Find me the best video card under $250

PaulieG · Jan 29, 2009

Binge said:
GTX265...

You will not have to worry about power. Why buy a 216 when you can get better in the same price range. 4870 1gb are boring to OC. And the 9800GX2 has been losing support as time goes on. Soon they won't be updating it with drivers at all. Google 9800gx2 micro stuttering... you'll get a bunch of results. Apparently the only fix is to change rendering modes and it's just a huge hassle when a GTX280 beats out a 9800GX2.

I don't think there is a 265 available yet. :confused:

Binge · Jan 29, 2009

That's what I call the 260 55nm... >.>

anyway here's one for $245

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=EV-G260_55&c=fr&pid=7c6b5aa0fa4f7c750162d71319c96f91c62617cdc0d6e3b6ca80a64845eee311

The MIR on newegg would also be applicable since it's via EVGA.

JrRacinFan · Jan 29, 2009

Binge .. that's an awesome deal!!

phanbuey · Jan 29, 2009

the 260 55nm dont overclock as well, or so i have read. I think its the lower voltage on the core... which is fixable via rivatuner mod

Duffman · Jan 29, 2009

Binge said:
That's what I call the 260 55nm... >.>

anyway here's one for $245

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=EV-G260_55&c=fr&pid=7c6b5aa0fa4f7c750162d71319c96f91c62617cdc0d6e3b6ca80a64845eee311

The MIR on newegg would also be applicable since it's via EVGA.

That's a winner there Paulie

Binge · Jan 29, 2009

phanbuey said:
the 260 55nm dont overclock as well, or so i have read. I think its the lower voltage on the core... which is fixable via rivatuner mod

or if you buy evga you can just change the volts with their voltage changer.

phanbuey · Jan 29, 2009

yeah, another great reason to buy evga (although i think their stuff is rivatuner with w gui - they look suspiciously alike)

nflesher87 · Jan 29, 2009

Paulieg said:
LOL. Don't think my wife and kids will accept a new video card as a worthwhile excuse to have to eat Ramen.

who said they would be eating it?

wifey just fixes one less portion, family enjoys a nice meal, paulie enjoys ramen, family watches tv, paulie plays with sweet video card, you win in the end

Charper2013 · Jan 29, 2009

nflesher87 said:
who said they would be eating it?

wifey just fixes one less portion, family enjoys a nice meal, paulie enjoys ramen, family watches tv, paulie plays with sweet video card, you win in the end

That explanation deserves a woot woot...1...2...3... WOOT WOOT
So Paulie
Family or Vid Card...Oh the irony :banghead:

phanbuey · Jan 29, 2009

nflesher87 said:
who said they would be eating it?

wifey just fixes one less portion, family enjoys a nice meal, paulie enjoys ramen, family watches tv, paulie plays with sweet video card, you win in the end

lolll... yes! that is so something i would do - probably a good thing that i dont have wife or kids.

Paulie - dont waste your time with a $250 vid card budget if your upgrading from a 4870 - you will see a whoopdeedoo increase of 15%. You probably wouldnt see a difference with the naked eye. thats the only reason go with a 280 and clock the pants off of it - or a 4850X2... ya know? why $250? (yes im that guy - the "go over your budget guy")

PaulieG · Jan 29, 2009

phanbuey said:
lolll... yes! that is so something i would do - probably a good thing that i dont have wife or kids.

Paulie - dont waste your time with a $250 vid card budget if your upgrading from a 4870 - you will see a whoopdeedoo increase of 15%. You probably wouldnt see a difference with the naked eye. thats the only reason go with a 280 and clock the pants off of it - or a 4850X2... ya know? why $250? (yes im that guy - the "go over your budget guy")

LOL. I almost went with a 4850x2 for $269, but Newegg sold out of them today. You guys are not following the rules with this going over budget stuff. I should infract all your asses.

JrRacinFan · Jan 29, 2009

nflesher87 said:
who said they would be eating it?

wifey just fixes one less portion, family enjoys a nice meal, paulie enjoys ramen, family watches tv, paulie plays with sweet video card, you win in the end

You deserved another thank for that!

Paulieg said:
LOL. I almost went with a 4850x2 for $269, but Newegg sold out of them today. You guys are not following the rules with this going over budget stuff. I should infract all your asses.

I really think you should go GTX260 Paulie.

trt740 · Jan 29, 2009

Paulieg said:
OK guys. Someone find me the best NEW video card under $250. I'm not feeling any allegiance to nvidia or ATI. I need to buy it tonight, and it really has to be $250 or less, before any rebates. Help me out guys!!

This card is the best, 244.99 free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329 and then sell the game on ebay they go for 16.00 to 20.00 ,worst case, then card the costs 228.99. Plus XFX has the best resale because of it's double lifetime transferable warranty. Also there is no advantage really getting a 55nm version, it doesn't overclock better and since the PCB is different the Thermalright aftermarket cooler and new AC cooler will not fit a 55nm version , but will fit this one. Also I'm told the 55nm cooler is not as good as the 65nm one and the 55nm card actually runs hotter than the 65nm card because of the lowered number heatpipes in the cooler (cannot confirm this myself) just reporting what I'm told.

PaulieG · Jan 29, 2009

OK, last question before I make a decision. I think I'm going to start folding. Out of the 260 216, 4870 1GB and 9800gx2, which will be better for folding?

phanbuey · Jan 29, 2009

9800GX2, hands down. 4870 is the worst out of that bunch.

PaulieG · Jan 29, 2009

phanbuey said:
9800GX2, hands down.

I assumed this was true, just want to confirm it.

trt740 · Jan 29, 2009

Paulieg said:
OK, last question before I make a decision. I think I'm going to start folding. Out of the 260 216, 4870 1GB and 9800gx2, which will be better for folding?

the 9800x2 because it has 256 shaders against 216. Remember Paul the 9800x2 has driver trouble, and unlike the 295 it suffers from micro shuttering in games. Also because of the driver troubles alot of times your gonna get 9800 gtx like performance in games (still 9800 gtx performance is good)

PaulieG · Jan 29, 2009

trt740 said:
the 9800x2 because it has 256 shaders against 216

the 9800gx2 is really tempting at $249. :twitch:

nflesher87 · Jan 29, 2009

Paulieg said:
I assumed this was true, just want to confirm it.

absolutely, I felded

)) for a few months on a GX2 at ~12k ppd, nothing beats them for folding
for everything other than folding, I would get that 265 binge suggested since you can even use the MIR from newegg, best deal of anything shown (other than the cheap 4870 1gb cards, which I would personally get, but it'd be kinda dumb for you to go to that from a 512)

trt740 · Jan 29, 2009

Paulieg said:
the 9800gx2 is really tempting at $249.

in some things it beats a 280 gtx but it does have driver issues, it really does.

trt740 · Jan 29, 2009

nflesher87 said:
absolutely, I felded )) for a few months on a GX2 at ~12k ppd, nothing beats them for folding
for everything other than folding, I would get that 265 binge suggested since you can even use the MIR from newegg, best deal of anything shown (other than the cheap 4870 1gb cards, which I would personally get, but it'd be kinda dumb for you to go to that from a 512)

no benefit Nate going 55nm. This is your card because of everything I listed.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

resale is one, double lifetime warranty
water block and after market cooling is more widely available for 65nm
sell the game and the card gets 20.00 cheaper etc...
55nm stock cooler is inferior to 65nm cooler making it run hotter. I just went through this myself when I bought my second 260gtx researched the hell out of this.

BrooksyX · Jan 29, 2009

bah, who needs power. I say go with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814139006R

Should be more than enough :laugh:

phanbuey · Jan 29, 2009

The other thing about the gtx 265 (as binge put it) is the software voltage control... (there is a thread on it) you can easily get that card to 1620+ shaders and 780+ core. So thats a consideration if you wanna do some voltage tinkering. Software vmods are the best bc they bypass OVP and you can vmod till the VRM's start to melt a little (my phase 2 hit 105C!!! I cant lie... i was a bit tempted to touch the card).

nflesher87 · Jan 29, 2009

trt740 said:
no benefit Nate going 55nm. This is your card because of everything I listed.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

resale is one, double lifetime warranty
water block and after market cooling is more widely available for 65nm
sell the game and the card get 20.00 cheaper etc...
55nm stock cooler is inferior to 65nm cooler making it run hotter. I just went through this myself when I bought my second 260gtx researched the hell out of this.

k ya got me

hv43082 · Jan 29, 2009

Ah only if you have responded to my PM earlier Paulieg...that GTX 280 had your name written all over it.

Processor	5800x(2)/5700g/5600x/5600g/2700x/1700x/1700
Motherboard	MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling	EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory	32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s)	Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case	(2) Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D /Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Be Quiet Pure Base 500/Bones of HAF
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse	Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard	Generic Black wireless (5)
Software	Win 10/Ubuntu

System Name	Molly
Processor	i5 3570K
Motherboard	Z77 ASRock
Cooling	CooliT Eco
Memory	2x4GB Mushkin Redline Ridgebacks
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 680
Case	Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced
Power Supply	Corsair HX-1000

System Name	Dual Build Streamer
Processor	Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard	AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling	Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory	32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s)	PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage	20+ TB
Display(s)	Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case	Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s)	Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse	Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard	Hyperx Origins 65
Software	Windows 10

Processor	13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard	MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory	48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s)	RTX 4090 FE
Storage	2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s)	Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case	SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s)	Yes
Power Supply	Corsair SF750
Mouse	Xlite V2
Keyboard	RoyalAxe
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	They're pretty good, nothing crazy.

System Name	Black Knight
Processor	Intel Xeon W3520 @4.2Ghz
Motherboard	evga Classified 760
Cooling	Prolimatech Mega Shadow with Dual Noctua NF-P12 fans
Memory	6GB Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 (3gb x 2) 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 5870 Vapor-X
Storage	Corsair P128 SSD for OS, 4 Samsung 500GB in RAID10 For Storage
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster T240HD
Case	Corsair Obsidian 800d Twin Zalman ZM-MFC Plus fan controllers
Audio Device(s)	HT\|OMEGA CLARO
Power Supply	Antec Truepower 1000
Software	Win7 64bit ultimate

Find me the best video card under $250

PaulieG

Binge

Overclocking Surrealism

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

phanbuey

Duffman

New Member

Binge

Overclocking Surrealism

phanbuey

nflesher87

Staff

Charper2013

New Member

phanbuey

PaulieG

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

trt740

PaulieG

phanbuey

PaulieG

trt740

PaulieG

nflesher87

Staff

trt740

trt740

BrooksyX

phanbuey

nflesher87

Staff

hv43082

Processor	AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma Black Edition @ 3.2GHz 16x200
Motherboard	ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Cooling	XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
Memory	OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 & Corsair Dominator (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1250
Video Card(s)	HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
Storage	Western Digital 3.25 Inch SATA 320GB Drive
Display(s)	SAMSUNG ToC T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor
Case	LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Mid Tower Computer Case
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek ALC1200 8 Channel Audio
Power Supply	Corsair 650HX ATX12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular PSU
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Proffesional

System Name	Apple Bite
Processor	Intel I5
Motherboard	Apple
Memory	40gb of DDR 4 2700
Video Card(s)	ATI Radeon 500
Storage	Fusion Drive 1 TB
Display(s)	27 Inch IMac late 2017

System Name	Main / Home Media Serever
Processor	Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard	ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling	Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory	12gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Storage	2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex II 80GB & 10TB of HDD Space
Display(s)	2x Acer 24" LED / Samsung 50" LED
Case	Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
Power Supply	Rosewill 750w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software	Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / Ubuntu 14.04

System Name	Battle Station
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5900x
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix x570-I
Cooling	Lian Li Galahad 240
Memory	Crucial DDR4-3200 32 GB
Video Card(s)	1 x Gigabyte RTX 4090
Storage	Adata 1Tb NVME
Display(s)	Samsung G9 Odyssey
Case	Hyte Y60
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar DX + Ultrasone Pro 900 + JBL SLR 308 speakers and SLR 310 subwoofer
Power Supply	Corsair SFX 750W
Mouse	Logitech G903
Keyboard	The rabbit hole of custom mechanical keyboards
Software	Window 10 Ultimate x64