Best <$200 "holdover" GPU?

[Boba JFET]

I currently have a 9600GT which is really starting to feel inadequate for some of the new games I've acquired over christmas (woohoo!). I want to upgrade, but here's the deal. I will be building a ground-up new PC around June as a college graduation present (from me, to me). That will be a fairly high end build, probably around the $3000 mark including a couple of new monitors, etc. It will also include a high-end GPU.

So right now I want a GPU that will give me good performance when running games like Fallout: New Vegas and Mass Effect 2 at high settings at 1680x1050 with my current PC, an E8400 running at 3.6GHz and 4Gb of RAM (don't remember clock or CAS ratings, I remember it was a 2x2Gb GSkill kit with a Renault F1 car on the front). I think this is doable with a mid-range GPU under $200 and preferably under $150. I have seen GTX 460 768s at $140, that seems reasonable. But I guess if there is a newer GPU that would give me, say, better AA settings (since I'm pretty limited in max resolution) at the same framerate, I might spend a little more.

The other consideration is that I want to sell this GPU in about 4 months. I know nobody has a crystal ball, but would it be likely to pay off to spend a little more on a newer card like an 6850 which might still look more attractive come summertime?

 

[dpodblood]

Gtx 460 768mb.

 

[OCGuy]

Gtx460

 

[sigmanova]

+1 on the GTX 460. you can get the 1GB model for under $200 with rebates. I have the MSI one myself and it rocks! doesn't go over 50 C on load ever.

 

[SlowSpyder]

XFX Radeon 5850 for $180 AR ($210 before rebate). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150477

$170 for a Power Color 5850: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131386

 

[Nintendesert]

You can get a 6870 from Amazon for 205.

 

[ZimZum]

At those prices its tough to beat those 5850 deals. It smokes everything in its price range.

 

[shangshang]

Palit gtx460 1GB for $129 after a $30 rebate, from Microcenter. Rebate expires 1/2/2011.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0341977

I have one of these running at 800 Mhz on stock voltage, 850 Mhz with a very little voltage increase! At 850 Mhz, it beats out my Asus EAH6850 @ 950 Mhz in 3DMark Vantage by a good 5-7% as I recall.

 

[OCGuy]

You dont even need 1GB with that resolution. I would hop on a cheap 768MB GTX460 (saw some for 129 AMIR)


Edit: Nevermind, that deal above is smokin on the 1GB Palit.

 

[TheEyeDoc]

Fry's has the Galaxy GTX 460 768 MB for $119 after $40 MIR.

http://www.frys.com/product/6434002?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

 

[Spikesoldier]

i would go with the crowd and say gtx 460 (id go 1gb) at low end and if you want to go a little higher towards 200 then get the 5850.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Take a pick, GTX 460 or HD6850.

I put up a review of the HD 6850 on the forums with my crappy dual core, so maybe that'll give you a hint or two 🙂

 

[Wreckage]

Last day for a GTX 470 for under $200
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2130909

Faster than a 6870, should do better than just a "hold over"

 

[GaiaHunter]

The lowest price out of 6870, GTX470, 6850, GTX460 (1GB or 768MB model), 5850.

On the performance scale 6870~GTX470>5850>GTX460~6850.

 

[RavenSEAL]

The lowest price out of 6870, GTX470, 6850, GTX460 (1GB or 768MB model), 5850.

On the performance scale 6870~GTX470>5850>GTX460~6850.

😕

GTX470>HD 6870~>HD 6850 @ 900/1000> HD5850/GTX460

 

[bryanW1995]

6850>gtx 460, not the other way around.

regardless, I saw in hot deals today that you can get a galaxy gtx 460 768 for $93 AR. best deal by far, you should be able to break out of that and perhaps even make some $$$ in 4 months when you sell.

here's the link: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2129547

 

[notty22]

Here is how things stacked up in a review for the GTX 460 FTW
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-geforce-gtx-460-ftw-01g-p3-1378-tr-overclocked,2795-15.html

They have a STOCK gtx 460 5&#37; faster than the 6850.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Here is how things stacked up in a review for the GTX 460 FTW
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-geforce-gtx-460-ftw-01g-p3-1378-tr-overclocked,2795-15.html

They have a STOCK gtx 460 5% faster than the 6850.

"Stock" is an undefined term as far as the GTX460 goes.

 

[notty22]

"Stock" is an undefined term as far as the GTX460 goes.

In that article stock is :

(also representing typical GeForce GTX 460 1 GB @ 708/1416/900 MHz core/shader/memory clocks)

So 708mhz is about equal +/- 5&#37; with a 6850.

But who would leave a gtx 460 stock, ? Maybe the same person who would never touch the Cayman 'switch' 🙂

 

[RavenSEAL]

Reference GTX460 is 675MHz though...

So technically, it's still OC'd even @ 708MHz.

 

[notty22]

Reference GTX460 is 675MHz though...

So technically, it's still OC'd even @ 708MHz.

Yeah , technically? now there is a 'stock' ? What was your other post about.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Yeah , technically? now there is a 'stock' ? What was your other post about.

Stock is what the independent "sellers" sets the card's sale clocks to.

Reference is what the GPU manufacturers set the clocks when the chips was originally created.

 

[Boba JFET]

Well, I went for the Galaxy 460 GTX, based on the price factor and because I feel that for my limited display resolution anything more powerful is probably overkill. Also I doubt I will have time to play anything more this semester than Mass Effect 2 and that game performs substantially better per GPU-dollar with Nvidia than ATI. The $20 MIR + $40 MIR + $20 coupon code deal for the galaxy 460 is over AFAIK (correct me if I'm wrong?) but the $40 MIR is still on from many retailers. Newegg had it in stock with a low shipping price and I like them the best from a CS perspective.

So I went for the 460 GTX 768 @120. Pretty good deal, not nearly as good as if I had thought of this 3 days ago though. But if I can sell it in june for $90 or so then I'm basically renting the fastest GPU which is practical for my display and CPU for ~$5 a month.

 

[Fastx]

Palit gtx460 1GB for $129 after a $30 rebate, from Microcenter. Rebate expires 1/2/2011.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0341977

I have one of these running at 800 Mhz on stock voltage, 850 Mhz with a very little voltage increase! At 850 Mhz, it beats out my Asus EAH6850 @ 950 Mhz in 3DMark Vantage by a good 5-7% as I recall.

Whoa thanks for posting this!

I went to MC Website and it said sold out and put in my cart was disabled. I called my Microcenter they had 6 in stock just drove 40min each way to pick one up. I read some reviews on the Palit that some reported running hot do P's cooling setup (N-HP) and some said loud but that was on the Palit Sonic 2GB model. I have a Asus GTX 460 768mb ($129.00 + $7.98 shipping- after rebate) coming in tomorrow from Newegg. If this 1GB doesn't run hot or that loud I will be refusing my Asus NewEgg order tommorow. So going uninstall my old ATI v. drivers, run driver sweeper and install this one tonight and see how it runs. 🙂

Btw what drivers are you using?

 

[Qbah]

😕

GTX470>HD 6870~>HD 6850 @ 900/1000> HD5850/GTX460

I can write HD5850 @ 900/1200 > GTX470 > HD6870 > GTX460 ~ HD6850

Or I can write GTX460 @ 900/1100 > GTX470 > HD6870 > HD5850 > HD6850

Or I can write...

Your point? 😕

OP, good deal on the GTX460!