Best GPU UNDER $175?

[StayFrostyy]

As I come closer to building my new rig I am starting to see my real-life budget, rather than an estimate, in closer detail. Rather than having $350 to spend on my rig and roughly $225 to spend on a GPU, I'll most likely only have $310-$300 to burn. This restricts me to a $175 budget on my GPU. What is the best GPU I can get for $175, and why?

[CoinDuckling369]

Buy an Secondhand GeForce GTX 970/980(TI) at Ebay great performance cards an if u want better graphics in the future u can buy an second one an connect it with SLI

[CoinDuckling369]

Just now, Dryader said:

Geforce GTX 1050 Ti

Nah u can't future upgrade it has no SLI 

[spacehamster]

never SLI its bad

 

[CoinDuckling369]

Just now, spacehamster said:

never SLI its bad

 

2 cards is great but 3/4 cards is no extra performance 

[CoinDuckling369]

1 minute ago, Dryader said:

This is pc gamer's review:

The best ultra-budget graphics card

 

Geforce GTX 1050 Ti

$184.99

• 'Sweet spot' on price
• Good for 1080p medium/high
• No power adapter required

• Struggles with some newer games

With their launch of the GTX 1050 Ti and the GTX 1050, Nvidia has finished their top-to-bottom rollout of their GTX 10-series products. All of the cards use the new Pascal architecture, varying mostly in core counts, amount of VRAM, and clock speeds. The GP107 used for the 1050 cards does mix things up slightly, using Samsung instead of TSMC for manufacturing the chip, but it doesn't appear to have much impact on performance.

Of the two new cards, I prefer the 1050 Ti, simply because it comes with 4GB GDDR5. The vanilla GTX 1050 only has 2GB VRAM, which is starting to feel a bit too 2014 for my taste. The 1050 takes on AMD's RX 460 cards, with slightly higher pricing for the amount of VRAM, but performance is also higher so it equals out.

The newcomers aren't intended to be speed demons, instead going after the mainstream gamers and esports, the latter being known for using less demanding games. Performance isn't even a huge step up from the GTX 900-series cards, as the 1050 Ti is almost a perfect match for the 960 4GB, and the 1050 goes head-to-head with the 950. The new cards did post average performance that's a few percent faster, however, and more importantly the price is lower and power requirements are down—both models are readily available without any external power connection.

Pricing does keep things a bit interesting, however. The GTX 1050 Ti starts at $135 / £135, while the GTX 1050 starts at $110 / £108. AMD's RX 460 4GB goes for $120 / £106, and the 460 2GB starts at $100 / £90. I'm biased against the 2GB cards from both AMD and Nvidia, because I think they'll become outdated faster, which leaves an incredibly tight match between the 1050 Ti and RX 460 4GB. Pricing is pretty volatile on the budget cards, so it pays to shop around, but the 1050 Ti is clearly the better buy in the US market, while the RX 460 is a close second in the UK.

Its an good card (it's MSI) but it has no Future upgrade possibility 

[Shiv78]

RX 470.  Something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137050&cm_re=rx_470-_-14-137-050-_-Product

 

Better performance than the 1050Ti. 970 is not good value anymore, and 980s wont be $175. 

Also Crossfire capable

[StayFrostyy]

1 minute ago, CoinDuckling369 said:

Its an good card (it's MSI) but it has no Future upgrade possibility 

Still, has 4GB of VRAM, not 3.5 I am looking into the 1050Ti and the EVGA FTW+ version looks extremely attractive. Although pricey for a 1050Ti, it has a factory OC, an excellent cooler, and is backed by one of the best names in the industry. However, I am also looking into the RX 470. The Sapphire RX 470 reference and the MSI Armor are both still excellent, but I'd really like to overclock and neither of the coolers on the RX 470s look very good. However, it is a decent bit faster than the 1050Ti out of the box. Which would you take?

[Shiv78]

MSI has some of the best coolers in the industry, but IDK how their Armor compares to their ABSOLUTELY AMAZING Twin Frozr from the Gaming X/Z

[StayFrostyy]

2 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

MSI has some of the best coolers in the industry, but IDK how their Armor compares to their ABSOLUTELY AMAZING Twin Frozr from the Gaming X/Z

The MSI Armor RX 480 got a really bad rap for not being able to even maintain the stock clocks.

[Shiv78]

1 minute ago, StayFrostyy said:

The MSI Armor RX 480 got a really bad rap for not being able to even maintain the stock clocks.

#rip

[StayFrostyy]

@Shiv78 I know the RX 470 and 480 output similar wattage and temps, so I don't take it the MSI 470 Armor would be a great choice. This basically leaves me with the Sapphire blower-style and the EVGA FTW+.

[Deli]

8 minutes ago, StayFrostyy said:

Still, has 4GB of VRAM, not 3.5 I am looking into the 1050Ti and the EVGA FTW+ version looks extremely attractive. Although pricey for a 1050Ti, it has a factory OC, an excellent cooler, and is backed by one of the best names in the industry. However, I am also looking into the RX 470. The Sapphire RX 470 reference and the MSI Armor are both still excellent, but I'd really like to overclock and neither of the coolers on the RX 470s look very good. However, it is a decent bit faster than the 1050Ti out of the box. Which would you take?

Even if you can overclock the GTX1050 Ti to the sky. It won't touch a stock clock RX470. The RX470 is easily 30-40% faster.

 

Nvidia is insane to price the 1050 Ti the same as RX470.

[Shiv78]

1 minute ago, Deli said:

Nvidia is insane to price the 1050 Ti the same as RX470.

Find a non-reference 470 for $140, please

[Deli]

2 minutes ago, StayFrostyy said:

@Shiv78 I know the RX 470 and 480 output similar wattage and temps, so I don't take it the MSI 470 Armor would be a great choice. This basically leaves me with the Sapphire blower-style and the EVGA FTW+.

Never ever buy reference RX480 or 470. Except for some itx build.

[StayFrostyy]

1 minute ago, Shiv78 said:

Find a non-reference 470 for $140, please

He's talking about the 1050Ti FTW+ I'm looking at, which is $170. They do go much cheaper.

[Deli]

2 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

Find a non-reference 470 for $140, please

You have a $175 budget, right.

 

Get the 1050 Ti and save $30 now. But you will feel sorry three months later.

[Shiv78]

Get a 470. Even if you don't OC it wrecks the 1050Ti

 

OR with a mail in rebate this RX 480 is only $170!!!!!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137049&cm_re=rx_480-_-14-137-049-_-Product

[StayFrostyy]

14 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

Get a 470. Even if you don't OC it wrecks the 1050Ti

 

OR with a mail in rebate this RX 480 is only $170!!!!!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137049&cm_re=rx_480-_-14-137-049-_-Product

Is the Sapphire stock cooler or the MSI Armor a better cooler?

 

[Phate.exe]

Whatever non-reference RX 470 you can get in your price range.  Or a 480, if you manage to catch a sale.

 

My Powercolor Red Devil RX 470 4gb is a fantastic card that just so happens to have cost me $175 before rebate.  I haven't bothered to overclock the thing, but so far it's run the hell out of any 1080p game I've thrown at it.

 

GTX 1050/ti's are fantastic cards for situations when you don't have PCI-E power connections available, or absolutely require a smaller form factor like the single fan model posted above.  At this point in time, it's probably the ultimate option for an office PC to gaming PC upgrade - Just upgrade the RAM, drop in a 1050ti, and proceed to have a great 1080p gaming experience for around $220 plus whatever you got an i5 or i7 Dell Optiplex for.

 

But the 1050ti is not a compelling option for a "real" build, with room for a longer video card and PCI-E power connections.  In pretty much every situation, even a reference RX 470 slaps the 1050ti around.  Aftermarket, overclocked 470's approach the performance of reference RX 480's.

 

Also, Freesync is a whole lot more attainable to gamers shopping in this price bracket.

[Shiv78]

6 minutes ago, StayFrostyy said:

Is the Sapphire stock cooler or the MSI Armor a better cooler?

 

Armor.