Video Card on a Budget

So, realizing that my ancient HD7850 isn’t going to cut it any longer for DCS, Elite Dangerous, etc, I’m in the market for a new card, looking to buy in the next month or so. However, with moving later this month and all the expenses that come with that, I’m not going to be able to spend more than $400, tops.

So, any and all recommendations would be wonderful.

Grab a Nvidia 1070, around that budget. Sorta.

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I agree, the 1070 is really good value. What resolution are you playing at?

This is a pretty good place to keep an eye out for a deal and read comments about the hardware - you can sort it for just GPUs on the right side tab I think…actually the link I provided does that for you…

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I’m seeing 1070’s around $600, only two on Newegg (refurbished units) that were below about $550. Looking at1920x1080, though I may eventually upgrade the monitors.

Anybody have any experience with the new AMD line, or should I just wait another few months for a 1070/80?

You could look around for a 2nd hand 980 Ti. I have seen a couple come up on eBay in the last month priced quite reasonably. The performance difference from the 1070 is very small. It may even outperform the 1070 for some games like x-plane (non-VR non 4K)

I am running amd 7990. Been a solid card. Should be cheap now. Get the one with extra ram.
Elite and dcs (beta+open alpha) no problems on the resolution you are looking at. I max most things out on settings for games.

Just review check certain brands as i there was a brand with batch that ran hot.

I like and drivers and software as well. One click solution to update and roll back.

Its working great for me

I dunno that seems incremental. If you’re going to spend $400 I’d recommend you save a bit more and get a 10 series. Either 1070 or 1080. It’ll save you having to upgrade quickly again and you’ll be able to max pretty much everything right away.

I can’t really recommend spending even $400 on something that isn’t a big jump up.

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I heard prices went through the roof because graphics cards are currently in such a high demand due to their value for blockchain miners (bitcoin clones).

The card I bought 6 months ago (1070) is now over 150 Euros more expensive!

Bad timing…

@Navynuke99 I run a great 780 Ti and it can run nearly everything at the highest settings
What you can’t (probably) do is VR.

Consider it…

The real advantage of the 1070 over 780/980 is the much lower operating temperature and lower power hunger…

Might consider looking at used cards, too. I currently have a 980GTX and it’s been going strong for 2 years now.

@Navynuke99 this is a hideously bad time to be in the market for a card thanks to the crypto miners. 1070’s were $379 at Christmas and now they are literally out of stock at New Egg or almost $600 on Amazon.

Wait till after September and play Battleships with me until production goes up and prices go down

Plus Falcon/BMS loves your current card, right @AeroMechanical?

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Yeah, this is sounding more like what’s going to happen.

X-Plane will have to wait too.

It’s not that I don’t want you to have a new card, it’s just that there is terrible value at the $400 price point right now. It will change however.

The Bitcoin thing is a fad. Once everyone is doing it no one will be doing it. And that will coincide with the card manufacturers just ramping up, and the prices will go through the floor. Wait it out.

But you know what you should spend your $399.00 on? Even if it sits in the two boxes till you can get a card?

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This mining nonsense goes in cycles. It skyrocketed gpu prices a few years ago too.

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http://www.microcenter.com/product/467995/GeForce_GTX_1070_Overclocked_Dual-Fan_8GB_GDDR5_Video_Card

450 for a 8gb 1070 doesn’t seem too crazy.

Hopefully you don’t need to buy more than 2.

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LOL! You’ll unnecessarily pay $60 extra even if you buy two cards at one time. I’d just buy one, walk out, put on a disguise and buy the second if I wanted to go SLI. :grin:

I got a 970 around november 2016 for $250 at Frys, i would highly recommend it if you are doing 1080p gaming. Runs DCS at a constant 60+ in 2.1 with high everything, extreme view distance, 2x MSAA. Might dip into the 40’s low over vegas, but its a great card for the price. No complaints. I wanted a 1070, but couldn’t justify spending 400+ on a video card. Thats like 12 bottles of makers.

From what I’m reading online, the GTX 1060 should be the same or slightly better than a 970, and priced about $300. Might a be a good deal for 1080p gaming.