$250 Or Less GPU Upgrade

rhodesgamer · Jan 4, 2014

System Specs:

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77 -V Pro
Ram: G.Skill Ripjaw 2 x 4 GB
Processor: i5-3570K @ 3.4
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1 GB OC
PSU: Seasonic M12ii 620W (just a note here, I'm planning to upgrade my PSU here pretty soon http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139044 something like this)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2

So as the title says I'm preferably looking for a sizeable upgrade for under $250, but if spending a little extra is worth it please don't hesitate to give those suggestions as well. I really want the card to have good cooling, so 2 fans or more. Also as my case is a mid-tower at the moment I can only support a card at max maybe 11.5" as far as I'm aware so nothing too big.

I don't care if it's NVIDIA or AMD, drivers are so easy to uninstall and replace nowadays you can do it in your sleep.

But really I want the meat to play all the delicious looking games coming in 2014 at high settings at 1080p like Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Division to name a few that look really good so far.

I've noticed that the AMD R9 270's and 270X's are getting really good hype lately. But can I go bigger is the question?

Crossfiring/SLI is comething I definitely want to dip into in the future as well. I'll be purchasing this upgrade within the next month, and I live in the US if that helps! Thank you.

jaredseg · Jan 4, 2014

Completely maxing out might be a bit difficult at 250.

KiloWolf · Jan 4, 2014

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=02G-P4-2763-KR or as the guy above me said the 660ti

jaredseg · Jan 4, 2014

Yeah 660ti is good but it might be pushing it. And sorry I edited that out kilowolf XD

gkay09 · Jan 4, 2014

How about this idea -

No need to upgrade the PSU for now, and get this card instead. Mite become a bit cheaper by the time you buy.
GTX 770
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-5.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125463

A single card solution, and by the time you would want to upgrade again, the prices would have come down quiet a bit.
Also you current PSU would easily handle this card.

Finair14 · Jan 4, 2014

Hello
I have seen the gtx 760 on amazon for around 250 and that is a very strong card for gaming and will be able to get very high settings and the 760 is probably the best performing card for 250 on the market.

Archie Griffs · Jan 4, 2014

Max settings for 2014 games might be pushing it, I recommend going into the 300$ range if you really want to enjoy max quality and have some room for max quality in the future. In your case especially forking up another 50$ will keep you from upgrading your GPU, and is really worth it.
I think this benchmark really demonstrates well how much saving up another 50$ will do for you:
http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page2.html
32 FPS with the 7850
42 FPS with the 270x (220$)
55 FPS with the 280x (300$ when it goes back to MSRP price or through this site http://www.shopblt.com/search/order_id=%2521ORDERID%2521&s_max=25&t_all=1&s_all=r9+280x)
42 FPS which you'd end up getting on that particular game, maybe slightly less because you're playing 1080p and not 1050 like that benchmark is the difference between a smooth gameplay and very smooth gameplay, and a lot more room and time to have better FPS so you end up spending money later than you would have with the 270x.

rhodesgamer · Jan 4, 2014

Yeah Max settings would be stretching it. Updated the post.

KiloWolf · Jan 4, 2014

Really $250 should be more then fine for now. Even with my everyday computer running a evga 650ti oc 2gb edition at I think I picked it up for $129 I play everything on the market great, and the only thing that gets to it right now is battlefield 4 and that's played on high at 63fps so yeah, $250 should run you fine. And that is without overclocking more then evga did stock

rhodesgamer · Jan 4, 2014

gkay09 :

Power calculator says you'd probably want a power supply with a wattage of 650 on one site, 580 on another, to run my setup with a 770 in it. Color me confused.

rhodesgamer · Jan 4, 2014

Archie Griffs :

Max settings for 2014 games might be pushing it, I recommend going into the 300$ range if you really want to enjoy max quality and have some room for max quality in the future. In your case especially forking up another 50$ will keep you from upgrading your GPU, and is really worth it.
I think this benchmark really demonstrates well how much saving up another 50$ will do for you:
http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page2.html
32 FPS with the 7850
42 FPS with the 270x (220$)
55 FPS with the 280x (300$ when it goes back to MSRP price or through this site http://www.shopblt.com/search/order_id=%2521ORDERID%2521&s_max=25&t_all=1&s_all=r9+280x)
42 FPS which you'd end up getting on that particular game, maybe slightly less because you're playing 1080p and not 1050 like that benchmark is the difference between a smooth gameplay and very smooth gameplay, and a lot more room and time to have better FPS so you end up spending money later than you would have with the 270x.

GGrrr the 280x looks really tasty. I'm just really bad at waiting.

rhodesgamer · Jan 4, 2014

KiloWolf :

Is it just me, or are the pickings for the 660 ti really sparse? And I'm looking at prices and benchmarks and it seems like the 760 is a cut above that.

gkay09 · Jan 4, 2014

rhodesgamer :

Seasonic 620W is a pretty good PSU.
IMO it will be able to run that setup without any issues.
In TOMs here they say a min 600W
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-5.html

Stiakas · Jan 4, 2014

I would go with a gtx 760 for Nvidia or with an r9 270x lighting edition for AMD both cost about the same 230-260$
(I currently have an r9 280x asus and i bought it 300 dollars and i play bf4 or full everything at 55-65 fps depenting on the map)

rhodesgamer · Jan 4, 2014

So we have the 760, 770, and R9 270x/280x so far. The last two require a little bit more money. So which one should I get is the question.

rhodesgamer · Jan 5, 2014

Ok, so I've got it down to the 770 or 280x. Any suggestions for which one? And after that are there any particular brands that are better than the other in terms of coolings and performance?

Archie Griffs · Jan 5, 2014

280x because you hypothetically should be able to get it for much cheaper (check the think I provided earlier) and is a bit better than the 770 at the moment.
I really wanted the Sapphire Toxic before I decided to bite the bullet and get a R9 290 instead, I've heard it runs really smoothly and the fan is fantastic, though it's an enthusiast card so it's quite a bit more expensive than some of the other cards. Try and get the Vapor X if you want something cheaper. Keep in mind the MSRP price for 280xs are 300-360$, really try not to spend more than 380$ for one, otherwise it's a pretty big rip off (looking at you newegg).

Out of all of them though, and one that isn't too expensive this is the one I recommend: http://www.shopblt.com/item/asus-r9280x-dc2t-3gd5-radeon-r9-280x-pcie/asus_r9280xdc2t3gd5.html
Toxic or Vapor X are excellent choices, but you're already ending up with a better card than you were intending to buy, any 280x will be a world of difference.

rhodesgamer · Jan 6, 2014

Archie Griffs :

I've looked around, and it seems like people are experiencing artifacting with the Asus cards. Do you have any insight on this? If it's a big enough problem I'd probably want to go with a different manufacturer.

Archie Griffs · Jan 7, 2014

rhodesgamer :

That means it's either overclocked too much or defective. You should be able to RMA it and either get it repaired or get a new one. If the second one comes back and is still artifcating I would return it rather than get it repaired/replaced as they'll start sending you refurbished cards and at that point it's just a mess.

I honestly haven't heard much about the artifacting, that's a terrible problem to have. I would read reviews for all the cards you are interested in on Newegg and decide that way. I wish I knew more about the 280x, but I'm trying to avoid researching it more than I already have so I don't get tempted to buy a lower performance card than what I had originally planned for.

All these brands are solid though: XFX, Sapphire, ASUS and MSI I would start with those brands, and if you're avoiding ASUS for the artifacting problems you've been hearing about, then cross that off the list, not every brand can get it right with every card.

rhodesgamer · Jan 9, 2014

Archie Griffs :

That means it's either overclocked too much or defective. You should be able to RMA it and either get it repaired or get a new one. If the second one comes back and is still artifcating I would return it rather than get it repaired/replaced as they'll start sending you refurbished cards and at that point it's just a mess.

I honestly haven't heard much about the artifacting, that's a terrible problem to have. I would read reviews for all the cards you are interested in on Newegg and decide that way. I wish I knew more about the 280x, but I'm trying to avoid researching it more than I already have so I don't get tempted to buy a lower performance card than what I had originally planned for.

All these brands are solid though: XFX, Sapphire, ASUS and MSI I would start with those brands, and if you're avoiding ASUS for the artifacting problems you've been hearing about, then cross that off the list, not every brand can get it right with every card.

Alright, fair enough. Thank you my friend.

$250 Or Less GPU Upgrade

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