Best Graphics Cards for the Money (Archive)

[loki1944]

Did I miss something orate the 380/380X excluded in this article?

 

[sykozis]

Why have they done this piece now with pascal and polaris on the horizon? Seen's to be a waste of time in my opinion. Marketing?

Not everyone is looking to buy the "latest and greatest" every year. Some are actually looking to buy previous generation cards.

 

[MisterChef]

I miss the old format which usually spotlighted the best single slot card that didn't require an extra power connector. I guess maybe that's not a very large segment of the market any more but it's the one I fall into. I assume the GTX 750Ti is still the king there? Or is has it gone out of production and was basically not replaced by anything comparable?

 

[Onus]

That's still the one, although supposedly there's a low-power version of the GTX950 that doesn't need PCIe power.

 

[MisterChef]

That's still the one, although supposedly there's a low-power version of the GTX950 that doesn't need PCIe power.

That I haven't seen but if it's available then it'd definitely be the way to go. I'm currently still using an old Radeon 7750 so I think I would notice the difference if I could step up to a GTX950.

 

[SingularityXD]

Pick a [Used Very Good Radeon HD 7950 Boost] from Amazon.com, for almost 160 bucks, 3gb vram 925 core clock, if you want, you can update the bios to a 7970 unlocking shader processors, also a bit of overclock to 1130mhz, and the gtx 960 will bite the dust.... also if you research you can buy a 960 for almost 180 bucks too.... I have a lot of confidence on used hardware.... you will replace it before it dies

 

[Onus]

Here is one such low-power GTX950, from Gigabyte. I trust their cards, so now my wallet-hand is twitching uncontrollably...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125856

 

[aria_perdana]

why the chosen maxed out HD is R7 360? The R7 260X is a bit faster although it's using the same GPU.

 

[kunstderfugue]

why the chosen maxed out HD is R7 360? The R7 260X is a bit faster although it's using the same GPU.

I'm assuming the better performance from the 260X won't be felt by most titles at 720p 60fps. Just like it's unreasonable to try and max out 1080p60 with a 980.

 

[alextheblue]

why the chosen maxed out HD is R7 360? The R7 260X is a bit faster although it's using the same GPU.

More importantly, 360 is more readily available. 260X is last gen and is getting less common new - and this article isn't about used GPUs. That would be such a clusterfudge to try and cover the used market. I just looked on Newegg and they don't have ANY 260X models in stock anymore, as an example. Besides, while the 260X has a tiny bit more punch, they both have the same (limited) bandwidth.

With that being said, you can get various 370 cards for $130 or so, not even counting MIR. At that price I wouldn't bother recommend a 360.

 

[bigjimid]

Not sure how long the GPU section has been broken down by need like the CPUs, but it's very nice to see them listed this way. Most people only hear about the top end cards (980 ti, Fury, Titan) and think those are what they need/want only to not realize they are way overspending to make games on their 24" 1080p 60hz monitor look awesome. Hopefully this will help new builders realize they may not need to spend over $200 on a GPU.

 

[Onus]

Historically, spending more has always bought future-resistance, but I could play any game I had at the "current resolution" now either 1920x1080 or 2560x1440 with "Good" (mostly High, some maxed) settings using a $150-$180 graphics card, sometimes less for older games.

 

[quadcitynerd]

Here is the deal, the article is supposed to give me some insight on price per pound for the best card but in the first comparison it lists everything BUT prices. In fact if I want to see the price I have to follow the link to the sales page and those are clearly affiliate links. So you tell us this is best price comparison but we have to click a link to get that price all while you get cred for the click? Very cheap and low Tom and more proof that this website is getting cheaper and taking advantage of its readership. I am done with it, unsubscribing NOW!

 

[cangelini]

I am confused about this comment about the Fury-X vs 980Ti:
"AMD does claim a slight performance advantage at 4K. However, the 980 Ti tends to be cooler, quieter and more self-contained. It’d be hard to go wrong either way. "

As a Fury-X owner, I find it pretty much silent and extremely cool. How exactly does the 980Ti beat a watercooled card in those metrics?

I have two Fury X cards in the lab that emit high-pitched whine, even at idle, and none that don't. Meanwhile, the 980 Ti cards are barely audible. Neither the AMD nor the Nvidia boards are loud per se, but their respective frequency outputs changes the ownership experience dramatically.

 

[RobertMoon1211]

Nice information thanks for sharing!

 

[bsacco123]

I'm currently looking to upgrade my Dell XPS 8700 desktop that is currently running a AMD Redeon HD SERIES 7500 card.

I'm looking to get my PC faster with video...I don't game.

Seeking best value performance.

Also, need recommendation on new PSU to go with graphics card.

thanks

 

[Lena__]

nice read, thank you!

if u talk Lg's 29uc88, as in freesync 21:9 1080p
it it 390 or 390x?

 

[kunstderfugue]

Thank you for updating the Discrete GPU Hierarchy charts! I had been waiting for those.

 

[MuckingFedic]

What graphics card would you guys suggest for a 5 monitor setup? I will be running 3 VMs with 2 primary monitors. None of the 5 monitors will exceed 1920x1080 resolution.
Thanks!

 

[Heri_3]

where's the gtx 1080

 

[Soccerbeast_1]

.........really no gtx 960's??? isn't that the happy medium between the 950 and 970??

 

[Glenn Webster]

I'm still confused.
The previous format made sense.
What do the category abbreviations mean?

 

[GN125]

what is the best of Palit GeForce 960 4GB & Sapphire R9 380X 4GB VGA cards?

 

[Onus]

Personally, I'd choose the 960 for lower power consumption and less heat. The overall performance difference is much smaller.

 

[Keidos]

I'm likely in the minority, but I hate the new format for this article. "Best for the money" should be by price category. This used to be useful when you were on a budget and you needed to know what you could get. Now it's really only helpful if you have an unlimited budget but you know your resolution. So, never.