Gettin near time for a video card.

So I've been rockin this computer with no gpu for quite a while, because the onboard intel hd4600 graphics worked for the games I was already playing much better than I thought it would. But it's about time to finally put a real video card in there.

I want to play GTA5, Mortal Kombat X, Far Cry 4, Crysis 3, arkham knight when it comes out, that modern stuff. I don't necessarily need to be doing them all maxed out at 60 fps, but I'd prefer to hit some high settings with decent framerates. Not trying to spend more than $300, tops. Closer to $250, or even less, if that's possible, would be awesome. Recommendations?

For $250, check out R9 290 and 280x cards on Newegg (or similar). You can get them down that low, at least with rebate. For just a squeek over 300 you can get a GTX 970 (I actually grabbed one for 300 even, recently, on a flash sale).

IF you were going to buy Witcher 3, it comes free with the GTX 9 series cards, so you could tell yourself that your $320 GTX970 is actually $270 (that's what I did). But that logic only applies if you were going to buy The Witcher 3 anyway, of course.

Next step down I'd look at a GTX 960 or an R9 285 - both can be had around ~200ish. Between the two I'd prefer the 285 for its bandwidth, but benches do tend to favor the 960 in many cases. IMO a 280x or 290 would be a better buy than either of those, though for just a smidge more... but I understand that money is money. Then once your prices cross the 250 mark (e.g. once you're looking at cards in the $270-ish range) then I'd really start thinking about going for broke (maybe literally?) and ponying up for a GTX970.

Amazon currently has a sale for GTX 970 SuperSuperClocked edition.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R3NK2LE/ref=twister_B00OAXPYXG?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

You can sell that Witcher code for probably $40-$50 if you don't want the game.

I would get an R9 290 for $250 but you're gonna need a power supply that is more than 500 watts so R9 280x or GTX 970.

Lowest I'd go is a GTX 960 but it'll be obsolete fast, believe me. I have this card and a lot of new games are asking for 3GB at 1080p.

Hmm. Interesting. Thanks for the suggestions. I usually try to stick with Nvidia, just because I've had better luck with them in the past. I might have to splurge on that 970. I had forgot about the Witcher, but I would actually like to play that too. So that sounds like a cool deal. I'm gonna have to check how big my psu is when I get home. Pretty sure I got a decent size one, with upgrading in mind, but I don't remember now.

Well if you have at least a 500w gold rated psu or 600w+ bronze you will be fine.

R9 290

Don't go for 2GB cards

I would say R9 290 too, but since you want Nvidia and Witcher 3, then GTX970 is the best option.

If you still have issues with the price, you can check GTX960 2/4GB models for $199-$229, but to be honest its not recommended cause the performance difference with GTX970 is huge (60%).

Where are you GTX960ti (1280 cores and 3GB VRAM)? :P