BEST $350 graphics card

[fongnam]

Importance:
1. Heavy gaming
2. Good graphics for movies.
3. Basic Graphics design

Date of purchase: From now till late January, 2012

Build
CPU- Intel i5 2500k.
Motherboard- ASRock Extreme4 z68 Gen3
RAM- G.Skill 8G DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V.
Harddrive- 2TB Seagate 5900 64mb sata3.
CD/DVD ROM- Blue Ray.
Power Source- 500W antec.
Monitor- Samsung 27 inch LED.



Which graphics card should I buy? budget around $350

 

[casualbuilder]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127582

I know its over, but if you can bite the bullet, this is the absolute best for your money.

If you arent going over a penny, then this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127604

 

[phamhlam]

Sapphire toxic is the best 6950 and it cost $290 without rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102951&Tpk=sapphire%20toxic
You can get a low end GTX 570 which performs better than the 6950 overall for ~$320
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613
Or you can get a 6970 which is better than the 570 in some spot but are even in others for ~$320
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517

It really depend on what games you play though and if you are going to xfire or SLI
If you going for BF3 single card, a GTX 570 should do you well.

 

[pcxperp]

If it was me, I'd find a way to get an extra $50 to go with that $300. Then you could upgrade your power supply and get another 6950 for Crossfire. For the $350 you'd be spending, nothing on the market could compete with the performance of two 6950's

 

[JackNaylorPE]

$300 is a tough price point......the 6970's and 570's simply, to my mind just don;t do enough more than the 6950's / 560's to justify the price increase. Here the 560 actually sneaks out a narrow win over the 570 when both overclocked to the max.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/nvidia_asus_gtx560ti/4.htm
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/asus_gtx570_review/

The factory overclocked models offer better coolers and oft can be found at same price as reference cards. It's a toss up w/ one 6950 Frozr ($260) or one 900 MHz 560 ($205) but in SL/ CF, the factory OC'd 560 Ti's are an easy choice ..... not to mention they easily go to 1000MHz.


Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$ 260.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.54 - $ 0.69
$ 205.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.41 - $ 0.48

 

[spentshells]

saphire 6950 toxic gets my vote.

 

[spentshells]

that or a MSI Twin Frozr III 6950

or a discounted 6970

The toxic has a secondary bios, the 2nd bios is already preprogramed with the 6970 Bios
The don't promise it will work, but all reviews I've seen say it does.

 

[FinneousPJ]

If you already own a 6950 it would be rather foolish to buy anything but a second one for Crossfire.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Well people talk about SLI-ing 460s,560s and 560 Tis all the time which IIRC are 1 GB cards. Even the 570 is only 1280 GB.

 

[spentshells]

1280MB

Im really sorry op I did not see that you already had a 6950 1GB
Why is it you want to Upgrade ? That does not work for you ?

 

[FinneousPJ]

1280MB

Im really sorry op I did not see that you already had a 6950 1GB
Why is it you want to Upgrade ? That does not work for you ?

Yeah sorry that was a brain fart.

 

[FinneousPJ]

yea well for example

playing BF3 Beta with my 6950's in 2-way crossfire, I was hitting 2.4gbs no problem lol. :/

Fair enough, but as I said even a GTX 460 SLI setup shows notable gains despite only having 1 GB.

 

[Au_equus]

the op does not have the PC parts yet; ordering in Jan 2012. I'd wait for the 78xx or 79xx series and IB

 

[FinneousPJ]

Oh, right. The post is kind of ambiguous IMO. Then I suggest you post again in January, OP.

 

[wannabepro]

I would suggest buying a second Radeon 6950 and save yourself some $$$ that you could use on an Ssd or something.
However you Might need bigger psu.

 

[fongnam]

1280MB

Im really sorry op I did not see that you already had a 6950 1GB
Why is it you want to Upgrade ? That does not work for you ?

-------------------

I'm sorry for being unclear.

I don't own a PC yet (still on my useless MAC), I'm planning on buying everything within a month in SHANGHAI, CHINA (prices may vary).

What im wondering though is do I really need Sapphire Toxic 2gb if im only using one Monitor? I heard they are usually used for multiple monitors. If so, 6950 2gb seems a bit excessive. Though I do plan on buying a DLP projector in the near future, so any advices on projector gaming are also welcome!

I have no experience with overclocking, but I will learn it.

So I guess what I am asking is which card is superior is between gtx 560 ti, or 6950 1gb?

And which card is superior between gtx 570, or AMD 6970?

I appreciate all of your help!!

PS: I could wait till January but Im kind of impatient. Unless I can get an awesome deal for under 350.

 

[fongnam]

I could wait till January but Im kind of impatient. Unless I can get an awesome deal for under 350.

 

[fongnam]

ATI 6950 or gtx 560 ti

 

[casualbuilder]

Plain GTX560 will OC well with an MSI Twin Frozr, or an ASUS (single fan option) OC's to 920-950Mhz rather easily with a good case. can save a good $50-$75 if you are careful.

 

[envymert]

.....just my two cents. If your possibly waiting until 2012 , might want to wait for the next gen Ati cards. This way you can pick one up or it will knock down the price of current cards quite a bit. For the amount your spending you could possibly step into SLI'd 6950's which are amazing and a toms hardware best of class in vid card price to preformance.

 

[fongnam1016]

.....just my two cents. If your possibly waiting until 2012 , might want to wait for the next gen Ati cards. This way you can pick one up or it will knock down the price of current cards quite a bit. For the amount your spending you could possibly step into SLI'd 6950's which are amazing and a toms hardware best of class in vid card price to preformance.

----------------

SLI 6950? isnt 6950 crossfire?

 

[fongnam1016]

do you know around what time the new cards are going to come out?

 

[envymert]

----------------

SLI 6950? isnt 6950 crossfire?

yeah I mean Xfire ...sorry Im an Nvidia guy now

I read a few reports of Early December but I have also read Jan 2012 so who knows .....Id be willing to bet on Dec for financial and fiscal purposes.