BF3 video card on $200 budget?

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squirrelisan

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Dec 22, 2012
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Hello All,

I'm looking to buy a sub-$200 video card for my system in next week or so. Not looking at SLI anytime soon. The sole purpose of this is to let me play battlefield 3 (multiplayer) "budget-style". Meaning 1280x1080, "medium" quality, whatever that means for the game, but most importantly, minimum 30 fps when there is absolute chaos while playing, (and more like 60-80 fps normally). Hope you know where I'm coming from on these settings...

In any case, after some considerable reading, I think the best cards for me based on my budget are either the GTX 560, or the Radeon 7850. Below are my current system specs. I know it's a bit weak, and wondering if it's even possible to get the performance I want, with the system I currently have.

Celeron G530 @ 2.4
8G RAM (normal timings)
750W PSU
A few 7200 RPM HD's.
Windows 7 64-bit

Which would you choose if you were me? I saw a couple of cards around $160 after rebate on newegg...but wonder if I should hold out for another month for prices to drop a little more.
 
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Commandermadi

Commandermadi

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Dec 13, 2012
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andrewcarr

andrewcarr

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Nov 11, 2011
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What brand is the PSU? A link to it would be perfect.

Also consider upgrading to an i3 in the near future.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115092

As for the GPU here are a few options.
7850 1 GB- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150656
7850 2 GB- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161405
7870- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150604
Each is a bit better than the last. You have to decide how much you want to spend.

The Nvidia cards are another option but the only one relevant is the 660 and it costs almost as much as the 7870 but performs in between the 7850 and 7870.
 
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Commandermadi

Commandermadi

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Dec 13, 2012
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BF3 favors nVidia even with a slight performance advantage over the AMD ones.
 
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sam_p_lay

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Mar 26, 2010
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+1 to the Commander's post. GTX560 and GTX650 Ti are near enough identical in performance, but the GTX560 is a bit harder to find now. GTX660 is a far better option. Interms of framerates it's less than 5% behind the 7870 (so for all intents and purposes the same) but has other benefits in its favour that the 7870 lacks. You are looking at $200 then though.
 
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super_teabag

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Oct 9, 2012
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7850 done.

It's under 200 beats the spanks ANY 650ti that's overclocked as well. here's how it goes 7870 ghz edition > 7850 > gtx 660 (if you want nvidia) > any 650ti (i'd go evga ssc edition).
 
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super_teabag

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Oct 9, 2012
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Sir, I never said that the 7850 outright beats the gtx 660. I simply listed the order that I would purchase the cards in if i had the money and the means to do so. The gtx 660 does beat the 7850 in pretty much all the benchmarks, but the card is like 230 dollars us. while the 7850 is only 180 dollars. it has wayyy better price to performance ratio. the original question was simply a card under 200 and plays gains at 720p ish.

gtx 660
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826

7850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150656

 
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Commandermadi

Commandermadi

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Dec 13, 2012
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Ok I apologize for misunderstanding, but you should have said that these bigger than ">" marks are according to the price-to-performance :)) And actually Sam_p_lay just found a one at 209, so I guess any "sane" person will pay 9 more bucks to get an overall better card :)
 
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sam_p_lay

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You could draw the sand line after GTX660 ;-) I know what you mean - I've thought this especially with Intel's CPUs - moving from an i5 3450 to 3470 to 3550 to 3570, there's no real difference between them, but there's only a tiny price increase each time... it encourages you to keep stepping up little increments to get a higher model number and before you know it, you've spent quite a bit more.

For graphics though, I'd consider the GTX660 that point. Beyond that, you're looking at sizeable price increases for fairly minor gains. Whatever you decide to go with though, have fun with it and post back if you have an issues getting it set up :)
 
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