Need best GPU for >$150

[Quarkor]

My little brother got a PC from his grandparents. I am looking to upgrade it a bit so he can play some games with me. Atm he only has onboard graphics so I figure a graphics card and perhaps a power supply are the first things to upgrade. So what are your recommendations for a decent graphics card for at or under $150?

[DeltrusDisc]

Just so you know for future reference, >$150 means greater than $150. <$150 means $150 being the biggest/max. (This is not meant to be a grammar nazi post, purely a helpful post.)

As far as best at or below $150? Probably the R7-370 from AMD. The R9-270X is a bit older and sits around the same performance but the 3 series is newer technology. The GTX 950 traded blows with the 270X, so I can't imagine it would be a good option to go up against the 370 at this point.

[mizeri]

gforce gtx 960

[DeltrusDisc]

gforce gtx 960

Read the post, not just the title. He says "at or under $150."

[YuneKirby]

Tomshardware.com does regular articles on the best graphics card for the money at different ranges. I suggest you check it out to see what fits you best.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...view,3107.html

[Kagthul]

Read the post, not just the title. He says "at or under $150."

Its been on sale in the 160$ range a lot, lately... and even if it werent, the GTX 950 beats the R9 370 soundly (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...trix,4270.html) and is around 129$ right now.

[DeltrusDisc]

Its been on sale in the 160$ range a lot, lately... and even if it werent, the GTX 950 beats the R9 370 soundly (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...trix,4270.html) and is around 129$ right now.

Huh. So... had to do more researching to get 370 benches and indeed it doesn't do as well against the 950 as the 270X did. Weird.

Thanks for the correction!

[Quarkor]

Alright, thanks guys, and sorry for the confusion with the title... a little brain dead from finals. Guess the 950 is it! 960s are a little out of my price range, couldn't find any under 180 :/ Thanks for the recommendations!

[mizeri]

Read the post, not just the title. He says "at or under $150."

saw it on amazon for 130 few weeks back

[DeltrusDisc]

saw it on amazon for 130 few weeks back

A 960?

Maybe on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

[Darkrulerxxx]

150 wont do that much for you, save the extra money and buy a 970, best price for power currently in the market.

[Speaker]

My little brother got a PC from his grandparents. I am looking to upgrade it a bit so he can play some games with me. Atm he only has onboard graphics so I figure a graphics card and perhaps a power supply are the first things to upgrade. So what are your recommendations for a decent graphics card for at or under $150?

Unless that computer's power supply has the wattage necessary to power the card you will probably have to buy both at the same time. So realistically, what is combined budget for both the gpu and power supply?

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saw it on amazon for 130 few weeks back

Unless you can give a link to one that is under 150 you aren't helping...

[Deleted]

Huh. So... had to do more researching to get 370 benches and indeed it doesn't do as well against the 950 as the 270X did. Weird.

Thanks for the correction!

Thats because the 270x did not become the 370. The 370 is worse, also the reason why it is listed as a R7 while the 270x was still a R9.
I think the 370 even has less streamprocessors than the 270.

[Arkura]

Thats the problem with setting a limit to how much you want to spend on a GPU. GPU is probably one of the most important parts of the system, including the CPU then thats basically what you need to give budget priority to.
I would rather wait a bit and save until you can buy a 970, that would last your brother for a long time.
A 950 would have to be replaced sooner, so basically its a bit more money to spend, but an investment in the long run.

And you didnt mention much other then how much you want to spend on the GPU.

What kind of PSU is in the system now?

[Kagthul]

"A bit more expensive"? Over twice as much.

[noladrew]

What games you intend on playing are really relevant as well. You could get away with grabbing a very entry level stand alone GPU for games like WoW and League. I would ideally spend as little as possible here, maybe something refurbished or used and save up and get something from nvidia that will support DX12 when that comes out. I doubt the PC your grandparents got him or gave to him has an above average CPU tbh and that would probably cause some bottleneck anyway so getting anything above a 950 would probably be somewhat useless.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GDDR5-Mem...ywords=gtx+650
will be vastly superior to the onboard graphics he's currently using. Saving you ~$50.00 to put towards your budget of getting something better down the line.