Best budget Graphics Card for gaming/movies

^ The DirectCU Top will overclock better. Or I should say, it's more likely to overclock better, but you might get lucky with a normal one which overclocks great. Just lest risky to buy the Top version if you want to get a big overclock.

Anyway, I believe you're looking for this
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-car...

asus bins thier chips, the ones with the most overclocking potential go in top cards. if you plan to overclock the top cards will be the fastest potential, i researched the same thing back in december and bought the asus top gts450 direct cu you linked, bumped the core to 975 Mhz , playign WoW at 50-75 fps on a 1080p 37" tv and 75 fps on when regular monitor at 1280x1024

btw from your links the top is in stock, the other is out of stock till 1/18/2011

Woot! Thanks guys, The Asus top GTS450 it is then. Quick question, I saw the link Wolf provided. If I was lucky and found the 5770 at the same cost of the top GTS450. Which would be a better option? It seems the GTS 450 still gets top billing.
Thanks Again

depends on the vertion hd5750 < gts450 < hd5770

but that is in general, with the top you get a binned chip that is overclocked with a good cooler on a custom pcb.

SCII
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-r...

you'll also find this useful

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1068&page=1

i debated asus top gts450 vs hd5770 but as most the titles i play or rather the titles i play the most WoW and SCII do better with nvidia i went with the gts450

*add*

if you do get the asus i must warn that it did not like the 6 pin off my psu, so i had to use the 2 molex to 6 pin to get it to work right. but that might be my psu ... but it didn't work in my wife's card without the adaptor either and its working with her graphics card so who knows

also install the asus drivers... but diable gamer osd (basically a free fraps) as this causes issues with WoW btu its just part of the bundled software not a fault of the card just programing discreprancies

For $20 difference, I would pick the non-TOP one and OC it. BTW, those two are exactly as good in cooling due to them having the same cooler.

p.s. The *TOP* one is about 17% more expensive.

What resolution do you game at? This makes a big difference in what is a reasonable GPU.
The GTS 450 you selected is an excellent choice in that price range. But if you can stretch your budget a little, you would find even better performance in this card:

ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB - $140 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

If you are playing at 1080p or higher resolution I would encourgage your getting the faster card.

Thanks Goofy, I have read that about the bundled software. Thanks for the links.

It is 1080p. But a 450 overclocked would do ok, and a 5770 would also be adequet. I agree a 460 would destroy both but it's not necessary.

Rocky, Thanks for the link, but since I am on a tightbudget and not necessarily a hardcore gamer. I think I will stick with the Top ASUS GTS 450.

Wolf, Thanks, I came to the same conclusion  

You can buy a HD 5770 for $100 after a $30 rebate + free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Generally speaking, the GTS 450 is overall the better card by a little it. The strong point for the HD 5770 is the lower price. See review for benchmarks:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/nvidia-g...


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EDIT:


I did not click all the various links to different versions of the GTS 450, but I think the prices ranges from $140 - $160. Therefore you need to decide if taking on average a small decrease in performance (say 6% - 7% decrease) is worth saving $40 - $60. Look at the benchmarks before making a decision.

Or you could purchase an EVGA GTS 450 1 GB for $90 after rebate and with free shipping:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Best answer selected by cthunder067.

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey