As a website that is dedicated to PC gaming, we decided to devote this week's sales round-up to video cards. We found a video card for just about every budget, from entry level to the more hardcore gamers. The round-up includes a GTX 750, R9 285, GTX 960, and more.
ASUS GTX 750 ($100): If you're looking for an entry-level GPU, this GTX 750 is a viable option for ultra-budget, lightweight gaming. With 512 CUDA and 1GB of GDDR5 memory, the GTX 750 would perform moderately playing games like League of Legends or World of Warcraft. Since it is a fairly low profile video card, the 750 will fit in almost all SFF builds where space is at a minimum.
HIS Radeon R9 285 ($180): For those seeking a mid-range video card, here we found a good deal on a Radeon R9 285. The R9 285 is a reboot of the R9 280, and features 1792 Stream Processors and 2GB of GDDR5 memory. This GPU has a twin-fan heatsink and is able to play most games out at medium to high settings (1080p).
Gigabyte GTX 960 ($190): In direct competition with the above R9 285, Gigabyte is selling this GTX 960 for around the same price and offers similar performance at 1080p. This Gigabyte GTX 960 has 1024 CUDA Cores and 2GB of GDDR5 memory, which also should play most games out at medium to high settings. The card offers all of the technology that Maxwell provides to enable a GPU that outperforms video cards that look better on paper.
ASUS Radeon R9 290 ($260): Moving into the high-end video cards, this ASUS R9 290 offers excellent performance for a budget price. Featuring the highly regarded DirectCU II cooler, this GPU will stay cool – at least, relative to the reference R9 290 – under the most intensive gaming sessions. With 2560 Stream Processors and 4GB of GDDR5 memory, you can play just about any game out at the highest settings.
MSI GTX 970 ($310): Here we have nVidia's entry into the high end gaming market, effectively in direct pricing competition with the above Radeon R9 290. The GTX 970, in our testing, plays almost all games at the highest settings (1080) at relatively cool temperatures with quiet operation, especially compared to the 290. The dual-fan cooler does a great job with keeping temps down.
That's all for this week. There are many more deals out there to find, so until next time.
- Michael "Mikagmann2" Mann.