What makes a graphics card worth the money?

[ChaseStevens]

What makes a graphics card worth the money? Whats the good ratio on price for performance?

Well I have an ASUS GTX 660 (1 year old) which is going to be sold. I am a gamer and I play pretty intensive games like ARMA 3 and the 660 isn't doing very well. I will have a budget of $330 give or take $20. $350 is a lot of money for me so what graphics card could I get so i don't waste much of my money?

 

[cowboydude99]

Performance makes a GPU worth the money- and your own preferences.

If you don't care about all the eye candy a $350 GPU is overkill.

If you want the best graphics @ 60fps, then $350 is worth it.

If you are considering upgrading your GPU, please list your PSU and CPU.

W/o knowing your system, the GTX970 is my option for $350.

 

[space6011]

IMO what a graphics card is worth for the money is based on the person. different factors like energy consumption, noise level, graphics capability etc.

But for $330 I would recommend one of the new GTX 970 cards

Although I haven't been using high end graphics cards more than a couple weeks I can tell you that I am satisfied with my 970, although I got the gigabyte G1 gaming, which ended up costing me $400 after tax, there are other versions that cost right around $330.

I've seen people say multiple times that right now the 970s are the best performance for the price, not to mention the newer technology which I would imagine is better for the future.

Although if noise is an issue a lot of them have been having coil whine, including mine, though I am able to drown out the sound pretty easily.

I'm not to experienced with the different types of cards but based on your price point I would recommend the 970

 

[ChaseStevens]

Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155
CPU: Intel Core I5-3570 Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.4GHz LGA 1155
Power Supply: APEVIA 700W ATX12V

Here you go

 

[ChaseStevens]

If I do have enough power would a 780 that is on sale be worth getting? Like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133549&cm_re=gtx_780-_-14-133-549-_-Product

 

[cowboydude99]

With that PSU I wouldn't upgrade. Upgrade the PSU first to a Tier 2 or 3.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

 

[cowboydude99]

$100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438028&cm_re=EVGA_Supernova_B2-_-17-438-028-_-Product

$115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438017&cm_re=evga_supernova_g2-_-17-438-017-_-Product

$129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&cm_re=Corsair_HX750-_-17-139-010-_-Product

 

[ChaseStevens]

oops I accidentally posted the wrong psu this is the one i currently have
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148040&cm_re=APEVIA_700W_ATX12V-_-17-148-040-_-Product
i dont know if that changes anything

 

[Rapajez]

Not really, those APEVIA are listed under the "do not use, replace immediately" category on the PSU Tier Guide here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

The 970 doesn't sip much power, so you could probably skirt by with a cheaper 600W PSU, or a 650W like this one: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1650snlb9

The 970 has also been out of stock at a lot of vendors lately. If you can't find one for $330, the AMD R9 290 is only a hair slower, and can be picked up below $300. Just make sure it's a decent cooler, like the Sapphire Vapor-X or MSI Gaming, as the stock ones were terrible. It also uses more power than the 970, but if you have a quality 650W+ PSU, that shouldn't matter much.

 

[cowboydude99]

@rapajez
I don't know. I wouldn't trust a PSU with w nice or even decent build. Low quality PSUs can damage system components.

 

[Rapajez]

Agreed. I meant "cheaper" as in less total Watts, not lower quality.