Most bang per buck?

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Soyo13

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Originally planned to buy a gaming laptop but chooses not to due to the lack of future upgrades and I recently moved much closer to campus so don't need gaming laptop anymore.

So I'm looking into upgrading sometime within next few weeks. My mainboard support SLI so I can have two nVidia card or single AMD card. I currently have an Radeon HD 5670 and run my game at 1920x1080. It's getting old to be forced to lower the graphics quality for performance as I sit two feet front of a 40" screen.

I will be upgrading the mainboard, CPU, RAM, and getting dual SSD in Raid 0 after upgrading the video card.

I'm roaming allover the video card section at Newegg.com but cant decide which would benefit me the most while the price is fair. Most I've ever spent on a video card was $250. So the thought of going into $400-600 range scares me a bit, but am willing to do it if it will allow me to enjoy higher graphic settings with higher FPS.

Help out a fellow gamer anyone?
 
I'd wait to see what Kepler in GK104GPU flavor at $299.99 looks like. It may be one of the best bang per buck cards in many years.

If you can't wait a good deal on a GTX 560ti 448 or a HD6950 offers alot of bang per buck.
 
Soyo13 said:
Originally planned to buy a gaming laptop but chooses not to due to the lack of future upgrades and I recently moved much closer to campus so don't need gaming laptop anymore.

So I'm looking into upgrading sometime within next few weeks. My mainboard support SLI so I can have two nVidia card or single AMD card. I currently have an Radeon HD 5670 and run my game at 1920x1080. It's getting old to be forced to lower the graphics quality for performance as I sit two feet front of a 40" screen.

I will be upgrading the mainboard, CPU, RAM, and getting dual SSD in Raid 0 after upgrading the video card.

I'm roaming allover the video card section at Newegg.com but cant decide which would benefit me the most while the price is fair. Most I've ever spent on a video card was $250. So the thought of going into $400-600 range scares me a bit, but am willing to do it if it will allow me to enjoy higher graphic settings with higher FPS.

Help out a fellow gamer anyone?
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Not sure if the absolutely best bang for bucks these days but it should come close:

Evga 560ti @Newegg for $255 after rebates.
 
Id say go for an amd 6950 2gb there about 240 to 270 and can play mostly any game on ultra, i have a sapphire 6950 2g dirt 3 edition and i can say i love it and want to xfire with another one, even though mine didnt unlock to a 6970 im still very satisfied, if your looking to go the whole way you can get a new 7950 and overclock with ease to 7970 clocks
 
At 1920x1080 you won't have to spend much more then you are used to in order to get a nice bump. Since you have a 5670 I'm assuming you upgrade every 2-3 years and will base my recommendations off of that.

A single video card is almost always going to be preferable to SLI or CF since both are buggy with new games.

If you go Nvidia the Geforce 560 TI or Geforce 560 TI 448 offers the best bang under $300.

If you go AMD the Radeon HD 6950 2GB offers the best bang under $300.

You may want to check the FS/FT forums as you can often get really good deals on cards that have transferable or remaining warranties and save yourself a few bucks over retail.
 
6870 is the best bang for the buck at 1080p. Awesome value at around $150.

The new 7950 is an impressive piece of technology and would be a good deal if it drops below $400 in the next month or two. Although it seems to be overkill for 1080p.
 
weuntouchable said:
At 1920x1080 you won't have to spend much more then you are used to in order to get a nice bump. Since you have a 5670 I'm assuming you upgrade every 2-3 years and will base my recommendations off of that.

A single video card is almost always going to be preferable to SLI or CF since both are buggy with new games.

If you go Nvidia the Geforce 560 TI or Geforce 560 TI 448 offers the best bang under $300.

If you go AMD the Radeon HD 6950 2GB offers the best bang under $300.

You may want to check the FS/FT forums as you can often get really good deals on cards that have transferable or remaining warranties and save yourself a few bucks over retail.
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a definate 'yuppers" to that reply

But ... You didn't mention what particular hardware you will be purchasing

Therefore, Blind Recommendation? MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin FrozR II/OC ... VERY nice card (massive cooler, built-in PCB anti-warp bracket, excellent build quality). Found one almost new on ebay for $190 shipped or this one is good too GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G

Either brand has warranty based on date of manufacture (MSI uses the four digits after the letter 'B' in the serial number and Gigabyte uses the first four digits of the serial number)

As weuntouchable said, you might find a good deal here
 
Soyo13 said:
I'm roaming allover the video card section at Newegg.com but cant decide which would benefit me the most while the price is fair. Most I've ever spent on a video card was $250. So the thought of going into $400-600 range scares me a bit, but am willing to do it if it will allow me to enjoy higher graphic settings with higher FPS.

Help out a fellow gamer anyone?
Click to expand...



Your title says "Most bang per buck?"

Did you mean that or you meant to post "Worst bang per buck?" because that is what you get in the $400~600 range. Best bang per buck is a mid-range or low end/mid range card on sale.
 
needmorecarnitine said:
Your title says "Most bang per buck?"

Did you mean that or you meant to post "Worst bang per buck?" because that is what you get in the $400~600 range. Best bang per buck is a mid-range or low end/mid range card on sale.
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I'm just saying that I'm willing to go higher than $250 if it offer the most bang per buck. I just want a card that will satisfy my need for more than a year or two.

I tend to buy the higher end card when they are a generation or two older. I got my previous Radeon x850XT PE @ $128 and Geforce 8800GT @ $179. Got my current HD5670 as warranty replacement for the 8800GT. So you can see I tend to let the price of the higher end card of that generation drops quite a lot before buying it.

I'm willing to blow a bit more money than usual now that I have more money to spare than i usually have.
 
you can pick up 6970 for $240 bucks on the forums, best bang for the buck if you don't mind second hand stuff
 
I'd say either a 6950 2GB or a GTX 560 Ti 448 Core. Little bit heavier on the buck, but also higher on the bang. Or a used 6970, if you can find one with a transferable warranty.
 
I got a 6950 2GB last month with the "backup bios switch" thing that unlocked the extra 6970 Shaders. Got it for $239 AR, now im BF3'n like a Boss.
 
My MSI TFII OC unlocked, and clocks easily to 925/1325 (not sure how much higher, havent really pushed it), im keeping temps under 70, so might get 930-935 out of it. I can go higher, but at whats the point?
 
Soyo13 said:
I'm just saying that I'm willing to go higher than $250 if it offer the most bang per buck. I just want a card that will satisfy my need for more than a year or two.
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Well you don't even have to spend $250 to get the most bang for the buck, like I posted above those are usually mid-range or low/mid-range cards that are somewhere in the $150 area.

You also want a card that will satisfy your need for more than a year or two. I don't know what your need is but that second statement sound like you want a high end card. The opposite of most bang for the buck. Maybe you should be a little bit more clear as to what you want because I see that from most of the recommendations here that most people don't understand what bang for the buck means (except for biggles and c5guy).


This is an example of bang for the buck calculations:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_560_Ti_448_Cores_Twin_Frozr_III/29.html


An example of what could possibly be the best bang for the buck card at the moment is this:

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-HD6770&c=CJ

$73 when used with code WALNUT. Its a 5770 so I don't know if you would consider that sufficient for you. Another example (already expired) is a refurb 560Ti that sold for $136 the other day (assuming you had the Newegg code). I've noticed that when someone asks for bang for the buck on Hardforum that most people have no idea what it is. They keep saying the same thing as if repeating it enough will make it true...
 
Thinking 68xx-69xx is going to be a sweet spot. especially with under 79xx series coming soon. I picked up a 6850 for 129.. Not bad, though i shoudl probably jump on that 6870 for 150.
 
Zohar78 said:
Thinking 68xx-69xx is going to be a sweet spot. especially with under 79xx series coming soon. I picked up a 6850 for 129.. Not bad, though i shoudl probably jump on that 6870 for 150.
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I agree. I stepped up to a 6870 from an 8800GT bought like 3 years ago. The card came with 3 free games and I paid $136. It runs everything I play on high settings. I'm sure a 6950 would play everything out there acceptably at 1080p but it's almost $100 more.

There are always new cards coming out but one or two generations back always seems to be the best deal from my perspective.
 
Probably the 6870 or the 5870, assuming you can find the latter. I bought mine for $150 and with a slight OC it performs as well as or better than a stock 6950. The 6870 lags behind the 5870 a bit but it's far more readily available so you won't have to go digging through strange e-tailers to find it.
 
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