Which <$200 Graphics Card Should I Get

[bwsx4xlyf3]

I am currently looking to buy a new graphics card, but I do not want to buy one that my CPU would bottleneck.
My setup is:
CPU: Intel Pentium G6950 @ 3200MHz, I got it for $40 at frys, and have no intention of upgrading it, I do not multitask.
MOBO: MSI e-33, I also go this at frys for $40
RAM: 4gb ADATA 1600MHz
Monitor: Usually a 42" 1080p TV
PSU: Antec Neo Eco 520w

Things I care about:
ATI 5xxx/nVidia 4xx
HDMI on card, but what cards nowadays do not have that
That I can play on high/medium high settings at least
Somewhat quiet
Which vendor, EVGA for nVidia, I do not know any good vendors from ATI
Hopefully less than $200

Things I do not really care about:
Crysis/Metro
Anything >4x AA/8x af
Which brand, it could be green or red

I was looking at some 5670s/5770s, because I do not have enough money for a 5850/470 and I do not like the 5830, but then nVidia released the gtx 460.

Thanks.

 

[jryan388]

Radeon 5770. For vendors, I like XFX, sapphire, MSI, HIS... You should be able to get a 1gb 5770 for around $140.

 

[bwsx4xlyf3]

Would this one be good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873&cm_re=5770-_-14-102-873-_-Product -This one is a sapphire for $150 - $15 MIR = $135
I am not a fan or mail in rebates, but its cheap already.

 

[wolfram23]

I'd say a 5770 would be pretty ideal. The one you picked is good.

 

[jyjjy]

The HD5770 will be pretty good and is certainly well priced but the GTX 460 is what I would recommend for 1080p. Especially when overclocking is taken into account there is quite a performance difference.
If you go that way the EVGA card has a combo with a free(and even pretty good) game that may help mitigate the cost difference;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.456537

 

[bwsx4xlyf3]

This is why I was having such are hard time, because the 5770 is pretty cheap and a decent gaming card, but the extra performance of the 460 is just awesome for the price, Thanks jyjjy for the link to the EVGA, I love free stuff. Though I plan on buying the card sometime next week, and just hope that the prices drop, our that the free gifts are still free. On a side note though, if I get a 460 768mb or if I splurge and get the 1gb one, will my cpu bottleneck them, because I am using the stock cooler, and then I would have to spend more money.

 

[wolfram23]

You might see a little bit of a bottleneck but generally it shouldn't be very noticeable. IMO get the 768mb version, and if you feel up for it you can spend the difference between that and the 1gb version on a CPU cooler for some OCing. Benchmarks have shown the 1gb version to be only about 4-7% faster, depending on the game and resolutions played.

 

[jyjjy]

Your CPU is fine although it can certainly handle a higher OC than that, even on the stock cooler.
The 2 versions of the GTX 460 are both good values. If you were considering SLI at some point in the future I would recommend the 1gb version as the extra memory/bandwidth can really help once you double the processing power with two cards. Your motherboard isn't SLI though so just view the cards based on their relative performance differences which is basically what wolfram said above. If that is worth the extra money to you then go for it.

 

[aaron92]

GTX 460 1 GB For sure. ( I wish I had those in SLI over my 5770s any day).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333

I know it is 229$, but you won't regret it once you put in those few extra dollars.

 

[jyjjy]

Eh, it's 7% performance advantage is exactly that. More memory isn't some magic thing that makes 7% more than 7%. If that is something he thinks is worth the extra $30 then he should go for it. If not then there's no reason to do a hard sell trying to tell him it should be.
Dual card setups are irrelevant as his motherboard has only 1 PCIE x16 slot.

 

[bwsx4xlyf3]

Thank you guys for all of your replies, and jyjjy thanks for that link to the 460 with the free game, I think thats the one I am going to get, unless there is a better combo with another 768mb or the 1gb, like a better mobo . I plan on getting a new mobo for christmas, I was looking at this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138162
Again thanks for all of your help, and as long as that combo lasts, that card will be mine in two weeks.

 

[jyjjy]

Well if you are going to get an SLI motherboard the 1gb card would be a good call. Two in SLI are close in performance to an HD5970. Here is the best 1gb card and it also happens to have the game combo as well;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.455033

 

[jerreece]

If you're playing @ 1920x1080 and want High Settings, the ATI 5770 isn't the way to go. Lower resolutions, it's a fantastic video card, and priced pretty well.

However, for 1920x1080 you'll want more power if you want to elevate your graphic settings. I would honestly grab a GTX 460 1GB to make sure you're getting the best performance for 1920x1080 (1080p) that you can afford.

+1 for GTX 460 1GB

P.S. If you can OC your CPU, you'll be in even better shape. But I wouldn't do that with a stock cooler.

 

[jyjjy]

The stock cooler should be just fine up to around 3.5ghz imo.

 

[Zephyrhills]

considering a 42'' tele, an EVGA GTX 460 1GB would be just fine with extra mem for the larger resolution.
If the reso was smaller, definitely the 768bm version would do just fine.

 

[bwsx4xlyf3]

What about this one? It has a lifetime warranty and it is a 1gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500169
I was sad to see that the Evga one only had 2 years for the 768mb/1gb, the 1gb superclocked has a lifetime warranty, but it is $252. The MSI has 3 years parts, and 2 years labor. I like the GIGABYTE but it does not have a free game/lifetime warranty, also this Zotac comes with PoP:TFS and Just Cause 2, but I have never really heard anything about Zotac.

 

[jyjjy]

That card is out of stock and I don't see the free games you are mentioning, just a trail for Starcraft.
Ignoring free games and such the best versions of the GTX 460 are the ASUS DirectCU and MSI Cyclone. I would say that Gigabyte card is the best of the rest. I believe all of those have 3 year warranties which really is more than enough for a video card imo. For example 3 years ago more expensive card would have been the 8800 GTS 640mb which these days is a mediocre card for low resolutions. Anyone that actually cares about gaming would have replaced it a while back and if they hadn't yet for some reason then if it broke it would just be looked at as a good excuse for an overdue upgrade rather than a reason to regret not getting a card with a longer warranty when they bought it.
BTW ignore cards with a factory overclock that costs more because of it. You can and should overclock your card yourself. It is quite easy and you will get much better results. Paying someone else to do a poor job of it is just a pointless waste of money.

 

[bwsx4xlyf3]

When I was looking this morning, it was in stock and it had the Just Cause II combo, it had the SC2 trail, and it comes with PoP, which it said it came with in the specs. You are right about warranties, by the time it expires I probably will have gotten another card. On a side note, one of my friends gave me a free 20" 1600x900 monitor that came with his HP desktop, so would I be better of getting the 5770 for this resolution, as I will probably not upgrade this monitor for a couple of years.

 

[jyjjy]

An HD5770 will be very good for that resolution but I think I would still recommend the GTX 460 if you want something that will last you for a good long time and do well with the DX11 games that might come out in the future. The price difference should be even less of an issue now that you don't have to buy a monitor. Might want to just grab one of the 192/768mb cards at that resolution though.

 

[bwsx4xlyf3]

Will this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125334 do fine, it is factory overclocked at the same price, and it has a 3 year warranty.

 

[wolfram23]

That gigabyte one is good. Factory OCs aren't really anything special since you can always OC yourself, but on the other hand for their OC versions they might use higher binned components but hard to say when the OC is a "might" 15mhz. You can probably bring it home and add another 150mhz to it.

 

[jeffredo]

GTX 460 768MB. Its one cent under your limit and definitely better than an HD 5770.

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, the Gigabyte card is a good one as I said earlier. Another to consider is the MSI Cyclone. It has a slightly better cooler but it is $10 more. I would say they are about equal in terms of value at those prices but the MSI card also still has the free game combo like the other cards we discussed earlier;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.455035
Either is a good choice but I just thought I would point that out.

 

[bwsx4xlyf3]

Just a couple more questions. Is the 5770 that bad at 900/1080p high/mid-high settings with 2-4x aa/8-16af that only one person recommends it, just wondering because the cheapest 460 is $50 more, or $65 after rebate? Also, which card is more HTPC friendly? What is CUDA used for? Why do the MSI 768mb/1gb 460s have mini HDMI outputs, but no converters for them, instead they have DVI to HDMI? I am probably going to order a card sometime Sunday, as that is when I get back.

 

[jyjjy]

The HD5770 will be alright but not great for 1080p. On the more intensive games you will have to turn off AA and lower a some settings. In general if you want to use AA I would recommend the GTX 460. It is notably better at stock but it can also overclock a large amount and then it really pulls away. Also it has better performance with DX11 features like tessellation. It is the best choice if you can afford it.