Best value GPU under $250?

[mynameisalex]

I was looking to buy a new GPU with 250 as my limit I was thinking one of the Radeon 7870 (ghz/OC editions) such as

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr787oc2gd

I'm pretty new to PC building so I would appreciate some feedback, thanks.

 

[calumconroy]

GTX 660. If you get a factory overclocked one it levels with the 7870 and its cheaper! EVGA, MSI, and Gigabyte all do decent ones, its all down to personal Preference. I'd have the MSI because of the Twin Frozr cooler and has a good overclock on it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0094CX8QI/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1352682820&sr=8-4&pi=SL75
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00966IREK/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1352682820&sr=8-1&pi=SL75
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00942TK8I/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1352682820&sr=8-2&pi=SL75
I would suggest the asus 660 but it is slightly higher price.
Hope i helped

 

[njxc500]

It kind of depends on what you are doing with it, but the latest general consensus there is the GTX660 would be a tie, with the gtx being a bit cheaper. Tom's just did a graphics comparison, take a look at that if you'd like to check their opinion.

 

[Novuake]

Factory OC'd and rigth in your budget! Will OC much more too if you would like to...
Its even pretty quiet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102983

 

[calumconroy]

Also if you manually overclocked a 660 you could surpass a 7870.

 

[oxford373]

7870 for 230$.it tie 300$ish 660ti in most dx11 games http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-benchmark-review,3279-17.html

 

[mynameisalex]

Hmmm... thanks for the replies, I'm getting mixed answers so I guess that its opinion based. Originally I was going with the 660, but yesterday when I posted my build a couple people told me that they suggested I get the 7870 OC edition for $10 more than the 660's. Also, I don't know if this impacts my decision much, but I think I'm going to stick with the factory overclock for a while before I do some manual overclocking.

 

[calumconroy]

Whatever mate it's up to you at the end. You'll get people saying AMD for some reasons and some saying nVidia for some reasons - it's all about personal choice and experience!
No matter what you'll be happy with either card

 

[megagabobe1]

The 7870 is a much better overclocker and with the new drivers performance has increased a lot, http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?280116-HD77x0-and-78x0-OC-results-here.

 

[diec4st]

7870 all the way

 

[bignastyid]

Performance wise its a tie. I go look at some benchmarks and see how they perform in the games you plan on playing as Nvidia performs better in some games and AMD is better in others.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-review-benchmark,3148.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297-8.html

 

[Ironslice]

I would get the GTX 660 for around $220-230

 

[Novuake]

Performance wise its a tie. I go look at some benchmarks and see how they perform in the games you plan on playing as Nvidia performs better in some games and AMD is better in others.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-review-benchmark,3148.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297-8.html

This does not bring into consideration AMD's new drivers. They boosts these cards by up to 18 %.

 

[Novuake]

Also if you manually overclocked a 660 you could surpass a 7870.

LOL!!! GTX 660 can not nearly overclock as much as the HD7870. They are mostly limited to their own boost function that can not be turned of... You can push it past that but thanks to the boost function, they keep it at a lower clock. Its Boost and limiter technically.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-680-review-benchmark,3161-4.html

Trust me, HD7870, just because Nvidia can not allow us to play a little...

 

[calumconroy]

LOL!!! GTX 660 can not nearly overclock as much as the HD7870. They are mostly limited to their own boost function that can not be turned of... You can push it past that but thanks to the boost function, they keep it at a lower clock. Its Boost and limiter technically.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-680-review-benchmark,3161-4.html

Trust me, HD7870, just because Nvidia can not allow us to play a little...

I never said a 660 can overclock as much as a 7870.