5 Video Graphics Cards for Under $150

September 01, 2011, By Bill Fulks 1 comment

If you want to play the latest games for your Windows computers, at some point in the life of your PC you'll likely need to upgrade your video card. Some video card upgrades can cost as much as a new Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, but computer gamers swear by the superior graphics. Here's a look at some of the most affordable video cards that will deliver all the goods you need for less than $150. And if you're in the market for a new computer, make sure it's got one of these (or better) already installed.

Radeon HD 5750

If you are a fan of the ATI chipset and want some of the best of what’s out there, then you should look into the Radeon HD 5000 series. One that I recommend is the XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 card that comes with a full gigabyte of video memory, a 700 MHz core clock with 720 stream processing units, an effective memory clock of 1150 MHz, and support for DirectX 11. It also supports CrossFireX which lets you use multiple cards inside a single computer for some pretty extreme results. You can buy it from Newegg.com for just $139.99 plus shipping.

Radeon HD 5670

If that Radeon HD 5750 is a little out of your price range, for $30 less you can get the XFX HD-567X-ZNF3 Radeon HD 5670 model. It also has a full gig of video memory. The core clock runs slightly higher at 775 MHz, but it only has 400 stream processing units so the effective memory clock is 1000 MHz, but that’s nothing to complain about. It also features DirectX 11 and CrossFireX support, so it’s basically just the little brother to the HD 5750 model.

GeForce GTS 250

Some people prefer the NVidia GeForce chipset over ATI, and if that is the case then you can’t go wrong with the MSI N250GTS Twin Frozr GeForce GTS 250. It features a gigabyte of video memory with a 675 MHz core clock and 128 stream processors for an effective memory clock of 2200 MHz. This is one of the fastest GTS 250 model video cards available.

Unfortunately, it only supports up to DirectX 10, so that could be a downer as more DirectX 11 games are going to be on the market. For the performance you get for the $134.99 price tag at Newegg.com, it’s still a good deal.

NEXT: GeForce 9800 GTX+