I enjoy a number of PC games. To play the latest and greatest games well, a solid video card is needed. After quite a bit of research and past experiences, I have found that the best price for performance is around the $200 mark when purchasing a new Graphics Card. I have found this to be true in the past, and when I revisited this today, I find that this same price point holds true.

Best Price for Performance

The main reason I look around the $200 price point is that I find that this is the price in which you will see the best price for performance. If you bought a $200 video card on a site like Amazon.com or Newegg today, you would be able to play the latest games at above average settings with no problems. This assumes that your CPU, RAM, etc can handle the latest games. Also, the video cards that are around the $200 mark should have no trouble playing games for a few years into the future. If you were to skimp and go for a card under $100, it would probably work fine right now. However, in a year, you may be looking to upgrade again.

Let’s look at an example based on the current prices of video cards from Amazon. I want to reiterate that I have purchased multiple video cards in the past, and every time I do research, a card right around the $200 mark ends up being the best price for performance.

For the comparison, I am going to look at the nVidia GeForce GTX 570 ($209) and the nVidia GeForce GTX 670 Ti ($409). When looking at a few of the benchmark tests done by benchmarkreviews.com, we can see that the GTX 670 outperforms the GTX 570. However, it outperforms it by about 20-50% on max settings for most of the tests. As you start to lower the settings down a bit, the performance difference becomes less obvious. In my personal opinion, I don’t think it is worth paying 100% more money for a 20-50% difference at best.

Research is still Necessary when Buying a Card

When buying a new card, doing research on what video cards are the best cards for a certain price is still necessary. I will often look at multiple things concerning a particular video card. First, I will look at the reviews. If the video card is getting a ton of great reviews, it is most likely a going to be a quality card. Second, I will look at benchmarks of the card to make sure it can handle what I am going to throw at it. A quick Google search can often give you multiple sites that have bench marked a ton of video cards using the same tests. Last, I will look for a deal. For example, I often see $250 cards that are on sale for $209 or maybe even under $200. Taking all of these factors into consideration, you should be able to find a solid card for a great price.

Nothing against the Higher Tier Video Cards

I don’t have anything against the higher end video cards. In fact, I would love to have one. If money is no object, I would surely recommend a higher end card. However, in my experiences, I find that you can play the latest games with pretty solid quality without spending the $400-800 on a video card. Also, one more thing to point out is that the high end card will probably last you a bit longer than a middle of the road $200 card. I don’t find them to last longer enough to make them worth it for me personally though.