$140-200 GPU Budget (Raised Budget)

[TurtleCrusher]

I think he was being sarcastic, the 6870, on average, is 12% slower than the HD 6950. Nothing earth shattering lol.

Edit: You game at 1680x1050 so here is a chart with different cards to compare at that resolution:

:awe:

I know he was kidding. L4D at rare times of intense action (100's of zombies, far visibility, major fighting) it can drop as low as 25-35fps min. On medium it doesn't hit below 60, so it's a GPU bottleneck. I'd hope to play all source games 8xAA/16xAF All maxed out and atleast 80fps. Is that what we're talking about here with my soon to be 6870?

I miss what it was like to be CPU/GPU Balanced or CPU bottlenecked. Last time it was with an AMD X2 s939 4200+ and an 8800gts 320mb. My C2Q is a ways faster than my 4830 is possibly capable of producing.

Am I going to be CPU bottlenecked now? I didn't see this happening when I bought the CPU!

 

[badb0y]

:awe:

I know he was kidding. L4D at rare times of intense action (100's of zombies, far visibility, major fighting) it can drop as low as 25-35fps min. On medium it doesn't hit below 60, so it's a GPU bottleneck. I'd hope to play all source games 8xAA/16xAF All maxed out and atleast 80fps. Is that what we're talking about here with my soon to be 6870?

I miss what it was like to be CPU/GPU Balanced or CPU bottlenecked. Last time it was with an AMD X2 s939 4200+ and an 8800gts 320mb. My C2Q is a ways faster than my 4830 is possibly capable of producing.

Am I going to be CPU bottlenecked now? I didn't see this happening when I bought the CPU!

For L4D check the 6870 on this chart:

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=23490&page=12

In other words, at your resolution the 6870 will rape that game.

 

[toyota]

:awe:

I know he was kidding.

L4D at rare times of intense action (100's of zombies, far visibility, major fighting) it can drop as low as 25-35fps min. On medium it doesn't hit below 60, so it's a GPU bottleneck.

I'd hope to play all source games 8xAA/16xAF All maxed out and atleast 80fps. Is that what we're talking about here with my soon to be 6870?

I miss what it was like to be CPU/GPU Balanced or CPU bottlenecked. Last time it was with an AMD X2 s939 4200+ and an 8800gts 320mb. My C2Q is a ways faster than my 4830 is possibly capable of producing.

well remember in general just selecting different settings does not just affect the gpu. those settings also have an impact on cpu performance too. thats why in a game like GTA 4 or BC 2 even a low end dual core can handle the game fine on lower settings.

but yeah in your case its the gpu that the main limiting factor for sure. a 6870 will probably stay above 100 fps in L4D for the most part with a 6870. of course that depends on the exact settings.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

well remember in general just selecting different settings does not just affect the gpu. those settings also have an impact on cpu performance too. thats why in a game like GTA 4 or BC 2 even a low end dual core can handle the game fine on lower settings.

but yeah in your case its the gpu that the main limiting factor for sure. a 6870 will probably stay above 100 fps in L4D for the most part with a 6870. of course that depends on the exact settings.

Good to know.

I will be posting up a mini-benchmark thread when the card arrives to illustrate the real-life gaming increases and thoughts.

I'm thinking BF:Bad Company 2, L4D2, DiRT 2, Bioshock 2 and 3dmark 06 for the mini-review. Maybe toss in some Counterstrike: Source single player bot benchmarks to make it fun. Starcraft 2 seems hard to benchmark and Far Cry 2/GTA4 is too open world I suppose.

 

[Sephire]

I also recommend the 6870. Excellent value.

 

[-Slacker-]

The hd 5850 seems like a better choice at $165.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Both are a nice value. 6870 brings some newer features and better tessellation performance. It should suit the OP well even into his next system upgrade. You can always pair it up down the road too.

 

[GaiaHunter]

This price segment is funny.

We hit reload on our browser and a card just went down in price and became the best deal. 🙂

Have fun.

 

[slag]

I'm torn between a 470 and 6870. I'm in the same boat as the OP, but need to make a decision soon.

 

[GaiaHunter]

I'm torn between a 470 and 6870. I'm in the same boat as the OP, but need to make a decision soon.

The GTX470 and the 6870 trade blows at stock, although the it seems GTX470 has slightly more muscle. The GTX470 also has a higher OC headroom, if you can manage heat and such.

I guess the main question you need to ask yourself is if the extra power consumption of the GTX470 (and associated heat dumped in your case/room and noise required to dissipate that heat) is worth the extra potential performance.

 

[hdfxst]

I'm torn between a 470 and 6870. I'm in the same boat as the OP, but need to make a decision soon.

Before you decide look through this thread http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=187401 and make sure your motherboard is on the good list

 

[TurtleCrusher]

The GTX470 and the 6870 trade blows at stock, although the it seems GTX470 has slightly more muscle. The GTX470 also has a higher OC headroom, if you can manage heat and such.

I guess the main question you need to ask yourself is if the extra power consumption of the GTX470 (and associated heat dumped in your case/room and noise required to dissipate that heat) is worth the extra potential performance.

This is what made me get the 6870 above even the 460 1gb. Power requirements. The 6870 takes up 45-60w or so less at load than the 460 1gb. That's A LOT if you only have a 450-550w power supply. And if you add overclocking into the mix? No thanks.

Not that my TruePower Trio (3x18amps) is a low-rated power supply, but I'd like a lot of headroom and have very little risk of something going wrong electrically.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I just recieved the 6870 in the mail. Unless time doesnt permit, i'll have benchmarks up by tonight!