help me pick a video card

[zCypher]

Hello,

Would like to get a real video card some time in the next month or so. Currently using a 7600GT. The system specs are:

Antec Earthwatts 650W
MSI G31 M3L-V2
Intel E5200
Corsair 4GB DDR2/800
WD 1TB black

I was upgrading from an Athlon 1800 on a tight budget, hence the G31/E5200. It has been amazingly fast in comparison to the Athlon system, quite happy with that. However it doesn't leave much room for gaming, even if I'm not a big gamer.

I figured with the prices dropping I should get a card soon. I know that my current system might limit how much I should upgrade the video, but I was hoping you could help with that.

Some games that it will be handling would include Bioshock, Mass Effect, Counter-Strike Source, Starcraft 2 and possibly others.

I may upgrade the mb/cpu/ram later but it's not urgent right now, curious to what video card would currently be the best match.

 

[Sickamore]

What size monitor are yu planning to play at.

 

[Rifter]

GTX 460 768MB would be a great match for that system. Or a 5770.

 

[zCypher]

What size monitor are yu planning to play at.

Currently a Samsung 2343BWX (2048 x 1152)
planning on getting a second display in the near future, but not likely to be the same resolution.

 

[zCypher]

GTX 460 768MB would be a great match for that system. Or a 5770.

tks for input , i was actually looking at the 460 768 and 1GB. think the 1GB would be overkill? What about if I upgrade the system some time in the next couple months? I'd like to leave a bit of head room if I can.

 

[Arkadrel]

(stock) 460 768mn is about 159.99$ on newegg.
(stock) 460 1gb is about 199.99$ on newegg.
(stock) 6850 is about 179.99$ on newegg.

now a 6850 is a tiny bit faster than a stock 460 1gb and overclocks equally well.
With the prices from today/just checked, I couldnt recammend a 460.

the 6850 (has 1gb) is worth the 20$ differnce between it and the 460 768mb.

 

[Keysplayr]

(stock) 460 768mn is about 159.99$ on newegg.
(stock) 460 1gb is about 199.99$ on newegg.
(stock) 6850 is about 179.99$ on newegg.

now a 6850 is a tiny bit faster than a stock 460 1gb and overclocks equally well.
With the prices from today/just checked, I couldnt recammend a 460.

the 6850 is worth the 20$ differnce between it and the 460 768.

Depends on the Video card review you are favoring. You wouldn't recommend a 460, not couldn't. You're pushing AMD in every thread possible. That's your right, but don't think we can't see this.

 

[TemjinGold]

I wouldn't get a card with less than 1gb of ram due to your resolution because if you ever want to play anything more demanding than what you've listed, you'll wish you had the extra ram.

The 6850 and the 460 1gb are pretty close to each other in performance but the former draws a good bit less power. If that matters to you, get the 6850. If not, I'd probably just get whichever I can find cheaper.

 

[zCypher]

is the 6850 128 bit?
for the 460 it says 192 bit (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=54626)
any real world difference?

edit, ahh , says 256 bit here for the 6850
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=56240

edit2: and no the power usage is not really a concern for me unless the power supply i have is not good enough?

 

[Arkadrel]

@zCypher

How many bit's the bus has isnt what matters, its how much Memory bandwidth it has.
Haveing a higher bit bus but slower ram can be equally good to haveing less bit bus but faster ram.

Instead of looking at the specs of both cards and weighing which is better overall (which is a impossible feat for almost everyone and at best just guess work), you should find a Review site to look how they compair.


Look at the 460 vs the 6850, in a few games and then make up your mind:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/amds-radeon-6870-6850-renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market


Benchmarks from anandtech:

crysis: 6850= 36.1 fps vs 460 1gb= 34.2 fps faster card: 6850

battleforge: 6850= 52.6 fps vs 460 1gb=50.8 fps faster card: 6850

starcraft 2: 6850= 67.9 fps vs 460 1gb= 62.9 fps faster card: 6850

Metro2033: 6850= 44 fps vs 460 1gb= 44 fps Equal

Hawk: 6850= 98 fps vs 460 1gb= 106 fps faster card: 460 1GB

Civilization V: 6850= 35.6 fps vs 460 1gb= 39.4 fps faster card: 460 1GB

BF-Bad company: 6850= 88.5 fps vs 460 1gb= 85.1 fps faster card: 6850

Stalker-CoP: 6850= 33.5 fps vs 460 1gb= 33.1 fps faster card: 6850

Dirt2: 6850= 63.9 fps vs 460 1gb = 74 fps faster card: 460 1GB

mass effect2: 6850= 59.2 fps vs 460 1gb= 60.5 faster card: 460 1GB






" edit2: and no the power usage is not really a concern for me unless the power supply i have is not good enough? "

You have a 650watt PSU... under load the 6850 uses 127watts, and the 460 uses 155watts.
Your PSU is gigantic compaired to how much watt your gfx cards are takeing, no worries

 

[SlowSpyder]

That resolution is pretty high, I would go with a 6850, GTX470, or 6870 depending on your budget and preferences.

The 6850 is 256 bit and the slowest but cheapest of all of them. If you are willing to overclock this may be the best choice for you.

The GTX470 is hot and power hungry compared to the other choices I mentioned. But it's a quick card and gives you a little extra video ram which may help out at that resolution in the future.

The 6870 is about as fast as the GTX470. It is cooler running and uses less power. It also should handle that resolution pretty well.

*edit - Also, if you can pick up a 5850 cheap that might be a good option. It's faster than a 6850 but slower than the 6870. But, they overclock to the moon, 1GHz isn't too uncommon with a voltage bump. This may be a great bang for the buck option for you.

 

[zCypher]

I'd prefer to keep it under $200
I would rather not overclock to be honest.

 

[zCypher]

*edit - Also, if you can pick up a 5850 cheap that might be a good option. It's faster than a 6850 but slower than the 6870. But, they overclock to the moon, 1GHz isn't too uncommon with a voltage bump. This may be a great bang for the buck option for you.

5850 is faster than 6850? damn that is confusing. I will have to look into that one, though like I said I would prefer not to overclock.

 

[Arkadrel]

If your not looking to overclock, dont get a stock 460 1gb.

(stock) 460 1gb is about 199.99$ on newegg.
(stock) 6850 is about 179.99$ on newegg.

save 20$ getting a 6850 that is equal to the stock 460 1gb.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I'd prefer to keep it under $200
I would rather not overclock to be honest.

Than you want a 6850. Low heat, low power use, faster than the GTX460's when no overclocking is considered. If down the road you want to overclock (this card begs for it from what I gather) than you can. But for under $200 I think this is by far your best option.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...on%20HD%206850

 

[SlowSpyder]

5850 is faster than 6850? damn that is confusing. I will have to look into that one, though like I said I would prefer not to overclock.

By a few percent, not a huge difference. The cheapest 5850 on Newegg is $257 shipped with a $60 mail in rebate that puts it at right about $197. But, you have to front a lot of money.

6850's on the other hand are ~$175 and a couple bucks shipping. You wouldn't have to deal with a rebate and a lot of money up front for a video card that would likely give you the same actual experience as a 5850 most of the time. I would go with this option. It is also faster than a GTX460 for about the same price, though not night and day faster. But it is faster and cost the same, so I don't see any reason to get the GTX460.

 

[zCypher]

Thanks for the advice, you've all been very helpful.

 

[Rifter]

I think you guys also all need to take into consideration his CPU.

A E5200 is weak. I think even a 768MB 460 will be pushing that CPU to its limit. A 6850 or 1GB 460 would probably be overkill for that CPU, let alone a 470 or 6870. my .02.

 

[blastingcap]

I think you guys also all need to take into consideration his CPU.

A E5200 is weak. I think even a 768MB 460 will be pushing that CPU to its limit. A 6850 or 1GB 460 would probably be overkill for that CPU, let alone a 470 or 6870. my .02.

This.

 

[toyota]

I think you guys also all need to take into consideration his CPU.

A E5200 is weak. I think even a 768MB 460 will be pushing that CPU to its limit. A 6850 or 1GB 460 would probably be overkill for that CPU, let alone a 470 or 6870. my .02.

I do agree that the cpu is a tad weak in general for a very high end card but at 2048x1152 I would certainly get the gtx460 1gb over the 768mb model. games like Metro 2033 and Alien Vs Predator need lots of gpu power and plenty of vram and the E5200 will not be the limitation games like that. a 6850 or gtx460 1gb would be the best choice for him IMO.

 

[Gloomy]

I doubt he's going to tax his CPU overmuch at that resolution.

 

[toyota]

I doubt he's going to tax his CPU overmuch at that resolution.

well its not about taxing the cpu but whether the cpu is adequate enough to justify buying a certain level of card. the E5200 will certainly limit some games with a decent gpu in general. I would still go with a gtx460 1gb or 6850 though as it would be worthwhile at 2048x1152.

 

[Leyawiin]

I agree, given the current pricing it wouldn't make sense to go with a 768MB - an HD 6850 is running $180 without free shipping on Newegg - the GTX 460 1GB is $190-200 with free shipping (and most have a $15-20 MIR). The performance difference with either of those cards at that resolution and CPU is going to be negligible - buy whichever strikes your fancy.

 

[blastingcap]

For those that care, Amazon finally has estimated shipping dates for the ASUS DirectCU 6850: 2-4 weeks, plus whatever additional time it spends in the mail. I came VERY close to cancelling my GTX460-1GB order in favor of the ASUS but eventually decided not to, in part because I don't like how the card has only one six-pin PCIe connector: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/Radeon_HD_6850_Direct_Cu/4.html But for those who only don't overvolt, the card seems pretty sweet. 6850 power efficiency is also a cut above the GTX460 when both are at stock speeds. When overclocked with mild overvolting, I'd expect their performances to be very close but the power differential to be even more in favor of the 6850.

 

[maddie]

Cpu & Gpu are links in a series. Depending on the resolution and game design you can have either one being bottlenecks.

Anyone who makes a blanket statement is misleading you. The identical cpu gpu combination can have different bottlenecks depending on the game and even which part of the game you're playing.

6850 is at present, the best buy for <$200 and can be overclocked in the future if so desired.

460GTX 768mb will probably hamper your high res gaming use.