What's the current midrange-budget cards these days?

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sup3rcarrx7

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I've been out of the game for maybe 2 years or more and the most recent video cards i've used are the gtx260 and a 9600gt. I've sold my 9600gt recently though and was wondering what the new mid-range cards are on the market. I'm looking to spend under $130. Thanks!
 
at that price range the 5770 is the king. (you will have to work a little to find it under 130) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161338&cm_re=5770-_-14-161-338-_-Product this is 130 after the rebate. this would be the dx11 card.

here is an older card the 4870 but actually faster then the above (DX10.1 though) for 90 dollars after a 30 dollar rebate (142 shipped - 30 = 112) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...lickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16814121376 excellent deal.

Nvidia does not have a decent offering at that price point. the closest is a GTS250 (rebadged 9800GTX) for 113 AR (142 shipped - 30 dollar rebate) DX10 card. the 4870 or the 5770 walks over it. the next viable Nvidia card here i the GTX460 and it starts at 200 to 260.
 
Cool thanks guys! Are the power requirement alot higher for the 5770 and 4870 coming from the 9600gt? I think right now there's a OCZ 700W in the system and i haven't decided yet on the new cpu/ram/mobo yet either.
 
sup3rcarrx7 said:
Cool thanks guys! Are the power requirement alot higher for the 5770 and 4870 coming from the 9600gt? I think right now there's a OCZ 700W in the system and i haven't decided yet on the new cpu/ram/mobo yet either.
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Yes it's a lot higher. The HD 5770 uses roughly 108W whereas the 9600GT only uses 62W at full load. The HD 4870 uses roughly 155W at full load.

Oh and make sure that your total power usage is less than 500W. Otherwise, you'll run into issues with that OCZ 700W ($10 says it's a GameXStream or ModXStream Pro)
 
If you can find a GTX 260 for around 130 (and there's been a couple sales of them below that) it is by far your best buy, even used or refurbished. NVIDIA doesn't have much price-performance in that price range, if you can stomach ATI's drivers and general unreliability then the 5770 is the clear winner for that price (assuming you can't find the GTX 260).

Read Newegg user reviews of 5770, 5850, 5870, and 5970 models if you want to put your finger in the wind re: ATI right about now.
 
Great i might as well sell my OCZ and get a Corsair or something instead. I'll see what's available in the older gen nVidia cards then. Oh yeah is the 5570 and 4870 just as big as the nvidia gtx260 or the 9600gt? I wouldn't mind having a smaller card in my case for a change ha.
 
sup3rcarrx7 said:
Great i might as well sell my OCZ and get a Corsair or something instead. I'll see what's available in the older gen nVidia cards then. Oh yeah is the 5570 and 4870 just as big as the nvidia gtx260 or the 9600gt? I wouldn't mind having a smaller card in my case for a change ha.
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The HD 5570 is a crappy card. However I think you meant the HD 5770.

The HD 5770 and the HD 4870 are shorter than the GTX 260. The HD 5770 is 8.5" whereas the HD 4870 is 9.5". Compare that to the GTX 260's 10.5" length.
 
yup, 5770 was first to come to mind. Basically the 4870, 4890, or 5770 will work; however, the 4890 might be out of your budget since they're not as common now.
 
I'd put a little effort into trying to find a 4890 for $110-$130 if I was you. For instance I bought one two months ago for $130 but ended up not needing it (I was doing reviews of GTX 465, then GTX 460) and resold if for $10 less. Due to its memory interface and overall bandwidth, a 4890 really feels like a strong card in most games still, and even keeps up with an HD 5830 and GTX 460/465 in a lot of benchmarks/games.
 
The refrence 4890s could also overclock quite a bit too; I've seen some reach 1ghz on the core clock.
 
I don't plan to overclock my cards excessively, but maybe a little won't hurt. Looks like newegg has a 48hr sale going on but it's on a 5500 though. =/
 
I'm very impressed with my current hd 5770. the thing's currently running 1000mhz core and 1420mhz memory (even has a bit of head room still XD ) and does very well in games at my current native resolution of 1680x1050. still goofing off with it but I was able to run crysis benchmark 1680x1050, high settings, x16 msa with fps of; low 24.6, high 45.8, average 40.7 after running 20 loops.

if you do plan on a bit of overclocking make sure to look for one with a reference design to allow for core voltage tweaking.
 
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If you can wait a few more weeks the nvidia 450 should hit the market real soon. If anything it will drive 5770 prices down even further
 
Dosobye said:
If you can wait a few more weeks the nvidia 450 should hit the market real soon. If anything it will drive 5770 prices down even further
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I can certainly do that. Does the nvidia 450 come out later this month or next month? I can probably use a spare 5450 lying around my room somewhere for the time being.
 
It was expected in August but I think the last time fudzilla mentioned it, he said September. It might not be faster than the 5770 but at least you will be able to see comparisons. Might drop the prices on the 5770 also.

You do realize that a 5770 will be about the same as a GTX 260, right?
 
needmorecarnitine said:
It was expected in August but I think the last time fudzilla mentioned it, he said September. It might not be faster than the 5770 but at least you will be able to see comparisons. Might drop the prices on the 5770 also.

You do realize that a 5770 will be about the same as a GTX 260, right?
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Yeah its expected to come out in Sept.
And he is right the 5770 is similar to a 260.
 
Either way i'm still going to wait a little bit since the ati has some things i like such as smaller size and less power requirements (or is it? i'm not sure if anyone answered that question yet)
 
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