• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

I have £381 and I would like a graphics card

almoststew1990

almoststew1990

almoststew1990

Soldato
Joined
12 May 2011
Posts
6,267
Location
Southampton
This month I have £381 of cold, hard spending money. My 390x died recently and is out of warranty so I am looking to get a new graphics card. This seems to be just into 1070ti / Vega 56 territory and I have no preference between red and green. What card should I get? They are / were neck and neck in the 1070ti reviews. Let's say £420 so I've got a bit of choice of makes and models.

Or should I wait until the 2070 is released, and spend my £381 on one of those... oh wait... /troll

If this area isn't good value (or wouldn't offer a good upgrade from my 390x) I could spend some savings to up the budget but I would prefer not too.

I game at 1080p but a) that might change and b) I keep my graphics cards quite a long time so don't mind being overpowered now for future proofing in the future.
 
melmac said:
Both will offer a huge upgrade over your 390. What power supply do you have and what CPU?
Click to expand...

390x ;) Reviews seem to suggest it isn't a huuuuge upgrade. I have a 4770k at 4.4GHz and a 750watt be quiet PSU I think (about a year old).


Jonnybmac said:
Can you stretch to £382? This opens you up to better cards on the market
Click to expand...

I'll be eating beans for the month but if it unlocks 1080ti's then I'll do it!
 
Nasher said:
Stretch to a vega64, theres only about £40-50 in it depending on where you buy from.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea, they are not much more expensive. I see in some reviews the 64 performs worse than the 56. Is that a bug that has been fixed? I was hoping, for once, to avoid buying a hot card! (I've had 4890, 460, 7970, 390x...) So How hot do these cards run - I remember they were offered with closed loop water cooling at one point?! This one has a very beefy cooler.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...hbm2-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-190-pc.html

The problem then becomes, If I'm spending £450, a 1080ti is only £130 away... oh this happens every time :(
 
almoststew1990 said:
That's an interesting idea, they are not much more expensive. I see in some reviews the 64 performs worse than the 56. Is that a bug that has been fixed? I was hoping, for once, to avoid buying a hot card! (I've had 4890, 460, 7970, 390x...) So How hot do these cards run - I remember they were offered with closed loop water cooling at one point?! This one has a very beefy cooler.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...hbm2-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-190-pc.html

The problem then becomes, If I'm spending £450, a 1080ti is only £130 away... oh this happens every time :(
Click to expand...
If you want a cooler/quieter card then lean towards nvidia, they're more power efficient.

New GTX 1070ti/Vega 56 fit your budget almost perfectly. AFAIK GTX 1080/Vega 64 aren't really worth the price step up.

Of course 2nd hand market has a lot of good deals too.
 
almoststew1990 said:
That's an interesting idea, they are not much more expensive. I see in some reviews the 64 performs worse than the 56. Is that a bug that has been fixed? I was hoping, for once, to avoid buying a hot card! (I've had 4890, 460, 7970, 390x...) So How hot do these cards run - I remember they were offered with closed loop water cooling at one point?! This one has a very beefy cooler.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...hbm2-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-190-pc.html

The problem then becomes, If I'm spending £450, a 1080ti is only £130 away... oh this happens every time :(
Click to expand...

Most reviewers only tested the crappy ones (like the Asus, where the cooler didn't even fit properly!) so they were thermal throttling. But the 64 is faster.

They can be quite an efficient card with minor tweaks. I have mine running at 1050mv max, going down to as low as 950mv. That's as good (if not better) than the 1080 will do, while also still performing slightly better. The fans don't even start spinning until 60c either, so it's totally silent on less demanding games.
 
Last edited:
almoststew1990 said:
390x ;) Reviews seem to suggest it isn't a huuuuge upgrade. I have a 4770k at 4.4GHz and a 750watt be quiet PSU I think (about a year old)
Click to expand...

Misread your post, thought it was a 390 :) Still it's 35-40% of an upgrade.

Your power supply and CPU are fine, so you are in the happy position that any of the cards you choose will be a good upgrade.

IF you prefer the red team there is really nothing on the green team that's worth switching for on your budget. Vega 56 and Vega 64 are great cards and the AIB ones are cool and quiet. But, if you want a change, the 1070ti is also a fine card.

Don't worry too much about it, you will be happy with any of the cards been discussed.
 
AMD is cheaper in the UK atm (considering equivalent cooler solutions) and performance is generally equivalent at the very least if not higher, but higher power consumption (by up to 100w fully stressed). It also comes with 3 games which can be resold unlike GTX cards (>£50 value). The question is whether you want to spend more on Vega 64 instead of 56, there's a £60 gap between 56 & 64 PowerColor cards (which is what I'd consider). It's not a trivial difference at all but in the long run you might be happier forking out extra, especially if you ever get curious to hook up the PC to a 4K TV. ;)
 
Be weary that the warranty on the members market cards might not be transferable and some of the cards might have only had 1 year or even already ran out.
Since you already lost a gpu to no warranty I'd just get the 1070ti for £390 ,or save the bit extra for vega64- new card and be done with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom