What is the sweet spot card to get now?

[calyco]

Hey guys, been out of PC gaming for a bit and would like some advice on upgrading my card. Basically last game Ive played hardcore was TF2, these two months Ive gotten back into it and having a ball with Borderlands 2. I was getting 40-50 fps overall but the the DLCs are lagging my GTX 650 down to the 20 fps range. Just tried Tomb Raider on Ultimate and its was choppy as hell. How does the GTX 650 stack up nowadays? What would be a good upgrade to my GTX 650 to max out all the settings on these two games (1920x1200)? Any info would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[nicuwork]

i understand you want an upgrade from gtx 650 to something better that can play new generation games in full hd resolution with about 40-50 fps.
I think the gtx 660 / hd 7870 should be your solution (second hand ofc for a nice price)

I played battlefield 4 with q6600 (3200ghz) + gtx 660 non ti, 1920x1080, ultra settings, 40-55 fps in campaign

I have now a hd 7790 on the same resolution and i play battlefield 3 on ultra without AA at 50-60 fps on the same q6600 (3400ghz)

 

[calyco]

Ideal would be 60 fps constant, the more the better but of course it all comes down to price/performance benefit. Oh and I have an amd phenom ll 955 black edition and 16 GB iirc, not at PC ATM. That's how long I haven't upgraded lol, almost forgot the specs

 

[mindbomb]

the sweet spot card is definitely the gtx 760. Sometimes on sale for $200. Also check evga for refurbished models.

 

[NTMBK]

Is that 955 nicely overclocked?

 

[Mondozei]

280X. If your processor isn't really good, Mantle will help free up the bottlenecks, too. Also, for the price/perfomance ratio, hard to get a better card.

The big issue is if you are given much higher prices due to miners. Where I live, the MSRP of a 280X on a mini-sale is basically where a 760 is most of the time and the MSRP is typically the actual price, too.

But if you live in 'Murica, you may not be so lucky.

 

[nwo]

the sweet spot card is definitely the gtx 760. Sometimes on sale for $200. Also check evga for refurbished models.

Yep, the sweet spot is definitely the GTX 760 @ about $200. Its only slightly slower than a 280X which retails for 2x the amount. Alternatively, you can try to get a GTX 770 for ~$300, which is slightly faster than a 280x.

Here is a nice comparison of the relative performance of the GPUs:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_270X/26.html

 

[el etro]

GTX 760 and 7950 Boost too. Or wait for R9 280 Non-X.

 

[tviceman]

If you are in the U.S. the AMD cards are massively overpriced and not worth it for gaming. Get a gtx 770, but if $310 is too much, the gtx 760's are going for $249 + rebate.

With recent drivers, the gtx 760 is 2.7x faster than the gtx 650, while the gtx 770 is 3.3x faster. Comparing my two recommendatiosn, the gtx 770 is 22% faster than the gtx 760.

If you were fairly happy with your gtx 650 performance prior to the borderlands DLC, consider the gtx 750 ti. For $150, it will provide just shy of 2x the performance increase without any additional power consumption and will easily overclock 10-15%.

 

[escrow4]

You'll be bottlenecked in Borderlands 2:

http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page6.html

Your Phenom will barely crack 50, whilst a new i7 would crack 65, never mind PhysX. Even that on High whacks my 780 Ti down to 40ish from solid 60.

 

[nwo]

GTX 760 and 7950 Boost too. Or wait for R9 280 Non-X.

Good luck getting a decent deal on a 7950. Their demand is way too high because of cryptocoins. They go for about $300 used. $300 can get you a GTX 770 which would smoke a 7950. Heck, even a ~$200 GTX 760 is faster than the 7950!

 

[TeknoBug]

With the ever changing fluctuating prices in the past 5 months it's hard to say, the GTX760 is probably the right price to performance range right now where I am, back in October I would have said the same for the R9 280X but not anymore with its ridiculously hiked price.

The GTX660 is also a good price to performance mid-range but the 750Ti is a little cheaper and a little faster and consumes less power (which is good for those that has big fat power bills, like me).

 

[nwo]

The GTX660 is also a good price to performance mid-range but the 750Ti is a little cheaper and a little faster and consumes less power (which is good for those that has big fat power bills, like me).

It is!? I thought it was comparable to GTX 650Ti Boost performance?

 

[Keysplayr]

With the ever changing fluctuating prices in the past 5 months it's hard to say, the GTX760 is probably the right price to performance range right now where I am, back in October I would have said the same for the R9 280X but not anymore with its ridiculously hiked price.

The GTX660 is also a good price to performance mid-range but the 750Ti is a little cheaper and a little faster and consumes less power (which is good for those that has big fat power bills, like me).

The GTX660 non Ti is faster than a GTX750Ti.
The GTX750Ti is just a scooch slower than a GTX650Ti Boost.

 

[nwo]

The GTX660 non Ti is faster than a GTX750Ti.
The GTX750Ti is just a scooch slower than a GTX650Ti Boost.

Looked up some benchmarks and I was able to confirm that as well:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750-14.html

GTX 750Ti=7850 so it's actually slower than a GTX 650Ti Boost as well as the GTX 660

 

[Keysplayr]

Yup. Exactly right.

 

[Subyman]

I owned a MSI 760 TF for awhile and was very impressed by the performance. I remember playing Borderlands 2 at 1440p with high settings and it ran nicely. If you can get one for low 200's then I'd say that's the card to get.

 

[TreVader]

The best deal in the next couple weeks is going to be the R7 265 @ $150. It's just an R7 270 with different BIOS, you end up with 7870 performance for $150.



The 750ti is not a gaming card. It doesn't mine all that well either.

 

[EXCellR8]

lol buying new graphics cards... $450 GTX 690 all day

nothin wrong w used, i say be green and recycle

 

[nwo]

The best deal in the next couple weeks is going to be the R7 265 @ $150. It's just an R7 270 with different BIOS, you end up with 7870 performance for $150.



The 750ti is not a gaming card.

Not true at all.

First, the R7 265 is the same Pitcarin GPU used on the 7850 with a different BIOS and possibly different RAM as well. Second, it will have a $150 MSRP, but that certainly does not mean it will debut at that price considering 270s are ~$50+ above their MSRP, I don't think I need to mention how much higher 280x/r290s are retailing for. Lastly, if a 265 is a gaming card, then so is the 750Ti, since the 750Ti=7850 which is only slightly slower (~10%) than a 265.

 

[TreVader]

Not true at all.

First, the R7 265 is the same Pitcarin GPU used on the 7850 with a different BIOS and possibly different RAM as well. Second, it will have a $150 MSRP, but that certainly does not mean it will debut at that price considering 270s are ~$50+ above their MSRP, I don't think I need to mention how much higher 280x/r290s are retailing for. Lastly, if a 265 is a gaming card, then so is the 750Ti, since the 750Ti=7850 which is only slightly slower (~10%) than a 265.

UH no. R7 265 is Pitcairn XT with a different bios, period. http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-rad...ard-review-with-sapphire-dual-x-r7-265_135733


So you get a 7870, which is a good 30% FASTER than the 750ti for $150



And all the R7 cards have been going at MSRP or less. So the mining FUD your spreading should stop. You're recommending a card that gives garbage performance purely because it has nvidia brand name. The 265 has twice the memory bandwidth and beats the 750ti in EVERY SINGLE benchmark stock, and when fully unlocked as a R7 270 competes with the GTX 760

 

[atticus14]

UH no. R7 265 is Pitcairn XT with a different bios, period. http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-rad...ard-review-with-sapphire-dual-x-r7-265_135733


So you get a 7870, which is a good 30% FASTER than the 750ti for $150



And all the R7 cards have been going at MSRP or less. So the mining FUD your spreading should stop. You're recommending a card that gives garbage performance purely because it has nvidia brand name. The 265 has twice the memory bandwidth and beats the 750ti in EVERY SINGLE benchmark stock, and when fully unlocked as a R7 270 competes with the GTX 760

unless it can be unlocked its still not a 7870/270. Not a bad card though, i would pick it over a 750ti. Once OC'd to match a 7870 speeds there's not much difference.

 

[nwo]

UH no. R7 265 is Pitcairn XT with a different bios, period. http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-rad...ard-review-with-sapphire-dual-x-r7-265_135733


So you get a 7870, which is a good 30% FASTER than the 750ti for $150



And all the R7 cards have been going at MSRP or less. So the mining FUD your spreading should stop. You're recommending a card that gives garbage performance purely because it has nvidia brand name. The 265 has twice the memory bandwidth and beats the 750ti in EVERY SINGLE benchmark stock, and when fully unlocked as a R7 270 competes with the GTX 760

What the heck is Pitcarin XT? The fact is that the 265 has the same number of shaders as the 7850, therefore it is a 7850 core, regardless of which BIOS you decide to slap onto it.

Find me any Radeon 270, or higher, that is currently in stock and going for anywhere near MSRP. The mining hyperinflation of MSRP Radeon prices is very much real, regardless of your denial.

GTX 760 is anything but garbage performance. It is faster than a 7950 and slightly slower than a 7970. Find me a new 7950 for $200 and then we can talk about GTX 760's garbage performance/$.

I never once argued that the GTX 750Ti was faster than the 265 at stock clock speeds. If anything, I said the 265 is faster than the GTX 750Ti since GTX 750Ti is on par with the Radeon 7850. I also never recommended the GTX 750Ti.

This is what I said in my previous post:

Lastly, if a 265 is a gaming card, then so is the 750Ti, since the 750Ti=7850 which is only slightly slower (~10%) than a 265.

 

[lavaheadache]

The 750ti isn't touted to be a beast gaming card. Just a relatively potent performer at incredibly low power draw. Imagine a device in your hand with a derivative.....

Shield Ti Black, Shield GTX /tin foil hat

 

[el etro]

Good luck getting a decent deal on a 7950. Their demand is way too high because of cryptocoins. They go for about $300 used. $300 can get you a GTX 770 which would smoke a 7950. Heck, even a ~$200 GTX 760 is faster than the 7950!

You're right(it seems). Most cheap 7950B on Newegg is $400.