New GPU - low budget

[krzys6e]

Hello! I have question to ask: Is it worth to buy graphic card just at begining of january or should i wait a bit longer? I heard that around February there are prices drop. My budget is around 200 euro, my current specs are

Gigabyte B85M-D3H
Core i5 4400
GTX 460
8 gb ram
Corsair CX500

What GPU would you recommend?

 

[JustCase]

Now, I would recommend the R9 285, I think it would be ok with your configuration, maybe the PSU will be at the limit but it shouldn't be too little... maybe you should wait for other opinions
PS: sorry for my bad english, I'm italian...

 

[AtenRa]

Yea if you can find a R9 285 at 200 Euro its the best GPU at that price, with Mantle, FreeSync and low power consumption.

 

[RussianSensation]

Wait 30 more days for GTX960 to drop. It will give you more options to choose between an R9 280/280X and GTX960/possibly used R9 290 or price-drops on 290. I wouldn't consider at 285 as it only has 2GB of VRAM and is worse than a similarly priced 280X.

 

[raghu78]

get a R9 280 or wait for late Jan to see where GTX 960 lands in pricing and how it affects AMD GPU pricing. :thumbsup:

 

[ChuckFx]

You can get very nice deals for a R9 series on ebay right now, people are more than willing to lower their prices. You can go CFX with R9 290s for 400$. Wait is the best option but depends on your patience level. I am personally just waiting to see what comes around in the next month or two.

 

[Arachnotronic]

R9 280. Pretty solid deal.

 

[AtenRa]

I have never seen my HD7950 (R9 280) to use more than 1.8GB ram at 1080p. R9 285 is faster and has more features than R9 280.

 

[Silverforce11]

Wait 30 more days for GTX960 to drop.

Good advice right here. GTX960 is going to force major price drops across the board if it lands around $250.

 

[xLegenday]

Looks like its going to be a sub 200USD card, you might even want to take it!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Looks like its going to be a sub 200USD card, you might even want to take it!

If it's going to be $199.99 or less, I'll probably pick up a few of them for my rigs. $250, not so much.

Edit: You think one PCI-E 6-pin, or two, like the GTX460 1GB cards? (GREAT cards, btw, owned three of them.)

 

[Puffnstuff]

If you know that a price change is coming in a few weeks then wait and see how it affects the market before you commit.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Good advice right here. GTX960 is going to force major price drops across the board if it lands around $250.

Agree 100%
960 will most likely out perform everything below 290 and 970

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Agree 100%
960 will most likely out perform everything below 290 and 970

If it's giving 770 level performance with 2GB of RAM, the 280x would probably be the better buy.

 

[krzys6e]

I think that my main dilema right now is choice between buying R9 280 or waiting for GTX 960 to come.

 

[SlickR12345]

I'd actually wait. I mean when the next GPU releases are coming in 3-4 months then I usually suggest an upgrade, but reports have it that we are going to see GTX 960 and GTX 960TI in about 1 month, so I think its okay to wait 1 to 2 moths to make a purchase.

AMD is also hard at work on their next graphic cards, but those are coming somewhere around March-April.

 

[el etro]

The best deal would be an used R9 290, otherwise go for a R9 280.

 

[boozzer]

Looks like its going to be a sub 200USD card, you might even want to take it!

what are the specs for 960 anyway? if it has 2gb vram, that is like throwing 200$ away. that is a huge IF. more and more games would demand 4gb or more for high to max graphics settings.

 

[RussianSensation]

The best deal would be an used R9 290, otherwise go for a R9 280.

A brand new after-market 290 is already $220. Since an after-market 290 = 290X, there is 0 chance that a GTX960 will be able to provide as much value as a $220 R9 290 4GB.
http://www.computerbase.de/2014-05/amd-radeon-r9-290-290x-roundup-test/2/

Why is this? Because an after-market 290 = 290X are nearly identical in performance at 1440P/1600P and 4K, with 970 leading by only 6% at 1080P:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/27.html

 

[SlickR12345]

A brand new after-market 290 is already $220. Since an after-market 290 = 290X, there is 0 chance that a GTX960 will be able to provide as much value as a $220 R9 290 4GB.
http://www.computerbase.de/2014-05/amd-radeon-r9-290-290x-roundup-test/2/

Why is this? Because an after-market 290 = 290X are nearly identical in performance at 1440P/1600P and 4K, with 970 leading by only 6% at 1080P:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/27.html

Please don't post garbage deals. These only last few days, the average price for 290 cards are $260.

You post deal price when its active, there are deals for hundreds of cards each day all over the world, its not the real price.

 

[RussianSensation]

Garbage deals? For 1.5 months one could find a new R9 290 deal for $200-250. Not only that but these deals are recurring and are on after-market cards. The HIS deal I posted has lasted more than a week alone. Since the OP is looking to buy now, any deals apply since they are accessible. Therefore, in his case the choice is either to buy a $220 R9 290 now or wait 30 days to buy a slower 960 or hope for bigger price drops on 290/290X/970.

Secondly, you still ignored the main point of my comment that an after-market 290 and an after-market 970 are nearly identical in performance. That means even at $260/275, the after-market 290 would be faster and have more VRAM unless you think a 960 will be 97% as fast as the 970?

Also, have you not at all followed R9 290/290X vs. 970 performance in the latest games?
http://www.techspot.com/features/gaming/

As per usual the 960 is shaping up as yet another overhyped mid-range NV card. I am waiting to be proven wrong but if it's slower than an after-market 290 and has 3GB of VRAM at $250, I don't view that as ground-breaking against more than a 1 year old product. Also, in case you didn't notice I already suggested to the OP to wait 30 days for 960 and/or capitalize on price drops once it launches because I realized that he can't buy a 290 at 200 euros.

 

[Chevron]

Now, I would recommend the R9 285, I think it would be ok with your configuration, maybe the PSU will be at the limit but it shouldn't be too little... maybe you should wait for other opinions
PS: sorry for my bad english, I'm italian...

Yea if you can find a R9 285 at 200 Euro its the best GPU at that price, with Mantle, FreeSync and low power consumption.

This pretty much.

 

[JustCase]

I reccomended it because he has a little PSU for R9 280/280x

 

[RussianSensation]

His PSU is 500W, more than enough for a 280X or even 290.

 

[Chevron]

Now, I would recommend the R9 285, I think it would be ok with your configuration, maybe the PSU will be at the limit but it shouldn't be too little... maybe you should wait for other opinions
PS: sorry for my bad english, I'm italian...

Yea if you can find a R9 285 at 200 Euro its the best GPU at that price, with Mantle, FreeSync and low power consumption.

These guys have it right. Get the R9 285.