Graphics Card @ ~£150 for 1920x1080

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
T

tomengland

Distinguished
Oct 11, 2011
30
0
18,530
Hi,

I am going to be updating my PC to an X99 motherboard (new build) next year when the technology and price of the boards and DDR4 settle down.

In the meantime I would like to upgrade my graphics card... but I have been out of the loop for a bit and am not sure what to go for.

Here are my criteria:
* Forward compatible
* Capable of SLI (not sure I will be doing it, but would like the option)
* Up to £150

Info:
* I don't play massively taxing games. Mainly Warframe, bit of Far Cry 3.
* I run my set up in 1920x1080 single monitor

My PC:
* Core2duo 2.4ghz
* RAM: 6gb (DDR2)
* GPU: GT 630
* PSU: 650w
* Win8.1 pro 64bit
* Motherboard: MSI - MS-7519

I would prefer a Nvida card as I have always used them, but would be persuaded otherwise.

Thank you in advance.

 
Solution
chris987
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/VPyjGX/by_merchant/
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£159.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £159.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-25 09:47 BST+0100

the extra 1gb of vram will make a difference in the future but still will be just a mediocre gpu at a years time. an i7 4790(k) will be a better pair with r9 280 and generally a more balanced gaming system. better have an even better gpu rather thn having an intel 6core for just gaming.
Sort by date Sort by votes
chris987

chris987

Judicious
Jun 10, 2013
4,467
0
33,760
£150 gpu is out of the question. your cpu cant handle any gpu of such price range without resulting in severe bottleneck! or sli also due to mobo limitation.! on the other hand a £50 gpu could be an option but wont be much of an upgrade! better be patient... till next year!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
coozie7

coozie7

Champion
Jun 2, 2007
10,015
10
59,215
Good news, with the release of the new GTX9xx cards, the prices of the GTX760/770 and even 780 have dropped through the floor so there is currently quite a few GTX760s out there at, or just under, £150!
Look here: Dabs, Overclockers, CCL, Aria, Scan, Novatech, Ebuyer, Pixmania and the omnipotent amazon (amongst others).
Don't expect an old dual core CPU to run that calibre of card to its fullest, though, you'd probably be better off going for a GTX750 class of card: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

tomengland

Distinguished
Oct 11, 2011
30
0
18,530
Thanks for the replies!
Sorry I should have made clear: I want to drop the card into my new rig next year. I know it will bottleneck etc. in my current one.
760 looks good. I can be slightly flexible with the £150 if there is a card with a jump in performance near that price point?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
chris987

chris987

Judicious
Jun 10, 2013
4,467
0
33,760
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/VPyjGX/by_merchant/
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£159.99 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £159.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-25 09:47 BST+0100

the extra 1gb of vram will make a difference in the future but still will be just a mediocre gpu at a years time. an i7 4790(k) will be a better pair with r9 280 and generally a more balanced gaming system. better have an even better gpu rather thn having an intel 6core for just gaming.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
coozie7

coozie7

Champion
Jun 2, 2007
10,015
10
59,215
There's not a huge difference between the GTX760 and R9 280 in overall performance, the main advantage of the AMD card is, as Chris987 says, the extra memory, already there is games out there that can use all that VRAM, so from a long term perspective it's a better option.
Don't think the R9 280/GTX760 are slow cards either, they're not, driven by a stock (I'll OC later ;) ) i5 4690K my HD7950 (the previous name for the R9 280) setup can run even taxing games like FC3 and Metro LL at high settings very smoothly on a single 1080 display.
A year in PC time is a very long time, we've yet to see the new Maxwell cored mid range cards from Nvidia (GTX960 perhaps?) or AMDs reply to their recently released GTX970/980 so by the time you come to carry out the new build the graphics card landscape will be totally different.
To be honest I think you'll be better off with a lesser upgrade now, then get a much better, stronger performing card later rather than spending on a card you already know is a generation out of date.
The GTX750 (non Ti) or AMD R7 260X should fit your system with minimum restrictions and without breaking the bank.
If you do decide to get a more expensive card now. then carry it over, right at this moment in time, I'll happily suggest the R9 280 over the GTX760.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
T

tomengland

Distinguished
Oct 11, 2011
30
0
18,530
Thank you all for your replies. The last two posters were particularly helpful! I shall either go r9 280, or a cheaper card and upgrade again in a couple of years. I'll mull that one over today.
 
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