Bang for the buck for under $200?

[christoj]

So I'm in the market for a new GPU. My son and I are going to build him a new computer for Christmas and I'm going to give him my 5770 (plenty for him to play is favorite game- World of Tanks).

That puts me back to needing a new GPU for my rig. I'm looking to spend $200 max (after rebates). I won't need to make my purchase until around Christmas time so I can afford to be patient with this.

So what are the community thoughts for this range? I've been looking at 6870's and GTX560's. I see both of these are solidly in the 'under $200' range for many models. I also saw that beautiful piece of craftsmanship that is the 6850 HIS IceQ OC that performs just as well as a 6870 (and looks oh so purdy...)

Obviously I want the best thing I can lay my hands on for $200 or less. Is there a specific model(s) I should be on the lookout for? I see the 6950's get to $200 or less now and again when a really good sale comes along. I doubt I'll see a GTX570 get into my price range this year. Maybe a GTX560Ti?

Do you think that Black Friday should see one of the major merchants (newegg/TigerDirect/microcenter, etc) having a smoking deal on a 6950 or something? I can definitely wait that long.

Anyway, here is my rig-
Phenom II 965
8gb ram
MSI880-e45 MOBO
600W corsair 80bronze PSU
max resolution 1600x900 (for now). Maybe upgrade next year. I do occasionally hook my computer up to my 43" HD TV (720, not 1080) as well.
Games- nothing of note, though I want to purchase warhammer 40k spacemarine soon. I'd like to be able to play current games at high setting (I can live without ultra)

No crossfire/SLI for this MOBO, so I have no immediate future plans for crossfire.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

 

[Proximon]

Well, if you are waiting 2 months it's very hard to say. Your target today would be a 6950 1GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523
$210 after rebate with free shipping. I'm sure you'll find one under $200 at some point.

Today with a limit of $200 after rebate, this would be your best deal though:
PNY GTX 560 ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133377

 

[dasmittyman]

I have been eying this zotac http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500210 even if they are a unspoken company it comes with warranties. The reviews are good and the card compared to the rest seems to be the best value.

 

[Proximon]

The GTX 560 and 560ti are two different cards. Here's a side-by-side
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/43366-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-1gb-review.html

 

[dasmittyman]

I understand that the T.I. is a better card than then regular 560, I guess what i don't understand is that the PNY only has a core clock of 822 while the zotac has 950, PNY shader clock 1645 and zotac shader clock 1900. I assume that the T.I. probably has a better over clocking rate?

 

[Proximon]

As to which card OCs better, that's going to be very hard to say. Individual cards all OC different from each other. You would have to have a very large and diverse sample of each type of card to test.

Also, factory OC cards are pre-tested. The cards that don't OC well get sold for less than the cards that do, and it's the test itself that determines what the card is labelled as. If you look at EVGA for instance, you might see three different cards. The parts are identical, the design is identical, but the cards tested differently and so are sold at different prices.

What sets the GTX 560 and 560ti apart is not the clock rates but the number of cores and texture units.

What reviews I could dig up showed the Zotac card being very near the performance of a stock GTX 560ti (maybe 2 FPS better)... I think all things considered I would want the card that is less stressed, perhaps with a small OC rather than a larger one.

 

[dasmittyman]

As to which card OCs better, that's going to be very hard to say. Individual cards all OC different from each other. You would have to have a very large and diverse sample of each type of card to test.

Also, factory OC cards are pre-tested. The cards that don't OC well get sold for less than the cards that do, and it's the test itself that determines what the card is labelled as. If you look at EVGA for instance, you might see three different cards. The parts are identical, the design is identical, but the cards tested differently and so are sold at different prices.

What sets the GTX 560 and 560ti apart is not the clock rates but the number of cores and texture units.

What reviews I could dig up showed the Zotac card being very near the performance of a stock GTX 560ti (maybe 2 FPS better)... I think all things considered I would want the card that is less stressed, perhaps with a small OC rather than a larger one.

ah I see, the reviews on the GTX 560 T.I's have been steller about being "cool" in temperatures compared to a lot of cards. I never thought of same cards being tested differently. Thank you for setting me straight! I am still rocking a GTX 285 back when they were on top, now its sad when I run the BF3 test on can you run it and i sit in the middle to lower range . Even my cpu is getting older, it is a Q8300 so...


-Smitty

 

[christoj]

Best answer selected by christoj.