Video card recommendation for i5-2500k? Budget $150 - $200

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brinstar117

Limp Gawd
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I have a new system (new to me) with the following specs:

Intel i5-2500k @ 3.3GHz (stock)
Radeon HD 4870 512MB
Biostar TZ77A
16GB DDR3 1333MHz
SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W
2 160GB Intel X25-m SSD
Hitatchi 2TB

I really don't game much anymore. I used to be really happy with my Radeon 4870 in my old Q6600 since everything was so quiet. I didn't realize how much my old CPU was holding back my 4870. Now that the 4870 is in my new computer it runs full speed and thus runs hot with a very loud fan blasting all the time under load. The performance on my 4870 is pretty much fine for what I play but the noise is really bothering me.

The main criteria for a new video card is silence or near silence under load. I would like it to run cool and quiet. The most demanding games I will play are Civilization V, Saints Row 3, and probably Company of Heroes 2 when I get it. I would like to play at 1920x1080 with max settings but I don't mind scaling down image settings at all.

My budget is $150 - $200 but would rather stay around $150 or even less. I have no preference between Nvidia or AMD. I would rather have a brand with a decent warranty and easy RMA service. Thanks!
 
Gtx 660 or 7850. Both would give you a nice bump in performance and run off a single 6pin. A twin frzr of either one might be good.
 
If you want to go below $150, might want to consider the 650ti boost or 7850 1gb versions. Pretty good performance for their price.
 
I vote for a 7870. Even maybe you could find a great deal on a 7950...
 
Araxie said:
I vote for a 7870. Even maybe you could find a great deal on a 7950...
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^^IMO this. Hopefully we will be seeing more sales on the 7950's in the coming weeks. Week before last they had the MSI 7950 with the Never Settle Forever Bundle + Crysis 3 for $179 AR. They are still having deals on them while not that good, if you are willing to wait you might be able to pick one up in the near future well within your budget. You would be fine with a lot less but just with those deals going on I think they are the best bang for the buck in that price range.

Just my $.02 if you are willing to wait and watch deals.
 
Although you didn't state so outright, I'll assume you are averse to buying used so...
If you go lower in price, make sure it's at least 2gb, not a 1gb no matter what @1080p.
With the Gtx 760 launched, I have seen them as low as $220 A/R. 7950's are wonderful @ $200 usually A/R, Asus, Msi, Sapphire for me. Bad luck with Gigabyte quality and Rma service in my experience.
Going lower, imo, 7870 or Gtx 660, don't go lower as soon they will start to show their age more so and can well be had for about $160.
And lastly try used on [H]ardforum or elsewhere! Many great deals to be had, look hard and for sellers with reputation and ask questions if you do! GL
 
Check out a 7790 if you want more efficiency, with a decent performance boost over your 4870.
 
Try and find a good deal on a 7950, you should be able to find one for under 200 and it will blow away anything listed here.
 
OP states quiet is more important then performance. Everyone here knows 7950 is best bang for the buck right now. But most air cooled iterations are also hot and loud under load.
 
This one. $199.99 after rebate. That's less than $200.

Voltage unlocked so you can both run cooler and OC at the same time. I have a few of them and once dialed in they never crash.

They're pretty quiet if you set the fan to 40-50%.
 
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7870/79XX you can generally oc the snot out of 7870's so if you are looking to save a bit more money look for a good 7870. If you get lucky enough to find one the vortex II (i have one) has some nifty manually adjusted fans that are damn near silent and cool like crazy. I got 1270mhz on the core. I can't wait until winter when the house will cool way down.
 
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Botton of budget: 650 Ti boost 2Gb
Top of budget 7950.

A 7950 has 3 free games is a card that will use all the potential of you CPU. be smart and maximize your money's worth. The 650 ti boost can be SLIed for better than GTX770 performance.
 
Come to think of it since you say the card you have now is fine other than the noise I'd pick out a gtx650 ti. There are quiet ones(read the reviews on newegg) and the power draw is far less than, approximately 50-80 watts less when gaming than yours and the card is more powerful, anywhere from 5 to 40 FPS more depending on the game. I can't see how you wouldn't be happy with it.

I like this card but I am a hardcore gamer so I might go up a bit. $130. I have a 550 ti now and play black ops 1080p at 40-90 FPS and its' slower than the 650 ti. You'd be fine and could save $$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500286
 
If you want to go a little higher than $200 a GTX 760 isn't a bad option. Just installed a EVGA Superclocked and it runs great compared to my previous 6850. It's so damn quiet it's insane compared to my previous card. I did also change my case from a really old Acer to a Fractal Design R4, so that helped a lot with the noise also. I still get confused thinking it's off when its not.
 
Another 7950 vote, bang for the buck there's no competition. Just make sure to get one with decent cooling, none of this single fan in the middle of the card BS.
 
Why the 7870 recommendations when 7950s are now so close to or sitting on $200?
 
a 7950 can be had for 200. i saw one at 170 AMIR which is insane.

cant believe 660 and 7850 suggestions are in here.



get a 7950
 
Sometimes you'll find a 7950 for $200. Otherwise, 7870 would do the trick. I will add that the 7850 is probably the best bang for the buck since you can find them for $150 regularly and they kick out some strong frame rates.
 
iRUSH said:
Sometimes you'll find a 7950 for $200. Otherwise, 7870 would do the trick. I will add that the 7850 is probably the best bang for the buck since you can find them for $150 regularly and they kick out some strong frame rates.
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I would agree with this. If even $150 is stretching your budget, the 7790's run around $120 or so. A 7850 runs around $160ish. The 7870's are up in the $190-200 range, and if you go that high, you might as well shell out the extra $30 or so and get a 7950. After the various driver updates since its release, and at its current price point, the 7950 is a GREAT value. It's not the quietest thing around(depending on brand), but it doesn't sound like the games you play are gonna push it too hard, so the fans probably won't spin up all that much. Besides, when you're not gaming, it'll be plenty quiet.

But based on your original post, my guess is the 7850 is probably right at the sweet spot for you, unless you're planning to get into more current/demanding games in the near future.
 
If the OP is happy with 4870 performance, I think 7950 is going to be way overkill. Yes they are priced nicely now and are a good value, but why pay for more than you need? If he needs 7950 performance a year or 2 from now, it will definitely be cheaper then.

A 7790 can be had for around $120 new, $100 or less used. Performance is a couple notches higher than a 4870 on tomshardware, and it is one of the most energy efficient cards out there (at least that's what the bitminers seem to be saying).

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
 
dremic said:
a 7950 can be had for 200. i saw one at 170 AMIR which is insane.

cant believe 660 and 7850 suggestions are in here.

get a 7950
Click to expand...

This....nothing comes close for price/performance. Be a little patient, do a little research and a dual fan 7950 can be had for $180.
 
dremic said:
a 7950 can be had for 200. i saw one at 170 AMIR which is insane.

cant believe 660 and 7850 suggestions are in here.



get a 7950
Click to expand...

You would believe it if you actually bothered to read the OP's post. He wants cool and quiet over fps. 7950 is best bang for the buck but it is also an absolute pig compared to Pitcairn. And that $170 card you were talking about is a MSI POS with no heatpipes and a single fan. My friend got one before returning it and he had to max out the fan to stay in the mid 80c range under load.
 
tosgamer said:
You would believe it if you actually bothered to read the OP's post. He wants cool and quiet over fps. 7950 is best bang for the buck but it is also an absolute pig compared to Pitcairn. And that $170 card you were talking about is a MSI POS with no heatpipes and a single fan. My friend got one before returning it and he had to max out the fan to stay in the mid 80c range under load.
Click to expand...

Or he could be talking about this one that I just purchased a couple weeks back for 179 AR w/4 game codes.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667

For that price point I don't think anything can come near it. But like you said it is somewhat noisy(I haven't tried adjusting it yet though so it might go quieter) and doesn't fit what the OP wants.
 
I have a Radeon 7850(w/i3 2120) and Geforce GTX-660(w/i5 2500k) in my HTPCs and both are wonderful. I play Metro Last Light on them at max settings on both(normal Physx though on the GTX660 and Off on the 7850). Played Saints Row IV across both very well. I would recommend either. But considering that now the 7950's can be found as low as $185(after MiR), as long as your case is well ventilated you should be pretty good with it. I did use a Radeon 7870-Tahiti (very similar to a Radeon 7950) in my HTPCs for a while but found they got way to hot. I found the GTX660 and Radeon 7850 to be a good blend of thermals and performance. If you want to spend closer to $150, I wouldn't go much lower than the GTX650 Ti w/Boost!(worst name ever) which can be found as low $140 (after MiR), which is a very good card and performs closer to the GTX660 than the 7790 does to the 7850, which in that price class makes it the best deal if you want to spend as little as possible and get the best for your buck. Considering you'd be happier with a linear performance difference from the Radeon 4870, the GTX650 Ti w/Boost! would actually provide you a noticeable performance boost, a GTX650 Ti w/Boost! might be perfect match.

Check how close it performs to the GTX660

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/783?vs=782

Now check how the Radeon 4870 performs to the GTX660

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/513?vs=660

It'd be a pretty be leap for you.

I found this one, while it has 3 Stars, I've had good times with EVGA and when I did have problems they were awesome with RMAs (a bum GTX460 a while back).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130914
 
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Thanks for all of the recommendations everyone. I will most likely wait a bit as it sounds like some price drops might be coming soon. I'll keep an eye out for the models listed, a 7790 or the GTX650 Ti that Rauelius recommended.

The 7950 is mighty tempting but I really am a stickler about noise. If it's significantly quieter than a 4870 I will definitely want to check it out. I have a pretty good case with sound dampening panels so I'll have to see what the reviews say about 7950 noise.

I am not adverse to buying used but I have had bad luck with video cards on my last motherboard where I have had a 7600GS, 7600GT, 7900GS OC, 8800GT, and a 9800GT all die on me. The 9800GT was a warranty replacement but none of them lasted for much more than a year. All were brand new retail to begin with too!
 
brinstar117 said:
The 7950 is mighty tempting but I really am a stickler about noise. If it's significantly quieter than a 4870 I will definitely want to check it out. I have a pretty good case with sound dampening panels so I'll have to see what the reviews say about 7950 noise.
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This is entirely dependent on the heat sink design. The 7950's often referred as "base" or "core" models (1, 2, 3), with a single fan in the center are terrible.


If noise is a significant factor, there's a couple stellar options at the $199AR price point:
Powercolor PCS+
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7950_PCS_Plus/26.html


Gigabyte 7950 WindForce 3
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...rce-msi-hd-7950-twin-frozr-iii-review-18.html
 
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