GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

It would be smart to look at a used 🙂

edit: just like wiredmarlin5 said

And roughly how much would I need to budget for a graphics card that offers better performance than an Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT?

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=7591

This one's a bit weaker than yours:

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=8186

Though, I guess this second option isn't much of an upgrade over the Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT, so if you already own that, it might not be worth the money...

I mean, would it be better to grab the ASUS GeForce GTX 460 or the ATI Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X? Also—just out of curiosity—what’s actually the difference between a standard Radeon HD 5770 and this Vapor-X version?

The Nvidia GTX 460 is the better pick, and honestly, I'd skip the ASUS models—they always seem overpriced compared to the rest. Maybe look at a Gigabyte or an MSI instead...
The main difference between a standard AMD Radeon HD 5770 and the Vapor-X version is just the cooling; the latter definitely has the superior setup...

The Nvidia GTX 460 is definitely the better choice here since there's no real overlap, but I'm torn on which one to grab.
I'd personally lean toward the 1GB version over the 768MB one.

My 8800 GTX finally gave up the ghost on me, so I'm currently on the hunt for a decent replacement by $333. Does anyone have any solid recommendations they could throw my way? Also, I was wondering if it makes sense to pull the trigger on something via eBay—a buddy of mine mentioned it’s a much better way to snag a deal...

Man, forget eBay... you never really know what you're getting. You'll be waiting at least a month for the package to show up, and if customs decides to hammer you with import taxes, you might end up paying even more than you originally intended.

Just grab an ATI Radeon HD 4850, an ATI Radeon HD 4870, or an ATI Radeon HD 5770

Which one should I go with:

1. Sapphire Radeon HD 5770, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, Dual DVI + HDMI, PCI Express

2. XFX Radeon HD 5770 XXX 1GB GDDR5 HDMI, 2xDVI, DisplayPort, DirectX 11

3. Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X, 1GB GDDR5 128bit, Dual DVI + HDMI, PCI Express

4. Gigabyte Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 Super Overclocked, 128bit

5. Sapphire Radeon HD 4870, 1GB GDDR5 256bit, Vapor-X, Dual DVI, PCI Express

6. Sapphire Radeon HD 5830, 1GB GDDR5 256bit, Dual DVI + HDMI, PCI Express

7. XFX Radeon HD 5830 1GB GDDR5 256bit, HDMI, 2xDVI, DisplayPort, DirectX 11

8. GAINWARD Nvidia GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 256bit, PCI Express 2.0 x16, Core: 675MHz

9. XFX GeForce GTX 260, 896MB GDDR3 448bit, 576MHz

10. Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5 256bit, DVI+VGA+HDMI, PCI Express 2.0

The last one is definitely the strongest of the bunch, and honestly, it's a steal at that price point...

Definitely going with this last one.

so, is the GTX 1060 actually capable of running every game out there?

Yeah. It's definitely more capable.
The new king of mainstream.

I have a quick question regarding the GTX 1060 1GB (256-bit) version. I have been searching through the major retailers, but I haven't had any luck finding one, except for a single unit at Best Buy. I am specifically hoping to find an ASUS, NVIDIA, or EVGA model, but they seem to be nowhere to be found... if anyone could offer some guidance, I would truly appreciate it.
My only confusion lies in the pricing; in America, this card sits around $200 to $220, which feels incredibly unreasonable when I compare it to the prices we see here locally. 😁

ASUS offers two Typhoon models, the first, and the second.
You won't find the GTX 1060 from EVGA or NVIDIA in our local stores. Our importers tell us 😁

Regarding the pricing, importing isn't free. I guess it’s a bit unrealistic to expect prices to be identical when a graphics card has to travel thousands of miles just to hit our shelves. There really isn't any component here that's cheaper than what you'd find across the ocean. Honestly, the price seems pretty reasonable.

Just get used to the idea that when you're looking at computer hardware, there's usually about a 10% markup $3.25to account for the extras. Once you factor that in, your math for the actual net price should land
pretty much right on the money.

Casey Long2 said:I suppose you just have to accept that with computer hardware, a dollar usually ends up being about 9-$3.25. I mean, that’s probably the only way the math for the net price actually starts to make sense.

So, if I'm following your logic, that makes $1 in America worth $2 here in the States.

Honestly, whoever is handling this should probably be reported to the FTC, because their job is supposed to be selling tech gear, not acting as some sort of money transfer service.

The way it works is basically $1 equals $1 plus customs, taxes, margins, and sales tax, since importing tech from America doesn't come with those easy discounts you might get within the UN.

Casey Long2 makes a fair point. After all that trouble, we might just find out that $1 over there ends up being $2 here.

Morgan Moore37 said:It works like this: $1 plus customs, sales tax, margin, and sales tax, because tech gear from America doesn't get the same discounts as stuff coming from the UN.

Give me a break... 🤣
Sales tax is just tax.
What kind of discount from the UN? There isn't any discount; it's just easier and cheaper to ship things from Europe to us than it is to ship them all the way from America.

James Morris4, don't go mixing those up; you aren't paying VAT on imports, you're paying import duties, so there's a distinction there, and VAT is really just what the customer ends up paying.

I guess when someone is importing stuff, they aren't dealing with VAT per se, but rather that import tax—which, honestly, people kind of treat like VAT anyway. Then you've also got customs fees to deal with.

I think I remember reading some story online once about a guy who was importing a graphics card from the States, and by the time it actually arrived, he’d ended up paying way more than if he had just bought it locally. And apparently, the guy responsible for the whole mess even posted about it himself.

The so-called "discount" usually comes from importing tech gear from Europe without hitting customs duties, though whether or not you get hit with extra taxes might depend on the price tag and how much leeway the customs agent decides to give you.

Yeah, honestly, the worst part is that whether you end up paying extra or not just depends on whatever mood the customs officer happens to be in that day.
Prices aren't quite so high here anymore that it's always a better deal to order from overseas.
Total nonsense. 😁