Looking For Best Sub $150 graphics card.

[Allis22]

I am looking for a $150 graphics card, I would be fine going up to around $200 if the price to performance gain is there. I was thinking about a MSI R9 280 is this a good card?

 

[cdrkf]

I have one, very nice card actually The only game I've found it struggles with a bit (at 1080p) is Star Citizen (which is very far from optimised, and even in that I'm getting 30 fps most of the time in Arena Commander so it's not terrible).

If your unsure how different cards compare, this article is very handy:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899.html

The 'hierarchy chart' at the end is especially useful so you can see which models compare to each other.

 

[Onus]

What is the brand and model (not just wattage) of your PSU? That may put a limit on what you should get, unless you upgrade it as well.

 

[anoori9000]

Yes tht is probably your best bet. But the MSI 280 is about $180. You can find a r9 280 for $150 though.

 

[TechyInAZ]

Yeah R9 280 is a great card, however I don't recall seeing it for $150, for $150 you can find R9 270Xes which are still very good.

 

[Allis22]

What is the brand and model (not just wattage) of your PSU? That may put a limit on what you should get, unless you upgrade it as well.

RaidMax Rx-500AF-B it has a 6+2 pin pcie and i plan to run a 6 pin power off of 2 molex.

 

[anoori9000]

What is the brand and model (not just wattage) of your PSU? That may put a limit on what you should get, unless you upgrade it as well.

RaidMax Rx-500AF-B it has a 6+2 pin pcie and i plan to run a 6 pin power off of 2 molex.

NOT a good PSU and you should think about upgrading, But it should work for the meantime, but put next priority to upgrading that,

 

[Onus]

Oh ouch, a Chokemax. Bronze certification or not, under real-world conditions it might be good for 450W, but I wouldn't count on it. You could probably run a R9 270X on it, but I wouldn't go any higher, especially using adapters.

 

[Allis22]

Oh ouch, a Chokemax. Bronze certification or not, under real-world conditions it might be good for 450W, but I wouldn't count on it. You could probably run a R9 270X on it, but I wouldn't go any higher, especially using adapters.

I bought the card and my total system draw is only 350w peak.