Cheap Graphics Cards

[Avayu]

As you may have guessed by the title, I need some advice concerning a new graphics card.

I'm using a five year old computer at the moment and I planned to upgrade it/buy a completely new one as soon as I'd be financially able to. The problem is, my graphics card (Nvidia 8600GS) didn't want to play along and decided to breathe its last breath (quite literally, as there was something wrong with the cooling and it overheated) right now.

Now I need a new one and 'cause the money is tight, it should be cheap. Graphics enthusiasts and hardcore PC gamers, don't scoff at me, but I'm going for something in the range between 50 and 100?. Since the last time I actually cared about that kind of stuff was five years ago and I didn't think I'd have to again that quickly, I'm a little bit out of knowledge here. I'm far from being a graphics whore and probably won't have the money to support a real gaming habit any time soon, but I'd like to be able to play current (and maybe even future) games a little bit better than "just barely". I've looked around a little bit, but I'm not much wiser.

Would a ATi/AMD Radeon HD 5570/6570 (as I understand, basically the same card, right?) be enough to fulfil my wishes? Would a 6750 or 6770 (strangely, you seem to be able to get those cheaper than their 5xxx counterparts) be better suited? Or is this all just a pipe-dream and gaming on cards under 100? makes no sense at all?

In case anyone wonders, no, I don't really have any preference towards ATi/AMD cards, it's just that I have yet to understand nVidias naming scheme and that nVidia cards generally seem to be more expensive.

 

[hannes2]

When I built my PC about a year ago I put in a GeForce 240 GT, which was around 80? at the time (like 50? now), and I used it until about a month ago (replaced it with a GTX 560 Ti). I played stuff like Bulletstorm and COD BLOPS on it, so I guess you can use it for gaming, although I wouldn´t really recommend it.

I´d suggest having a look at the GTX 550 Ti. It´s somewhere around 105-120?. You might want to have a look at some benchmarks like these:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-550-ti-gf116-radeon-hd-5770,2892.html

I only skimmed it, but it seems to be about as good as the Radeon 5770 when AA is disabled and apparently has some advantages if you switch it on.

 

[Avayu]

I´d suggest having a look at the GTX 550 Ti. It´s somewhere around 105-120?. You might want to have a look at some benchmarks like these:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-550-ti-gf116-radeon-hd-5770,2892.html

I only skimmed it, but it seems to be about as good as the Radeon 5770 when AA is disabled and apparently has some advantages if you switch it on.

Thanks. When I was looking around on my own, the GTX 550 Ti was the only nVidia card that really stood out for me. Still, comparable AMD cards always seem to be a little bit cheaper, so I'll have to see about that.

I have a 5770 which is around £80 (convert it yourself) and it suits me just fine.

I have heard a lot of good things about the HD 5770, it's pretty much on the top of my list. But can anyone tell me the difference between the 5770 and the 6770? They seem to be identical in almost every point, the 6770 only seems to need a little less power. I've read that the 6770 is a simple rebranding, but then why can I get 10-20? cheaper than the 5770?

 

[hannes2]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4296/amds-radeon-hd-6770-radeon-hd-6750-the-retail-radeon-5700-rebadge

Seems like a rebranding.

The price difference might be because a) you can produce what´s basically the same card cheaper now and b) no one bothered to adjust the price of the old model because the new one basically replaces it. I´m just guessing, though.

And yes, the Radeon 6770 is about 10-20? cheaper than the GTX 550 Ti and performs pretty much equally. However, the 550 appears to perform better if you switch on anti-alising and you can use it as a PhysX processor (feel free to ask about the PhysX part if you´re interested). That may justify the price difference, but on the other hand, not everyone uses those features. Think about it, that may help you decide.

 

[Zantos]

Oooooh oooh ooooh try the "Bake it in the oven" method! What? It's a real thing!

On paper the 6770 looks pretty good, though if you can get someone who actually uses one to tell you if it's any good first hand, then that'd probably be better.

Obviously cards above your ?100 mark are more likely to outperform or last longer, but there's nothing wrong with getting a card for less than that. In total my graphics cards cost about £75 and they run everything pretty fine. Obviously not in ultra high-def "OMG I can see Adam's package" quality, but they'll play new releases pretty well.

 

[Avayu]

And yes, the Radeon 6770 is about 10-20? cheaper than the GTX 550 Ti and performs pretty much equally. However, the 550 appears to perform better if you switch on anti-alising and you can use it as a PhysX processor (feel free to ask about the PhysX part if you´re interested). That may justify the price difference, but on the other hand, not everyone uses those features. Think about it, that may help you decide.

Hmm, completely forgot about PhysX. But how often do you really need that kind of feature? Is that something you'd say is worth the difference in price?

Oooooh oooh ooooh try the "Bake it in the oven" method! What? It's a real thing!

On paper the 6770 looks pretty good, though if you can get someone who actually uses one to tell you if it's any good first hand, then that'd probably be better.

Obviously cards above your ?100 mark are more likely to outperform or last longer, but there's nothing wrong with getting a card for less than that. In total my graphics cards cost about £75 and they run everything pretty fine. Obviously not in ultra high-def "OMG I can see Adam's package" quality, but they'll play new releases pretty well.

I googled "graphics card oven". I don't think I'll try that. A new card would have been due in some time, anyway, and I don't want to make a mess out of the oven trying to resurrect this one. it doesn't really look as if it wants to come back from the dead, too.

As I said, I'm not a huge graphics enthusiast. I used the old 8600Gs for a good five years, that should tell you enough. Wasn't always pretty, but it usually worked out. And that's kind of my point: I don't have to be able to play every game coming out in the next few years on the best settings, but I'd like to be at least able to play them without hurting my eyes or having to buy a new graphics card every year.

 

[Kabutos]

550Ti is overpriced. Go with a 5770 or 460 instead.

Also I think 6870s are around $175 now.

Also PhysX is only used in a handful of games.

 

[hannes2]

It´s true that only a handful of games use PhysX. Plus, it takes up processing power and if you´re running a single GTX 550, chances are you´ll need most of it to render the rest of the game (depends on the settings, of course). If you were going to replace it with a better card somewhere down the line, you could put it into a second slot and dedicate it to processing PhysX, while an AMD card would become useless, but unless you´re planning to do that, PhysX isn´t much of a selling point.

Long story short, except for PhysX, the 5770/6770 is just as good as the 550, so I´d probably get whichever´s cheaper (likely the 6770).

 

[Avayu]

Okay, I think I'll go with the 6770. Thanks everyone!