Question about video card comparison performance/price.

[Sadtrial]

Hello everyone! I am building a budget ATX desktop (For casual gaming) and I need help deciding on a GPU and/or comparisons of how the same model preforms from the different company's that resell it. It's the 6870, I currently have the Sapphire model booked marked from new egg (I will post the link at the bottom of the page). It's my first build and I am fairly new to this, but I have done a lot of research, and I have noticed in reviews that the game model GPU is often sold by different companies and even though they are the same card some often perform better than others? I don't understand that. I'm wondering if my GPU is too outdated (2010) for this day and age, and if I can get something better for the same price? I know this is a hassle for you if you don't know the rest of the build so I will list that also.


(I am open to advise on my build also if you feel so inclined)

Kind of an AMD build with a blue theme, but it doesn't really matter to me, I haven't developed a preference of AMD or nVIDIA
Windows 7 64bit
ATX mid tower case (3 fans)
AMD Phenom II x4 975 BE Deneb
ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD
DDR3 Corsair Vengeance 1600 4GB
500GB HDD 7200.
Either a
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V
CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V
PSU

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
Looking for something in the price range of the 6870 with as good or better performance (Bang for my buck)
and a good resell company that provides the card(s)
example: ATI, Sapphire, XFX, etc

 

[Sadtrial]

Nobody is touching this with a 10ft pole I see. >.>

 

[GI_JONES]

The reason for different price and performance on the same model of card if that some manufacturers will overclock the card and then provide a more robust cooling for it, others dont. Also the warranties vary. In some cases you may pay more for a certain brand name. Also sometimes the cards have different output options (vga, dvi hdmi connectors) and this may have an affect on price

 

[Sadtrial]

So which company usually does the best modification to the cards? and is there a better GPU out there that goes for 150-175 dollars. US.

 

[GI_JONES]

In the Toms Hardware article..Best Gaming cards for the Money" May" edition, the 6870 is listed as best card for $170..actually its tied with the Nvidia GTX560.
To get something better you have to jump up to the $220-250 range. Asus, XFX, MSI, EVGA, HIS are genarally good brands. Most companies will make a fairly stock card and then usually a couple of other higher performance models of that same model. That is why you may see maybe an EVGA card for a given price, then see another that may look alittle different, and cost a bit more that is also EVGA (or ASUS, MSI, etc)

 

[Sadtrial]

Best answer selected by sadTrial.