Best GPU under $130?

[deewhylan]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm planning on building a gaming desktop. This is not going to be an ULTRA HIGH MAXED-OUT MEGA GIGA DELUXE BLOW-EVERYTHING-OUT-OF-THE-WATER gaming rig, All I want to do is play modern games on medium to high settings. I would probably mainly play GameCube games through Dolphin, Minecraft with shaders, TF2, etc...

 

I really don't want to pay over $130 for a GPU, because I know that there are several great GPUs under that price, and I know I won't need something super powerful for my needs.

 

Suggestions?

 

Please note that I'd prefer to only buy from Newegg, and I won't buy a used/refurb'd GPU.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Dylan

[Clyne]

R9 270 and OC the hell out of it.

[Decon]

r9 270 or 270x

[Equilibrium_FOOL]

You could wait until Nvidia releases the rest of the 900 series.  Or get an R7 270X (AMD had/does have some optimization issues with MC).

[deewhylan]

R9 270 and OC the hell out of it.

I've seen this suggested before but I'm having a tough time finding one under $130...

[Mush Brain]

7950 3GB.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-AMD-Radeon-HD-7950-925MHz-with-BOOST-/191452487466?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item2c93751f2a

[deewhylan]

7950 3GB.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-AMD-Radeon-HD-7950-925MHz-with-BOOST-/191452487466?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item2c93751f2a

Eh, it's used... Could has less of it's life left.

[Kyuubixchidori]

7950 3GB.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-AMD-Radeon-HD-7950-925MHz-with-BOOST-/191452487466?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item2c93751f2a

second this. going used is your best bet. bought a 7770 for 140, then sold it and bought a used 7950 for 140. best decision. your going to get well over 2x the perfomance by going used.

[Mush Brain]

Eh, it's used... Could has less of it's life left.

"best GPU under $130"

[ForsakenLive]

R9 270 (new)

R9 280/x used.

[Kyuubixchidori]

Eh, it's used... Could has less of it's life left.

if your to worried, buy a nvidia card used. that way you wont worry about it being mined on.

 

and to put my money where my mouth is, I bought a 7970 to crossfire with my 7950 2 days ago. the 7970 was 133$ shipped. a 7950 you can get for 100$

[deewhylan]

I'm just going to buy new parts so I won't have to worry so much about parts crapping out.

[Clyne]

I've seen this suggested before but I'm having a tough time finding one under $130...

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=92748&vpn=R9270-DC2OC-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1265

[SteveGrabowski]

If you're ok with $130 after rebate, these are all excellent choices:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131545

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150702

 

 

If you can't do the rebate game, up your budget $10 and get this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161449

 

 

Of course, even better would be to wait and watch newegg's shell shockers and daily deals. You should also subscribe to their mailer, as sometimes you get coupon codes with them. Graphics cards have gone up a lot in price this month versus last, but maybe you get a better deal with some pre or post Christmas sales. But R9 270 is going to be the way you want to go to get the most bang for your buck in that price range while buying new. GTX 750Ti doesn't come close to the performance of the R9 270 and why buy an R7 260x when you can probably get the much better 270 with a bit of patience. The GTX 750Ti is much weaker than the R9 270 even on games that favor Nvidia heavily, like Bioshock Infinite:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1130?vs=1080

 

The R9 270 is such a great card for the price, especially since it can usually be overclocked to R9 270x performance pretty easily (according to Tom's Hardware in their graphics card roundups a couple of months ago).

[SteveGrabowski]

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=92748&vpn=R9270-DC2OC-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1265

 

When I click that link the card briefly shows $139.99 before rebate and within a second or so changes to $169.99 before rebate. Weird. I wonder if it's some con to get that card to the top of the pcpartpicker lists.

[D2ultima]

You could get a GTX 750Ti. Those go for about $125 I've seen. Either that or a R9 270 if you can find it for that price.

[Cheddle]

7950 3GB.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-AMD-Radeon-HD-7950-925MHz-with-BOOST-/191452487466?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item2c93751f2a

 

 

Eh, it's used... Could has less of it's life left.

 

do it.

 

it will last a million years.

[SteveGrabowski]

I can understand not wanting to buy used when you're on a really serious budget and need that 2-3 year warranty.

[SteveGrabowski]

if your to worried, buy a nvidia card used. that way you wont worry about it being mined on.

 

and to put my money where my mouth is, I bought a 7970 to crossfire with my 7950 2 days ago. the 7970 was 133$ shipped. a 7950 you can get for 100$

 

Damn, a 7970 for $133 is a pretty freaking sweet deal.

[Kyuubixchidori]

Damn, a 7970 for $133 is a pretty freaking sweet deal.

supposedly new to. Didn't have box, but honestly looked brand new. Either way as long as it wasn't mined with, its a good deal.

[Timmy-P]

A 270 will serve you, but if you're hard-pressed trying to find one, a 260X isn't a very large step down, especially for your needs.

(Gimme a sec, I'll post up benchmark comparisons for you)

 

EDIT:  Here we are.  You might want to think this over before pulling the trigger on it:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1044?vs=1080

[deewhylan]

A 270 will serve you, but if you're hard-pressed trying to find one, a 260X isn't a very large step down, especially for your needs.

(Gimme a sec, I'll post up benchmark comparisons for you)

 

EDIT:  Here we are.  You might want to think this over before pulling the trigger on it:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1044?vs=1080

Would you recommend the R7 260X over a GTX 750?

[Timmy-P]

Would you recommend the R7 260X over a GTX 750?

You decide:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1130?vs=1044

[SteveGrabowski]

Would you recommend the R7 260X over a GTX 750?

 

I'd take the GTX 750Ti over the R7 260x any day for the same price. This one looks to be the best for $130 upfront, plus you'll get a $20 rebate later

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487028&ignorebbr=1

[SteveGrabowski]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm planning on building a gaming desktop. This is not going to be an ULTRA HIGH MAXED-OUT MEGA GIGA DELUXE BLOW-EVERYTHING-OUT-OF-THE-WATER gaming rig, All I want to do is play modern games on medium to high settings. I would probably mainly play GameCube games through Dolphin, Minecraft with shaders, TF2, etc...

 

I really don't want to pay over $130 for a GPU, because I know that there are several great GPUs under that price, and I know I won't need something super powerful for my needs.

 

Suggestions?

 

Please note that I'd prefer to only buy from Newegg, and I won't buy a used/refurb'd GPU.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Dylan

 

WindWaker98, I think this may be your best bet yet:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161410

 

$116 shipped (no rebates) for the HD 7870 is crazy. The R9 270 is just a rebranded HD 7870, so this is a truly amazing deal for $116 for a brand new card with a good cooler. Here is a benchmark showing the R9 270 and HD 7870 are basically the same thing.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-270-review-benchmarks,3669-10.html

 

This card is WAY better than a GTX 750 Ti or R7 260x. I mean those are nice cards at the ~$100 price point, but if you can get this one before it sells out it is ridiculous value. The only other time you could have gotten an R9 270 so cheap was on Black Friday.