Find me the best video card under $250

PaulieG · Jan 28, 2009

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!!

J-Man · Jan 28, 2009

What's wrong with your current one?

JrRacinFan · Jan 28, 2009

2x 4830's? 4870 1GB? 8800GTS 512? What exactly will it be used for? Anything other than gaming?

EDIT:

AHH HAH

GTX260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

4870 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247

erocker · Jan 28, 2009

It's nine bucks over, free shipping and a rebate. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

For $30 bucks less, you could get this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

AphexDreamer · Jan 28, 2009

Get your same card and Crossfire it.

phanbuey · Jan 28, 2009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
Sapphire Toxic 1GB - $220

or GTX 280 for $30 dollars over budget at $284... (get that one)... eat ramen for two days.

BrooksyX · Jan 28, 2009

XFX Gtx 260:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329 - $245 shipped

Sapphire 4870 1gb with non reference cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801 - $230 shipped.

You choose.

PaulieG · Jan 28, 2009

J-Man said:
What's wrong with your current one?

I sold my 4870 512. Nice card, just bored of it. Using the card for benching and casual gaming.

Binge · Jan 28, 2009

Then get the 265 erocker mentioned. I love these GTX200s they overclock in such a fun way

spearman914 · Jan 28, 2009

GTX260 is probably the best choice. Or 2x4830, beats a 280.

PaulieG · Jan 28, 2009

What about this card...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143128

And will my power supply TRULY handle this card. It's an FSP 700w modular.

JrRacinFan · Jan 28, 2009

May as well get the GTX260, Paulie. Would be cheaper, easier on the psu and game about the same.

damtachoa · Jan 28, 2009

Here GTX 280 for the price $250:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/sys/1010745968.html

spearman914 · Jan 28, 2009

Paulieg said:
What about this card...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143128

And will my power supply TRULY handle this card. It's an FSP 700w modular.

That thing will beat GTx280 by a little, but CF 4870 is the best bet.

PaulieG · Jan 28, 2009

damtachoa said:
Here GTX 280 for the price $250:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/sys/1010745968.html

Only buying new, or used from someone here at tpu

nflesher87 · Jan 28, 2009

phanbuey said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
Sapphire Toxic 1GB - $220

or GTX 280 for $30 dollars over budget at $284... (get that one)... eat ramen for two days.

nothing better than ramen when on a budget

Paulieg said:
What about this card...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143128

And will my power supply TRULY handle this card. It's an FSP 700w modular.

1) not free shipping, so over budget 2) go single gpu 3) yes

PaulieG · Jan 28, 2009

nflesher87 said:
nothing better than ramen when on a budget

1) not free shipping, so over budget 2) go single gpu 3) yes

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

Havvoc · Jan 28, 2009

The GTX 260 Looks a lot better and has the power Down Feature that saves on your utility bill ..... thing only uses 25 watts on the desktop

Duffman · Jan 28, 2009

Since you already have the 4870, I say go with that XFX GTX260 216. For something different.

PaulieG · Jan 29, 2009

OK, so 260 216, 4870 1GB or 9800gx2? Hmmm....

Duffman · Jan 29, 2009

I have the non toxic version of the Sapphire 4870 1gb. Been great so far. The cooler they put on is quite good. The toxic one is right in your price cross hairs

spearman914 · Jan 29, 2009

Paulieg said:
OK, so 260 216, 4870 1GB or 9800gx2? Hmmm....

4870 1GB so u can CF!!!

Binge · Jan 29, 2009

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.

oli_ramsay · Jan 29, 2009

If you're patient, you can wait for the 40nm RV790 http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=83136

JrRacinFan · Jan 29, 2009

See if you can get 2 of these Paulie ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272R

EDIT:

But then again .. a GTX 260 or 48701GB would trump it due to Crossfire.

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	Watercooled beast
Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 4.02GHz
Motherboard	ASUS Rampage Formula X48
Cooling	Swiftech Apogee GTZ, Black Ice GTX Xtreme 480, EK 250 Rev 2, EK 4870 X2, MCP655, 1/2" Tygon Tubing
Memory	4GB DDR2 OCZ @ 1066MHz 2.1V
Video Card(s)	HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 800 on core, 1000 on memory (overclocked in CCC)
Storage	500GB Maxtor Diamondmax 22 SATA II 32MB Cache
Display(s)	Samsung 24" SM245B
Case	SilverStone TJ07 black/windowed version
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty + Logitech Z-5500
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W Modular
Software	Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Retail

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	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Unknown
Processor	AMD Bulldozer FX8320 @ 4.4Ghz
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair V
Cooling	XSPC Raystorm 750 EX240 for CPU
Memory	8 GB CORSAIR Vengeance Red DDR3 RAM 1922mhz (10-11-9-27)
Video Card(s)	XFX R9 290
Storage	Samsung SSD 254GB and Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
Display(s)	AOC 23" @ 1920x1080 + Asus 27" 1440p
Case	HAF X
Audio Device(s)	X Fi Titanium 5.1 Surround Sound
Power Supply	750 Watt PP&C Silencer Black
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

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	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	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	Mine \| Dad + Mom
Processor	E8500 E0 Wolfdale @ 4.6GHz 1.5V \| E2180 M0 Allendale @ 3.0GHz 1.3V
Motherboard	Asus Maximus Formula (X48) w/ Rampage BIOS \| Asus P5Q Pro (P45)
Cooling	Xigmatek Rifle HDT-S1283 w/ SFF21F Fan \| Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Memory	G.Skill Pi Black 2x2GB 1.02GHz CL5 \| OCZ Reaper 2x2GB 1.05GHz CL5
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 4870X2 2GB 820/1020MHz \| Sapphire 4850 1GB 700/1100MHz
Storage	WD VR 150GB 10K RPM + WD 500GB 7.2K RPM \| WD 200GB 7.2K RPM
Display(s)	Acer P243WAID 24" 1920x1200 LCD \| Acer V193W 19" 1440x900 LCD
Case	Cooler Master HAF 932 Full-Tower \| Antec Twelve Hundred Mid-Tower
Audio Device(s)	Fatal1ty Xtreme Gamer w/ Z-5500 5.1 \| On-Board Audio w/ S-220 2.1
Power Supply	PC Power and Cooling 750W Non-Modular \| Corsair HX-520W Modular
Software	Windows Vista Home Premium X64 \| Windows Vista Home Premium X64
Benchmark Scores	Not Wasting Time!

System Name	The Great Masher
Processor	QX9770
Motherboard	Striker Extreme
Cooling	Liquid
Memory	Mushkin 1066 4GB
Video Card(s)	GTX 280 x2 SLI
Storage	Raptor 150, 2x Samsung 500GB Raid 0
Display(s)	Acer 24" B243W
Case	Gigabyte 3D Mercury
Audio Device(s)	Onboard HD
Power Supply	Gigabyte Odin
Software	uhhhhh... All
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06 28031

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

System Name	Dream Weaver
Processor	Ryzen 5600
Motherboard	B450 MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	NH-D14
Memory	16GB Flare X @ 3200MHz CL14
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+
Storage	500GB evo 970 m.2 + 4TB HDDs
Display(s)	ASUS 27" 1440p 144hz FreeSync
Case	Fractal Design Define R3
Power Supply	Corsair 850W
Software	Windows 10 x64

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