Upgrade from a GTX 260

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Thronsen

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Sep 2, 2009
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Hi there-

I bought a GTX 260 around 4 years ago. At the time it was a reasonably expensive card. I am looking to upgrade, mostly because I need an HDMI out. The performance of the GTX 260 is adequate for my uses (Starcraft 2), though a bit more performance is never a bad thing.

I have read the Tom's article about price to performance cards. Im wondering though at what price will I get a card equal to or better then my current GTX 260. While the GTX 260 was expensive when it came out, I appreciate how fast hardware improves, and imagine cheaper cards bought today would be suitable.

Thanks,
 
Solution
Avro Arrow

Don't worry about the PCI-Express version being 2.0. Hell, all current AMD-based motherboards are PCI-Express 2.0 but since PCI-Express is backwards-compatible, there are no issues. Also, PCI-Express 3.0 currently offers no performance advantage over 2.0 because the cards currently can't use more bandwidth than PCI-Express 2.0...
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mcdonh

mcdonh

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Nvidia is currently up to the GTX 700 series, you are a little behind :D Probably get something like the GTX 660 ti to suit your needs at a low price. Make sure you have PCI 3.0* slots on your mobo though :D
 
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thismafiaguy

thismafiaguy

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How much money do you want to spend on a new card? For a good mid-range card, take a look at the GTX 760 or the Radeon 7950, they are mid-$250 and will be plenty of power to play most modern games on high settings.
 
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Thronsen

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Thanks for all the helpful replies. My motherboard, and indeed everything else in the PC is also 4 years old (bar the SSD system drive and the i7-970 hexcore).

I was trying to target under $200, but Im not particularly price sensitive if there are gains to stretching the budget.

I am now worried though that my current system is not compatible with newer cards. My motherboard certainly predates PCI 3.
 
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Avro Arrow

Avro Arrow

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Don't worry about the PCI-Express version being 2.0. Hell, all current AMD-based motherboards are PCI-Express 2.0 but since PCI-Express is backwards-compatible, there are no issues. Also, PCI-Express 3.0 currently offers no performance advantage over 2.0 because the cards currently can't use more bandwidth than PCI-Express 2.0 already provides. If you want equal to your GTX 260, that's easy. I ran two HD 4870s in crossfire for almost 5 years. Since the HD 4870 and GTX 260 traded blows, I know what you're looking at. To equal the power of the GTX 260, you're looking at no more than a Radeon HD 7770. They cost around $100. At $200 or less, you're looking at the HD 7870. Currently the Powercolor HD 7870 2GB is $200 but you get a $30 mail-in rebate. That's about as good as it gets right now. The nice thing is that you also get two free games with it. That's the reason I chose my HD 7970s over R9-280Xs. The games were so worth it because they're actually top-shelf modern games! Here's the card:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131473
And just to really set your mind at ease, my motherboard is AMD-based and has only PCI-Express 2.0 but my twin Radeon HD 7970s run flawlessly in crossfire even though they are PCI-Express 3.0 cards. It's really no problem at all. Remember, right now video cards only really use the bandwith of a single PCI-Express 2.0 slot at x8 speed. My motherboard runs PCI-Express 2.0 at x16/x16 which is double what the cards need and is equal to PCI-Express 3.0 x8/x8 which is all that is available on the market now. So it's all a bunch of BS to begin with.
Hope this helps you! :D
 
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Solution
coozie7

coozie7

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Jun 2, 2007
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Don't play it myself but years ago it seemed SC hated AMD hardware-particularly if AA was enabled. It's probably been patched out by now but I'll restrict my suggestion to the Nvidia GTX650 Ti although you could opt for the non Ti version which will be more of a direct replacement than upgrade: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32803-7.html
Top cards within budget: R9 270x or GTX660, but keep an eye out for specials.
Avro Arrow makes plenty of good points on PCI-E slot compatibility.
Some might mention the PSU, don't worry, if it's running a GTX260 it'll handle any sub $200 card out there.
 
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Avro Arrow

Avro Arrow

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Starcraft 2 is actually pretty easy to run. I ran that game a long time ago perfectly with my two Radeon HD 4870s. I probably would have gotten better frame rates with a GeForce card but optimizations can easily be overcome with brute force and graphics horsepower. Today, all cards have an easy time with Starcraft 2.
 
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