The 2016 how much do you spend on you spend on your graphics card thread?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

With a bevy of new launches from AMD and Nvidia happening this summer,one targetting the value crowd and the other the performance crowd,how much do you budget towards a graphics card??

[Saracen]

As a multi-machine site, it depends on what the machine is for.

In times past, I was an avid gamer and would spend what it took to keep on the leading edge. However, as I've said many times, I won't use Steam, which heavily curtails my gaming options and more or less rules out highly demanding games. And gaming is about the only area where I really need a high-end card.

So, with that in mind, ....

- for non-gaming machines, integrated graphics is probably okay, and
- somewhere probably in the £100-£200 range for a gaming machine.

But I don't come at it from the direction of setting a budget and picking a card in it. I come at it the other way around - what do I need/want a card to do, and what card will provide it, from a company with the right reputation for quality, service, etc. I then pay what it costs.

It's my lack of demanding needs that keeps the budget down .... to whatever it takes.

[peterb]

I don't game, so integrated graphics is more than sufficient for my needs. The most demanding thing is playing videos.

[DDY]

I bought a GTX980 for my gaming rig about a year ago which puts me in to the £300+ bracket.

I don't play games as often as I use to, nor do I often play the most graphically intensive games, but having the capability is nice when I do.

Secondary to that, at the time of purchase it was one the most efficient cards to run Folding @ Home. I've only stopped folding a month ago because my room is getting too hot and I'm not allowed to bring an air conditioner in to student digs

[gupsterg]

I bought a brand new Fury X in March 16, due to some savy tactics ended up well below retail price and within price for what I'd pay for a GPU , so my vote probably not a realistic example .

I don't play games as often as I'd like to but like DDY wish to have the capability when I do .

[EndlessWaves]

Depends on what's on offer and whether any sign of 5120x2160 monitors show up by the time I'm ready to buy.

Probably either a £175 card or a £250 card though.

Integrated graphics are an option too, depending on how Skylake GT4 shapes up and possibly Kaby Lake & Zen APUs if they launch in time.

[Saracen]

....

Secondary to that, at the time of purchase it was one the most efficient cards to run Folding @ Home. I've only stopped folding a month ago because my room is getting too hot and I'm not allowed to bring an air conditioner in to student digs

Good point. I used to have lots of machines running all the time, mainly because when I wasn't using them for their main purpose they were running Seti. Then, I put a power meter on them and worked out what a dozen or so fairly high end machines were costing in juice. I still have the dozen or so machines for various specific purposes, mostly driving legacy hardware, but most of them are only turned on when I need them for that specific purpose. And both my leccy bill and bank balance thank me.

I never really got into folding though, for that reason, even though arguably it's a much more worthwhile cause.

[Hoonigan]

I've usually sat around the £100-£150 mark for my graphics cards, but my most recent purchase was the GTX 970 for £275.

[badass]

I've ticked everything from £100 to £300. What I spend depends on what's on offer over the next few months. I bought a £100 GTX950 to tide me over until the 14/16nm cards are our in volume over Christmas.

[jamiehard1989]

£80-£170 1st card was a 7950, then spend £130 for a 290 with a block


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[virtuo]

I bought a 980Ti last year and am hoping to either get another one to go alongside it when the new cards are out, or sell it and get the latest nvidia card later in the year.

The sensible in me says I should sit out a generation. But the idiot always wins.

[DanceswithUnix]

In the last year the family computer farm has had a 260X and a GTX460 die, as well as a simple upgrade from integrated which were £120 R9 285, then a £170 R9 380, then an £83 R7 360.

So, very much depends on what use the card will get which includes the airflow of the case is that the card is going in, but each card was in a different price range so I did three ticks.