Best bang for buck video card

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geddiesburg

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
14
0
0
Hey all,

I'm running two failing 7900GTXs in SLI and they're beginning to crap out. I'm am unsure as to what to purchase... what the best value is for my dollar. I don't really have a limit on what to spend... I just don't want to buy something that is going to a) suck in a few months and b) overheat. Everything I hear about Fermi is slightly worrying, but if the cards can handle it than I guess it's a moot point. I've always purchased nVIDIA... is this still the best option now though?

So my questions:

What's the best card dollar/performance?
Is this the same answer when future proofing comes into the conversation?
Should I buy a cheap card to get me through until nVIDIA and ATI bring out their next cards?

I asked these questions on EVGA's forums and I got "480" "480" "480". Figured I should ask somewhere that can give me a more mixed and neutral response. Thanks everyone

Andrew
 
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OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,224
37
91
460 is the best as far as price/performance.

Grab an EVGA AR model for a lifetime warranty, and maybe even trade up to a 470/475 3 months down the road if you need more power.
 
D

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
You might wait for the rumored GTX 475 -- it's supposed to offer good power/performance like the 460, instead of having the 470 & 480's flaws of excessive heat, noise and power use.

2 x 460 is also a good choice if you've been happy with SLI.

(My current card is a 4870 and I've been happy with it, before that I've had nvidia cards.)
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
Keysplayr said:
They're high end. Never intended to be bang for buck cards.

I'll echo the 460 recommendation. But what are your system specs OP?
Click to expand...
yeah no point in making recommendations without knowing what his pc looks like. every day we get these threads where people recommend cards only to find out he OP has an outdated and/or slow system. I wish that a sig was required on here because people start threads all the time and give no pertinent info to actually get a proper recommendation.

OP please list ALL your current pc specs including res you play at.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
On the ATI side, I would get the 5850 for $270: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-500-_-Product

On the NV side, I would get the GTX470 for $270: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-501-_-Product

If you play at a resolution of say 1680x1050, then GTX460 768mb is a great value card. At $230 for 1GB GTX460, I just don't see it as such a great deal unless you want to overclock it.

When pushed hard in DX11 games, GTX460 at stock speeds just doesn't have it to compete with 5850 and GTX470: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...force-gtx-460-cyclone-768mb-oc-review-12.html
 
evolucion8

evolucion8

Platinum Member
Jun 17, 2005
2,867
3
81
Since the HD 5850 and the GTX 470 costs the same, better just get the GTX 470 which is slightly faster, but if you are about power consumption or if you play high resolutions, choose the HD 5850, the gap slims considerably to a point that is hardly noticeable.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
evolucion8 said:
Since the HD 5850 and the GTX 470 costs the same, better just get the GTX 470 which is slightly faster, but if you are about power consumption or if you play high resolutions, choose the HD 5850, the gap slims considerably to a point that is hardly noticeable.
Click to expand...

Yea and by high resolutions he means 2500x1600. Do you have a 30 inch monitor?

Edit: never mind, dumb question ,with gtx 7900's I doubt it.
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
lol at you guys still making recommendations when you don't even know what the rest of his pc looks like. :D
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Good point toyota haha we get too caught up in the latest cards.

Great advice evo8 as well.

Also something to keep in mind, in the 2 most intensive games out right now, being STALKER: CoP (with God Rays) and Metro 2033, GTX470 is actually faster than the 5870. On average you are looking at 7 percent performance advantage at 1920x1200 4AA/16AF for the 5870 over the 470: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...x_11/18/#abschnitt_performancerating_mit_aaaf

Is $100+ worth it for the 5870? Not imo.
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
well looking through his other 4 posts he had a QX6700 back in March 2008. so if that's overclocked a bit then he is good to go with pretty much any gpu. of course we still don't know his res either though. hopefully he does have at least 3-4gb of system ram too.
 
evolucion8

evolucion8

Platinum Member
Jun 17, 2005
2,867
3
81
RussianSensation said:
Good point toyota haha we get too caught up in the latest cards.

Great advice evo8 as well.

Also something to keep in mind, in the 2 most intensive games out right now, being STALKER: CoP (with God Rays) and Metro 2033, GTX470 is actually faster than the 5870. On average you are looking at 7 percent performance advantage at 1920x1200 4AA/16AF for the 5870 over the 470: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...x_11/18/#abschnitt_performancerating_mit_aaaf

Is $100+ worth it for the 5870? Not imo.
Click to expand...

Posted from another forum:

"It's pretty game-specific, and even though the 470 does well on some, overall I don't know. For instance the 470 got spanked by the 5870 in BFBC2 and Mass Effect 2. It also lost in STALKER CoP, L4D2. So what if it managed to tie in crappy games like BattleForge? It did tie in Crysis but they both don't run that well at the settings tested, anyway. So overall, for games that people actually play, the 5870 looks like it still outperforms the 470, sometimes by a lot. And even in games where they tie, the 5870 appears to deal with higher resolutions better."

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3836/msis-geforce-n470gtx-gtx-470-sli/4

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3836/msis-geforce-n470gtx-gtx-470-sli/5

But like you said, the difference in performance doesn't worth the price difference.
 
G

geddiesburg

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
14
0
0
Hey all, sorry for the delay, long day. I'm running a QX6700 on a 680i mobo, 4gb ram, 800w psu. To cool the cpu I have the dreaded IFX Inferno Cooler from Thermalright.

So 460s offer a measure of future proofing as well? Or would 470 be better for that?
 
Sp12

Sp12

Senior member
Jun 12, 2010
799
0
76
geddiesburg said:
Hey all, sorry for the delay, long day. I'm running a QX6700 on a 680i mobo, 4gb ram, 800w psu. To cool the cpu I have the dreaded IFX Inferno Cooler from Thermalright.

So 460s offer a measure of future proofing as well? Or would 470 be better for that?
Click to expand...

Depends on the resolution, but a fair bit. There's a 90$ AR 1GB 4870 deal on Newegg right now new.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
What kind of monitor do you have? At what resolution?.
1600x1050 = gtx 460
1900x1080 = gtx 470
 
E

eno

Senior member
Jan 29, 2002
864
1
81
Wouldn't the dated 4870 @ $90 AR be the best bang for the buck? Besides the DX11, why not grab it as a much more powerful hold me over card and wait for the next wave of video cards. Almost wish I would have taken my own advice with buying a 5850 a few months ago for $290. I love the card but the sample 5770 I ran worked great for the most part and the older 4870 run a bit quicker then 5770 and at $90 that is a steal for performance per dollar. Even grab two in his setup w/ a 800watt PSU. 2x 4870 run at 5870 speeds at half the price.

I Maybe biased since I just picked up the 4870 for my gaming HTPC system. Shoot sold my 9800GT for $50, AR I will have spent $43 to upgrade to the 4870. Just hope the temps are not as insane as I am reading.
 
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