Best GPU for under $200

[redvandam]

Hello,

I am racking my brain trying to find the best GPU for under $200. The options seem limtless and since a bad decision will screw me for years, I have to get this right.

I currently have a GTX 550 Ti but I am told it's a inferior card compared to most others in it's price range. I am going to exchange it and I am willing to pay a bit more for a better card.

My comp specs are:

Corsair 650W PSU
Corsair 4 gig ddr3 (1 stick)
AMD Phenom 965
and Currently GTX 550 Ti

The game I am preparing my system for is The Witcher 2 but I also play L4D2 and Civ 5 mostly.

I am looking for a DX11 card, preferably something that is quiet and consumes less power.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[adam_x_brookes]

what resolution do you game at? and also can you not max out most games already on that setup?
Adam

 

[megamanx00]

If your current card is fine for now, then there isn't much point buying a new card right away. If you do want to upgrade, and somehow plan to recover what you spent on the 550, then I would say you need a 6870, or 5870 for a meaningful upgrade. A GTX 460 or Radeon 6850 would certainly provide a meaningful boost over your current card, but not a great one.

 

[eloric]

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: April 2011 indicates teh 6870 is the best option at $210.

Here is one for $180 after rebate with free shipping: HIS H687F1G2M Radeon HD 6870 1GB

This card is only 10.3 inches long so it will fit into any mid-tower case.

 

[jjb8675309]

personally I'd bump up a little more to a gtx 560 ti for 235 but then again we don't even know what resolution the OP is gaming at (and for that matter, for 30 or so more dollars, the op could go to a 6950 2 gig and flash it to 6970 but that's getting ahead of ourselves a bit)

LFD2 (will run fine on a lower end pc), witcher 2 and civ 5 are not the most demanding games (of a gpu) I believe the civ 5 is more reliant on cpu power but all in all the OP could do much better (imo) for the money then a gtx 550, which is a fodder card.

 

[rez_evil]

well if your intresting in buying dual graphic cards i got two matching ASUS EAH6850 DirectCU/2DIS/1GD5 for sale let me know ......

 

[jjb8675309]

yeah I had two 6870s the drivers sucked for 6 months
so I had to get rid of them

 

[badtaylorx]

hold on why spend 200 when you can pick up another 550,,,sli it and smoke any 200dollar card out there!!!! unless you dont have the slot in which you may want to go with one of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130611
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187128
both of them are 2 Gb versions of the very capable gtx 460...and 2 of these in sli renders almost equal to a gtx580!!!

 

[dwarf10]

GTX 460 and 2 GB ver.????! no way! just add extra money and get the 560ti !!

 

[badtaylorx]

wrong...460's kick sooo much a$$ that nvidia wont even license them for triple or quad sli....it would cut too hard into their 580 sales and it 300+ for a 2gig 560ti so.........2x 2gig 460's=best bang for $$$$handsdown

 

[dwarf10]

why would you want more than 1 GB versions of any card, unless you're running really high resolution and multiple monitors?! it's much better to stick with 1 beasty card than bothering with SLI/Xfire.... it seems like you're a big fan of 460's =)))

 

[jers]

Short and sweet, just my opinion. Massive cooling and great priced HD 6870:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125357&cm_re=6870-_-14-125-357-_-Product

I actually feel sorry I didn't see this model before I clicked BUY on an MSI with the Twin Frozer II, wich by the way was no cheaper. The only downside is that it looks huge!

And if you like the green side better you might consider getting this GTX 460 and throwing some more Mhz with evga precision software:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333

It is smaller and should be cool & quiet (tm xD). A little slower in general but faster in some games, and you've got physx is you care for it 😛

Right now there aren't much better options unless you fork out some more bucks

Have a nice upgrade!