Best Video Card (gpu) for $200-300.

I need help finding a video card for around $200-300.i just recently built a computer for diablo |||. if you could recommend a video card i would appreciate it, id at least know what im looking for when deals on SD comes up and to bite on it or not.

i have a i5 2500k, 1tb hard drive, 16gb ram, 950 power supply, ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 motherboard.

Quote from lilkhanboy : I need help finding a video card for around $200-300.i just recently built a computer for diablo |||. if you could recommend a video card i would appreciate it, id at least know what im looking for when deals on SD comes up and to bite on it or not. i have a i5 2500k, 1tb hard drive, 16gb ram, 950 power supply, ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 motherboard.

AMD HD 6750 to 6850 is fine for D3.

I think he means he's an occasional gamer and likes to play video games. Maybe something that will last a few years with max settings? You gotta be more specific. I don't recommend the Radeon 6950. I don't think it's very good. I got mine, was disappointed. That's the only advice I can give you based on your post, sorry.

I mean who buys a 200-300 dollar video card for one game.

950W PSU and 16GB of memory for Diablo 3?

lolwut?

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2012 [tomshardware.com]

Diablo 3 is coming out so i decided to finally upgrade. haha ok next time i will be more specific thanks for the lesson ;D and yeah i wanted to know what would be a good gpu for 200-300 dollars for the next few years. any advantages buying a 3.0 pci-e compared to 2.0 - 2.1 (because my motherboard can support 3.0)?? what do u prefer AMD Radeon vs Nvidia geforce? does it really matter about the amount of ram in a gpu (1gb - 2gb)?

Quote from lilkhanboy : Diablo 3 is coming out so i decided to finally upgrade. haha ok next time i will be more specific thanks for the lesson ;D and yeah i wanted to know what would be a good gpu for 200-300 dollars for the next few years. any advantages buying a 3.0 pci-e compared to 2.0 - 2.1 (because my motherboard can support 3.0)?? what do u prefer AMD Radeon vs Nvidia geforce? does it really matter about the amount of ram in a gpu (1gb - 2gb)?

What resolution do you play at and what other games are u planning on playing? PCI 3.0 will make your computer more futureproof and works best with an ivy bridge cpu. I recommend you get it since you are willing to spend the cash anyway. I prefer nvidia since they have a better track record in terms of drivers and more stable prices in case I need to resell my gpu. Vram on a gpu is important if you plan on playing on higher resolutions 1920x1200+ on high settings and if you plan on using a multi-monitor setup.
200-300 is a pretty big range so if you gave a more specific range like 200-220 it would be easier to recommend a card.

i play on 1920x1080 on a 23'' screen... i would prefer the video card to be future proof and to run most games on max settings. d3, WoW, sc2, skyrim, mw3, sim city < whenever that comes out ...lol i think nxt year (hopefully). could u recommend a few cards that you would purchase? 200-220 and 250-300 if i needed to pay more to be future proof. thanks all! i rept all of you for the comments.

I'd say something along the lines of gtx 560 ti (448 core is the best although probably not necessary).
If you want to go ati you can go edit: hd 7850.
Both have plenty of headroom to overclock and have relatively cool temps.

PCI 3.0 is pretty expensive right now especially by what is offered from Nvidia and is not worth it atm imo.
You can however get a board that supports it so that you can upgrade your gpu when its more cost effective at a later time.

Quote from gonepostl : I think he means he's an occasional gamer and likes to play video games. Maybe something that will last a few years with max settings? You gotta be more specific. I don't recommend the Radeon 6950. I don't think it's very good. I got mine, was disappointed. That's the only advice I can give you based on your post, sorry. I mean who buys a 200-300 dollar video card for one game.

What was so disappointing about the card? I heard that you can flash a 6970 bios onto the card effectively boosting its performance for a pretty cheap price.

im leaning towards getting hd 7850 =] thanks so much everyone! repped for ur comments!

Quote from 60sTrackStar : I'd say something along the lines of gtx 560 ti (448 core is the best although probably not necessary). If you want to go ati you can go edit: hd 7850. Both have plenty of headroom to overclock and have relatively cool temps. PCI 3.0 is pretty expensive right now especially by what is offered from Nvidia and is not worth it atm imo. You can however get a board that supports it so that you can upgrade your gpu when its more cost effective at a later time. What was so disappointing about the card? I heard that you can flash a 6970 bios onto the card effectively boosting its performance for a pretty cheap price.

It's rare you get one that you can flash. Second bios is locked. Can unlock shaders though

Yeah I would definitely go for the 7850. Newer than the 6850, much smaller profile especially power wise (though with that PSU not like you need it haha).

In any case it would be pretty future proof as you can always buy another one and crossfire if you need more power later on down the road.