Best Graphics Cards for the Money (Archive)

[cangelini]

Here are the best gaming GPUs for the money. These graphics cards offer the best performance at their price and resolution (from 720p to 4K).

Best Graphics Cards for the Money : Read more

 

[adamovera]

Archived comments are found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3254709/graphics-cards-money.html

 

[cryoburner]

AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
...

It does all of those things for $220, if you snag the 4 GB version.

I get the impression you might not have updated this part of the article from November, since I currently see several RX 480 4GB cards on Newegg for $185 to $190 shipped, each with $15 to $20 rebates bringing the final price into the $165-$175 range. I see you mentioned the price drop in the intro, but you should probably fix that line in the article as well.

 

[sentore1]

i have a 390x 6gig man they seem to disapear off the sales charts

 

[uglyduckling81]

No honourable mention of the worlds fastest GPU? Radeon Pro Duo was price reduced to $850 ($820 on Newegg) from $1500. In games with crossfire compatibility there is simply no other single card better. I wouldn't buy one because I won't touch dual cards again but I think it's worth a mention.
Also your price on the 1080's is $100 too high. They are on Amazon for US$580 which isn't a shitty reference card either. It's a good brand with a decent factory overclock.

 

[Sakkura]

I disagree with your recommendation of a 1070 as the minimum for VR. Particularly with ASW, a 1060 or RX 480 is more than plenty.

 

[TheGrandCoyote]

the NVIDIA GTX 660 is an amazing card for the money, I actually used one for 2 years and I was getting great 60+ fps on most games on highest setting in 1080p. Great Card.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00966IREK?tag=price1180107-20&ascsubtag=wtbs_5888d0cb9634d44b76edfe0c

 

[legonate416]

My question is why the RX 470 is not the pick for FHD. It offers a huge performance upgrade to the 1050 TI for a little over $30.

 

[cryoburner]

My question is why the RX 470 is not the pick for FHD. It offers a huge performance upgrade to the 1050 TI for a little over $30.

That is a pretty good question, especially if we factor in rebates. Going by the current post-rebate prices on Newegg, the lowest-cost RX 470 is just $5 more than the lowest-cost 1050 ti there, despite offering around 50% more performance. Even without the rebates, it's just a $25 difference. Perhaps these sale prices changed a bit more since they wrote the article, but it greatly reduces the usefulness of these "Best Graphics Cards for the Money" lists when they only update them once every few months.

 

[Sakkura]

Right now, ignoring rebates, there's an RX 480 4GB listed for $180, while the cheapest 470 is at $165. Then I can understand going with the 480 rather than the 470.

They do explain this being the reason for skipping the RX 470 in the introduction to the January update, but I think it should also have been mentioned in the entries for either the 1050 Ti or the 480.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
...

It does all of those things for $220, if you snag the 4 GB version.

I get the impression you might not have updated this part of the article from November, since I currently see several RX 480 4GB cards on Newegg for $185 to $190 shipped, each with $15 to $20 rebates bringing the final price into the $165-$175 range. I see you mentioned the price drop in the intro, but you should probably fix that line in the article as well.

Most of the best-of articles seem to have the entries untouched, and the intros sometimes partially updated instead of fully updated. Sadly it can get confusing because of this, in particular to those with less experience watching the market prices... and of course many never get updated testing with newer drivers which could affect performance... or if they do, in some other article, the entries never reflect the updates.

 

[cangelini]

I get the impression you might not have updated this part of the article from November, since I currently see several RX 480 4GB cards on Newegg for $185 to $190 shipped, each with $15 to $20 rebates bringing the final price into the $165-$175 range. I see you mentioned the price drop in the intro, but you should probably fix that line in the article as well.

Thanks for pointing this out. Updated the corresponding text block! We don't typically factor in rebates, but this affects both sides similarly.

 

[Aniket Patel]

Hello, I am thinking to buy new LG 3440 x 1440P resolution Ultra Wide monitor, I am not sure which graphic card should I buy and I am intended for general business usage. Not much gaming but (ok occasionally) Tell me pls,

1: With gaming recommendation for card
2: Without Gaming, and just business normal usage for card to buy

I am having currently GT 630 Nvideo Zotac installed and 8 GB Ram with Core i5
P.S: I know its bit of shit kind of tech spec, but that's what I have :|

 

[Jearld]

for general business and casual gaming on 3440X1440 a 1050 works just fine, my system is doing that right here at work. At home I use a 1080 and it is much better for intense games but you pay a price.

 

[tonybstc]

Please seriously check the price before releasing the article. I bought a custom MSI RX 480 8gb last week for $199 after rebate. The price is not uncommon to see on newegg. Whereas Geforce 1060 6gb I can only find $235 after rebate at the lowest on newegg.

The article is only meaningful if it reflects the truth. With such a big deviance there is just no creditability in the recommendations.

 

[Olle P]

the NVIDIA GTX 660 is an amazing card for the money, I actually used one for 2 years...

The card was an amazing card for the money. Now it is not.

Most of the best-of articles seem to have the entries untouched, and the intros sometimes partially updated instead of fully updated. Sadly it can get confusing because of this, ...

I agree!

... and of course many never get updated testing with newer drivers which could affect performance... or if they do, in some other article, the entries never reflect the updates.

Couldn't agree more. With the most recent drivers the difference in DX11 performance between RX 480 8GB and GTX 1060 6GB can be seen as gone. The Radeon is even the faster card in some applications.
In the first reviews of RX 480 Polaris was just released to the market while the Pascal drivers had been polished on for a couple of months. Now both architectures have mature drivers.

... a custom MSI RX 480 8gb last week for $199 after rebate. ... Geforce 1060 6gb I can only find $235 after rebate at the lowest on newegg.

The article is only meaningful if it reflects the truth. ...

If you read the principles for these recommendations they always look at the full price. Rebates are NEVER accounted for.

 

[tonybstc]

The price difference is still big even if you compare the full price between RX 480 8GB and 1060 6GB. RX 480 8GB lowest is selling for $215 without rebate, while 1060 6GB is $240 without rebate.

 

[SABBAR]

Hello im gonna to upgrade my graphic card to gtx 750 ti .
My specs hp elite 8000 cmt 16Go ram ddr3 the cpu is core 2quad 3ghz
And my psu is 320 wattes .
In the site geforce make the recomended of psu is 300 wattes for gtx 750 ti but in msi site make 400 wattes
The question is which the correct and it's work on my pc
Thank you for your support

 

[SABBAR]

Hello im gonna to upgrade my graphic card to gtx 750 ti .
My specs hp elite 8000 cmt 16Go ram ddr3 the cpu is core 2quad 3ghz
And my psu is 320 wattes .
In the site geforce make the recomended of psu is 300 wattes for gtx 750 ti but in msi site make 400 wattes
The question is which the correct and it's work on my pc
Thank you for your support

 

[SABBAR]

Hello guys can u tell me if the msi gtx 1050 ti is good or not and and it's on 320 wattes without any problems .
Thank u??

 

[SABBAR]

Hello im gonna to upgrade my graphic card to gtx 750 ti .
My specs hp elite 8000 cmt 16Go ram ddr3 the cpu is core 2quad 3ghz
And my psu is 320 wattes .
In the site geforce make the recomended of psu is 300 wattes for gtx 750 ti but in msi site make 400 wattes
The question is which the correct and it's work on my pc
Thank you for your support

Hello guys can u tell me if the msi gtx 1050 ti is good or not and and it's on 320 wattes without any problems .
Thank u??

 

[cryoburner]

Hello im gonna to upgrade my graphic card to gtx 750 ti .
My specs hp elite 8000 cmt 16Go ram ddr3 the cpu is core 2quad 3ghz
And my psu is 320 wattes .
In the site geforce make the recomended of psu is 300 wattes for gtx 750 ti but in msi site make 400 wattes
The question is which the correct and it's work on my pc...
...Hello guys can u tell me if the msi gtx 1050 ti is good or not and and it's on 320 wattes without any problems .

You should have probably asked this in its own thread, but either of those cards would likely work, as they both only draw between 60 to 70 watts while gaming. The 1050ti is newer though, so it's around 75% faster on average.

If this happens to be in a slimline case though, you would need it to be a low-profile card, though it looks like the "CMT" version of that computer may fit regular-size cards. If it's a smaller case, you might still want to check dimensions of the card before ordering it though, to make sure it fits. Also, your computer's PSU might not include a 6-pin power adapter, so you will probably want to look for a card that doesn't require one. Some versions of these cards may need one, while others will get all their power from the motherboard.

Since that's an older CPU, it's also likely that the CPU performance may limit your frame rates in some games, so performance might be a bit lower than what you see in some benchmarks.

 

[SABBAR]

Hello guys please can u help me
I want to know if i can to run a graphics card with pcie 3.0 x16 like gtx 750 ti or gtx 1050 ti in a pcie 2.0 x16 slot .
My specs is a hp elite 8000 CMT 16Go ram and core 2quad Q9650 the psu 320wattes
Thank u for your help

 

[Sakkura]

Hello guys please can u help me
I want to know if i can to run a graphics card with pcie 3.0 x16 like gtx 750 ti or gtx 1050 ti in a pcie 2.0 x16 slot .
My specs is a hp elite 8000 CMT 16Go ram and core 2quad Q9650 the psu 320wattes
Thank u for your help

Two things:

■ Can you please make a separate thread for your questions?
■PCIe is backwards compatible, so PCIe 3.0 cards will work fine in PCIe 2.0 slots (and the other way around). Current cards do not lose any significant performance as long as there is at least an x8 connection.

 

[Shadowars]

Why do I always see the huge emphasis on Price and Wattage. When I search for "Best GPU" I want performance period. Also I do not want to see fan cooled GPU's they're trash and outdated. No one wants to hear a fighter jet doing mach 7 two feet from them. As for the PSU questions BUY MORE THEN YOU NEED, so you have expand-ability. Oh look I saved $100 on my Graphics card but I have bought a power supply every time I upgrade my GPU thrifty shopper, no wait that's the opposite. If you want High end, buy high end there is no way around it.