Gfx Card Recommendations

Myrddin

Hi folks, I'm about to RMA a HD7870 {hardware problem}, & have been refunded by the retailer. Is there a recommended card for about €200, even €250 at most? It'd be for heavy game use...

weisses

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS

Have this one myself and am very impressed with it (easy overclocked as well)

Comparison between your old card and the 7950... Just to give an idea

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/857?vs=855

SterlingArcher

Hum a blessing in disguise for you I think.

me personally seen a gtx 680 on adverts 220. Pisses all over that 7870 you just returned. Or pick up the 7850 mentioned.

Or the r9 270x would be in your price range.  I'll have a look

Amazon have r9 270x gigabyte oc version 200 delivered. You have a few options anyway.

Myrddin

SterlingArcher wrote: »

Hum a blessing in disguise for you I think.

me personally seen a gtx 680 on adverts 220. Pisses all over that 7870 you just returned. Or pick up the 7850 mentioned.

Or the r9 270x would be in your price range.  I'll have a look

Amazon have r9 270x gigabyte oc version 200 delivered. You have a few options anyway.

Really? I thought the 7870 seemed decent value, I guess not though compared to the others you mentioned?

Will have a look at the GTX680, & R9270x cheers!

marco_polo

Myrddin wrote: »

Really? I thought the 7870 seemed decent value, I guess not though compared to the others you mentioned?

Will have a look at the GTX680, & R9270x cheers!

Its was most pretty decent value when you bought it, its just as as luck would have it you can get a bit more for more for pretty much the same money now with new cards/price cuts.

Myrddin

marco_polo wrote: »

Its was most pretty decent value when you bought it, its just as as luck would have it you can get a bit more for more for pretty much the same money now with new cards/price cuts.

Oh really? Cool, I only got the card in Sept I think so there has been recent cuts? Looking at the price of the GTX680 here on Amazon, seems pretty expensive at £270, & the R9 270x comes in at £160, which is the same price as the 7870 was & exact same specs as far as I can see...

Myrddin

The GTX760 seems a decent card, how would this one be rated? http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=JCEMSI-N760-2GD5-OC

marco_polo

Myrddin wrote: »

Oh really? Cool, I only got the card in Sept I think so there has been recent cuts? Looking at the price of the GTX680 here on Amazon, seems pretty expensive at £270, & the R9 270x comes in at £160, which is the same price as the 7870 was & exact same specs as far as I can see...

Oh the new cards have definitely mainly just slotted into the old price slots but there are good prices to be found with the the last gen stuff like HD7950/GTX660tis etc.

Myrddin

Myrddin wrote: »

The GTX760 seems a decent card, how would this one be rated? http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=JCEMSI-N760-2GD5-OC

Or is the 660Ti a better card than the 760? There's a 660Ti on Amazon, a PNY one for £190 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/660Ti-GeForce-Nvidia-Graphics-PCI-E/dp/B008YRUGCI/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1384451921&sr=8-10&keywords=GTX660ti

marco_polo

Myrddin wrote: »

Or is the 660Ti a better card than the 760? There's a 660Ti on Amazon, a PNY one for £190 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/660Ti-GeForce-Nvidia-Graphics-PCI-E/dp/B008YRUGCI/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1384451921&sr=8-10&keywords=GTX660ti

I think we can find better value to be than that, a 760 and GTX660i are fairly close, between the two I get a 760 unless you find a really good price on a GT660Ti, as it has slightly more memory bandwidth and higher stock clocks

Aria have some decent prices sometimes as well, although the XFX DD ain't the best non reference cooler its still a decent price for a Hd7950 at a little over €200.

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/XFX+DD+Radeon+HD+7950+3GB+GDDR5+Graphics+Card+%5BFX-795A-TDJC%5D+%2B+3+FREE+GAMES%21+?productId=52185

The 7870 XT isn't a bad option either bad either if you want to keep it under 200 and a Tahiti version 7870 wopuld be bit faster than what you are replacing.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/AMD+Radeon/Radeon+HD+7870+Tahiti+LE/XFX+DD+Radeon+HD+7870+GHz+Edition+%28Tahiti+LE%29+2GB+GDDR5+Graphics+Card+%5BFX-787A-CNAC%5D+%2B+2+FREE+GAMES%21+?productId=55140

I believe delivery too here is £9.99 on of that.

SterlingArcher

Your right the r9 270 is a 7870 rehashed. Faster memory and more spiffy.

This is the price bracket that you are in. gtx760, gtx660 , and r9 270x, 7870 , 7950...

Hence why I suggested the gtx680 for sale on adverts.ie. this card is superior to all the cards above.

Myrddin

I have to say I'm a bit apprehensive about buying another Radeon HD, something is drawing me more to an Nvidia card... After searching up on the problems I had with the 7870, I seen there's tons of complaints about them so I don't think I'd buy one of those again. Is the 7950 considered a safe & reliable bet?

Thanks for the help so far guys, it's great having advice there as there's so much choice with these things it's easy to get confuddled

SterlingArcher

Yeah I have had similar bad luck with AMD cards, so they are not really my bag now. But if it comes down to my own superstitions and price , show me the money.

If you wish to go gtx route 660ti is still a good card and better than a 7870.

For you I'd say try the Gtx 760 2gig, 233 on amazon delivered to your door. that is the Asus overclock model so good quality nice cooler and quiet.. It is slightly better an a 7950 but less ram.

weisses

for heavy game use ..The more vram the better

fresheire

AMD also extended their promo of free game to all R9 family models so there should be a free copy of BF4 for you - if you find it in participating r/etailers. Im going for 270x its as good as 760 but I think should be bit cheaper. Check out dabs they have some decent offers there.

marco_polo

Myrddin wrote: »

I have to say I'm a bit apprehensive about buying another Radeon HD, something is drawing me more to an Nvidia card... After searching up on the problems I had with the 7870, I seen there's tons of complaints about them so I don't think I'd buy one of those again. Is the 7950 considered a safe & reliable bet?

Thanks for the help so far guys, it's great having advice there as there's so much choice with these things it's easy to get confuddled

I don't think Radeon are any more or less reliable than Nvidia TBH so I wouldn't discount 50% of you options based on one RMA (But it is your money so spend it as you see fit ) Incidently the HD7870XT is a very different card to a regular one and is a the same GPU as the HD7950, but not quite as powerful, I just threw it in there as the very bottom of what you should be aiming for.

I think the XFX 7950 is above is probably the best bang for buck on what I can see around today, but it seems a oddly poor week for good deals around the various websites.

No need to agonize over your options too much, you know exactly the sort of card to look for, theres not a huge much between the likes of the GTX660ti/HD7950/R270x/GTX760 and they are all clustered around a very similar price/performance ratio, so if you can get a quality model of any one of these at a good price, you won't have gone too far wrong (If you don't like much noise it well worth spending the extra few quid on one with a decent cooler).

TheTacticsGuy

When do you think the non-reference R9's will be available???

fresheire

TheTacticsGuy wrote: »

When do you think the non-reference R9's will be available???

Already are as far as I know.

TheTacticsGuy

fresheire wrote: »

Already are as far as I know.

Where???

Myrddin

SterlingArcher wrote: »

Yeah I have had similar bad luck with AMD cards, so they are not really my bag now. But if it comes down to my own superstitions and price , show me the money.

If you wish to go gtx route 660ti is still a good card and better than a 7870.

For you I'd say try the Gtx 760 2gig, 233 on amazon delivered to your door. that is the Asus overclock model so good quality nice cooler and quiet.. It is slightly better an a 7950 but less ram.

I think I'll go the 760 route. As marco_polo said, there's not much between the cards at this particular level of the market, mid range/budget cards.

My only question is why the price variations between cards of the same model? There's an Asus 760 here for £195, an MSI one here for £199, another MSI here for £179, & an EVGA here for £200 & a Gigabyte here for £179. Why the variations in price & is there one that'd stand out as a better buy for any reason?

fresheire

TheTacticsGuy wrote: »

Where???

http://www.dabs.ie/search?q=Radeon%20R9

fresheire

Myrddin wrote: »

I think I'll go the 760 route. As marco_polo said, there's not much between the cards at this particular level of the market, mid range/budget cards.

My only question is why the price variations between cards of the same model? There's an Asus 760 here for £195, an MSI one here for £199, another MSI here for £179, & an EVGA here for £200 & a Gigabyte here for £179. Why the variations in price & is there one that'd stand out as a better buy for any reason?

You can go that route no problem - I had exactly same dillema and since Im on rather tight budget I decided to go with the R9-270x but youre still looking at 20-50 euro extra for nvidia as oppose to R9s and from what Ive read online youll get around 2fps more of 760 thats what youll pay extra for - is it worth it - that depends on your budget.

I know nvidia gives some games Splintercell and I think assasins creed but with what models I don't know. I don't play these games so didnt even bother to check that. Now if the rumors are true I'll be getting BF4 with my ATI and thats a good deal for me as this game would cost me extra.

I think its really more to the brand loyalty when it comes to the choice between the two same priced cards. You gain some you loose some in either cases. I used to have nvidia and ati in the past - and what you see on the screen is more or less the same, unless youre an enthusiast for whom some minor differences matter.

Whichever you'll go with youll be happy. Just remember to check what resolution youre going to play in as this will impact the performance. My max is 1920x whatever on my TV so I don't even check any higher benchmarks.

Now regarding your questions about different brands I would advise to read up online - just I don't know google BF4 graphic cards or smth like that - youll see some comparisons or just google reviews of all the cards you're after. There is a chance youll find them tested against each other. And results will vary from performance, power consumption, temperatures, noise levels and OC capability. It's hard to give you the answer which one as it's only the tech sites that could do that as they are more likely to test all of them. Read up reviews of users in online shops and pick one that suits your needs the most.

Luck100

Myrddin wrote: »

I think I'll go the 760 route. As marco_polo said, there's not much between the cards at this particular level of the market, mid range/budget cards.

My only question is why the price variations between cards of the same model? There's an Asus 760 here for £195, an MSI one here for £199, another MSI here for £179, & an EVGA here for £200 & a Gigabyte here for £179. Why the variations in price & is there one that'd stand out as a better buy for any reason?

You're paying for the cooling solution, factory overclock, and possible (additional) overclock potential. Most cards have similar reliability, so that doesn't seem to be much of a factor.

For cooling, there's reference-style (blower) cooling and non-reference coolers (the ones with multiple fans on the card). The multiple-fan versions are quieter and cool more effectively, but they dump hot air into your case. Generally the multiple-fan ones are best if you only have one card, the blower ones might be better if you go SLI/crossfire. But it really depends on your case airflow.

The factory overclocks are specified with each card - just look for 'boost clock' numbers on each card. You'll get that overclock out of the box with no tuning on your part. Almost all cards will allow some additional overclocking, but you can't tell how much from the specs. How much extra overclock you'll get is a bit of a lottery, although some cards have reputations for more overclocking headroom (you'll have to scour reviews or ask around).

Generally speaking, I'd say from a price/performance standpoint there's no point in paying more than 10-15% extra for any particular version of a card.
The reason being that you're not likely to get 15% extra performance out of the more expensive card versus the cheap one.

Myrddin

Cheers lads, makes sense. I think I'll go for the Gigabyte one, it seems to rank pretty well in reviews online as far as I can see.

Of course it doesn't end there though, there's a Rev 2 version of this card out there it seems - http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-760-2gb-pci-e-3-0-hdmi-oc-windforce-rev2-8TT7.html?q=gtx%20760&src=16

fresheire

Also sometimes the reference models will fit better in small cases as the more fancy one might be taller and have some funny pipes sticking above the pcb - just check the photos. And correct me if Im wrong but in the resale the non-reference models will be valued lower. They might be louder too comparing to fancy ones.

fresheire

Myrddin wrote: »

Cheers lads, makes sense. I think I'll go for the Gigabyte one, it seems to rank pretty well in reviews online as far as I can see.

Of course it doesn't end there though, there's a Rev 2 version of this card out there it seems - http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-760-2gb-pci-e-3-0-hdmi-oc-windforce-rev2-8TT7.html?q=gtx%20760&src=16

And then there is this bad boy
http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-760-1085mhz-4gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-oc-wf3x-8X4J.html?refs=4294963788&src=3

Luck100

fresheire wrote: »

Also sometimes the reference models will fit better in small cases as the more fancy one might be taller and have some funny pipes sticking above the pcb - just check the photos. And correct me if Im wrong but in the resale the non-reference models will be valued lower. They might be louder too comparing to fancy ones.

That's a good point. Also, most cards are 2-slot (they block the next expansion slot), but some are 3-slot monsters (they block the next 2 slots!).

Myrddin

fresheire wrote: »

And then there is this bad boy
http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-760-1085mhz-4gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-oc-wf3x-8X4J.html?refs=4294963788&src=3

Yeah seen that, I don't have another ton to drop on a card though this close to Xmas, I've a Ltd Edition Zelda 3DS XL to pay for, & a PS4 no less...so the 2GB model really will have to suffice.

Have any of you heard of this Revision 2 version of the Gigabyte 760? Are there issues with Rev 1 cards?

fresheire

Myrddin wrote: »

Yeah seen that, I don't have another ton to drop on a card though this close to Xmas, I've a Ltd Edition Zelda 3DS XL to pay for, & a PS4 no less...so the 2GB model really will have to suffice.

Have any of you heard of this Revision 2 version of the Gigabyte 760? Are there issues with Rev 1 cards?

I didn't but I'm sure google did if there were some sort of issues. Now maybe you should treat yourself this xmas and have a look at the 770 series ?
I think there is some decent performance gains between these two... ahh buying PC gear... there's nothing like it

Luck100

I don't know about Rev.1 / Rev.2 , but there's absolutely no point in getting a 4 GB gtx 760. It simply doesn't have the memory bandwidth to make use of 4 GB of ram. If you want to spend that much money, it's better spent on a better card (for example a gtx 770) instead of more video ram.

fresheire

Luck100 wrote: »

I don't know about Rev.1 / Rev.2 , but there's absolutely no point in getting a 4 GB gtx 760. It simply doesn't have the memory bandwidth to make use of 4 GB of ram. If you want to spend that much money, it's better spent on a better card (for example a gtx 770) instead of more video ram.

That's true and here's the proof

And the truth about the revisions seems to be here

Myrddin

Thanks again lads, & as much as I'd love a 770, I'm maxed out & the 760 is pushing the budget as is. 1080p gaming on a 32" tv panel @ as close to 60fps as possible will be more than enough for me if this card can manage that.

From a quick search, the only difference between the Rev 1 & 2 is the fan shroud/cover. Happy days, I'm all set. Much appreciated folks

fresheire

Myrddin wrote: »

Thanks again lads, & as much as I'd love a 770, I'm maxed out & the 760 is pushing the budget as is. 1080p gaming on a 32" tv panel @ as close to 60fps as possible will be more than enough for me if this card can manage that.

From a quick search, the only difference between the Rev 1 & 2 is the fan shroud/cover. Happy days, I'm all set. Much appreciated folks

Good for you. But do have a look at these though:
http://www.dabs.ie/category/components-and-storage,graphics-and-i-o,graphics-cards/11137-4294942406

It's 20quid more but better results
http://techreport.com/review/25466/amd-radeon-r9-280x-and-270x-graphics-cards/5

Myrddin

fresheire wrote: »

Good for you. But do have a look at these though:
http://www.dabs.ie/category/components-and-storage,graphics-and-i-o,graphics-cards/11137-4294942406

It's 20quid more but better results
http://techreport.com/review/25466/amd-radeon-r9-280x-and-270x-graphics-cards/5

Cheers, gonna just stick to my guns though & go the Nvidia route. It never ends with these things, like you're looking at x model for x amount, but if you look at y model for y amount it seems better. Then there's z model for z amount, which is better than y model/amount & so on...you just have to bite the bullet somewhere.

Gigabyte GTX760 OC ordered there with Amazon. I have to say, Amazon were fantastic when dealing with me over the dodgy 7870. After a brief online chat, I had the refund being processed, a label emailed to me that covers return postage too...before even sending back the faulty one. So I sent off the 7870 to them yesterday, the Post Office scanned the label & gave me a receipt as proof of postage, so that's that taken care of. Very nice to see decent customer service in this day & age, so I'm very inclined to use them again, which I've just done

Luck100

Good pick, seems like a good deal and a nice boost clock on that one.

I had the same experience with Amazon customer service. I got a defective fan controller and they sent me a replacement as soon as I registered my complaint. I didn't have to post the original back until I got the new one, and they made all the arrangements for return shipping.

SterlingArcher

Myrddin wrote: »

Cheers, gonna just stick to my guns though & go the Nvidia route. It never ends with these things, like you're looking at x model for x amount, but if you look at y model for y amount it seems better. Then there's z model for z amount, which is better than y model/amount & so on...you just have to bite the bullet somewhere.

Gigabyte GTX760 OC ordered there with Amazon. I have to say, Amazon were fantastic when dealing with me over the dodgy 7870. After a brief online chat, I had the refund being processed, a label emailed to me that covers return postage too...before even sending back the faulty one. So I sent off the 7870 to them yesterday, the Post Office scanned the label & gave me a receipt as proof of postage, so that's that taken care of. Very nice to see decent customer service in this day & age, so I'm very inclined to use them again, which I've just done

Well that's nice to know for anyone
Choosing to pick another site over amazon for the sake of ten euro. I believe good customer service is worth 10 euro.

Good luck and enjoy your new card. Adios ****ty 7870 muhahahahaha

Myrddin

SterlingArcher wrote: »

Well that's nice to know for anyone
Choosing to pick another site over amazon for the sake of ten euro. I believe good customer service is worth 10 euro.

Yeah agreed. Obviously delivery from Amazon is free on orders over £25 too so that's a big factor, but I'd happily pan another tenner or so knowing I'll be looked after in the event of a problem. Without a doubt the best customer service of any online retailer I've ever used anyway

Myrddin

So the Gigabyte GTX 760 arrived today, man it's a biiiiig card...it bearly fit in the case. Up & running after a quick blast of driversweeper & then the latest Nvidia drivers installed. Happy days, & just to reiterate, Amazon.co.uk were superb from start to finish.

Thanks all who helped me go through my options, I'm delighted with the card