budget card recommendations please?

harbingerofdoom

harbingerofdoom

Gawd
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
845
i7 2600 sandy bridge
H61M/U3S3
430w psu
2x asus vs24a (1920x1200)

use: mainly work machine but will do some gaming.

i know im probably going to need to replace the PSU & will probably replace it with a 730w raidmax.

i have a tight budget (~$200 for both the card and the PSU) so that unfortunately does have to factor in.
I dont really need to be able to run games full tilt with all options to max, but the intelHD just cant hang with the higher resolutions on the new monitors.

its been so long since i have had to worry about video cards that Im no longer really tied to any specific flavor so amd and nvidia are both fair game. would prefer 2 DVI connectors but the monitors will also do HDMI (would rather not have to drop extra dough on HDMI cables because they are all in use at the moment).

thanks for any input you guys have
 
R7 260X 2GB Version
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127762

Seasonic 620W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096

That puts you at 204.98

There are alot of options for decent PSUs at the 70 dollar range or you could get one that is slightly higher priced but it may have a rebate that will drop it below your $200 dollar budget. There are usually codes, offers, or sales on PSUs quite a bit so you'd have to look around to see what the best deal is at that time. You would also have to decide how many watts you want and the level of 80 plus certified.

If you wanted to spend alittle bit more while staying close to your budget and have a modular PSU then a Corsair CX600 would be a good option.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048

It comes with a 10 dollar MIR that would only cost you 5 dollars more then the Seasonic PSU.
 
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Remember, the 260x is a rebadged Radeon 7790. The Radeon 7850 is only $5 more expensive and about 25-35% faster. Also, this Radeon 7850 comes with two games (that you can sell for about $15-$20 if you chose to) and a MiR for $20, knocking this card down to $125 PLUS the free games(which if you sold could bring total spent on the card to $105). Hell, if you decide that the Games are cool to keep and don't want to send in the MiR, the 7850 is STILL a vastly better deal than that R7-260x..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127727

And this Corsair should be more than enough to power that card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

So, if you Don't do the rebates, this ends up being $205, but if you decide to do the rebates and sell the games your looking at $165 for both GPU+PSU.

The 7850 is a MUCH better card than the R7-260x/Radeon 7790......
 
$200 or less for hd7950 is killer card. Get one before they sell out.
 
SonDa5 said:
$200 or less for hd7950 is killer card. Get one before they sell out.
Click to expand...

He needs GPU+PSU, the 7950 is a fine card, but the cheapest I've seen is $180 w/o rebate. You're not going to find a good PSU for $20.
 
I can at least help with the PSU. I needed a cheap one for my secondary machine, but it needed to have enough power (esp. 12V amps) to run what my main system does (as it gets hand-me-downs). I got this one on sale:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171084

I did a decent amount of research before settling on that one, but your needs may differ from mine. The current price is $1 more than I paid so it's not extreme, and the rebate is always nice. If curious, I ran Furmark/Intel Burn Test on my secondary with it, and it has 5 hard drives (2x320 + 3xRaptor), 2 GTX 460 SOC's (super overclocked), and a Q6600 with lots of voltage (+.075 over stock). It handled it without any issues.

(the PSU has 55A on the single 12V rail, which I prefer over models like the Raidmax 730SS which even with 30 more watts only runs 48A over two separate 12V rails; although the Raidmax 735AP would be a contender if you prefer modular)
 
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Raidmax is a very bad brand, on the same level as Huntkey/Powmax. Get those brands if you want to damage your pc. Corsair/Seasonic are good manufacturers.
Theres a TX650 for $70 after rebate at newegg if you pick it up soon.
 
Op, my 2c is HD7850 or Gtx660 whichever is cheaper. Others above have good ideas on psu's. Moving on though...
Do you plan on selling your old psu? If so, you may want to take the extra $ and use it to cool your cpu with something low cost aftermarket if you haven't already. It would truly make your new video card shine.
You stated i7 2600, hopefully you left out the "K" at the end as it would make getting over 4Ghz easy.
Good luck on your purchases!
 
Whatever you do, OP, don't get that pos 260x

Priller had it half right.

His PSU pic was excellent, but you should get a HD7850 like one of these. Lots of nice 2GB variants to choose from. The GTX660 will push you out of your budget unless you can get one on the cheap.

Here's benches of the 7850 vs the 660. As you can see, the GTX660 does appear to have some extra whoomp at higher resoultions. If you are able, you may be able to score a 7870 (used or otherwise) that would even the score and then some.
 
atp1916 said:
Whatever you do, OP, don't get that pos 260x

Priller had it half right.

His PSU pic was excellent, but you should get a HD7850 like one of these. Lots of nice 2GB variants to choose from. The GTX660 will push you out of your budget unless you can get one on the cheap.

Here's benches of the 7850 vs the 660. As you can see, the GTX660 does appear to have some extra whoomp at higher resoultions. If you are able, you may be able to score a 7870 (used or otherwise) that would even the score and then some.
Click to expand...

100% right on comparing the 7850 to the GTX660. I have a 7850 with an i3 2120 and a GTX660 with an i5 2500k. Both CPUs at stock(3.3Ghz) I can barely tell a performance difference between the cards in most games. I've seen good prices on both. I got my 7850 for $135(no MiR) and it came with two games, and I got my GTX660 for $165 and it has a $20 MiR and a free copy of Batman. Both great cards, and are amazing in CFX/SLI. Any word of if the 7850/7870 can CFX with an R9-270x?
 
memphist0: that GTX 660 looked like a good deal, but its sold out so thats a no go.

the raidmax name has created quite the negative response, never used seamax but i have used coolermaster and while not their psu, corsair and never had any problems with any of their stuff. the seasonic 620w is going for 64 right now on newegg.
and rundownquick- not selling the current PSU- as an old no-name 430w its not worth anything- probably going to use it for a franken-machine media center.

on the 7850 vs gtx 660-
Newegg has an MSI r7850 2gb for 149 and an xfx fx785a 2gb for the same price
or
gigabyte gtx 660 2gb for 164 and an evga gtx 660 2gb for 174 (which doesnt leave a lot of room for the PSU)

If i go with the seasonic + the gigabyte GTX that only pushes me to $230 so im not too far over budget...
 
OP here is a sapphire hd 7950 for USD 210(190 after MIR) and a Thermaltake 600w for USD 45 after promo code (25 after MIR).

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153166

you have a very good cpu. get a HD 7950 and you are set for 1080p gaming at max settings in most games. with abit of voltage tweaking overclock the HD 7950 to 1100 - 1150 mhz and match HD 7970 Ghz performance. :)

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/07/02/msi_n760_tf_2gd5oc_gtx_760_overclocking_review/5/
 
atp1916 said:
Whatever you do, OP, don't get that pos 260x

Priller had it half right.

His PSU pic was excellent, but you should get a HD7850 like one of these. Lots of nice 2GB variants to choose from. The GTX660 will push you out of your budget unless you can get one on the cheap.

Here's benches of the 7850 vs the 660. As you can see, the GTX660 does appear to have some extra whoomp at higher resoultions. If you are able, you may be able to score a 7870 (used or otherwise) that would even the score and then some.
Click to expand...

Correct Sir.

I didn't even look at the 78XX series as I was trying to stay as close to his budget as possible.

I would also rather spend the extra on a realible PSU and have it last as to rolling the dice with something else.

But for about 20 dollars over his budget getting a good PSU and a strong GPU would be nice.



I do like the option of grabbing a 7950 for 200ish but I worry about the PSU option. I nice GPU wont do any good if he is busy waiting on a RMA for the PSU.


OP, if you can stretch your budget to 300 dollars then you can fit a nice 7950 and a 600-750W fully modular PSU that has a fantastic track record and cover shipping.
 
7950 will be good if you can still find them, they're definitely below 200 bucks now.

You can find a few of them for 180-190 bucks on Newegg, and on top of that, they come with 3 free games. That won't last much longer, but I think it's the best deal available right now. Each of those games is worth probably 10-20 bucks, plus you get a very decent card which'll last you.

And I have to agree, that Raidmax unit you're thinking of getting is garbage. Get a Corsair CX500 or CX600, they're running like 60-70 bucks now, anything Bronze certified and you'll be alright.

I realize that my suggestions pushed your budget up to $250 but you do get the three games, so it might as well be $200.
 
Imo, definitely worth going a lil bit overbudget if it means acquiring quality parts, especially when involving PSUs.
 
If your current PSU is decent, you shouldn't need a new one. OTOH if it's a cheap POS, then replacement is mandatory!
 
the current psu is a linkworld 430w which to be honest I cant even remember how i wound up with it. i think its safe to say, this is not a psu that i want to really put my faith into ;)

im okay with maybe 25-ish over budget- mostly because i set the budget first & then started looking at my options from there but anything more than that means im probably going to have to push this back. the reality is that id rather go a small bit over and extend how far i can push to my next major upgrade/rebuild than save 50 now and be in the same boat ~6 to 8 months from now without the funds to do anything about it.

i did look at the 7950s. and while i can find them all over the place, they are all coming in a bit over the 200 mark on their own so unfortunately that route is really not available to me.

its looking like the best option available now is to go with one of the recommended psu options (kinda leaning towards the seasonic) and the gigabyte gtx 660 which gives me the most bang for my limited bucks without going too far over budget.

as always you guys are awesome.. thank you everyone!
 
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