Upgrading to new GPU from 5770 with ~$200-$250 budget

[ac53]

Hey all,

I'm currently looking to upgrade my ATI HD5770 to a new card within the next 2 weeks. I have a budget between $200-$250 (part of which will come from selling my 5770), and I'm currently looking at the Radeon HD 7850 and the nVidia GTX 560 Ti. I play a wide assortment of games, but most recently Battlefield 3 and Civ 5. I'm also looking forward to upcoming titles, so I'll hopefully be able to play them on high-max settings on 1920x1080. This is my current rig:

Processor- AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.2Ghz
RAM- 4GB (will soon be 8GB)
Motherboard- GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4
PSU- 650W
HDD- 1TB (though I will also get a SSD in the near future)
Case- Antec 300 Illusion

I don't think I'll have too many hardware issues, but then I don't have too much experience. I'm looking for the best bang for the buck. I'd appreciate any and all input, and thanks in advance.

 

[mace200200]

I've been looking at a GTX 570, they cost about $270 but they really seem to be worth the money. Or look for something that would better fit your budget from this chart.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

 

[dudewitbow]

VIable options in the price area are:

GTX 560ti, HD 7850, GTX 570(if you stretch a tiny bit)

other options that i dont know will last for how long:

GTX 480(old technology, technically the strongest for the price)
HD 6950 OC(newegg has sapphire 6950 OC edition for 200$ + BF3 + Dirt Showdown coupon with a 10$ rebate to 190$, though the sale is temporary)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

At $210, this gives best bang for the buck in your price range

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

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:

$ 200.00 6950 (479/751) $ 0.42 - $ 0.53
$ 240.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.50 - $ 0.63
$ 200.00 560 Ti (455/792) $ 0.44 - $ 0.51
$ 320.00 6970 (526/825) $ 0.61 - $ 0.78
$ 210.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.42 - $ 0.49
$ 240.00 560-448 (501/835) $ 0.48 - $ 0.57

The 6950 is another choice w/ identical cost per frame in single card config.... but if ya SLI, ya gain 100+ fps. It also OC's to 30% over reference:

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1201&page=17

 

[dreadlokz]

I would wait for the GTX660... prob around $300. Or go for 7850 or 560Ti. Also you'll have CPU bottleneck, overclock with a nice cooler will give you a boost in game performance.

 

[vmem]

go with the 560ti Jack recommended for Nvidia, or the 6950 dude recommended above. link's here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987&Tpk=sapphire%206950

the 6950 has slightly better performance, but it depends on if you like Nvidia or AMD

 

[ac53]

Thanks for all your responses. After doing a little research, the 6950 looks like a top choice. It comes neck to neck with the 7850 here and here. It also seems to do well against the GTX 560 Ti . The only card that comes out on top is the suggested GTX 570 . I can't justify spending an extra $100 for a 10 frame increase, but NewEgg is offering a refurbished model for about $230 with the code. Any thoughts on refurbished cards?

 

[vmem]

Thanks for all your responses. After doing a little research, the 6950 looks like a top choice. It comes neck to neck with the 7850 here and here. It also seems to do well against the GTX 560 Ti . The only card that comes out on top is the suggested GTX 570 . I can't justify spending an extra $100 for a 10 frame increase, but NewEgg is offering a refurbished model for about $230 with the code. Any thoughts on refurbished cards?

well, there's nothing particularly wrong with them. if you get the same manufacturer's warranty, then it's not a problem. That said, this is my opinion. never bought a refurbished card myself, so let's wait for other people to chim in

 

[ac53]

Well, damn. The 570 sold out... I guess I know which card I'm getting...

 

[vmem]

Well, damn. The 570 sold out... I guess I know which card I'm getting...

yeah, the graphics market moves rather quickly. oh well, no big loss. the 6950 should serve you well. enjoy!

 

[maxh22]

GTX 480 because it can be overclocked to gtx 580 standards

 

[doron]

Stay away from the GTX 480, especially if you have hot summers.

 

[doron]

There's a difference between the gpu temperature and the gpu's heat OUTPUT.

This card is crazy hot and consumes a lot of power, and its cooler is a beast. With this card installed I can assure you you'll feel the room heating up when playing a game. Heck, this card will BURN you if you touch it, that's how hot it is. Anyway, the power and heat output are bad both for the rest of the hardware and for your power bill.

This card is at 220$ right now. The way I see it, I can get a card with comparable or a little better performance at 250$, and these 30$ give me WAY better thermals and efficiency. For me it's worth it.

 

[doron]

Most other card have a plastic shroud, at the very least.

Since this card requires a good amount of cooling (about 300-400W heat dissipation ability), Nvidia had to ditch the shroud to be able to cram a massive heatsink and keep this a 2 slot card. That, combined with the fact that the heatsink may very well be above 100*C, is dangerous mate.

 

[doron]

I can get the appeal btw. The card at 220$ is quite a bargain in terms of pure performance per dollar. If you care only about that, it's a good buy.

 

[ac53]

Best answer selected by ac53.