Upgrade graphics card for under $250

[bambronzo]

Hello everyone!
I'm in need of a new graphics card for my PC.

PURPOSES: VFX, video editing, and gaming (let's throw in game design as well)

MoBo: Asus P7H55-M LX
Processor: Intel i5
RAM: 4 GB (planning to upgrade to 8)

So what are your guy's recommendations?

 

[sam_p_lay]

GTX660 without a doubt!

 

[larrym]

What is your power supply and current GPU?

 

[bambronzo]

What is your power supply and current GPU?

Gurrent GPU: GeForce 9500 GT
Power Supply: PowerLogic ATX 500W

 

[Sumukh_Bhagat]

Ofcourse a GTX 660
And that too this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699

 

[larrym]

Ofcourse a GTX 660
And that too this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699

It's not as easy as just saying one card or another when you don't now all the specs. The 660 is a very nice card, I have one myself, but the PSU you listed is one I never heard of. And I would not attach a $230 card to it. I would get a better PSU to make sure my system is safe. I would replace it with a more reputable brand (Corsair, Seasonic, Antec).

Here is a list of rankings for PSU's....
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Also, the GTX 660 requires a 6 pin PCI-e power cable from the PSU. Make sure your PSU has one.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Very true about the PSU. Other than that though, a budget has been stated, so the best GPU within budget was recommended. Re PSU, XFX, Silverpower SP-Sxxx / SP-SxxxM / SP-SS lines, PC Power & Cooling Silencer series and Silencer Mk III series are Seasonic-built units without the Seasonic price tag. Corsair and Antec are generally solid options, but there are exceptions. A lot of people don't realise that not all Corsair and Antec units are Seasonic-built, only a few are. Both companies are supplied by a wide range of OEMs.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Couple more handy PSU resources:

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page673.htm

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,review-32187-4.html

 

[simmons33]

GTX 660 all the way! I use one and its an amazing card for the price =D

Of course if your PSU has at least 24Amps on your +12V Rail(s)

 

[devilofdeaths]

either the 7870 or 660 it's your choice nvidia or amd also the 7870 overclocks better but lets not get a riot started

 

[sam_p_lay]

simmons: ...oder kann freien Übersetzer benutzen ;-)

devil: worried somebody's gonna disagree with you? 😛

 

[simmons33]

@sam_p_lay

You evil person lol

 

[devilofdeaths]

simmons: ...oder kann freien Übersetzer benutzen ;-)

devil: worried somebody's gonna disagree with you? 😛

ya i kinda don't want a war starting on a thread just because i said something that a fanboy doesn't like

 

[simmons33]

Fanboy Riots are FUN tho.....

AMD and NVIDIA both make good cards, Just depends what "camp" you feel like sitting in for awhile lol

 

[devilofdeaths]

Fanboy Riots are FUN tho.....

AMD and NVIDIA both make good cards, Just depends what "camp" you feel like sitting in for awhile lol

very true and some years that certain camp may be running low on food or raiders are coming into town...wow i need to stop playing fallout 3/new vegas

 

[burntpizza]

GTX 660 or R7870. 7870 a bit faster and has much better compute ability if you are into that stuff. 660 phsyx or CUDA.

I am not sure what kind of video editing software you use. It might be AMD or Nvidia accelerated, check it and buy whichever card fits it. I don't know too much about video editing graphics.

No riots here

 

[sam_p_lay]

Yeah, if your first priority is gaming then the GTX660 without a doubt (7870 has less than 5% lead purely in framerates but is lacking in other areas... I won't get into it though unless you ask because we wouldn't want a 'riot' 🙂), but if video rendering is more important then you should definitely find out if it's CUDA-friendly. If it is, GTX660 is a no-brainer. If it's not, 7870 might do better for rendering (and still fine for gaming).

 

[Cyber X]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130809 Get a gtx 660 ti from newegg, its only 250 dollars and with rebate it goes down to 230 It has nearly the performance of a 670 but it is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper

 

[Guest]

i was on the fence myself about the two cards.

gtx 660 is cheaper.
hd 7870 overclocks better (but that does depend on the quality of the card's manufacturer and is variable).
gtx 660 has CUDA (if the software supports it).
hd 7870 has better openCL performance (if the software supports it).
gtx 660 has lower latency in gaming.
hd 7870 has a higher memory bandwidth for msaa and tessellation.

😱
couldn't decide so picked up a gtx 570 for $160!
:lol:

 

[devilofdeaths]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130809 Get a gtx 660 ti from newegg, its only 250 dollars and with rebate it goes down to 230 It has nearly the performance of a 670 but it is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper

lol "nearly"that is like 85%of a 670 which is beast while a 660Ti not as much

 

[sam_p_lay]

looniam, doesn't the GTX660 also do OpenCL in applications that don't support CUDA? And devil, I'd personally prefer the GTX670 too, but 85% is not bad at all!

 

[Guest]

looniam, doesn't the GTX660 also do OpenCL in applications that don't support CUDA? And devil, I'd personally prefer the GTX670 too, but 85% is not bad at all!

i am just about to edit that and add better openCL performance . . .

 

[devilofdeaths]

looniam, doesn't the GTX660 also do OpenCL in applications that don't support CUDA? And devil, I'd personally prefer the GTX670 too, but 85% is not bad at all!

i just wish that nvidia would have upped the bit on the 680/670 that way they could bump up the 660/Ti but nvidia does what nvidia wants to do and we just buy it 😛

 

[sam_p_lay]

Too slow looniam... ;-)

devil, don't AMD do what they want too? I'm pretty damned impressed with what nVidia have done - there was clearly potential in the architecture for something stupidly over-powered to really outperform anything from AMD, but it would have come with huge power consumption, huge noise, and a huge price tag. Instead we get awesome performance with low power draw and very competitive prices.

 

[devilofdeaths]

Too slow looniam... ;-)

devil, don't AMD do what they want too? I'm pretty damned impressed with what nVidia have done - there was clearly potential in the architecture for something stupidly over-powered to really outperform anything from AMD, but it would have come with huge power consumption, huge noise, and a huge price tag. Instead we get awesome performance with low power draw and very competitive prices.

very true and amd trying to outsmart nvidia just has that little bit more power consumption and heat which is the downfall for amd although what they do have out are amazing you just need 50w more power and better airflow for amd cards