GeForce GTX 950 for $130?

[ZEBuckeye81]

I'm doing my first build, I have bought everything except gpu. Saw Newegg has EVGA GeForce GTX 950 02G-P4-2957-KR 2GB SSC for $130 after mir.

I have a gigabyte ga-z170x-ud5 and i5-6600k. Would this be a good card to start out with for the money or do I use on board graphics for now and wait? I'm definitely looking to stay under $200, and honestly getting a decent card for under $150 would be even better for my budget. I only have 1080 capable monitors currently.

 

[JQB45]

i'd save up money and get a more powerful card considering you have a powerful brand new CPU.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

If you can get it for that price grab it , great deal.

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

Once I get it built I'll be looking to play most any game at high settings with good fps. I'm definitely not looking to spend much over $200, as I can't justify spending the $ on a top end card. Maybe I should just be patient until pascal comes around and watch prices on gpus?

 

[JQB45]

You can get an AMD R9 380X or NVidia GTX 960 for around $200.00

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

Newegg has a Sapphire Nitro R9 380 4GB for just over $300 right now. I've read the R9 380 outperforms the 960 GTX pretty consistently. Would this be a much better card to go with? Worth spending almost twice as much as the 950 I was looking at?

 

[hang-the-9]

Newegg has a Sapphire Nitro R9 380 4GB for just over $300 right now. I've read the R9 380 outperforms the 960 GTX pretty consistently. Would this be a much better card to go with? Worth spending almost twice as much as the 950 I was looking at?

You just upped your budget by 50%, of course the faster cards will be better than the 950, although for 1080 you will only get higher quality settings out of the faster card with smoother play. The 950 will run anything at 1080 at medium settings now and likely for a few years, but if you want to make sure you don't feel like you are limited with the card and keep to $200, a GTX 960 would be good or the R9 380 which are $200 or under. Not sure where you saw the 380 for $300 they are in the $200 range for 4 gig models.

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

It was on Newegg. May have been looking at a variation. Would it be recommended to go with a 960 or R9 380 versus the 950? Although as mentioned above, it wouldn't make sense to go with a lower tier card when I have an upper tier cpu. Also, isn't the R9 380 generally recommended over the 960, based on performance? I generally would prefer to go with Nvidia, however am not opposed to going with whatever will be the best bang for the buck

 

[hang-the-9]

It was on Newegg. May have been looking at a variation. Would it be recommended to go with a 960 or R9 380 versus the 950? Although as mentioned above, it wouldn't make sense to go with a lower tier card when I have an upper tier cpu. Also, isn't the R9 380 generally recommended over the 960, based on performance? I generally would prefer to go with Nvidia, however am not opposed to going with whatever will be the best bang for the buck

Some people have had more driver issues with AMD cards rather than nVidia, although I use Radeon cards in 3 computers and have no issues. Also AMD cards use more power, but for the price they are faster per dollar spent.

In the Passmark benchmark GTX 960 was a bit faster than R9 380 but the 960 is a bit more money and runs on about 50 less watts. Since they have an almost identical price per dollar ratio, I'd go with the 960, mostly because of the lower power use and it should also run cooler.

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

Makes sense, as I'd rather have a more efficient and thus cooler running card. My other debate is whether I just wait for pascal, and utilize on board graphics of the i5, and see what prices on current cards do (ie maybe hold out for a few months and try to pick up a 970)

 

[hang-the-9]

Makes sense, as I'd rather have a more efficient and thus cooler running card. My other debate is whether I just wait for pascal, and utilize on board graphics of the i5, and see what prices on current cards do (ie maybe hold out for a few months and try to pick up a 970)

The cards now are starting to have more and more rebate offers. If you want for prices to drop even more than what they are with rebates, will be a while for that. If you want to wait for the next gen of card, grab a used low end gaming class card for $20-30 and use that for a few months. Say a Radeon 7750 or something, 7770 maybe. Since you are getting it used (just make sure you test it first) you can re-sell it when you get a new one for pretty much what you paid for it.

 

[rcald2000]

@ZEBuckeye I bought a EVGA b-stock (factory recertified) GTX 950 SSC about a month ago for $119.99 (plus $16.73 s&h). $130 for a new GTX 950 is a very good deal. I doubt you'll find a better deal for that price, unless you opt for used.

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

Not too worried about getting in on the next gen cards right when they're out, but definitely want whatever I get now to be suitable for some time to come. I suppose my other option would be to go ahead and just bite the bullet and drop the money on the next step up 970 gtx, which are going for around $300. It's logical to get a good card to go with the cpu, however since my monitors are currently only 1080, I don't know if it's reasonable to spend that versus just sticking with a 960 or 380

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

Thanks rcald. Yeah, paying 130 for a decent card is certainly appealing, however with having the i5-6600k, I am torn on if I'd really be short changing myself by cheaping out on me gpu

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

I honestly want to gag even thinking of spending this much on a card but... http://www.microcenter.com/product/442832/GeForce_GTX_970_SSC_GAMING_Video_Card_w-_ACX_20_Silent_Cooling

 

[JQB45]

$350.00 is really the beginning of mid level cards with things like the Nano, Fury X, 980 ti, Titan being much more expensive and high end .

 

[ZEBuckeye81]

Yeah, I get that. Get what you pay for, like anything else,and I'm not one to cheap out, prefer quality. I guess the bottom line is what would be my best bet, based on having the 6600k, only 1080 capability (for the time being), and trying to stay in the $200-300 ballpark.

 

[Epicness937]

get a r9 380 its around 200$ however if you can get a 950 for 130 get it and if nothing else sell it on ebay

 

[Epicness937]

Yeah, I get that. Get what you pay for, like anything else,and I'm not one to cheap out, prefer quality. I guess the bottom line is what would be my best bet, based on having the 6600k, only 1080 capability (for the time being), and trying to stay in the $200-300 ballpark.

for card prices i'd say 150(except the 750 ti) to 300 are low mid range to mid range then the 970 and 390x being upper mid range and 410+ cards being high end