Video card to not break the bank? Also a couple more questions inside

[Brewski]

I am looking for a video card to not break the bank, definitely don't want a gtx 680/690. I was looking through some boxing day deals and found a gtx 560 for about $140 and it seems like a great deal. I was looking at the benchmarks for the 560 vs 650 and it seems like the gtx 560 is better, can anyone back that up because I'm not sure that is right. Any other suggestions for a video card are welcome.

If I get two gtx 560's would the performance increase by a big margin or would one gtx 560 be more than enough?

I'll just throw in the processor I was thinking of getting, its the i5 2500k which seems to be good enough, opinions welcome on that too.

[Skarsguard]

We need to know a little bit more information like what screen resolution do you play on and what games are you going to be playing.

I would try and find a AMD HD6850 it's around the price that your wanting to spend and better then the 560.

I would get the Ivy Bridge 3570k instead of the 2500k your probably not going to OC it past 4.5gigz anyways. Gig for gig the ivy bridge is better but it doesn't OC quite as good as the Sandy bridge but meh get the newer more shinny cpu.

[Vinho]

Yes, games you're playing would help us give you better feedback!

The 560 will beat out the 650 yes, but the 660 ti is better than the 560 ti which is the more fair comparison imo. Different grade of gpu!

If you're just playing WoW / GW2 or other MMOs like them, then the 560/660 or even 550/650 is far more than enough power to run them crystal clear on high settings -- keeping in mind that those types of games are CPU intensive, not GPU intensive. Hell I'm rolling high settings on WoW with my low-end 5770 on 1920*1080 resolution while raiding...

If you're playing games like BF3 / Crysis / More demanding titles, then the 560ti would still handle them, but not as well as a 660/670 or 7950 would imo.

To answer your question for getting 2x 560's, the performance increase would be no more than 50% increase over a single card, and that's IF your game supports SLI / Crossfire which most are not yet designed or coded to support. I'd only recommend crossfire / SLI if you have a multi-monitor set-up.

What IS your budget for a card? Sometimes shopping off impulsive boxing day deals can be a no no unless you know what you're willing to spend and what you're buying

[Quintana]

In that price range a 650 Ti is probably your best option, though keep your eye out for any 7850's that might be on sale.

Check and see if you are near a Micro Center, they sell Intel processors cheaper than anywhere else. At this point I think it would be foolish to go with anything less than a 3570k, even if you don't intend on overclocking.

[Milkshake86]

In that price range a 650 Ti is probably your best option, though keep your eye out for any 7850's that might be on sale.

Check and see if you are near a Micro Center, they sell Intel processors cheaper than anywhere else. At this point I think it would be foolish to go with anything less than a 3570k, even if you don't intend on overclocking.

6870

7850 if you find a good sale

570 is on sale atm for $170~

[Deleted]

if considering double gtx 560's why not go for an 660Ti instead? should be a more durable upgrade and the card is very solid performer in every current game out there.
do note in order for us to give better advice we would need more info on what you intend to run with it and on what settings. (screen resolution/size also a factor)
as for the CPU it's impossible to go wrong with a i5-2500k for gaming (or 3570k), toss in a budget aftermarket cooler for +- $25 and your set with high end cpu performance.