Need Help deciding on a GPU

R9 270x is a good pick but your cpu might bottleneck it so you can buy R9 270x and upgrade your cpu step by step

If you overclock Q6600 to 3.6GHZ it will work on 100% load and still bottleneck R9 270x so..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4V5o56Trf4

I recommend upgrading cpu/mobo, ram (I guess you have 2x2GB 1333MHz or lower) when you get money, but for now you can buy R9 270x

the iceq r9 270x would be the clear choice here as it outperforms the other two cards listed.. it will be much better for any given game

comment deleted. (redundant)

R9 280 3GB VRAM $173
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9280gaming3g

to be honest your cpu will never push a 750i to it's limits.

i agree with you that the CPU is way weak but it s worth to give it a try especially if he get GTX 750 ti . But wait , DirectX 12 is coming and Mantle is yet here - they are promising miracles !

it depends on what you will be using the card for .. if you plan to play games at 720p resolutions then you will be fine however if you pl;an to play at full 1080 a more powerful card will be needed .. for 1080 i suggest a 770 or above..

i would suggest saphire or evga as they have the best cooling sytems available

i lke this with 640 CUDA cores
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487024&cm_re=gtx_750_ti-_-14-487-024-_-Product

CUDA cores of NVIDIA and shaders of AMD are the stream processors that execute the graphics operations

from an article :

Shaders, which are components of your computer's graphics card or chipset, primarily calculate how 3-D objects should appear: their color, their appearance and the way light reflects off them. There are three distinct types of shader, which combine to form a shader model. These models run under either the Direct3D or OpenGL engine, depending on your system, and help make modern-day video games look as realistic as possible. Have a question? Get an answer from online tech support now!

Starting at the Vertex

Vertex shaders handle object colors, textures and positions. This is the most fundamental type of shader and the one that provides the basic building blocks of what's on screen -- vertex shaders work out the location of 3-D objects on screen based on the information received from the software, whether your video game character is racing cars or running through a jungle. Once these shaders have calculated the color and geometry of the scene, the data is passed to the other shaders for further processing.

The Geometric Angle

Geometry shaders focus specifically on the depth and realism of a three-dimensional scene. The more powerful these shaders are, the more the computer graphics look like real life rather than a computer-generated simulation. If required, geometry shaders can create new points and objects in a scene to complement the data pulled from the vertex shaders. This shader is newer than the other two and helps with tilted objects and creating new particles and sprites to add to the overall effect of a scene.

Worth a Thousand Pixels

Pixel shaders round off the work done by the vertex and geometry shaders, adding even more complex effects such as realistic lighting and texture. The pixel shaders determine exactly how each pixel should appear given the variables of the scene (hence the name). The pixel shaders allow for uneven surfaces and additional depth, which again add to the cinematic feel of a video game and add to the groundwork put in place by the previous stages. The pixel shaders do not change object positions or coordinates, but instead focus on color and lighting. Unused pixels can be discarded from memory if necessary.

Piecing it Together

The shader model combines the three different types of shader -- vertex, geometry and pixel -- into one whole, which is then optimized for whichever type of graphics engine is being used (Direct3D or OpenGL). The instructions for all the shaders are merged into one instruction set, improving the efficiency of the process and the performance of the application in question. The independent processors built into a modern graphics card can handle any type of shader calculations, making it easier for the workload to be evenly distributed and managed.