Best GPU under 200?

[_s0ap]

Hey guys! I'm in the process of building my little sister a Gaming PC before I go to college and I needed a little guidance?


What is currently the top GPU under 250? And would fin a BitFenix Prodigy case?

I'm trying to get the best I can out of a Mini ITX build.


Thanks!!!

 

[boucleinfinie]

XFX HD 7870 is what I'd get.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605

 

[boucleinfinie]

And there's a $20 rebate on there too, so it's really only $216.

 

[minidruid]

XFX HD 7870 is what I'd get.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605

^

Agree that this probably your best bet. Mid level AMD cards also overlock pretty decently where as a 650ti not so much.

 

[unksol]

The 7870 is a great card. However, if you can stretch a little bit, i'd get the 7950 IF you're interested in the free games. Farcry 3 is worth the price difference on its own

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

 

[unksol]

Oh, and yes, they'll both fit, but you have to remove the drive cage

 

[bc5]

The GTX660 is well worth considering. It's cheaper than the 7870, despite being less than 5% slower.

http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page12.html

That was tested after AMD's big new driver launch but before nVidia's, so gives AMD an edge. They're close enough you could never tell the difference (with v-sync disabled), but the GeForce gives you adaptive v-sync, meaning that you can enjoy the benefits of v-sync (no screen tearing) without the performance hit you'd get with the Radeon you take when you drop below 60fps.

Basically, the GTX660 will give you a performance edge you can actually see, since it doesn't restrict framerates below 60fps. You can read about it in detail at http://www.hardocp.com/article/201 [...] y_review/3.

"With Adaptive VSync turned on, the feeling of the game felt smoother compared to regular VSync turned on. The performance felt much like the game felt with VSync turned off. This is the kind of technology we like to see which has improved the innate nature of the gameplay experience. If all you need is 60 FPS in a game for it to be playable, then why not just go ahead and cap the game there so it doesn't exceed your refresh rate. Then, if the game has to fall below that, allow the game to perform at its real-time actual framerate, and Adaptive VSync allows that. It really is the best of all worlds, with no drawbacks. We didn't find any negatives to using Adaptive VSync, and we tried it out in a handful of games."

You can just enable adaptive v-sync and then forget about it - she'll never get tearing or artificially restricted framerates.

 

[Rich_]

the nvidia driver updates brought about a 1 percent performance boost. the main benefit was the 4percent performance boost certain cards got on higher resolutions, 1600p +. In which case, it's worthless because amd still outperforms on those resolutions, and the 1percent boost on lower resolutions still has amd ahead. ubuthurtumad

 

[sheepsnowadays]

@ bc5 I think your talking about the 660ti when you say the 7870 is only 5% faster and the 660ti cost more than the 7870. I would go with a 7870 a great card and around $200

 

[bc5]

the nvidia driver updates brought about a 1 percent performance boost. the main benefit was the 4percent performance boost certain cards got on higher resolutions, 1600p +. In which case, it's worthless because amd still outperforms on those resolutions, and the 1percent boost on lower resolutions still has amd ahead. ubuthurtumad

The improvements ranged from 5-20%. Where did you get 1%? As for the last word in your post, how old are you? Grow up.

@Sheeps, check out the link I posted. They're definitely talking about the GTX660 being only 5% slower, and it's their recommendation at that price range.

EDIT: I mean the first link.

 

[bucknutty]

The 7850 1gb is an amazing card at around $175. I saw one on sales on newegg last week for $160.

 

[dscudella]

Hey guys! I'm in the process of building my little sister a Gaming PC before I go to college and I needed a little guidance?


What is currently the top GPU under 250? And would fin a BitFenix Prodigy case?

I'm trying to get the best I can out of a Mini ITX build.


Thanks!!!

What country are you in? The "best" in a price range varies by vendor & country.

In the U.S. the Radeon 7870 is the most performance you can grab for your price range.

7870 2gb $220 > GTX 660 2gb $200 > 7850 2gb $185

 

[bc5]

What country are you in? The "best" in a price range varies by vendor & country.

In the U.S. the Radeon 7870 is the most performance you can grab for your price range.

7870 2gb $220 > GTX 660 2gb $200 > 7850 2gb $185

That first > is only if you don't factor in adaptive v-sync. You're getting a tiny performance increase without v-sync (too small to tell the difference without a framerate counter) vs a gain that's actually noticeable with the GTX660 when you do use v-sync. Good point about variations by market though - I was talking to a guy in Europe recently who was looking at €50 difference between a 2GB 7850 and a GTX660. That said, he may have been looking at just one retailer.

 

[unksol]

Lol... Bc5. "adaptive vsync" is an all around worthless feature. you are not seriously recommending a 660 are you? The shear Fanboyism regardless of facts, benchmarks, and common sense is staggering.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Basically, the GTX660 will give you a performance edge you can actually see, since it doesn't restrict framerates below 60fps. You can read about it in detail at http://www.hardocp.com/article/201 [...] y_review/3.

"With Adaptive VSync turned on, the feeling of the game felt smoother compared to regular VSync turned on. The performance felt much like the game felt with VSync turned off. This is the kind of technology we like to see which has improved the innate nature of the gameplay experience. If all you need is 60 FPS in a game for it to be playable, then why not just go ahead and cap the game there so it doesn't exceed your refresh rate. Then, if the game has to fall below that, allow the game to perform at its real-time actual framerate, and Adaptive VSync allows that. It really is the best of all worlds, with no drawbacks. We didn't find any negatives to using Adaptive VSync, and we tried it out in a handful of games."

You can just enable adaptive v-sync and then forget about it - she'll never get tearing or artificially restricted framerates.

^ HardOCP are fanboys now? Grow up unksol.

 

[_s0ap]

What country are you in? The "best" in a price range varies by vendor & country.

In the U.S. the Radeon 7870 is the most performance you can grab for your price range.

7870 2gb $220 > GTX 660 2gb $200 > 7850 2gb $185

I'm from the US, California to be a little more specific.

I do like the 7870, its had my eye, i have an HIS IceQ 7870 in my setup, and its going very swell!