How much is too much for a video card?

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Obliviot
How much is too much for a video card?

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

madmat

Soup Nazi
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.
 
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

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
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

Obliviot
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

Obliviot
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.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
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

Obliviot
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

Obliviot
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 ;)
 
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

Tech Monkey
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

Obliviot
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

Obliviot
xstatic said:
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

Obliviot
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

Site Developer
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

Obliviot
Orbit said:
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

Obliviot
phonywish said:
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.
 
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