Which best bang for the buck GPU to get?

[xxx4reggie]

Hey guys,

so if you follow this thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/175712-better-cooling-for-socket-775-and-gtx470-water-or-air/

I listed what was going on and right when I got the cooler, my GPU died.... lame!

 

So here I am looking for help on deciding which GPU to get. I'm currently on my laptop but need my machine up and running asap please!

 

Here are my requirements:

Has to be quiet - my 470 was a airplane (this thing was freaking loud!!!!)

Has to be cool - mine was a oven and wife always comlained (idle was always 61C at 75% fan speed)

Has to be powerful (I don't need a god like card but just as reference, my 470 lasted me about 5 years and was able to play Arkham with decent settings)

I'm looking at 300 budget (can go up a little if the first two requirements are met perfectly.

 

Please help guys, I feel like I've been out of the GPU game so for long, I have no idea what to pick.

 

Oh also, I have always had EVGA (so I do like their brand but am not picky).

[Askew]

If you want to stick with EVGA then a GTX 770 can be had from them with their decent ACX cooler for just over 300, otherwise I'd recommend an R9 280X from Gigabyte with the Windforce cooler.

[AlwaysFSX]

If you want to stick with EVGA then a GTX 770 can be had from them with their decent AC4 cooler for just over 300, otherwise I'd recommend an R9 280X from Gigabyte with the Windforce cooler.

Uhhh.... this....

 

I doubt there's many other answers than a 770 or 280x.

[aidenrelkoff]

the R7 265 is a really good price to performance card, not the best gup out there by any means, but its really good.

[AMD Lover]

770 or 780

[xxx4reggie]

here are 3 that look good and price isnt bad either:

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-SuperClocked-Graphics-02G-P4-2774-KR/dp/B00CZIQXBA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405227265&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+770

 

http://www.amazon.com/GTX770-DC2OC-2GD5-GeForce-256-bit-PCI-Express-OC-selected/dp/B00D3F7CFK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1405227265&sr=8-3&keywords=gtx+770

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-2GB-WINDFORCE-Graphics-GV-N770OC-2GD/dp/B00D3ES1Q0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1405227735&sr=8-5&keywords=gtx+770

 

thoughts?

im more of a nvidia fan boy (i know amd is bad ass too but preference for me), so looking at those 3, which is the better one? the windforce looks like its got the better cooling.

i'm trying to find out the fan dba and cooling on those 3 to see which is better.

[SlaughterSmurf]

R9 280 or 280x are probably the best value option below $400. I mean ideally you should get the R9 290 since it performs like a beast while not being crazy expensive but yeah 280 or 280x.

[VMaxMuffin]

If you want EVGA and nVidia then you can't go wrong with a GTX770 with the EVGA ACX cooler - but you'd have to stretch a bit (US$330 according to PCPartPicker). Otherwise a GTX 760 with ACX cooler is also a good card (I have one) if you want to save some money.

[SlaughterSmurf]

770 or 780

Yeah, except not the 780 since the 290 performs the same or better then the 780 in most cases and the 290 costs $100 less....

[Faceman]

Best bang for buck is either the R9 280 for $200 which will give you excellent performance at 1080p once overclocked.  It is on par with a GTX 770 and R9 280X(be sure to overclock it), and will give you better headroom for the future with its 3GB of VRAM compared to 2GB of the 770, all while costing $100 less.

 

The best bang for buck high end card is another AMD card, the R9 290, which I have seen for as low as $320 after rebate and discounts.  Comes close to the performance of a GTX780, but at 60% of the price.

 

Benchmarks

[Feeterican]

I would say the GTX line depending on your budget. AMD is ok but I would never recommend one to a friend unless he knows how to fix his own PC problems. If you go with a DirectCU or ACX cooler just remember all that heat stays in the case so in turn you need to have great venting on top of the case, if you use a blower style (like the one that was in that pic of mine on the other forum) it vents all the heat out the back. It's really up to you, I said my 2 cents and your just going to have to make your own decision.

[SymphonyX7]

Uhhh.... this....

 

I doubt there's many other answers than a 4 GB 770 or 280x.

Fixed.   Problem is his $300 budget. There are no 4 GB GTX 770s in that price range. I've seen the some price drops lately on the 4 GB GTX 770s, which now makes it lower than the R9 290. It's still viable if you don't want to go AMD, although there's no doubt the R9 290 will trounce the GTX 770. 

Given your budget, I can only recommend the R9 280 or R9 280X. In particular, the MSI R9 280 and 280X Gaming/Twin Frozr are very quiet. Check this review of the MSI R9 280 Gaming: http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/msi-r9-280-gaming-v-pny-gtx760-xlr8-185-shootout/22/. It's enough to game on ultra settings at 1080p with very good framerates, and even 1600p on some games. Best of all, it's extremely quiet while still providing great cooling performance. It's a win-win for only $230 on Newegg ($200 if you count the $30 rebate). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789&cm_re=msi_r9_280-_-14-127-789-_-Product

I'd also recommend the R9 280X... but it's well over $50 more than most R9 280s. Personally, the performance difference isn't worth it. You're mostly after the relatively large 3 GB VRAM of the R9 280 anyway, which will allow you to max out graphics settings at 1080p without hitting the VRAM wall.

[xxx4reggie]

another thing to note, I cant get AMD because my mobo is limited to the Nvidia only, that's why I've been looking at the GTxs only.

Plus I dont have to budget to upgrade the mobo and gpu together

[Feeterican]

another thing to note, I cant get AMD because my mobo is limited to the Nvidia only, that's why I've been looking at the GTxs only.

Plus I dont have to budget to upgrade the mobo and gpu together

Good to hear that your going to go with Nvidia. Little back story on this company and my experience with them. I got the ASUS VG248QE and later on I won the G-Sync Mod (if you can ever get G-Sync it's amazing and only runs on Nvidia GTX cards) contest here on Linus Tech Tips and after having the module for a few months the monitor died on me, the lighter bar running vertical on this shot below is what happen. 

 

 

So I contacted Nvidia about this right away and after a few emails they over nighted a whole new monitor, I just had to send the broken one back at their expense. I called them a week after they got my old monitor to find out that it was the panel that went bad and not the G-Sync mod, all they had to do was RMA the monitor and they got a new one. I think it's awesome that a company like that was able to take care of it so fast and with out any hassle.

 

P.S. I have built AMD systems for some friends in the past but they were also PC literate and didn't have to help them fix there PC later on. If a friend wants to build an AMD system then I will help them build it but, I do prefer Intel/Nvidia over AMD personally. 

[SymphonyX7]

another thing to note, I cant get AMD because my mobo is limited to the Nvidia only, that's why I've been looking at the GTxs only.

Plus I dont have to budget to upgrade the mobo and gpu together

What? There's no such thing. If your board has a PCI-E slot, it can accommodate whatever GPU brand is available.

If you're looking to max out settings on a 1080p monitor for under $300, an R9 280 or 280X is your only available option at the moment. The 2 GB GTX 770 also goes for as low as $300 these days and should also be able to max out older games. Newer games will require you to lower some settings and settle for post processing-based anti-aliasing as to maintain a framebuffer lower than 2 GB.

[xxx4reggie]

i have a asus striker xtreme mobo pci-x16

[Feeterican]

What? There's no such thing. If your board has a PCI-E slot, it can accommodate whatever GPU brand is available.

If you're looking to max out settings on a 1080p monitor for under $300, an R9 280 or 280X is your only available option at the moment. The 2 GB GTX 770 also goes for as low as $300 these days should also be able to max out older games. Newer games will require you to lower some settings and settle for post processing-based anti-aliasing as to maintain a framebuffer lower than 2 GB.

Um I have a slower PC running all my games at 1080P though I have a GTX 680 on it, the GTX 770 is the new version of the GTX 680 and should do just fine.

 

UGH, I hope this thread doesn't turn into a Nvidia/AMD battle. What ever card he goes for should do the job.

[xxx4reggie]

It won't. Both AMD and Nvidia are great and its all preference based.

I just prefer Nvidia more

I do still like that everyone is giving their opinions.

[Doughnutnator]

At that price you can get the 2 GB 770 (rebranded 680) or like a lot of people recommend the 3GB R9 280-280x (7950 and 7970)

Both cards are capable of running the most graphically intensive games at 1080p with nice visual settings and filters. The only thinf I see here is the VRAM. You can't max Watch Dogs in a 2GB 770, the GPU itself have enough power but this game needs more than 2GB of RAM to run Ultra textures. It's a bad example anyways because Watch Dogs is a bad port, but Wolfenstein the New Order is also using more than 2GB at 1080p, maybe new games are going beyond the 2GB limit.

You can OC the 280 (7950), to get 280x (7970) stock performance. Also, you can get the 770 and OC it to have very good performance. I would prefer the 280-280x only for the VRAM. 3GB is safer and better for upcoming games.

If you prefer certain brand over price/performance ratio, go with the one you like most (seems like you prefer Nvidia).

3GB R9 280-280x = Best value for your money

2GB GTX 770 = Advantage of certain features or simply you prefer a GPU from Nvidia

[fringie]

270/270x would be quiet cheap and perform pretty well but it wont last as long as you want. It doesn't cost a lot so I'd say frequent upgrade schedule as the card will is already showing it's age in my opinion (I know it came out last year but those cards are 7850/7870s which came out in 2011 I think).

 

Even using a gtx 770 the heat produced is unbearable without windows open (even then its hot so I usually use a fan to cool me down when I game) so your wife would probably complain just as much if you went with this sort of tier. If you go for a higher tier card like your budget can afford you'll require better coolers to keep it quiet and you'll still have to deal with a lot of heat produced.

[KeltonDSMer]

I would say the GTX line depending on your budget. AMD is ok but I would never recommend one to a friend unless he knows how to fix his own PC problems. If you go with a DirectCU or ACX cooler just remember all that heat stays in the case so in turn you need to have great venting on top of the case, if you use a blower style (like the one that was in that pic of mine on the other forum) it vents all the heat out the back. It's really up to you, I said my 2 cents and your just going to have to make your own decision.

 

A nother

M istake

D amn

 

Another Mistake Damn huh?

 

 

Good to hear that your going to go with Nvidia. Little back story on this company and my experience with them. I got the ASUS VG248QE and later on I won the G-Sync Mod (if you can ever get G-Sync it's amazing and only runs on Nvidia GTX cards) contest here on Linus Tech Tips and after having the module for a few months the monitor died on me, the lighter bar running vertical on this shot below is what happen. 

 

So I contacted Nvidia about this right away and after a few emails they over nighted a whole new monitor, I just had to send the broken one back at their expense. I called them a week after they got my old monitor to find out that it was the panel that went bad and not the G-Sync mod, all they had to do was RMA the monitor and they got a new one. I think it's awesome that a company like that was able to take care of it so fast and with out any hassle.

 

P.S. I have built AMD systems for some friends in the past but they were also PC literate and didn't have to help them fix there PC later on. If a friend wants to build an AMD system then I will help them build it but, I do prefer Intel/Nvidia over AMD personally. 

 

Here you quote the OP who says he can't use AMD because his mobo is NV only?! WTF why not tell him he CAN use AMD if he wants instead of congratulating him on his "forced" decision to purchase NV? It is super cool NV helped you out with the Gsync monitor/module, that truly is going above and beyond, but common man.

 

 

Um I have a slower PC running all my games at 1080P though I have a GTX 680 on it, the GTX 770 is the new version of the GTX 680 and should do just fine.

 

UGH, I hope this thread doesn't turn into a Nvidia/AMD battle. What ever card he goes for should do the job.

 

That cute little AMD acronym you posted earlier TODAY shows just how much you are trying to keep the red/green battle from starting...ffs man. You have some great points that are worth mentioning, why taint the legit opinions you have with that acronym nonsense and proceed to try and reel back the thread with the "hope this doesn't turn into a NV/AMD battle" BS. You were careful to always point out everything you say as opinion and such, which is appreciated, but those little jabs are just crap as read through my eyes!

 

Anyway OP, I just purchased a Windforce 270 last week for $165 new. It runs stable up to 1100 or so mhz at stock voltage (13% OC) and maxes at about 60-62C with the case closed looping Valley. It can't max every game out at 1080/60fps but it seriously kicks butt for the price. I know you are considering the tier above the 270(x)/760 but I figure at least I can double Askew's recommendation of the WF cooler. That thing is seriously not audible over the CPU and PSU fan I have and the temps are fantastic.

 

Another thing to consider is if you would benefit from a blower cooler over an open air style like the windforce. If you don't want that heat in the case, that reference 770/780 style blower might be really helpful.  If you want to go blower, the NV design is superior to AMD's on the current lineup.

 

If 770/280x prices are on the high side, don't forget to look at the 280. They are selling for silly low prices right now (as much as 760) and really kick butt! Plus you still have that 384bit bus and 3GB mem like the 7970/280x!

[Feeterican]

I was just messin around KeltonDSMer. I will remove it.

 

I thought some people would get a little chuckle out of it like

 

F ound           F ix

O n                O r

R oad            R epair

D ead            D aily

[xxx4reggie]

As soon as I get the card, I'll be trying it out as I did the old card and if it doesn't meet my expectation then I will be returning it and go with the other recommendations posted here.

Trust me, I'd rather have cool legs and happy wife then a branding name.

Happy wife = happy life

[Inkz]

A 280x is probably the best performance with that amount of money.

[IrshaadH]

The R9 280/7950 has never failed to impress me.  Even last year, when I bought mine, it was heralded as one of the best cards in terms of price/performance.  A year later, it is only getting better.  I would recommend getting one from Sapphire, Gigabyte or MSI.