I need to upgrade my GPU for 150$

[anthonymatchett]

I'm currently running an AMD dual core @3.2 and a Radeon 3870. It's mainly a gaming/htpc rig so I'm really just looking for max framerates in games. I have a 150$ budget, so what would be a good upgrade from the 3870?
P.S. I have no biad towards Nvidia or ATI so either will work : )

 

[Annisman]

GTX 460 1GB version, I wouldnt go any higher than that.

 

[purple stain]

What is your power supply?make/model?

I would agree,the gtx460 is the best for $150.The 5770 is the next best choice,they sell for around $130.

What resoultion are u gaming at?

 

[anthonymatchett]

It'll be actually kind of low res, 1440x900. My PSU is 600 Watts so it can handle whatever mid range card I throw at it. I'm only running one HDD and a disk drive, no other peripherals.

 

[jjb8675309]

I would get a 1 gig gtx 460, like everyone else is saying, its the best deal around that price, if you want to go a little cheaper, and for your current resolution, I would grab the gtx 460 768mb version, but in general I would go straight for the 1 gig model.
Although you might want to wait to see if the gtx 460 price drops a bit when the gtx 560 is released in a week or so, im not sure if the 460 prices have already gone down but it might be worth waiting for, I would say its worth waiting to find out. However if you want to pull the trigger today, get something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551

to truely stay in your $150 dollar budget you will probably have to go with the 768mb version but at your res it should be more than enough muscle:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125334

if your not into oc'ing yourself here is the super oc version from galaxy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162057

 

[mrjericho1991]

Gtx 460 from every way,its awesome just like THE MIZ!

 

[Guest]

I prefer the GTX 460 768MB Superclocked, you don't need 1GB especially at that resolution, so get a Superclocked version or MSI hawk version (has a special cooler) so that you can get higher clock rates on the same card for the same price and keep the warranty.

 

[Guest]

Look's like I'm not the only one recommending a 460, but I think you should definitely wait for the 560 which is released next week, because then the price will drop,
jjb8675309 is very correct.

 

[purple stain]

At 1400x900 you don't really need something as powerful as a gtx460.A 5770 will do the job just fine.But i guess it is futureproof to get a 460.You never know when you might upgrade to a 1080p monitor.So make sure you go for the 1G models.I think of it as a safety net to get the 1G.

 

[anthonymatchett]

Thanks everybody for your fast and intelligent replies, I went with this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127490

I chose it because it had excellent reviews, OC's very easily, and has dual fans. The free shipping was nice touch too

 

[jjb8675309]

thats a lot of money for a 5770 IMO, it will be fine at your resolution but for the money I would have gone with a 768mb gtx 460 which will be more powerful and a bit more future proof, either way the hawk should oc a decent amount with the really nice cooler, your card will be adequate for your resolution and system, enjoy

 

[17seconds]

Thanks everybody for your fast and intelligent replies, I went with this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127490

I chose it because it had excellent reviews, OC's very easily, and has dual fans. The free shipping was nice touch too

So after everyone recommending a GTX460, you went with a 5770. The big difference between the two, in addition to PhysX, is that the 5770 will have much lower DirectX 11 tesselation performance. Many more games released in 2011 will feature DirectX 11 tesselation, which promises to add more realism to the graphics.

 

[purple stain]

Nice choice,thats a really good version.
I hope your happy with your purchase.
If you start to believe all the hype then you can go ahead and return it.

One more thing to think about,with the relase of the gtx560 prices will drop for other items including the gtx460 1G.If this does happen, I would return the 5770 and get the gtx460 1G or maybe even a 6850.

 

[megamanx00]

Yes the Hawk is an excellent card, though I do think it's a tad expensive. Is your CPU overclocked to 3.2Ghz or is it the 6400+? If it's the latter I would get a good cooler and overclock the CPU to get more out of it ^_^.

 

[anthonymatchett]

So after everyone recommending a GTX460, you went with a 5770. The big difference between the two, in addition to PhysX, is that the 5770 will have much lower DirectX 11 tesselation performance. Many more games released in 2011 will feature DirectX 11 tesselation, which promises to add more realism to the graphics.

Everyone was recommending a card that wasn't within my price range, the only GTX460 on Newegg, yes that's the only place I'm willing to buy computer parts online, that I could afford was the Galaxy 768 version before shipping. After shipping I probably couldn't afford it anyway, but I was pouring over benchmarks and reviews and the 5770 was getting better fps than the Galaxy 768 in ALL resolutions. If I could've bought the MSI or even Gigabyte model GTX460 for 155 I would have.

 

[anthonymatchett]

Yes the Hawk is an excellent card, though I do think it's a tad expensive. Is your CPU overclocked to 3.2Ghz or is it the 6400+? If it's the latter I would get a good cooler and overclock the CPU to get more out of it ^_^.

It's the Regor 250 actually, stock @3.0 but OC'd currently stable @3.2. I'm going to push a lot more out of it as soon as I get an aftermarket cooler. Got a good one in mind?

 

[purple stain]

H50 for liquid cooling,it competes with some of the high end air coolers.
For an air cooler i would go with a Thermaltake Frio,it's really loud but it offers outstanding cooling.
This is an Open Box Frio for $30 cheaper than retail price,i would get it if i was you
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150R

 

[purple stain]

The hyper 212+ is a simple aftermarket cooler that will give good temps but if you want a high overclock i would get something better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[jjb8675309]

^+1 to the hyper 212 I use it and it is amazing, I would get that over the h50, I mean if your going to go that route you might as well get a real water cooling system bc I dont recall the h50 performing very well for its price...

 

[purple stain]

I've seen a couple reviews saying that the H50 performs around the same area as high end air coolers.
I think it was around 10c-15c cooler than the Hyper212+

 

[jjb8675309]

I doubt that, the hyper 212+ performs like the 70-80 aircoolers but speaking about the h50, its all speculation i dont really know for sure, however I seriously doubt because 10-15c is a huge margin. Anyone have any benches? Plus I think its a dumb idea for the op to spend lots of money on a cpu cooler when his cpu is pretty low end to begin with

 

[jjb8675309]

here is one review I found with the h50 like you said it performs like the 80-100 dollar air coolers, but so does the 212+ anyone have any other benches to make a firm conclusion for the op?

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/07/29/corsair-hydro-h50-cpu-cooler-review/5

 

[purple stain]

oooo,i didn't even realize it was an athalon.
Yah he should defintly get a 212.Perfect for that CPU

 

[purple stain]

Here's what i'm usally looking at when it comes to heatsinks.
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2206&page=4

couldn't find the H50.Might just be air coolers.

 

[jjb8675309]

thanks purple stank, now I will put some purple stank in the air to celebrate