• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Opinions on cards in $150 range?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

kaltag

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2002
Location
Boise Idaho
The tax man was gentle this year so I'm budgeting out a new rig. I have settled on a 2500K system but have not picked out the video card yet. I'm currently running a GTS 250 which will be going away to help pay for this build. I'm curious what people's opinions are on cards in $150 range. I have been pretty out of the loop as far as video cards are concerned so I'm not really sure what the hot ticket is these days. I'm not married to Nvidia but have had several bad experiences in the past with ATI/AMD cards and drivers.

I've been looking at the GTX 550 TI, specifically http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130652. I can't seem to find an ATI card in the same range with 2GB of RAM (if it really matters). The only game I've really been playing recently is Starcraft 2 which chokes with any pretty turned on and L4D which isn't that demanding so I don't need anything THAT high end. Anyway, just wanted to see what everyone's opinion would be. Thanks.
 
There are a couple AMD cards in your price range that are better performance-wise, but have 1GB vRAM. What resolution are you running?

$160 ($150 AMIR) HD6870 1GB
$140 ($120 AMIR) HD6850 1GB
$150 GTX550Ti 2GB

Of course, you could find a better deal or better card for the money in the used market.
 
I'm currently running a 24" LCD as the main display (can't remember res on top of my head, 1920x1080 maybe?) but would like to upgrade to a 26" or 30" display next year.
 
If you stick with 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, then you should be good with 1GB vRAM. If you want to go higher resolution like 2560x1440, 2560x1600, or multiple monitors, then more vRAM can help when pushing max settings in some games. However, if you're actually at a resolution where you need a lot of vRAM, then you'll probably see more benefit from a more powerful card with less vRAM rather than a GTX550Ti with the extra vRAM.
 
I agree, go with something like a 6870. The 6870 is able to do a great job against a 560 non-ti board so it should wipe the floor with a 550 ti.
 
you can easily find 470s on craigslist. Maybe even a GTX 480 if the owner is willing to haggle a bit :) I know I saw some listed for $175 in my area.
 
Hello, if you build a gaming rig and took a 200$ cpu, I would spend almost that price or more on the gpu, because if your budget is 150 the card will probably be the bottleneck
 
Find a deal on an HD6870.....If you look hard (and use coupon codes or navigate SLICKDEALS daily) you can find one at $150. Nice card for $150.
 
I agree, go with something like a 6870. The 6870 is able to do a great job against a 560 non-ti board so it should wipe the floor with a 550 ti.

agreed my oced 6850at work from HIS actually runs BF3 pretty well on med ish settings looks pretty good too.

its a solid card in the 150 range impressed me alot.
 
Back