Graphics Card for less than $300

Hardware Hub GPU
1

Logan and all:

TL;DR: I need a new video card for less than $300.  I want to play Skyrim (modded with ENB) at 40+FPS consistently.  What's your recommendation?

I use my PC for gaming 85% of the time, Video/Photo editing 10% of the time (Photoshop, Lightroom and Sony Vegas), and normal uses (Internet, Quicken, Office, etc) the remaining 5%.

My system is made up of the following:

  • ASRock Z77 Extreme 6
  • i5 3570k, OC to 4.4GHz (on air, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo)
  • Gigabyte Windforce GTX660 2GB
  • 16GB of GeiL Evo DDR3-1600 ram
  • Rosewill 600 watt power supply
  • Dell 2407 24" 1920x1200 monitor (DVI) <-- Primary Game Screen
  • Dell 2009 20" 1600x1200 monitor (DVI) <-- I may be getting another 2407 to replace this.

I built the machine back in March.  The machine is solid, with the possible exception of the 600 watt power supply, but since I wasn't going for SLI, I didn't (and still don't) think it's a major issue.  In fact I felt the machine was pretty awesome until I modded Skyrim.  With ENB, I'm not able to achieve a consistent 30+ FPS.

Anyway, When I built the machine, I knew a GPU upgrade was in my future, I just didn't think it would be this soon.  But that's where I am.  I need to find a replacement for the GTX660 and I only have $300 (MAX - with taxes/shipping) to spend.

My goal is get Skyrim running at least 40 FPS minimum with ENB.  Looking forward I want to be able to play Crysis 3, ESO, Destiny, Assassin's Creed 4, Dragon Age 2 with high/max graphic settings at an enjoyable frame rate.

I prefer nVidia, but am not married to them.  I know that Logan has been raving about the 7950 from AMD, but I've been eyeing the GTX 760.  Whatever card I get, it will need dual DVI hookups to support my existing monitors.  I'm not wanting an SLI/Crossfire setup, nor do I see myself having more than two monitors.

Suggestions?

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In my experience using a 7870, I can sustain 50+ FPS with all HD textures, a few ENB's, and a few 4k textures. I would recommend the 7950 because I can't see it being any worse, but the 760 is a solid card. Up to you

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First of all, hey Nick... see you're enjoying 4th period :D

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Lol ^^

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As far as my recommendation it would be the 7950 for sure. For the price you can get them, around the $200 mark from Newegg and even less from eBay if you're willing to get one secondhand you really can't beat it. It's just a great card, plus the scale well in crossfire if you're looking for an upgrade somewhere down the line.

Also, I see that you're running dual monitors, I would imagine have 3GB of video RAM would be beneficial for anyone running some type of multi-monitor setup like yourself.  

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Yeah I had free time and My teacher was eagerly watching me so I was being overly precise. Definitely a +1 for the 7950 though 

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Oh yeah, I know the feeling. I'm a junior.

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The extra ram from the amd 79xx series really comes in handy if you want to mod skyrim. I used to play with enb real vision + all the recommended plugins with the best looking texture plugins at the highest possible framerates and i had 29 + fps. With that being sad I can strongly recommend you my card, asus 7950 or a 7970, if you can add another gtx 660.

9

7950 ftw hands down.

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Well to decide AMD over NVIDIA you need to decide if you really want that advanced onboard physx NVIDIA bring to the plate on there cards. Which is going to be good for obvious reasons like gaming, editing, 3d rendering, photoshop and stuff. Which AMD you will get the physx but it will not be on your card your CPU will be doing the work. Then you need to decide how much ram you want because your using two monitors. 2gb will work but I usually try to go for more since I use 3 monitors its nice to have that extra ram. AMD tends to have more ram on there cards then NVIDIA but it comes to a point where you gotta decide if you want the onboard physx.

 

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Unless you absolutely require Cuda there is no sense in nvidia for that price range. Physx is barely noticeable and hardly an improvement in gaming. Go for a 7950 or a 7870 XT. 

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7950. For god sake though you don't need some one at teksyndicate to answer this. This is questions for them. IF you look they have separate forum category's for this.

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Yup 7950 all day. Best bang for buck card out there atm.

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My vote goes to the 7950.  Find one with a decent cooler on it, and overclock the hell out of it.  I'd suggest something like this...

http://goo.gl/MGBN04

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Also, don't forget the AMD's OpenCL acceleration is pretty fantastic. So if the OP is using Adobe CC AMD would actually be better than Nvidia.

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7950all the way but get a twin or triple fan edition

17

XFX DoubleD would be a good choice :)

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Thinking about this one.  Any negative feedback from anyone on this brand or model?

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Why would you buy a card when the majority of complaints are that is runs hot and it is voltage locked? If you want AMD then http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202007 . Nvidia get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127748 .

 

Edit: You could also wait until volcanic islands gpu middle of next month?

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If you're in OZ grab this, https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/116045