UK GPU deals

[trjp]

I'm lost as to which cards are actually worth buying atm - budget of £90 max (maybe a bit of postage - maybe).

I'd prefer nVidia but an AMD card might do IF it's better for the same cash.

Nothing power guzzling plz (just 1 PCIE connector on a Corsair 430M PSU) - don't mind refurbs or end-of-lines if they're warranted either

Suggestions?

p.s. so far I've seen a GTX 650 for £90, a 550 TI Overclocked (EVGA Refurb) for £80 and a GTX 460 for £70 which seems to reflect their likely performance too?

Oh! a GTX 470 (EVGA refurb) for £80 - massive performance for the money but requires a nuclear reactor for power and cooling I suspect :)

[Sakkura]

The GTX 460 is better than the GTX 550 Ti, which more or less ties with the GTX 650.

AMD tend to do better in that price range though.

[trjp]

Yeah, the owner wants nVidia and I think a 460 is a 2xPCIE connector card which isn't ideal (I could bodge a 2nd connector from a MOLEX but I'd rather not)

So the 550TI seems the winner UNLESS I can find a deal on a 650 which throws-in some toys :)

p.s. as for AMD, a 7770 seems the alternative at this price point? £85 with (possibly - may have been February only) 3 free games seems a good deal...

Hmmmm - do I twist his arm...

[Grizzly]

The 7770 is a very good alternative, also it requires just one PCIe connector.

Not sure about the free games, though? I thougth those were only for the 800 or 900 variants, but it can't hurt :).

[trjp]

The 7770 is a very good alternative, also it requires just one PCIe connector.

Not sure about the free games, though? I thougth those were only for the 800 or 900 variants, but it can't hurt :).

Dabs were definately offering them upto the end of Feb - I'll email and check.

[Estel]

The offer is until the end of this month, but they're possibly out of stock on keys. http://blogs.amd.com/play/this-holiday-never-settle/

[Finicky]

for 90 pounds shouldn't you be able to find a 7850 refurb or second hand or something?
gtx 460 is quite an ancient card and about half as fast as a 7850, I would never in a million years pay 90 pounds for a 650 or a 460

edit : yeah a 7850 goes brand new for as little as 130 pounds, there is no way you should pay 90 for a gtx 650, that card is rubbish.

Power consumption on a 470 will be really high and you'll feel it in your power bill.

I'd honestly suggest just eating jam sandwiches for a few days and just buying a 7850... those things are pretty much where the performance/pound value lies right now.

[trjp]

The problem with this 'eating jam sandwiches' idea is that it doesn't work - reality stopped working like that when I stopped living with my parents/doing a paper-round 25+ years ago - nowadays you need a budget for everything because if you spend 'just a bit more' it turns into 'just a bit more again' and the next thing you know, you're living in your PC on the street! :)

and this isn't even my money, tho I have to admit whatever we order I'll be testing in this PC to see if a better GPU will help (I suspect not - I think I need a quad-core CPU of some sort to catchup with newer games).

gtx 4/5/650s can be had for £70ish if you fish around for refurbs etc. - Dabs have a Sapphire 7770 which comes with 2 games (Sleeping Dogs and FC3) for £85 (you could probably sell-on FC3 for at least £10?) - so that leap-up to a 7850 at £120+ is a big step...

[BobbyFizz]

Quick generalised tip, the nvidia *50 cards (250, 450, 550) are essentially the same as a 8800. To rephrase that, the 8800,9800,250,450,550,650 etc are for all intents and purposes the same thing. Slight improvements as you move up the numbers but nothing worth paying over the odds for.

The *60 (260/460 etc) are a jump up from the older 8800 style chipsets, but still not worth the money after you get above the 260.

I personally prefer nvidia, but at your price range, AMD is a way way better option.