Budget Video Cards?

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BrovoTheta

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Hello I am building a 800/850 USD gaming PC (first time build). What would be the best budget video card?
 
It depends on what you're intending to spend on the rest of the parts. IMO the best budget gpu is the 1060 gtx which can be had in the $200 range for the 3gb variant and $250ish for the 6gb variant.
 
If you are on that tight of a budget, I would go used for the GPU. You can snag a nice Factory OC'd 970/980/980ti (if you get lucky) fairly cheap. Couple that with a Ryzen 5 or 6, MB, 8-16GB of ram (You could go 8GB at first and later upgrade to 16 to save a little bit of money).
 
Geforce GTX 1060 6GB

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($196.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: *MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($138.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *SK hynix - SL308 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: *Hitachi - Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: *EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card ($269.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Deepcool - TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $840.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-14 02:51 EDT-0400
 
Just thinking outloud, would it be better to knock that Ryzen down to 1200 and bump the GPU to say vega 56/1070, or would that be too much of a comprising overkill?
 
If you aren't going to get a 7700k/8600k/8700k, then you should be looking at cheapo server 6+ cores like the cheapo Haswell-E server pulls that come with motherboard, power supply, cpu, everything for dirt cheap.

Ryzen is the same or slower than Sandy Bridge in most games, so no one should seriously be recommending it for that use, especially when someone is on a budget.
 
I've used both GTX 970 and GTX 1060 6GB and the 970 runs all games +/- a few fps compared to the 1060. I ran Mass Effect Andromeda smoothly on high settings usng either card. 1060 runs quieter/cooler/uses less power. There's an MSI GTX 970 Gaming on ebay as of this comment I'm posting here. It's $175 (shipped) and that's a good price for this model even pre-mining craze. If you decide to make an offer you'll likely not get the card (they sell fast right now at that price point). If you can afford to spend $100 more you can get a GTX 1060 6GB card.

Used GTX 1060 6GB cards are prices just $20 or $30 less than a brand new one ... I wouldn't buy them at that price point (think warranty period)

Card prices seem to be dropping, just saw an MSI GTX970 Gaming sell for $160 as I was typing this reply. That's where they should be priced so, nice to see ...
 
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chenw said:
Just thinking outloud, would it be better to knock that Ryzen down to 1200 and bump the GPU to say vega 56/1070, or would that be too much of a comprising overkill?
Click to expand...
At current prices OP won't be able to fit a GTX1070/Vega56 on a $800 budget
I'd consider getting a used GTX980Ti as it should be cheaper and much faster than a GTX 1060
 
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_mockingbird said:
Geforce GTX 1060 6GB

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($196.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: *MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($138.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *SK hynix - SL308 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($52.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: *Hitachi - Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: *EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card ($269.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Deepcool - TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($35.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $840.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-14 02:51 EDT-0400
Click to expand...

This is a solid build for the price.
 
BrovoTheta said:
What would be the best budget video card?
Click to expand...
Doesn't the answer to your question depend on what else you're spending? i.e. what fraction of your $800-850 are you planning on spending on the GPU? Once you know your budget, then it's pretty easy to find the best card at that price.
 
Stoly said:
At current prices OP won't be able to fit a GTX1070/Vega56 on a $800 budget
I'd consider getting a used GTX980Ti as it should be cheaper and much faster than a GTX 1060
Click to expand...

A 980Ti is certainly a great card and faster than a 1060 though I don’t know about cheaper. Most I see are going for around $300. I sold mine for 320 a month or two ago. If you can find one for 275 like the person a few posts up did, for sure snag one. Otherwise look for a 1060. I just bought a used 1060 6gb for $235 from a member a couple days ago.
 
Wow, 1060's have gone way up. I remember getting one last Christmas for under $200 at Jet.com. Wouldn't pay what they are now for one. Like the previous posters have said, try to find a cheap 980ti.
 
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