Picking a GPU for folding and gaming . . .

[hyrule4927]

Okay, looking for a GPU for folding and gaming, here's my info, any help is appreciated. Thanks!

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU:
i3-530 @ 3.7 GHz, going higher once I install my Cooler Master 212+ cooler

II. Current Graphics Card:
Integrated

III. Display Resolution:
1920x1080

IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications:
Corsair CX430 V2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=cx430

V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent):
Cooler Master Elite 430, 120mm fan in front, 80 mm in back, 80 mm on top

Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option.
$160
Mainly looking at Newegg, but I'm not too picky about where I shop. Rebates are fine, but I'd like the price before rebate to be within my budget

II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?
Kind of neutral, but Nvidia is preferred for the sake of folding. The cooler it runs the better, since I'll have it folding close to 24/7.

III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
Not anytime soon.

IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
Currently deciding between Radeon 6850, GTX550ti, and GTX460.

V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?
I'd like to run most games at high/close to ultra, but I don't plan on using more than 4X AA. I am playing Skyrim, Left 4 Dead 2, Saint's Row: The Third, Magicka, Crysis 2, and League of Legends mainly at the moment. I'd also like to run Folding at Home whenever I'm not gaming.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
Yes, although not immediately.

Additional Notes
I was originally set on a 6850, but the limited folding ability of AMD cards has kind of turned me away. Started thinking about the 550ti, but I'm afraid it won't be quite powerful enough for my liking, and so I found myself looking at the GTX460, which seems to be the best combination of gaming and folding power within my budget. Only concerns are that the 460 is a little older (driver support for new games might be inferior?) and it would require the use of an adapter to support the second 6 pin power connector since my PSU only has one 6 pin. So, mainly just trying to determine which brand to go with (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...09 600007323 600062521&IsNodeId=1&Tpk=gtx 460) unless there's a compelling reason to go with one of the other cards. Thanks for any help!

 

[BallaTheFeared]

4xx and 5xx are the same uarch, as such drivers made for 5xx work exactly the same on 4xx. Any improvements they make with 5xx is therefore shared by 4xx.

There are some "lesser" 460's mixed in there you should avoid them. Here is a better list, with the lesser cards filtered out... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3 600062521 600007801&IsNodeId=1&name=256-bit

Of those the only real option is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130752

It comes with a molex to 6pin adapter so you should be covered.

 

[hyrule4927]

4xx and 5xx are the same uarch, as such drivers made for 5xx work exactly the same on 4xx. Any improvements they make with 5xx is therefore shared by 4xx.

There are some "lesser" 460's mixed in there you should avoid them. Here is a better list, with the lesser cards filtered out... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3 600062521 600007801&IsNodeId=1&name=256-bit

Of those the only real option is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130752

It comes with a molex to 6pin adapter so you should be covered.

Thanks, I was wondering about the 192 bit ones, I knew about the old 768 MB cards that were a good bit slower, but I wasn't sure what to think of those ones since they were 1GB.

Anyway, thanks again for the help. Just to be clear, would you recommend that EVGA card, or should I look elsewhere for more options on a 256 bit card?

 

[Gloomy]

Hmm, if you're heavily into Skyrim you might want to spend a bit more and get a 2GB card. I've heard Skyrim can use up to and over 1GB at times, though I don't know the spefics of it. Might want to look into that.

 

[hyrule4927]

Hmm, if you're heavily into Skyrim you might want to spend a bit more and get a 2GB card. I've heard Skyrim can use up to and over 1GB at times, though I don't know the spefics of it. Might want to look into that.

I've checked on my laptop (running a high/ultra mix with the high res texture pack on a 1.5GB GTX460M) and the highest VRAM usage I've seen is around 800MB, so 1GB is borderline but manageable probably?

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I believe he means /w mods from a place like skyrim nexus, in which case even 2GB can be eclipsed as well given the sheer amount of useless textures you could impose on your setup.

2GB 460s are not at all cost effective, the only one on newegg is like $220, a 560ti 2gb is $50 more at $270... I wouldn't recommend either, vram is an overstated phenomena. Either you need a mod friendly game that allows you to over use texture packs, or you need high amounts of AA... Which to be honest isn't even going to be possible with a single 460 anyways @ 1080p.

 

[hyrule4927]

I believe he means /w mods from a place like skyrim nexus, in which case even 2GB can be eclipsed as well given the sheer amount of useless textures you could impose on your setup.

2GB 460s are not at all cost effective, the only one on newegg is like $220, a 560ti 2gb is $50 more at $270... I wouldn't recommend either, vram is an overstated phenomena. Either you need a mod friendly game that allows you to over use texture packs, or you need high amounts of AA... Which to be honest isn't even going to be possible with a single 460 anyways @ 1080p.

Cool, I don't really plan on using many visual mods (did a lot of Oblivion modding, but gameplay mods interest me a lot more than visuals), so it sounds like I'd be fine with 1GB. If I was going to spend the kind of money that a 2GB 460 costs, I'd just get a 1GB 560ti, but that's a big stretch for my budget and PSU.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Yeah I assumed even the 2GB 460 was well outside your price range.

Skyrim, unmodded, 5900x1080 0xAA/FXAA/sliders & settings are maxed

1GB~ of vram used, eh... I think you're fine so long as you keep the textures and AA levels within reason.

 

[blckgrffn]

Ouch, CX-430... Especially v2...

If you are going to be folding/crunching, I'd get something a little heftier in the PSU department, IMHO. Not that your PSU is bad, but you are going to be leaning on it 24/7. It'd be cool if didn't start on fire or anything.

Unless you'll only be folding on the GPU and not doing anything with your CPU, in which case you are probably OK.

I would think you'd be able to catch a "falling" higher end card in short order. It'd be to your benefit if the new Nvidia cards came out sooner rather than later

 

[superjim]

Another vote for a 1GB 460. As blckgrffn states, it might be worth considering upgrading your power supply if this thing is gonna fold 24/7. We're talking full GPU load all the time (not sure about CPU load) and since power supplies are the most efficient at 50% load you want a PS big enough to supply your total system power consumption at load divided by 2.

 

[Leyawiin]

I have a GTX 460 1GB and play Skyrim at 1680x1050. Since installing the HD Textures DLC I regularly hover around 970-1010MB of VRAM used when I check Afterburner. The game is very smooth - haven't check the FPS but its playing so nicely I don't feel the need. I use the Ultra preset and then back shadow quality down to "High" and set the AA at 4X.

 

[Leyawiin]

I've Googled around and from what I've read memory bandwidth doesn't affect F@H. The version 2 GTX 460 1GB (the 192 bit kind) is based on the GF114, same as the GTX 560. That's why it clocks so high. I would think up to 1080p there wouldn't be much difference between it and a 256 bit version.

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClo...GGNY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1330641465&sr=8-6

This one is factory overclocked to 867 Mhz vs. 710 Mhz for the GF104 based one. I know they both can OC well, but the GF114 version 2 should easily top 900 Mhz (just like its other GF114 brethren like the GTX 560 and Ti). With that GF114 chip it will use slightly less power too. With both OC'd to the max I doubt there would be any performance difference. Then again, you're only saving $10 on that model so who cares?

 

[hyrule4927]

A PSU upgrade is pretty much out of the question right now, considering I'd end up spending $200+ once you combine a higher quality PSU and the graphics card itself. It I should truly be that concerned about my PSU, I'll just get the 6850 for similar, if not better, gaming power and lower power consumption (even though it can't really compete very well in folding).

Could technically consider the 550ti still, but it just seems rather weak compared to the other two cards.

 

[blckgrffn]

A PSU upgrade is pretty much out of the question right now, considering I'd end up spending $200+ once you combine a higher quality PSU and the graphics card itself. It I should truly be that concerned about my PSU, I'll just get the 6850 for similar, if not better, gaming power and lower power consumption (even though it can't really compete very well in folding).

Could technically consider the 550ti still, but it just seems rather weak compared to the other two cards.

What are you expecting, ppd wise? I'd expect 8k or better, but that is just informed off of what the 5770 can do with the v7 client and beta WU's. (~7k)

 

[hyrule4927]

What are you expecting, ppd wise? I'd expect 8k or better, but that is just informed off of what the 5770 can do with the v7 client and beta WU's. (~7k)

I've been having a hard time finding solid numbers, but I was afraid it was going to be 4 to 8k based on what I've found. If it can do 8k plus consistently than I'd certainly go with the 6850.

 

[blckgrffn]

I've been having a hard time finding solid numbers, but I was afraid it was going to be 4 to 8k based on what I've found. If it can do 8k plus consistently than I'd certainly go with the 6850.

I've got a 6570 pulling ~3300 ppd, so I would hope it would do better than that You'll have to do some tweaks to getting running OpenCL WU's though...

news/news-0-359+openmm-opencl-core-16-available-for-ati-amd.php <-- my source for that...

More data:
http://hardforum.com/archive/index.php/t-1603912.html <-- maybe more like 7kppd, still not too shabby

 

[blckgrffn]

I've been having a hard time finding solid numbers, but I was afraid it was going to be 4 to 8k based on what I've found. If it can do 8k plus consistently than I'd certainly go with the 6850.

I've got a 6570 pulling ~3300 ppd, so I would hope it would do better than that You'll have to do some tweaks to getting running OpenCL WU's though...

http://en.fah-addict.net/news/news-0-359+openmm-opencl-core-16-available-for-ati-amd.php <-- my source for that...

 

[hyrule4927]

I've got a 6570 pulling ~3300 ppd, so I would hope it would do better than that You'll have to do some tweaks to getting running OpenCL WU's though...

http://en.fah-addict.net/news/news-0-359+openmm-opencl-core-16-available-for-ati-amd.php <-- my source for that...

Hm, I could live with that, and there's always the chance of improved AMD support (not that I'm getting my hopes up). In that case . . . I've heard pretty good things about Sapphire, so this might be a good choice?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908

 

[hyrule4927]

Well, I found a guy selling a Rosewill Hive 550W PSU and PNY GTX 460 that he had been using as an eGPU for $185 total. Is that PSU good enough to make this a worthwhile purchase?

Just another consideration, still leaning towards the 6850.