Graphics Card for Diablo 3 @ 1080p on a budget

[FrankBizel]

I am looking to see if I need to invest into a new graphics card in order to properly run Diablo 3 @ 1080p. I don't need to run it with all of the settings maxed but that would be ideal.

The only other computer game I play is SC2 which I built my computer for, so I have no need for future upgrades. I am looking to get the best bang out of my buck with this investment and would be willing to wait if better graphic cards are on the horizon. (Waiting only until D3 comes out)

My current system information is below.

Processor : AMD Athlon II X3 440 3.00 GHZ
Ram : G.Skill 4 gigs @ 1333 mhz
Motherboard : ASRock M3A770DE
Power : SilverSTone 500W
GPU - Nvidia GTS 250 512meg DDR3 - PCIe

Right now it surprisingly runs SC2 @ 1080p with everything on high.

I appreciate any and all advice, I do not want to spend more than $150 if I do not have too.

 

[jaguarskx]

You may want to take a look at the Radeon HD 7750 ($109) or Radeon HD 7770 ($160). It is expected that the price for the HD 7770 will go down to $140, but it's unknown when it will take effect.

See following review:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7770/1.html

AMD expected price cuts:
http://videocardz.com/31876/amd-preparing-price-cuts-of-radeon-hd-7900-series

 

[Rockdpm]

yea not much on the market for your price area for NVIDIA. I can agree with Jag that the 7770 is a good buy tho.

 

[jessterman21]

The HD 7770 ought to do it on High.

 

[FrankBizel]

Thanks for the advice.. In reading through some of the reviews I saw that they mentioned the GeForce GTX 560 as the better sub $200 card. Out of curiosity I was searching for pricing and found a GTX 560 for $130..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130770

It sounds like it is a great deal. Too good to be true? Thoughts?

 

[Tibbs01]

It's not a Ti, but would still be a good card. You will be able to run SC2/D3 on High with no problem.

Given your set-up, I'd personally go with a 6790 for power supply considerations.

 

[jessterman21]

Thanks for the advice.. In reading through some of the reviews I saw that they mentioned the GeForce GTX 560 as the better sub $200 card. Out of curiosity I was searching for pricing and found a GTX 560 for $130..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130770

It sounds like it is a great deal. Too good to be true? Thoughts?

Pretty good deal, but not as good as you think. This is a cut-down version of the GTX 560 - nVidia's been doing this with recent GTX 460s too. Has a 192-bit memory interface, which delivers less performance than the regular 256-bit version. Also has only 288 cores rather than the regular 336. Should beat the GTX 550ti by a little bit, but I'd say the HD 7770 or 6850 is the better option.

 

[Soda88]

I'm running maxed out D3 beta on (moderately overclocked) GTX460 at over 100fps, so use that as a reference and check tom's graphics card hierarchy to compare with newer products. Anything in that tier or even a tier below will suffice.

 

[jaguarskx]

Thanks for the advice.. In reading through some of the reviews I saw that they mentioned the GeForce GTX 560 as the better sub $200 card. Out of curiosity I was searching for pricing and found a GTX 560 for $130..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130770

It sounds like it is a great deal. Too good to be true? Thoughts?

The Radeon HD 7750 trades blows with the GTX 550 Ti, to the point where the GTX 550 Ti is only marginally better in performance. The following shows overall performance using the Radeon HD 7770 as the baseline (100%). The Radeon HD 7750's 78% of the Radeon HD 7770 (22% slower). The GTX 550 Ti has 82% the performance of the Radeon HD 7770 (18% slower). The card you selected is the GTX 550 non-Ti version so it will be slower than the Radeon HD 7750 for $21 more.

I don't think D3 is expected to be out until mid-May, I believe by then the Radeon HD 7770 should drop to $139.

 

[Tibbs01]

^The card he linked was the GTX 560 non-Ti however, not a GTX 550.

 

[diec4st]

Why not 6870? Pretty sure 500W will be enough.

 

[FrankBizel]

With Soda's feedback about the beta and how the GTX 460 is a beast on it I think I will watch prices over the next week and if the 7770 does drop in price and take advantage of it for $139.

I'll check to see if there are any aggressive pricing deals on the 6870 but right not the cheapest deals are $160 after mail in rebates.

I will let you know what I decide.

 

[jaguarskx]

^The card he linked was the GTX 560 non-Ti however, not a GTX 550.

Yeah, it's a typo. I was referring to the GTX 560.

A Radeon HD 7750 would perform a bit better than a GTX 560 non-Ti.

 

[jessterman21]

Yeah, it's a typo. I was referring to the GTX 560.

A Radeon HD 7750* would perform a bit better than a GTX 560 non-Ti.

*HD 7770