What are some good graphics options for $180?

Hardware GPU
1

After the US election, I plan to double my rig's RAM up to 8 gigs, along with getting a different graphics card. I have a HIS 7750 currently, but I'm having issues with it at startup. It's like warming up an old vehicle. The monitor doesn't receive a signal until a few reboots have been done, then having patchy pixels/long vertical lines appear across the screen every few minutes, which are also solved by further reboots or toggling off/on the monitor. Afterwards, I am able to continue my session for hours on end. Unless I am unaware of any other problems this graphics issue may be causing, I have no immediate concern since I put it in expecting to upgrade later on.

Now that the time has come, what are some good graphics solutions for $180? For those wondering about my plans, I generally play games on a single 1920x1080 monitor. I have a 650 watt power supply, and my motherboard only has one slot for a graphics card, so SLI/Crossfire options are out of the question (though I don't expect SLI/Crossfire with only $180 anyway).

2

HEy its.ackbar I would recomend a AMD 7850 really good card and especially at your resoltuion around that price point might even be able to find a AMD 7870 Really good and can OC them!

 

3

Go grab a Radeon 7850. Definitely recommend it, especially with the overclocking possibilities. If you can drop a little more cash, a 7870 is a worthy upgrade, and with that you could probably play any game at max with playable fps, even Metro 2033, EVEN with a 7850. If you want to save a little, a 560 Ti can still get the job done, but if you plan on playing at 1080p res, you might encounter problems in newer games as it only has 1GB of ram. I'd stick with the 7850 cause of that. And if you have extra dough, you know what to do( 7870).

Cheers,

Z