you can upgrade to Ivy Bridge later on the same mobo.

anyway you need to list your res which is about the most important factor when getting a a video card. 150 bucks pretty much locks you in to 6850 or gtx460 for the best choices though.

what do you mean by faster?? The Phenom 2 x4's perform roughly as well as an i5 in benchmarks.
 
A 6870 can be had for around $180.00 if you can round up another $30.00 bucks...
 
Thanks for the replies.

So, it looks like I should get a 68-- video card. I'll start scouting for deals....(BTW my resolution is 1920x1200, I think someone asked that)

Now back to rest of the computer...

I'm still thinking about the i5 thing. I do realize it's faster, but I just wonder if its worth double the money...Is it really worth it?

Also, would 4GB of DDR3 ram be enough for gaming? I currently have an i5 Macbook Pro with 4GB of DDR3 ram, and that's not enough, but Mac OSX is not as efficient as Windows when it comes to multitasking, etc.
 
well its worth the extra money to go i5 if you want to keep your pc gaming at the best level for longer. the Sandy Bridge i5 already stomps the X4 in gaming and will have an even better advantage down the road for future gpu upgrades. plus Sandy Bridge uses very little power.

4gb is basically enough for a gaming pc but I would go ahead with 8gb if you can swing it since prices are pretty low. there are times when I am using well over 3gb of ram and have to start closing stuff to play a modern game that will use well over 1gb by itself. more ram means more stuff that can be cached and less of chance of ever needing to hit the hard drive for virtual ram.
 
obviously some of you do not keep up with current benchmarks. even the lowly Sandy Bridge i3 dual core is FASTER than 955 X4.

the i3 dual core might be faster in single threaded games. Games that use more than 2 cores, and alot are using 3-4 cores now the amd will be faster.

This discussion is about video cards under 150$

currently the best deal is going to be a 6850, or a 6870 if you can find a deal on one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349 for example.

Overall a gaming system under 700$ would be better suited with a AMD cpu as it would allow him to spend more on the GPU which is going to be more important in games anyways. I don't see a dual core sandy bridge lasting very long as things are becoming muti threaded.
 
the i3 dual core might be faster in single threaded games. Games that use more than 2 cores, and alot are using 3-4 cores now the amd will be faster.

This discussion is about video cards under 150$

currently the best deal is going to be a 6850, or a 6870 if you can find a deal on one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349 for example.

Overall a gaming system under 700$ would be better suited with a AMD cpu as it would allow him to spend more on the GPU which is going to be more important in games anyways. I don't see a dual core sandy bridge lasting very long as things are becoming muti threaded.
no it wont. that link even showed games that use more than 2 cores and the AMD loses every time. you just need to accept the fact that Sandy Bridge i3 dual core with ht is faster than four real cores form AMD. and I did not say he needed to get an i3 and was simply showing that even that was faster than an X4. and again cheaping out now on the cpu already gives less performance and will limit future gpu upgrades.
 
no it wont. that link even showed games that use more than 2 cores and the AMD loses every time. you just need to accept the fact that Sandy Bridge i3 dual core with ht is faster than four real cores form AMD. and I did not say he needed to get an i3 and was simply showing that even that was faster than an X4. and again cheaping out now on the cpu already gives less performance and will limit future gpu upgrades.

actually is says in the article your so fond of that it brings quad core performance but doesn't surpass it in highly muti-threaded applications. Besides your comparing apples to oranges because that same dual core sandy bridge cannot be overclocked like the Amd phenom can. Given the fact that a quad core will out perform it in highly threaded applications. Your completely wrong. The gtx 465 is a horrible card stay away from it.

its simple, for a gaming class system it makes more sense to pick a cheaper quad core amd cpu+ a better GPU than it is to buy a better intel cpu and lower end GPU. Now if budget wasn't a problem i'd recommend a quad core sandy bridge and decent graphics card. In this case the buyer has a budget and wants the MOST gaming performance he can get for 700$. Amd is the better solution, cheaper quad core cpus ability to overclock easy, and still has the money left over to buy a decent GPU.
 
actually is says in the article your so fond of that it brings quad core performance but doesn't surpass it in highly muti-threaded applications. Besides your comparing apples to oranges because that same dual core sandy bridge cannot be overclocked like the Amd phenom can. Given the fact that a quad core will out perform it in highly threaded applications. Your completely wrong. The gtx 465 is a horrible card stay away from it.

its simple, for a gaming class system it makes more sense to pick a cheaper quad core amd cpu+ a better GPU than it is to buy a better intel cpu and lower end GPU. Now if budget wasn't a problem i'd recommend a quad core sandy bridge and decent graphics card. In this case the buyer has a budget and wants the MOST gaming performance he can get for 700$. Amd is the better solution, cheaper quad core cpus ability to overclock easy, and still has the money left over to buy a decent GPU.
I said gaming and for gaming the Sandy Bridge i3 cpu will beat the 955 X4 even in games that use more than 2 cores so please stop telling me I am wrong. the only quads that are beating i3 are going to be i5 or i7. heck the stock Sandy Bridge i3 2120 would still beat or least match an overclocked X4 in most cases. in gaming, the i3 2120 is on average 25% faster so its going to take really good oc to get there. not to mention the massive amount of additional power the overclocked X4 would consume plus the extra cost of a good cooler to even do that.

yes I do agree the faster gpu with an X4 would be better overall at 1920x1080. I was trying to get him to stretch his budget by 75 bucks or so and go Sandy Bridge i5 with the same gpu.
 
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I got a 5870 2gb eye6 card for $160 shipped a few months ago, if you can find a deal like that its definitely better than the 68xx cards. Oh and I would go with the SB over the AMB any day if you can swing it. Good luck on your new build. :)
 
If I were you, I would definitely reconsider your choice of processor. Microcenter has been having some pretty good sandy bridge deals lately. I picked up my i5 2400 and H61 board for $150 during the 'make your own bundle' deal this past week.
 
Hmm...Ok thanks for the replies..It looks like I should try to be on the lookout for an i5, or even i3. How would I know if the i5 is Sandy Bridge or not btw?
 
If you can snag the i3-2100 from microcenter then do it.. Otherwise go AMD.. & the 955 is stock at 3.2 ghz & overclocks to 4Ghz with ease.. thats a 25% overclock to make up for the stock 25% deficit it has to the i3 & then its that much better when doing something heavily multithreaded..

That said though its more expensive then the i3 unless you have a microcenter near by..
 
If you can snag the i3-2100 from microcenter then do it.. Otherwise go AMD.. & the 955 is stock at 3.2 ghz & overclocks to 4Ghz with ease.. thats a 25% overclock to make up for the stock 25% deficit it has to the i3 & then its that much better when doing something heavily multithreaded..

That said though its more expensive then the i3 unless you have a microcenter near by..
4.0 with ease? I thought 4.0 was not always so easy. anyway, throw in the extra cost for a very good cooler to do that plus factor in the X4 will be using well over 100 watts more at 4.0 than a stock 2120. really I would grab an i5 instead of either of those if at all possible.
 
Hmm...Ok thanks for the replies..It looks like I should try to be on the lookout for an i5, or even i3. How would I know if the i5 is Sandy Bridge or not btw?

If the CPU has a 4 digit model number (2400, 2500...), and fits on a Socket 1155 board, its a Sandy Bridge CPU. Some chips will have a K on the end of the model number as well.
 
this is the second thread in about the last 24 hours you have said that. please stop suggesting that card. its loud, hot and consumes a lot power while doing nothing more than a gtx460.

Wow it must remind you of your self, I see why you don't like it now.

Blind Hater :rolleyes: Have you ever actually spent the 5 minutes or less necessary to read ACTUAL peoples experiences with the card which they ACTUALLY purchased? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
 
5850 extreme if you can still find them. At the price they are unbeatable. A 6870 is 40% more cost for barely 5% more performance at stock clocks. When both are overclocked a 5850 is as good or better than a 6870.
 
Wow it must remind you of your self, I see why you don't like it now.

Blind Hater :rolleyes: Have you ever actually spent the 5 minutes or less necessary to read ACTUAL peoples experiences with the card which they ACTUALLY purchased? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
yes the gtx465 is a fine choice and everyone should get it. I mean why choose a quieter, cooler running, and more efficient card for the same amount of money or less when you can have a gtx465 instead. :rolleyes:
 
Adamvk -

If you are really on a budget, you can get a GTX460 refurbished from evga's B stock store for only $89.99. They have a 90 day warranty. I have gotten 2 of them now for friends and they are working great.

Also, to throw my 2 cents in the fire, having owned Athlon II, Phenom II, first gen iCore, and second gen iCore systems all within the past year - any one of them is more then enough to play any game. Keep in mind that a 60hz LCD can only display 60 FPS, and if you use anandtech's great bench utility http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2 you will find that often times the differences between what enthusiasts consider to be a poor gaming processor and a great gaming processor is the difference between 80 fps and 100 fps - a difference that is invisible.
 
Adamvk -

If you are really on a budget, you can get a GTX460 refurbished from evga's B stock store for only $89.99. They have a 90 day warranty. I have gotten 2 of them now for friends and they are working great.

Also, to throw my 2 cents in the fire, having owned Athlon II, Phenom II, first gen iCore, and second gen iCore systems all within the past year - any one of them is more then enough to play any game. Keep in mind that a 60hz LCD can only display 60 FPS, and if you use anandtech's great bench utility http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2 you will find that often times the differences between what enthusiasts consider to be a poor gaming processor and a great gaming processor is the difference between 80 fps and 100 fps - a difference that is invisible.

Thank you very much for the replies everyone. I now know a little bit more in what to look for. :)


Another question....Are there any 1155 socket motherboards that support Firewire 800? I haven't really been able to find any, and my external hard drives are Firewire 800. Thanks.
 
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@OP

Do yourself a huge favor and do NOT go for an AMD CPU at least for now.

Coming from a history of using CPUs in this order: 286, 386, 486, amd k2-400mhz, amd athlon thunderbird, amd athlon xp 2100+, amd 64 3400+, intel e6600, and intel e8400; I've got to say that Intel is currently kicking AMD's ass for the money. There was a time when the AMD 64 3400+ kicked the Pentium 4's ass, but that was years ago. Drop your cash on an i5-2500K. That's the best value unless you wanna blow your cash for bragging rights. You mentioned that you're a casual gamer. I've played Counter-Strike when my internet connection was 26K and my video card was an overclocked radeon 32mb card to reach 100fps. I've moved through an evga 7800GS 8X AGP, ati hd 3870, 4870, and tomorrow i'll be sitting on an 5870. (the huge jump was from the 7800gs to the 3870) I highly recommend you save a load of cash by spending only $30-40 on a used ATI HD 3870 or $60-70 on an HD 4870 and toss the rest into your i5-2500K setup. Your processor will rock and be future proof for quite some time. Don't listen to the people telling you to drop over $100 on a video card that will experience price drops after the 78xx series comes out. Listen to me because I already made the mistake. Don't repeat it. lol

Bottom line is dropping $100 in 6 months when your gaming need rises is better than $400 for an intel setup you should have bought today.
 
this video card:


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130570


$115 after rebate and using the new customer code: NEWCUSTOMER10

sell the software on ebay (they go for somewhere in the $70 area right now) and you have yourself the best video card deal of the year.

Good idea. Thanks.

Ok, so I have decided I 100% AM going to go for Sandybridge. And, I just bought an Antec 300 case and G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 12800 ram. So, let the computer building begin.
 
HD6850 Probably best performance below $150. Maybe find a deal on a HD6870.

But I would probably spend the $200 on a HD6950 for a large jump in performance or
grab a HD5770 for less than $100.

The GTX5830 or GTX460 are also options at the ~$120 but the HD6850 probably better buy for a little more.

Also 4GB of ram is probably enough.

I admit, I've only looked at newegg, but where can you find a 6950 for $200? The lowest I've seen is $240.
 
Evga and Zotac gtx 460 1gb's go for 119$ AR on newegg, thats by far the best choice and they are both clocked 7% faster than the stock models. That should put them on par with 6850's which cost ~ 30$ more.
Gtx 460's also respond better and overclock better than the 6800 series. My overclocked gtx 460 will mop the floor with any 6850 and kick a 6870 in the nuts.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...21&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=50
 
Good idea. Thanks.

Ok, so I have decided I 100% AM going to go for Sandybridge. And, I just bought an Antec 300 case and G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 12800 ram. So, let the computer building begin.

Glad I was able to contribute to saving a brotha from a delayed headache. :)
 
Yes, just to echo a lot of what is being said, you should get a GTX 460 1GB.

I just upgraded from an SLI config using two MSI GTX 460 768's and to be honest, I wouldn't have done it if it hadn't been for a friend who needed me to build a comp for him.

The things just f*cking OC like crazy. I was able to get my cards to stable bench @ 940core, 2205 mem and 1.09V. They come stock somehwere around 700 core and 1800 mem. For the $/performance you get out of them, you really can't beat the 460 right now. And to make it clear, as cannondale has been saying, you do not want the 465. Its a junker version of the 460.
 
Ok. So, i5, and a GTX 460. Now, does anyone know any motherboards that support Firewire 800? Also, how big of a power supply would I probably need? (i5, 8GB DDR3 G.Skill ram, 1TB hdd, Blu-ray player, card reader, GTX 460)

Thanks!!
 
Ok. So, i5, and a GTX 460. Now, does anyone know any motherboards that support Firewire 800? Also, how big of a power supply would I probably need? (i5, 8GB DDR3 G.Skill ram, 1TB hdd, Blu-ray player, card reader, GTX 460)

Thanks!!

Something like this 75$ Antec 650 watt with dual 38 amp rails will do nicely for now and a for future upgrades.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

I checked real quick for firewire 800 and I don't see any , sorry. You could try a Pci-e add in card.
 
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