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Budget gaming graphics card?

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  • Gaming
  • Graphics Cards
  • Graphics
  • New Build
Last response: in Systems
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October 17, 2014 5:02:18 PM

I need some help picking a graphics card. I have about $160 left to spend and I can't go much more than that but I want to get the best performance card I can for that much. I'll list the parts I'm planning on getting. The total budget is about $800.

AMD FX-6300
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1866MHz
Rosewill Hive 550W Modular power supply
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 120GB SSD
Seagate Barracude 1TB
Asus Black 24X DVD burner
Cooler Master Seidon 120M Liquid CPU cooler
Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid tower
4xRosewill 120mm case fans

More about : budget gaming graphics card

a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:11:02 PM

I would have to say the R9 270X, but given your budget, a MUCH better Intel system can be gotten.
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October 17, 2014 5:15:46 PM

I got my r9 270x TOXIC for 150 dollars on eBay, it was installed and used for only a couple of hours. I saw a guy selling something similar. People told me that you cannot trust used cards but i took a risk and now it is great, the card is working and is very powerful. If you want you can consider this option. Good Luck.
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October 17, 2014 5:21:32 PM

zeyuanfu said:
I would have to say the R9 270X, but given your budget, a MUCH better Intel system can be gotten.


My roommate has a intel rig and he spend over $1200 on it. I think he said that he had a last generation i5 but I can't really remember what he said it was. Kinda sounded like some sort of plant.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:22:46 PM

This would be the build I'd get for 811$ (I hope you can spare 11$:) ):
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($187.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($345.66 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $811.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-17 20:21 EDT-0400
I don't know how you came up with a price of 640$ for your above parts, but my build is WAY better.
SLI isn't possible, though.
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October 17, 2014 5:31:36 PM

zeyuanfu said:
This would be the build I'd get for 811$ (I hope you can spare 11$:) ):
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($187.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($345.66 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $811.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-17 20:21 EDT-0400
I don't know how you came up with a price of 640$ for your above parts, but my build is WAY better.
SLI isn't possible, though.


I'm planning to get them all from newegg and that includes the rebates and specials they have going on right now.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:33:43 PM

Hmm, I'll get you an all-Newegg build, but keep in mind that it'll be more expensive.
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October 17, 2014 5:35:36 PM

zeyuanfu said:
Hmm, I'll get you an all-Newegg build, but keep in mind that it'll be more expensive.


My roommate said that he always buys parts from newegg because he's bought from other places and that's the only site he hasn't had any problems with and everything always comes on time.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:47:23 PM

Link doesn't work...
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:49:46 PM

25$ over budget, but that's the price to pay to get everything from Newegg (BTW Amazon is also great):
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($345.66 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $824.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-17 20:48 EDT-0400
You might notice the different PSU, because if you can get modularness for ten bucks more, why not?
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a c 458 4 Gaming
a c 145 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:52:20 PM

I would not use that board. It is for bitcoin mining and is VERY limited in EVERY way. Terrible for any kind of computer.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:56:01 PM

You have to cheap out on SOMETHING to get other good parts...
It WILL be functional, but it won't have nay of the fancy features 150$ boards have.
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a c 458 4 Gaming
a c 145 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 5:56:53 PM

There are other better boards for only $10 more. It is WELL worth it.

OP, DO NOT buy that motherboard.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 6:00:12 PM

May I have an example? I'll use that board for any other budget build.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 6:47:41 PM

Thanks!
I probably won't have you say the motherboard I used in x build is bad and cor cryptocurrency mining anymore:) 
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October 17, 2014 7:53:19 PM

None of this is very helpful. :s
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a c 458 4 Gaming
a c 145 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 7:54:16 PM

Forget all we said. Get an r9 270x and call it a day.
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October 17, 2014 7:56:41 PM

I think I'll just wait and ask my roommate. All this is very confusing. @.@
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a c 458 4 Gaming
a c 145 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 7:58:52 PM

Not to be rude, but the knowledge her eis going to be more than your roommate. The single best GPU for $160 is the 270x. That is a fact, not an opinion.
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7 minutes ago

He's been in the computer industry for ten years and owns a small computer shop not too far from the campus. I think he knows his stuff pretty well and has the degree and certifications to prove it. Not saying that I'm not taking note of this stuff but I'd like to see what he says before I spend money on something that wasn't the best I could have gotten. This is the first custom computer I'm going own and I don't really want to do something wrong.
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a c 272 4 Gaming
a c 85 U Graphics card
5 minutes ago

I would drop the SSD, case fans, and water cooling to make room for an i5+ GTX 970.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($93.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Zeus Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($345.66 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $847.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-17 23:10 EDT-0400

If you needed it to be cheaper you could swap the motherboard out for a h81 board such as the one tiny voices posted earlier.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b U Graphics card
5 minutes ago

The best GPU for 160$ actually IS the 270X, unless you want to go up 10-20$ and get a 280.
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a c 458 4 Gaming
a c 145 U Graphics card
4 minutes ago

You aren't doing anything wrong. I tell you that with 100% confidence. All we do here is help people build computers. We would never steer anyone in the wrong direction. We know our stuff. I understand questioning everything, but know that your roommate will also say that the single best GPU available for $160 is the r9 270x.
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