Best ~$500 GPU Solution

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

Anniemoose98

Honorable
Dec 27, 2012
28
0
10,540
Hi All,

I am looking at a new GPU solution for myself. The 660 is getting a bit long in the tooth with certain high end games (I bought is as a mid-end solution when the 600 series came out, planning to SLI later...). I can no longer play the games I want with good graphics levels at decent FPS (Above 40).

I have about $500 to spend, considering I can sell my 660 for about $150 on ebay right now. I want the best performance and most "futureproofness" (I hate that word!) for the money. I am willing to do SLI as long as I get it from the get-go because I never did it last time. I would like to play games on high settings above 40 fps for at least a few years. I am also willing to go AMD/ATI if it gives the best bang to the buck to performance. So far I had looked at the 760 4gb SLI and the 770 4gb from Nvidia or the 7950 CFX and the 7970 GE from AMD. Yes, I do want the 4gb version even though I game at 1080p. I play heavily modded Skyrim which eats 2gb for lunch. I have an i5 3570k currently, but I might upgrade before I get rid of this GPU setup if Broadwell is decent.


Thanks,

AM98
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
aevm

aevm

Illustrious
May 18, 2007
11,974
0
41,960
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/06/25/nvidia-geforce-gtx-760-2gb-review/6

You don't need SLI or Crossfire for Skyrim at 1920x1080. Any of these cards can play it well (sorted here with the faster and more expensive first).

Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 4GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB
AMD Radeon HD 7990 6GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 3GB
AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition
Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB
AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with Boost
Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB
AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB

I think I'd pick the GTX 770 3GB or the HD 7970 3GB.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
3

34xdxd

Honorable
Jun 21, 2013
58
0
10,660
Hi,

I really would go with a MSI GTX 770 Lightning 3GB . I think this is the best option because it fits your budget, and it is one of the latest cards from NVidia. If you are playing hevy games as BF3 (or even if you want to play them in the future - BF4), Bioshock Infinite, Crysis 3 it will be enough to max out (1080p) and still be able to get 80-90 FPS on most games. It is an amazing card and I really recomend it for gaming (over AMD). However if you really want an AMD card, get the MSI or the Asus 7970 3GB. This is a very good card (altough I prefer NVidia I can still say that AMD has great cards) and will be able to max out all games at 1080p and get 75-80 FPS.
All in all, you have to choose between two great cards. I would get the 770 but it's your decision.

Hope I helped,

34xdxd
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

Anniemoose98

Honorable
Dec 27, 2012
28
0
10,540






Hi All,

Thanks for responding. Another question though, should I wait for the 9000 series? The rumored 9970 sounds like a beast for the rumored ~$550 price point. Plus, by then I will have more money to spend.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
inzone

inzone

Champion
Mar 12, 2011
14,971
1
51,960
I've yet to see a yet to be released component live up to it's rumored performance. There will always be a "New Video Card" or "New CPU" that's rumored to trash everything that' currently out but in reality when the new part is released it is an improvement but not by much.

Just look at what is still being sold and what the performance is of those parts when compared to one another in benchmarks. A good rule of thumb is to upgrade by two levels when you want to do an upgrade, so if you have a 560ti then you would be looking to go with Nvidia's next model (860Ti) ? If you had a 6850 then you would be looking to get AMDs next model release.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
3

34xdxd

Honorable
Jun 21, 2013
58
0
10,660


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
3

34xdxd

Honorable
Jun 21, 2013
58
0
10,660
Hi again,

I personally think you should not wait. Technology will progress and maybe, by the time the 9000 series comes out, the 800 series from NVidia may be around too. It's better to buy it now, cause the 9000 will be similar (in performance) to the 700 series.
Get it know, it's the best option.

Hope i Helped,

34xdxd
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
inzone

inzone

Champion
Mar 12, 2011
14,971
1
51,960
It's never a good idea to get a newly released video card since the drivers need time to mature and in most cases a new card has driver issues at first. I usually wait a few months for the drivers to straighten out before jumping on a new card.
With what's out now you know what the capabilities are and the drivers are good, AMD has finally started to address their frame rate latency lag issue and while it's not completely fixed it's much better.

Everybody has their own opinion and mine is that Nvidia has always had better drivers than ATI/Radeon/AMD. Your best option right now is the GTX 770 Classidied model from Evga that I posted previously. I recently had their 680 Classified (dual SLI) and can say from experience that there was nothing those cards couldn't do.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom