How much is too much for a video card?

[LOOP]

How much is too much for a video card?

Curious what everyone thinks "too much" would be, when buying a video card.

[madmat]

Obviously it's more than you can afford. If you can afford a pair of 7900GTXs then it's not too much but if you can't it is. Same goes for any other cards.

[fussnfeathers]

I'll agree, then throw in the "what do you need it for" part. If you're a generic home user, that might play the Sims and surf the web, a high-dollar vid card is a waste of your cash. TBH, unless you're a hardcore gamer, SLI is a waste of money, you will NEVER touch two cards worth of bandwidth.

I look at it this way...........if you live in the US, and need a car, you can certainly buy a Ferrari F40. But if all you do is drive to work and the grocery store, do you NEED it? Nah.........a VW Beetle will do you just fine, and more than exceed your needs. Anything more is simply a waste of cash.

[Rob Williams]

When I had the choice of buying a 7800GT or 7800GTX, it was a matter of did I really need the GTX? I didn't care about paying the extra, but it would have been wasted because I don't game on anything above 1280*1024, so the GT suited me fine.

Like other things in life.. if it makes you happy, it's worth the money.

[SqueekyClean]

Around $150 is the most I pay for a video card. You may of guessed, that I'm not that hi-tech here. I have a decent machine that serves my needs, but thats about it.

[ducarti]

I'm willing to spend as much as $300 for a card. Not willing to go over that much. Also, I expect and demand to get a few good years of game use out of a card when I spend that much.

[Jakal]

What resolution do you normally run games? Like Rob mentioned, the 7800GTX is best suited for resolutions above 1280x1024. You can pick up a new <a href ="http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?item=J67602">7900GT</a> which is a good bit better than the 7800GT for under $300.

[Rob Williams]

Well at the time the GTX was just overkill for my needs. A 7900GT is a wicked choice right now though, because games are pushing the GPU harder than ever.

[PUTALE]

I think it's how much you are willing to spend on a vid card and how much you are wiling to sacrifice the performance.

[Cool Barn]

I normally get a starting price in my head of the card I would like to purchase, and then I imagine my wife's face and how much a divorce would end up costing me, and work downwards from there ;)

[fussnfeathers]

I did the same as Rob. I never play over 1280x1024, and I really don't care about articulated shadows and resurfaced sprites. *grin* As long as it looks halfway decent, and plays smooth, I can live without all the eye candy..........for my eyes, anyway, I find that all the super-quality effects distract me from the game too much. My $160 X800GT works just fine for me.

[sbrehm72255]

Same here, 1280x1024 is all I ever do, my X800XL does just fine at all games at standard settings. I'm to busy trying to stay alive to worry about the pretty suroundings to even notice how they look...............;)

I would say $300 is about tops for me, but I haven't paid cash for a card in a while now, the last 2 I got in trades and had the cooling systems broke on them, so I got some great deals.

[xstatic]

How much is too much depends a lot on how long you can get out of the video card before needing to upgrade. If I only can get 2 years out of the card before needing to upgrade again in order to play the latest games, then I would not want to spend more then $300. If I could get 4 years out of a video card, then I would easily spend $500.

It all depends on how long you can get out of the card for playing the latest games.

[fullpicture]

How much is too much depends a lot on how long you can get out of the video card before needing to upgrade. If I only can get 2 years out of the card before needing to upgrade again in order to play the latest games, then I would not want to spend more then $300. If I could get 4 years out of a video card, then I would easily spend $500.

It all depends on how long you can get out of the card for playing the latest games.

I totally agree. Would be worth spending $500 for a graphics card that would last 4 years and STILL be able to play all the newest games at the highest frame rates after 4 years. However, what are the odds of that happening? With the rapid development of new graphic cards, the current generation cards will always become obsolete within a couple years. Thats why I like to spend under two hundred bucks when I buy a card because I know I will have to do it again within a couple years.

[chillout]

Over $200 is too much for a video card. Think about it! You can get a 19" LCD monitor for as low as $200. You can get a good processor for $200. You can get a good motherboard for $200. Why shouldn't you be able to get a good video card for $200 or less?

[Ben]

Because the video card Gods have stated in Commandment 1 - "Thou shall not charge less than $500 for a top of the line card." And Commandment 2 - "Thou shall not charge less than $200 for a video card."

[phonywish]

Because the video card Gods have stated in Commandment 1 - "Thou shall not charge less than $500 for a top of the line card." And Commandment 2 - "Thou shall not charge less than $200 for a video card."

Where is the commandment that says you need to buy the card as soon as it gets released? Or who says you can't buy a lower price model and overclock it to the exact same speed and specs as the higher price model?

When the Geforce 4 came out you could overclock a Ti-4200 to a Ti-4600, saving you a couple hundred bucks in price. When the Geforce 6800 came out, you could buy a Geforce 6800 GT and overclock it to the same speed as a Geforce Ultra.

I think $300 is all you need to spend for the best graphics card for each generation. Rely on overclocking to get that card up to the performance of the best cards.

[Uc-ker]

Where is the commandment that says you need to buy the card as soon as it gets released? Or who says you can't buy a lower price model and overclock it to the exact same speed and specs as the higher price model?

When the Geforce 4 came out you could overclock a Ti-4200 to a Ti-4600, saving you a couple hundred bucks in price. When the Geforce 6800 came out, you could buy a Geforce 6800 GT and overclock it to the same speed as a Geforce Ultra.

I think $300 is all you need to spend for the best graphics card for each generation. Rely on overclocking to get that card up to the performance of the best cards.

Makes perfect sense. I try to do the same and buy a cheaper card and overclock it. I pay approximately two-hundred fifty dollars for a card, once every two years.

[Fr00zen]

Approximately $ 250.00 is the most I spend on a video card.

[gliffy]

I'm willing to lay out up to three hundred bucks.

[werty316]

$300 is the tops from me unless I can get one for free :p

[adabo24]

$300 sounds like a lot for a video card. Maybe it depends on how many games you play. Me, I never spend more then $150 on a video card (half what you spend).

[gliffy]

$300 sounds like a lot for a video card. Maybe it depends on how many games you play. Me, I never spend more then $150 on a video card (half what you spend).

Well I can not speak for the others, but I said I was willing to spend $300 because I get a couple years of enjoyment out of it. Cheaper then paying for a movie each week in the long run, and games last more then 2 hours each.

[werty316]

Its all about how much are you willing to spend for better looking graphics. Spend $300 for max settings or $150 for for medium setting. $300 VGA card will also last longer than a $150; plus these days with SLi getting a $300 and then adding the another down the road is a good idea.

[Rob Williams]

I honestly don't even find $500 to be a lot to spend on a GPU, but that may be just me. The fact is, if you game a _lot_ on your PC and love playing new games, that $500 will go a long way.

Whenever I considering a PC part expensive, I think about how much money I spend on junk food and get-to-go coffees everyday. Those add up ridiculously fast, and you have nothing to show for it 15 minutes after buying them :)

[maddmaxx]

I agree with everyone who said $300. That would be the limit for me.

[Ben]

I think the most I would spend is probably $250 or so. At the rate graphic cards die off, a $250 card would be worth well over $100 less just a year later. It makes more sense to buy two cheap cards every year, insead of one $600 card every other year.

[werty316]

Its basically all about how much you have and how much you are willing to dish out for a card. People can just get what they can afford.

[Merlin]

Anyone that has the 8800GTX says it is worth it. At around 530.00 USD and the water cooled version is close to 700.00 USD.
I have the M2N32 SLI Deluxe in process of building a system. I only need the one card, mainly for the DirectX 10 games coming out next

Merlin/Deckard

[ccdarkness]

I've just gave 250$ on Asus EN7950GT...playing Ghost Recon@1024x768 (i have 17" CRT Dell and it doesn't support better resolution at 85Hz..anyway i'm thinkin on upgradin to 20" LCD & maybe then i'll play at higher res) with all options HIGH! i think 250$ it's OK... and in 1year i want to add another EN7950GT to go SLI ... and i will be able to play maybe another year without a problem...

so i say $$250-300MAX!!!

p.s. video card is not the only thing you need to play games...

[KusoSamurai]

What? no DX10 card? hmmm

[Stretch]

I totally agree. Would be worth spending $500 for a graphics card that would last 4 years and STILL be able to play all the newest games at the highest frame rates after 4 years. However, what are the odds of that happening? With the rapid development of new graphic cards, the current generation cards will always become obsolete within a couple years. Thats why I like to spend under two hundred bucks when I buy a card because I know I will have to do it again within a couple years.

I have to admit, there's some truth to what he's saying. Right now I have an EVGA Geforce 7800 GTX Ko Acs in my main machine. A long name for a video card you say? Well the price was equally as impressive, close to around 400 dollars at the time. Since I used to game at around 1920x1200, it was a good buy, but even then, and this is only a few years ago mind you, there were some games, like certain RTS titles, that my card simply couldn't handle at that high resolution. So the fact that you'll need to upgrade can also be tempered a bit by the knowledge of your desired resolution. I think that's one of the reasons the majority of gamers tend to lean in around 1280x1024 or thereabouts - it looks good and a medium range video card can handle it for many years with aplomb on a range of titles.

[BentFez]

I have had good luck going low (~$150) and haven't really had to upgrade more often. Picked up a 1950gt earlier in the year for around $125, expect it to last two years, but if it lasts more, that is gravy. I like having less resistance when I do want to upgrade. The fact is that I can play on these cards for years (still use a 9700 in one machine). There is definitely diminishing returns on video card performance.

Depending on the game, I do have to turn off a good bit of eye candy for the 9700, not so much for the 1950.

[jwied]

I visited Fry's electronics (a giant electronics warehouse) recently and bought a 7950GT for $199 and an 8500GT for $159. I couldn't understand why the 7000s cards could still be so highly priced with 8800s at $259. I did see the monster 8800GTX 640mb there for $500 and the sales rep told me he could order a 8800 Ultra for $700.

How much is too much? If the video card costs more than the rest of my system (minus monitor) combined... it costs too much, imo.

[flashive]

I used to think $100 was enough to get a videocard and I am a gamer. But seeing how my Radeon X300 just keeps on dissapointing me I'd say whatever the 8800GTS costs at the moment is what I would spend on a card :)

[sbrehm72255]

For me anything under the $300 range is pretty much ok I guess. At todays prices, that would put a 8800GTS 320 in my box, but I'm actually still happy with my 7900GT.............;)

[madstork91]

im still happy with my 7800gt...

w/e that costs atm...

[sbrehm72255]

Got a 7800GS (AGP version) for the wifes rig not to long ago, it ran a little over $100 after MIR, she's happy with its performance playing Oblivon..........;)

[madstork91]

Id prob never pay over 300 for a vid card. Period.

[b1lk1]

Came into some money and spent $500 on a video card recently. While I am not usually a fan of spending so much, it is nice to have a high end card for now.

[sbrehm72255]

Now if I was to come into some extra cash that I didn't have a need for (EI; win the lotto) then I would buy the best of everything out there just because I could..........;)

[madstork91]

Now if I was to come into some extra cash that I didn't have a need for (EI; win the lotto) then I would buy the best of everything out there just because I could..........;)

Will you say no to a fool and his money?

[sbrehm72255]

No better money than free money money, that's even better than free computer parts.

[madstork91]

YOU LIE!

No telling how much fun from a free computer part!

You speakn blasphemously now!

(def lulz)