Spending 200 dollars for a Video card

[u2konline]

I am picking up a new rig soon ( to replace my Intel Celeron E3300 ) and was thinking about buying a 6850. My question are these 200 dollar cards worth the money?
I figure if someone is spending 200 or more on a video card, you shouldn't have any trouble playing any game for the next 2-3 years.

Thinking about buying a visiontek 6850.

[bruins004]

Originally Posted by u2konline

I am picking up a new rig soon ( to replace my Intel Celeron E3300 ) and was thinking about buying a 6850. My question are these 200 dollar cards worth the money?
I figure if someone is spending 200 or more on a video card, you shouldn't have any trouble playing any game for the next 2-3 years.

Thinking about buying a visiontek 6850.

I have been looking for a video card at the same price as well but I have a bit to wait for Sandy Bridge to come back out.
Right now you can do much better than a 6850 for $200.
At the very least look at newegg or tigerdirect and they have 6870s going for $200 and less.
Also, today at newegg there was/is a 5870 for $200 which is better than a 6870, but a little weaker than a 6950.

[jasper1605]

yeah that 2gb 5870 shellshocker is the best of the best for deals right now.

If you decide you want the 6850 anyways, they have very good scaling when xfire is involved so in 2-3 years if it's not keeping up then you can get a second one for cheap and voila you are playing again at smooth frames

[bruins004]

Originally Posted by jasper1605

yeah that 2gb 5870 shellshocker is the best of the best for deals right now.

If you decide you want the 6850 anyways, they have very good scaling when xfire is involved so in 2-3 years if it's not keeping up then you can get a second one for cheap and voila you are playing again at smooth frames

That is right I forgot about the scaling.
The 6000 series has better scaling for Crossfire than the 5000 series.
However, you can easily get a 6870 for $200 or less which will be a nice difference from a 6850.

[Aceman.au]

Im suprised no Nvidia users have come in.

But yes I have a 6870, actually 2 of them and they are working fine at the moment. Good frames per second in Crysis maxxed out (40 FPS, don't think the CF works in Crysis) which is a decent benchmarking game. Fairly cheap too. Low power consumption.

[Spectrum]

Don't get a 6850... You want a 6870 or if you've got a little extra cash, a GTX 560.
(Not an nvidia user, I'm using a 6870 :])
Oh and if you decide to get the HD 6870, get the asus directcu 6870. I've got a gtx 460 lieing around unused that's got the directcu cooler. Runs very cool.
Unfortunately I wasn't patient enough to get the DC 6870... If I'd waited 3-4 more days before getting my 6870, I would've been able to get it.

[alucasa]

Originally Posted by l33tGaMeR

Im suprised no Nvidia users have come in.

Since you brought that up...

Well, I can't recommend anything for 200 when it comes to Nvidia cards right now. 460 GTX may fit the bill and it is now an old tech. And 560 Ti is at 240-ish mark, give or take 15.

Tho 6850 is at 180. Might as well get 6870 then you might as well get 560 Ti

You get the picture.

I personally use consoles (PS3 & Xbox360) for RPG games since those rarely get ported to Windows and use PC for other games.

[micropage7]

amd 6xxx or nvidia 460 is a nice thing if you wanna spent 200. just make sure that the card support latest direct x and shader version. i guess it would run about 2 or 3 years from now before you buy a new one
then the performance. im not any fan since both just have difference under 10% which not noticeable, it just felt on benchmark
and for now amd is nice choice. if it could find custom hsf coz it performs beter than stock hsf

[newtekie1]

Now, for cards that are less than $200 that are good buys? Well the GTX470 is an excellent buy at $200.

Otherwise, the GTX460 and HD6850 are both about the same price and performance. Don't buy into that older tech bullshit about the GTX460, it is only older tech by the fact that it has a 4 in the model number instead of a 5, the GPU under the heatsink is essentially exactly the same as the GTX560, the GTX460 just has a few locked shaders.

Any of these cards will lasy serveral years as long as you don't expect to play on max settings. My guess is that they will handle games in 2-3 years at medium settings @1080p.

[Zen_]

Not to sure about those recertified GTX 470s. The card runs hot to begin with and while newegg reviews are always to be taken with a grain of salt, when a significant numbers of buyers are complaining about overheating and damaged cards it should be a red flag. It only has a 90 day warranty too.

You can get a 6850 / 768MB 460 for well under $200 or a 6870 / 1 GB 460 for around $200. Those are all still good values. However I wouldn't count on any of them being adequate 2, let alone 3 years down the road. When you buy mid-range cards they need to be replaced fairly often (every produce cycle or two) to stay in the sweet spot where you're up to date and can recover half or more of the purchase price reselling.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by Zen_

Not to sure about those recertified GTX 470s. The card runs hot to begin with and while newegg reviews are always to be taken with a grain of salt, when a significant numbers of buyers are complaining about overheating and damaged cards it should be a red flag. It only has a 90 day warranty too.

You can get a 6850 / 768MB 460 for well under $200 or a 6870 / 1 GB 460 for around $200. Those are all still good values. However I wouldn't count on any of them being adequate 2, let alone 3 years down the road. When you buy mid-range cards they need to be replaced fairly often (every produce cycle or two) to stay in the sweet spot where you're up to date and can recover half or more of the purchase price reselling.

I've bought 3, none ran any hotter than the GTX470 I bought brand new. If you are worried about the warranty, buy the 1 year extended warranaty for $20. If anything is going to go wrong, it will happen in the first 90 days more than likely anyway. The newegg reviews are usually written by idiots that try to shove the card in a pre-built case and expect it to run super cool. Then when they see it running 90°C they freak out, any GTX470 will run that hot in those conditions.

As for replacing mid-range cards fairly often, I don't find that to be the case as long as you are fine with turning down the graphics settings, most mid-range cards can continue to play the latest games for several years. I've got an 8800GTS that I bought all the way back in 2007 that is still playing the latest games.

[Zen_]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

I've bought 3, none ran any hotter than the GTX470 I bought brand new. If you are worried about the warranty, buy the 1 year extended warranaty for $20. If anything is going to go wrong, it will happen in the first 90 days more than likely anyway. The newegg reviews are usually written by idiots that try to shove the card in a pre-built case and expect it to run super cool. Then when they see it running 90°C they freak out, any GTX470 will run that hot in those conditions.

As for replacing mid-range cards fairly often, I don't find that to be the case as long as you are fine with turning down the graphics settings, most mid-range cards can continue to play the latest games for several years. I've got an 8800GTS that I bought all the way back in 2007 that is still playing the latest games.

I didn't say to put much faith in the newegg reviews, but when a significant number of people are complaining about artifacts, freezing and / or receiving a damaged part those are legitimate red flags. Refurbs, recerts and open box are always a roll of the dice to some extent and it's why I passed on that particular card (was really considering it).

Also, the 8800GTS wasn't a mid range card...it was over $400 at launch. The 8600's were the mid range cards in that series. Suppose that depends on how you define mid range but I consider it to be under ~$200. Also the G92 was a bit of an anomaly in that the architecture was so such a huge leap that survived three product cycles (8800 / 9800 / 250).

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by Zen_

I didn't say to put much faith in the newegg reviews, but when a significant number of people are complaining about artifacts, freezing and / or receiving a damaged part those are legitimate red flags. Refurbs, recerts and open box are always a roll of the dice to some extent and it's why I passed on that particular card (was really considering it).

Also, the 8800GTS wasn't a mid range card...it was over $400 at launch. The 8600's were the mid range cards in that series. Suppose that depends on how you define mid range but I consider it to be under ~$200. Also the G92 was a bit of an anomaly in that the architecture was so such a huge leap that survived three product cycles (8800 / 9800 / 250).

Actually, I was talking about the G80 card 8800GTS, and I paid $260 for it when I bought it in 2007. Yes, it isn't technically a mid-range card you are correct, but back then the mid-range cards didn't even come close to the high end cards. Now, a GTX460 is pretty damn close to a GTX470. And my point was that the card is still going almost 4 years later.

If you prefer we can talk about the 8800GS that I paid $170 for in Feb. 2008 that still plays modern games? Or the 9600GT bought around the same time for $220 that still plays modern games?

[Wrigleyvillain]

Well I absolutely LOVE my 6850s for the price but that's due to a key thing--I have two of them and the scaling in 6xxx series is fantastic! Tears through Crysis 58-72 FPS 1920x1200 4x AA 16X AF Ultra with texture mods. A quad at 4Ghz helps too of course. Though I also love eye candy man and you didn't even mention what res you game at. One is probably a good start for you though, esp seeing as how you have only so recently joined the modern world of cards with power connectors!

[MRCL]

I bought 4890s for 300 bucks each, and a few months later the 5 series surfaced
THey still perform rather well tho.
When throwing away much moneys for a video card, do your homework and make sure it loves you long time.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by MRCL

I bought 4890s for 300 bucks each, and a few months later the 5 series surfaced
THey still perform rather well tho.
When throwing away much moneys for a video card, do your homework and make sure it loves you long time.

Yes, but the fact that a new series came out doesn't mean the HD4890s suddenly stop working, they'll still play games for a good long while.

[techtard]

Use online price-matching engines to find the best prices on : Radeon 5850, 5870, 6850, 6870, nVidia GTX 460, 470, 560. Buy whatever the best deal you can get.

Check out reputable online forums with buy/sell/trade sections. Check craigslist, E-bay, etc.

Plenty of ways to get your hands on some decent video cards for that price

[Undead46]

I'm pretty sure you can get a 5970 for that price which would have better performance, but it's definitely not as stable as the 6xxx series.

You shouldn't expect to max every game out at high resolution with a 6850, but you'll definitely be able to play any game with medium-high settings.

[yogurt_21]

Originally Posted by Undead46

I'm pretty sure you can get a 5870 for that price which would have better performance, but it's definitely not as stable as the 6xxx series.

You shouldn't expect to max every game out at high resolution with a 6850, but you'll definitely be able to play any game with medium-high settings.

fixed

[bruins004]

Originally Posted by u2konline

I am picking up a new rig soon ( to replace my Intel Celeron E3300 ) and was thinking about buying a 6850. My question are these 200 dollar cards worth the money?
I figure if someone is spending 200 or more on a video card, you shouldn't have any trouble playing any game for the next 2-3 years.

Thinking about buying a visiontek 6850.

Did you wind up getting anything yet?
Looks like prices are going to continue to go down hopefully esp. once the really high end cards come out.
Gotta love competition.

[T3kl0rd]

My first GTX 470 was $200ish. Worked awesome but at the res I'm at, I wanted more power to max modern games so I got another. $200 is the price point for a decent GPU these days unfortunately.

[u2konline]

Well i pick up GTS 450 for 174 dollars, it was worth every penny. So spending near 200 or 200 seems to worth the money.

[KainXS]

you bought it at bestbuy or somethin didn't you

[Cold Storm]

Originally Posted by KainXS

you bought it at bestbuy or somethin didn't you

Might be a "higher end" 450.. but I only spent $119 for mine via newegg..


U2, glad to see you got a nice card there.. glad it's not one of those cards that "doesn't need" the psu plug..

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by u2konline

Well i pick up GTS 450 for 174 dollars, it was worth every penny. So spending near 200 or 200 seems to worth the money.

How long ago? IIRC, gts450's were never that much online.