Best mid-range video card for 1920x1200 resolution?

antef

Senior member
Dec 29, 2010
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Hi, I'm shopping for my first new video card in over 3 years to go with a new i5 CPU. I currently have an 8800 GTS 512 and usually shop mid-range cards (~ $180-$250), and don't plan to CrossFire or SLI. My monitor is 1920x1200 but I realize a lot of games will render in 1080 anyway. Looking for something I can keep for another 3 years or so, I prefer 1 DisplayPort or mini-DisplayPort available, and I value noise and power usage considerably. My hunch tells me AMD but I'm not sure...what is the best recommendation given these points?

Thanks.
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
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If you want the card to last you 3 years and you want Displayports on it, I say HD6950 2GB. This Sapphire one is quiet. I would say HD6870 for $165 is better bang for the buck. You could just sell it 15 months and use the savings from today to get a faster mid-range card. But if you don't want the hassle or reselling cards, then 6950 is a better option.
 

antef

Senior member
Dec 29, 2010
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If you want the card to last you 3 years and you want Displayports on it, I say HD6950 2GB. This Sapphire one is quiet. I would say HD6870 for $165 is better bang for the buck. You could just sell it 15 months and use the savings from today to get a faster mid-range card. But if you don't want the hassle or reselling cards, then 6950 is a better option.

Yeah...the buy-cheaper-and-sell-later idea is one I've had before, but usually I'm lazy and never sell. However, I don't game as much as I used to so $265 might be a bit high, and maybe it makes sense to buy cheaper to just address today's needs and avoid predicting how good a card will be two years from now. Also, these cards have been out since 2010 from what I can gather, so maybe I shouldn't invest too much in the 6000 series today when the 7000 series might be coming in the near term?

I could be more open to the $265 price for the 6950 though if I could unlock to a 6970 which I've read about...is that a generally successful thing people are doing?

And are the AMD cards definitely better picks over NVIDIA in terms of heat and noise? That is a factor as well - I don't want significantly higher heat and noise for only a very minor gain in performance.
 
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rockyjohn

Member
Dec 4, 2009
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I prefer nVidia cards and beleive the heat factor is a little better with them, but generally there is not too much difference on noise - there is often more variation between manufacturers of the same model card (especially when some don't follow the reference design on the cooler) than between nVidia and AMD at a given performance level.

However, none of the nVidia cars I have looked at have the display port, which is why I did not recommend any other specific card above.
 

gramboh

Platinum Member
May 3, 2003
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AMD 7000 series will be late 2011, Nvidia 6xx will be Q1-2012 FYI.

If you are concerned about noise and have decent airflow in your case, check out the dual fan style coolers (Asus DirectCU and MSI Twin Frozr), much quieter/cooler than the blower style.
 

OCNewbie

Diamond Member
Jul 18, 2000
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PNY (lifetime warranty) GTX 560 ti for $185 after $30 mail-in rebate and $10 new customer coupon at Newegg - Link.
 

antef

Senior member
Dec 29, 2010
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PNY (lifetime warranty) GTX 560 ti for $185 after $30 mail-in rebate and $10 new customer coupon at Newegg - Link.

That's a good deal. Am I correct that the performance ladder goes like this? HD 6970 > HD 6950 == GTX 560 Ti > 6870?

I was interested in miniDP since I have a DisplayPort monitor, and my other is DVI so with adapters I could use solely miniDP on the back of the computer, which would be a nice improvement over the big screw-in DVI plugs. However, I probably shouldn't avoid a 560 Ti solely for that reason if it turns out to be the best buy.

The 7000 series slated for late 2011 it was makes me hesitant to buy an expensive AMD at this time. But a 6950 unlocked to a 6970 could still be the best option if I'm looking to get max use out of a part today. Looking at benches I'm also maybe feeling that the 6870 is slightly too low end - I want to be sure BF3 will run at 1920x1200 and max settings with 30+ FPS.

So at this point I'm considering: 560 Ti, 6950 and unlock, or maybe build the rest of the computer and hold off on the video card until the end of the year, but it would be tough to wait.
 

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,268
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If BF3 is your worry you should just hold off buying a card until the game comes out. That way you know exactly what you're getting. Although my suspicion is that the 6870 will be able to pull 30 fps at high settings - but I can't say absolute max settings. And that same prediction goes for the 560 Ti and 6950, too.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
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That's a good deal. Am I correct that the performance ladder goes like this? HD 6970 > HD 6950 == GTX 560 Ti > 6870?

I was interested in miniDP since I have a DisplayPort monitor, and my other is DVI so with adapters I could use solely miniDP on the back of the computer, which would be a nice improvement over the big screw-in DVI plugs. However, I probably shouldn't avoid a 560 Ti solely for that reason if it turns out to be the best buy.

The 7000 series slated for late 2011 it was makes me hesitant to buy an expensive AMD at this time. But a 6950 unlocked to a 6970 could still be the best option if I'm looking to get max use out of a part today. Looking at benches I'm also maybe feeling that the 6870 is slightly too low end - I want to be sure BF3 will run at 1920x1200 and max settings with 30+ FPS.

So at this point I'm considering: 560 Ti, 6950 and unlock, or maybe build the rest of the computer and hold off on the video card until the end of the year, but it would be tough to wait.

The 6950 is $253 shipped AR. It's a 2gb card, so you can just flip the bios switch and unlock it with only minimal fear, but I'd still recommend against buying it. The gtx 560 ti is close enough in performance that you can't justify such a large cost delta, plus as mentioned 28nm is coming out in a few months.
 

Tempered81

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
6,374
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81
Hi, I'm shopping for my first new video card in over 3 years to go with a new i5 CPU. I currently have an 8800 GTS 512 and usually shop mid-range cards (~ $180-$250), and don't plan to CrossFire or SLI. My monitor is 1920x1200 but I realize a lot of games will render in 1080 anyway. Looking for something I can keep for another 3 years or so, I prefer 1 DisplayPort or mini-DisplayPort available, and I value noise and power usage considerably. My hunch tells me AMD but I'm not sure...what is the best recommendation given these points?

Thanks.


I like 460's and 560's, or you can go with a 2gb reference 6950 and unlock it.
 

gevorg

Diamond Member
Nov 3, 2004
5,075
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Since you value low power usage and noise, can you wait a few months for AMD 7000 series? The change from 40nm to 28nm should be awesome.
 

antef

Senior member
Dec 29, 2010
337
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71
I know in a lot of circumstances it's foolish to keep waiting for the next best thing but I think in this instance I'm convinced to wait and see what the AMD 7000 series will be like. AMD seems to have a left a small gap in my normal video card buying range of about $200-$225. The 560 Ti would be fine but I was excited about using two miniDP ports (trivial, I know, but I wanted it). It would be a shame if the new PC couldn't handle everything max in BF3 and that may be the case with the 6870. And the 6950 is just too expensive with 28 nm around the corner. I'm not a power usage and heat nut, but I do appreciate a card that doesn't go overboard and keeps it reasonable. 28 nm should achieve today's high-end numbers with mid-range power usage. Now if we're sitting around at Christmas and the mid-range 7000 series is not released yet, I may be a bit bummed I waited!
 

shredz

Member
Aug 5, 2010
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I'm in the same boat for upgrade as you. But this PNY 560ti OC at amazon for $200-$30 rebate made me jump on it. Looks like the price inched up a couple of dollars since I bought. Might want to snag it if you think you want it. Has a lifetime warranty with registration.
 

antef

Senior member
Dec 29, 2010
337
0
71
I'm in the same boat for upgrade as you. But this PNY 560ti OC at amazon for $200-$30 rebate made me jump on it. Looks like the price inched up a couple of dollars since I bought. Might want to snag it if you think you want it. Has a lifetime warranty with registration.

Tempting...really good price. Not real interested in the OC. And it turns out the miniDP to DVI cables have a less than ideal bulky connector anyway, so I would probably only use one miniDP port of an AMD card. Still, I'm just too curious as to what the 28 nm parts will bring to the table now, and considering the only things I'm really playing between now and BF3 are Portal 2 and Alice, it seems I should wait.
 

antef

Senior member
Dec 29, 2010
337
0
71
I'm in the same boat for upgrade as you. But this PNY 560ti OC at amazon for $200-$30 rebate made me jump on it. Looks like the price inched up a couple of dollars since I bought. Might want to snag it if you think you want it. Has a lifetime warranty with registration.

Two months later it looks like I should've jumped on that 560 Ti deal for $170 after rebate! The card is now over $240...that really was an amazing deal, and it looks like we won't be seeing the HD 7000 series this year. As time goes on purchasing a current gen card becomes less and less appealing, so I may now be waiting till Jan. or Feb. to get an HD 7000 series to play BF3. Oh well.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,900
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Are the new cards expected to be PCI-Express 3?

No they won't be PCIe 3.0. That's supported at the earliest by new Ivy Bridge compatible chipsets in March/April, while the 28nm GPUs will be released much earlier than that. The PCIe 3.0 support in those chipsets is likely just preparation for the GPU generation after that so that anyone who buys such a chipset will not need an upgrade when PCIe 3.0 GPUs are released.
 

tweakboy

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2010
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www.hammiestudios.com
If your price conscious. buy a GTX 460 1GB version and OC it to hell and back.
Go to amazon 159.99 free shipping no tax EVGA GTX 460 1GB

You will notice a huge difference. I had a 8800GT before so I know what type of boost youll see. Its Unreal, and I aint talking about the franchise. If you got 30fps in 8800GTS you will get 60fps capped with a 460. Framerataes will never drop to low 50's or 40's Always smooth... All games smooth COD series BF3 ready, Crysis 2 Mass Effect 2 Dirt 3 etc etc...... no matter what scene your fps doesn't drop. Its huge difference and also that 8800 with a i5 is a big bottleneck.. gl, Youll thank me later.
 
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m3t4lh34d

Senior member
Oct 23, 2008
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Yeah people have become greedy with FPS these days, now that our mainstream GPU hardware far outruns the majority of PC releases' graphical quality these days...

People used to be happy as long as they remained above 30fps, now its 60, and I'll admit, now that I'm 6970x4 quadfire, my minimum is 120 because of my 120hz monitors. I can really notice the difference between 60fps and 120fps with the new monitors. However if I HAD to run on 1 GTX 560 Ti, I would just OC it to 1050mhz/2200mem and just enjoy the 40-50fps I'd get in the more demanding titles @ 1080p/4xAA.

I've got 2 GTX 560 TIs for sale for $175 shipped (Twin Frozr II) and $190 shipped (MSI Hawk)

Or if you're thinking 6950 2GB, I've got an ASUS Voltage Tweak Edition flashed to a 6970 for 210. I've pretty much got the rest of them sold (I think) but you never know.

Not trying to plug my FS thread here, just suggesting that you take a look at the For Sale section before you pay retail is all. I'm looking for someone to trade a GTX 580 for my 2 GTX 560 TIs, but if that falls through I'd just end up taking $350 for both of them or the prices I stated prior for each.

Good luck finding a card. I wouldn't suggest a 460 when a 560 Ti owns it and is barely any more $$ if you know where to look ;)
 

lkkgg72200812

Junior Member
Sep 8, 2011
18
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you can try Gigabyte GTX560Ti, I used it and feel good. the fans and cooling is good and don't make any noise
 

Skurge

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2009
5,195
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No they won't be PCIe 3.0. That's supported at the earliest by new Ivy Bridge compatible chipsets in March/April, while the 28nm GPUs will be released much earlier than that. The PCIe 3.0 support in those chipsets is likely just preparation for the GPU generation after that so that anyone who buys such a chipset will not need an upgrade when PCIe 3.0 GPUs are released.

http://www.techpowerup.com/149225/AMD-Radeon-HD-7000-Series-to-be-PCI-Express-3.0-Compliant.html

Next gen cards will be PCIe 3.0