When will we see the the return of the great budget gaming cards??

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

must admit, agree 100%, back a couple years ago having dual mid-range cards which would set you back less than top end card and compete with them was the way to go, still is with the 7770 potentially, I mean two of those can keep up with a GTX 580 more or less, whilst consuming less power, how does that work?

as it happens, since my 4870X2 is feeling the strain of some newer games and lacks Direct X 11 and so forth am in the market for a new card, the GTX 660 seems like it could be a 'sweet spot' if only prices would drop to around the ~£150 mark, then its a good buy.

The HD7870 has now drop to around £180 to £200,and is a good card to consider too.

 

[Martini1991]

7850 looks to be quite a budget card.
The 1GB version is a mighty price at around 130, but I really wish it was the 2GB, pretty brilliant price/performance.

Nvidia have also annoyed me with the 650 launch.
Their X50 has been rather lacklustre for a while now.

 

[FoxEye]

7850 looks to be quite a budget card.
The 1GB version is a mighty price at around 130, but I really wish it was the 2GB, pretty brilliant price/performance.

At stock the 7850 is only 20-30% better than a GTX460. OC'd abut 35-40%, but this isn't guaranteed.

That's for £160 of your English pounds.

Ideally I'd like a 50-80% speed increase from my next card, whatever it happens to be. I want high/max settings at 60FPS, albeit without AA. 1080p naturally.

Isn't that what a mid-range card should be capable of giving?

The high-end gives you all the AA you could want, and higher resolutions, or 120Hz.