What's the best value low to mid range graphics card at the moment? $100-$150

Riczter on 02/06/2014 - 19:40
Last edited 02/06/2014 - 19:42

Getting into a bit of gaming, and my ancient HD5700 isnt really cutting it.
What should I get that's not going to break the bank?

Probably looking for something between 100 and 150.

Willing to wait for a bargain. Just not sure what model numbers to be looking it.
The GTX750 sounds familiar, but didnt AMD change their model numbers, so whats the equivalent AMD model, is it the R7-260X or what? Can any one catch me up?

And how about brand names? I have zero idea what the difference is between different brands and TI or whatever other differences beyond the model number…

Suggestion's welcome, cheers guys.

Computing Computer Component Video Card

Comments

  • leonheart1 on 02/06/2014 - 19:44
    +1

    Is the game you're trying watch dogs by any chance? If so, not even titans in sli are cutting it. The optimisation is just shit.

    Else, have you considered second hand?

    If you just want general info on graphics cards, check out the graphs here: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

    • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2014 - 10:17

      Second hand graphics card experiences? I know I can be a trustworthy seller if I upgrade my card but what about the dude I'm buying from, he could have used it to mine Dogecoin 24/7 for the past 6 months

  • Riczter on 02/06/2014 - 19:49

    Mostly older multiplayer games, but just tried out battlefield 3 since it was free, runs fine, but I'd like to be able to up the quality a bit.

  • scrimshaw on 02/06/2014 - 21:45

    Brand does not matter much, the only thing that may differ is the cooling / heatsink design, presence or absence of factory overclocking, and warranty. Horses for courses but in the end it's still the same GPU.

    The 750Ti is a little bit out of your budget as it goes up to $170 from most shops, if you're willing to pay $190 I would suggest going for the R9 270 OC that's on special on MSY http://www.msy.com.au/images/ADbanner/eletter/30052014/onlin…

    This is of course, even more expensive than the 750 Ti but it offers a sizable increase in performance. If you're going to play Bf3 @ 1080p you will most likely need at least the R9-270 for a decent 40+ frame rate.

    If you want to go thrifty there is the Radeon 7770. It is obsolete, may be difficult to find, but it goes for $100.

    • Riczter on 02/06/2014 - 22:22

      Cheers for the tip, would my Thermaltake 500w generic PSU be fine running the R9-270?

      • p1 ama on 02/06/2014 - 22:28

        It should be fine.

  • ammark19xx on 02/06/2014 - 22:55

    Timely thread, as I am looking around too between the GTX750 and the R7-260. Read somewhere this morning that in power consumption and heat-efficiency the 750 is much better. The R7-260s are better price/performance and better at 4K encoding/decoding for HTPC use. I work a lot on Photoshop and I use my pc as an HTPC.

    Either way, I will probably go the Nvidia route since the only game I play is Flight Simulator X.

    But does anyone know if the HDMI ports on both GTX750 and R7-260 support HDMI2 for full 4k/60fps output? If I buy a 4k TV around Xmas, I'd want my graphics card to be able to output full frame rate 4k to it.

    • scrimshaw on 03/06/2014 - 02:31
      +1

      GTX750 and R7-260 support HDMI2 for full 4k/60fps output?

      you must check the manufacturer's site, different brands may have different specs. I've yet to see any cards with HDMI 2.0 yet and I dont think there will be anytime soon because of the royalty fees invovled with HDMI 2.0 (too expensive?). We might not see HDMI 2.0 spec GPU's until Nvidia releases Maxwell (800 series).

      If you want 4k 60FPS make sure your TV has DisplayPort, and you'll have to make do with using MST to do 4k 60hz.

  • rambao9 on 03/06/2014 - 01:33

    Ebay amd 7850, clock to 1200+ MHz, and u have 7950/r9 280 for about 150? less if your lucky

  • srhardy on 03/06/2014 - 16:07

    ati 270/270x for about $175-$225, checkout newegg/amazon global or msy.com.au

    that will do 1080P @ >60fps for most everything!

    the nvidia 760 is ok too but way over your budget at about $300

    BUT on ebay they have used amd 290 for $300 shipped or cheap shipping that were used to mine bit coin/lightcoins that will do 4k gaming at 60fps or 1080P at 120fps with full on razzel dazzle gfx.

    I find it hard to suggest anything less, the same graphics on the last gen gfx was twice the price per frame rate…

  • ammark19xx on 26/06/2014 - 07:27

    Bit the bullet yesterday and bought the last MSI GTX650Ti power edition in MSY's Victorian stores. At $109 it's a good price to me. I've forgone any 4k hopes with the promise of hackintosh compatibility of NVidia Kepler cores. Frankly for SoHo and fsx, a GT640 would've sufficed. For $9 more, I feel like I've struck lucky.

  • ammark19xx on 03/07/2014 - 11:38

    MSY has the Gainward 2GB GTX750Ti in stock at Clayton for $162. That has exceptional performance compared to GT750. At $162 I think that's a great price point for the 750Ti currently. The Gigabyte 2GB R7-260x OC is at $145 at MSY Clayton too.

    P.s: my first post on this thread has a wrong link. This is the comparison review I wanted to point to.

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