R7 260x 2GB, GTX 650 ti 2GB, or what?

[Nekrovar]

Ok, I've been threading, comparing and shopping around for my low budget gaming rig. My budget for a GPU is in the $120 range give or take. I was going to settle with the R7 260x, but I've been reading to many bad or mixed reviews. I also am getting a mix between different charts off the multiple websites that offer FPS comparison. According to Tom's, the R7 260x is better than the equivalent price range nVidea cards.

What card should I get for the best bang for buck in the $120 area bracket?

My planned set up so far: (This is based off the 760k build)

Mobo - MSI A78M-E45 FM2+/FM2
CPU - Athlon X4 760k
RAM - 8GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz

I would like this build to game at least medium in 1920x1080, but a little less is fine.

 

[TheMagicalWallaby]

The 750ti is the best card for that price range ($120 area). I was origionally going to say the 260x, but know that I watched some more gameplay comparisons, the 750ti seems to pull ahead by about 4-6 fps in games (even AMD optimized games such as Battlefiled 4 and Crysis 3). The 270x however, its better. I don't know what you heard about it, but it can max out most games on ultra at 1080p. the 270x is not a bad card, and what you heard about it being bad is probably not true.

 

[Nekrovar]

I saw some bad reviews for MSI, Sapphire and ASUS on Newegg for the 260x, specifically on driver issues and cards dying in a months time (I'm sure you accidentally mistakenly put 270x instead of 260x). I was just concerned about bad reviews and mixed charts. I personally am an AMD fan and I currently run the 270x, but this build is something I'm doing for someone else on a tight budget.

 

[TheMagicalWallaby]

I saw some bad reviews for MSI, Sapphire and ASUS on Newegg for the 260x, specifically on driver issues and cards dying in a months time (I'm sure you accidentally mistakenly put 270x instead of 260x). I was just concerned about bad reviews and mixed charts. I personally am an AMD fan and I currently run the 270x, but this build is something I'm doing for someone else on a tight budget.

Whoops sorry about that. I thought you had a 270x in there.


Anyways the 750ti is the best for the price. You won't have any driver issues (since you said that the 260x has bad driver issues) and it won't fail on you (though that is kinda odd of the 260x to do).

 

[Nekrovar]

I see that currently the price range for the GTX 750 ti vs other options for the R7 260x is about a $25 difference, with my opinion based on other customer reviews. If I was going to jump up $20, then I would just go with the R7 265. I'm sure, through solid FPS/performance benchmarks and reviews that the R7 265 is a better choice than the GTX 750 ti.

So now I see the R7 260x really only being the viable option at the $120 mark (yes, $20 in a budget build is a big difference to me). Other than that, if I can't get my way, what other cards on either nVidia or AMD sides would fit my current budget? Is the R7 250x a good card that could deliver medium level and playable FPS at a 1920x1080 resolution?

What I'm asking now is if the jump between a 250x to a 260x worth my money on the tight budget? (or an nVidia alternative)

 

[Pondering]

The 260x is a solid card. There is no reason to get the 265.

I have powercolor 260x 1GB and the MSi 260x 2GB. The power color runs hot with a heavy reference but it runs really well. The MSi runs cool but it is noisy.

GTX - www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487027

260x - http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=92705&vpn=R7-260X-ZNJ4&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1413

Guess it mainly comes down to overclocked or stock clock.

$70 - www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131564 The rebate takes forever and there is no status checker and the rebate steps are really strange. (It does NOT come with 2 games)

 

[TheMagicalWallaby]

The 260x is a solid card. There is no reason to get the 265.

I have powercolor 260x 1GB and the MSi 260x 2GB. The power color runs hot with a heavy reference but it runs really well. The MSi runs cool but it is noisy.

GTX - www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487027

260x - http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=92705&vpn=R7-260X-ZNJ4&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1413

Guess it mainly comes down to overclocked or stock clock.

$70 - www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131564 The rebate takes forever and there is no status checker and the rebate steps are really strange. (It does NOT come with 2 games)

I agree, the 265 is the best. I would say he should go for that.

 

[Embra]

What your PSU?
The 260x is a little fater and much better price/performance than the 750ti. It uses a little more power.
I recommend this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202098
Sapphire makes the best AMD GPUs. The Vapor-X is a better cooler and it should run quieter. $110 with rebate.

 

[TheMagicalWallaby]

What your PSU?
The 260x is a little fater and much better price/performance than the 750ti. It uses a little more power.
I recommend this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202098
Sapphire makes the best AMD GPUs. The Vapor-X is a better cooler and it should run quieter. $110 with rebate.

I recently watched a side by side comparison of the two and the 750ti pulls ahead by 4-6 FPS in most games that I could find comparisons in. (I saw some such as Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4 which are both optimized for AMD and yet the 750ti won against the 260x).