Axon
Platinum Member
- Sep 25, 2003
- 2,541
- 1
- 76
Ok boys and men, let's settle this debate another way.
The linked GTX460 is $225.
The linked HD6870 is $245.
You can get a Sapphire HD6850 for $185. The HD6870 is suddenly a whooping 32% more expensive. At 900mhz overclock on the HD6850 vs. 1000mhz overclock on the HD6870, the performance difference ~ 15%. The stock cooler on HD6870 is also louder than an aftermarket cooler of the HD6850. So HD6850 easily wins this price/performance battle.
Next, GTX460. If we assume that most GTX460s will overclock from 810mhz (linked card) to 850mhz with ease, that OC on the 460 puts us at HD6870 performance level on average (+/-5% w/e). Of course 900mhz HD6850 is also near HD6870's performance level. This basically means that HD6850 @ 900mhz will be within 5% of the GTX460 @ 850mhz. Therefore, why would be pay an extra 22% more ($225 vs. $185) for similar performance? The only answer is to get a potentially higher overclock on the GTX460 from 850mhz. That doesn't make any sense once you consider that you can't get much more than another 5%-9% from here vs. 22% price increase. HD6850 also has lower power consumption. Therefore, HD6850 wins again.
HD6850 @ $185 is the winner!!! ding ding ding. :thumbsup:
Most GTX 460 1GB are sub $200, however, and can easily reach 850. Nvidia's prices on them were even better last week however.
