Time for a 460 1GB maybe?

[Davidh373]

I'm having some troubles running the games I want, and my 9800GTX+ makes my room like an oven when I play games (at 90+C).

I play everything from casual flash games to games like AVP, Crysis, Crysis 2, and BF:BC2 as most of you know. My monitor is 1440 x 900 (I normally play in windowed mode at 1366 x 768), but I plan to get a 1080p 24"+ somewhat soon (Which means I'll be wanting to scale to 1760 x 996). In the near future I am looking forward to being able to play BF3, and Bioshock Infinite as well as be able to play AVP and Metro 2033 in DX11 smoothly, as well as play CoD:MW2 a bit smoother as well. GTAIV runs like a joke right now, so there is that too. It seems to love to devour VRAM. I also have an enormous steam library of 145 games I have acquired through the very good sales they have, so I have many other games as well.

I notice Zotac has a sale on a 460 1GB for $156.99 + $7.56 on newegg, but they also have a recertified EVGA Superclocked 1GB for $149.99 +$6.98 shipping, and an ASUS 768MB for $149.99 + $4.99 shipping.

EVGA Recertified 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-649-_-Product

ASUS 768MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-390-_-Product

Zotac 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-202-_-Product

Which seems like the best deal? The 1GB models seem to be less energy efficient according to Anand's bench by about 10W but also, show minor improvement.

 

[Zap]

I'm having some troubles running the games I want, and my 9800GTX+ makes my room like an oven when I play games (at 90+C).

Note that the cards are probably fairly close to each other in heat output. The actual temperature of the card has to do with the cooling it has and your case ventilation. How hot it makes your room has to do with how much heat it puts out. I don't think you'd gain much over the 9800 GTX+ and if you have a newer one that uses the single 6-pin PCIe power plug, you'll probably heat up your room more with the GTX 460 during gaming. When not gaming, it will be the same or maybe a bit better with the new card.

The performance gains, however, will be pretty massive. :biggrin:

I plan to get a 1080p 24"+ somewhat soon

The graphics card upgrade will help at those resolutions.

GTAIV runs like a joke right now

What's the rest of your specs? IIRC GTA IV is also pretty CPU intensive.

Which seems like the best deal?

Out of the ones you listed, the Zotac. Don't get a refurb EVGA. Those only have a 90 day warranty and the Zotac is only $7 more for a brand new card. Also, if you do rebates (and if you don't, now's a good time to start) the Zotac ends up costing a lot less.

BTW, this probably belongs more in the Video Cards and Graphics forum, so if you want it moved, LMK and I'll do it. That is, unless you want to turn this into a whole system discussion for GTA IV performance plus total system heat output.

 

[Davidh373]

Note that the cards are probably fairly close to each other in heat output. The actual temperature of the card has to do with the cooling it has and your case ventilation. How hot it makes your room has to do with how much heat it puts out. I don't think you'd gain much over the 9800 GTX+ and if you have a newer one that uses the single 6-pin PCIe power plug, you'll probably heat up your room more with the GTX 460 during gaming. When not gaming, it will be the same or maybe a bit better with the new card.

It's one of the first off the line. I paid a whole $580 at best buy... v.v

The performance gains, however, will be pretty massive.

Just about a 100% improvement lol!

What's the rest of your specs? IIRC GTA IV is also pretty CPU intensive.

It's mostly texture quality and detail view scale. Looks very murky and a lot like GTA III. I have an i5 760 with 4GB RAM. It's roughly 6 months old.

Out of the ones you listed, the Zotac. Don't get a refurb EVGA. Those only have a 90 day warranty and the Zotac is only $7 more for a brand new card. Also, if you do rebates (and if you don't, now's a good time to start) the Zotac ends up costing a lot less.

BTW, this probably belongs more in the Video Cards and Graphics forum, so if you want it moved, LMK and I'll do it. That is, unless you want to turn this into a whole system discussion for GTA IV performance plus total system heat output.

I realize this, but I really don't like the people over there as much. I know that you and mfenn and many others here will give me straight answers.

 

[mfenn]

At 1080P, it is definitely worth it to get the 1GB model. Of the 3 that you've listed, I think that the Zotac is the best deal.

As for the heat output, the 9800 GTX+ has a 141W TDP, whereas the GTX 460 1GB has a 160W TDP, so like Zap said, you won't notice a difference in heat output.

 

[fffblackmage]

I wouldn't even consider the 768MB model either. After that... I'd go with the new versus the refurb.

 

[Davidh373]

As for the heat output, the 9800 GTX+ has a 141W TDP, whereas the GTX 460 1GB has a 160W TDP, so like Zap said, you won't notice a difference in heat output.

I see anands bench has idle wattage at half (along with temp) and load wattage at roughly a little more, but temp was 10 degrees lower. At least compared to the 8800GT which was rebranded and clocked up for the 9800GTX+ right? Or did they change the thermal output a decent bit?

EDIT: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/178?vs=180

I wouldn't even consider the 768MB model either. After that... I'd go with the new versus the refurb.

Good good. At $7 more it is kinda a no brainer I guess.

 

[mfenn]

I see anands bench has idle wattage at half (along with temp) and load wattage at roughly a little more, but temp was 10 degrees lower. At least compared to the 8800GT which was rebranded and clocked up for the 9800GTX+ right? Or did they change the thermal output a decent bit?

EDIT: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/178?vs=180

The temperature of the GPU only measures how efficient the cooler is at removing heat from the GPU, not how much heat ends up dumped into the room. 160W is 160W, no matter what temperature the source is.

But yeah, you'll definitely see a nice drop in idle heat output due to the better idle throttling on the newer cards.

 

[Davidh373]

What about a 6850? Seems like the power consumption on those is a lot less. Would that cool anything off at all?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-348-_-Product

About the same price as the 460. Doesn't have CUDA or OpenGL 4.0 though... consumes 60W less at load.

 

[mnewsham]

If temps are your concern look at some higher CFM case fans (and CPU heatsink fans)

 

[Davidh373]

If temps are your concern look at some higher CFM case fans (and CPU heatsink fans)

Performance is my main concern, but ambient temperature is a bonus. What fans would you recommend though?

 

[mnewsham]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185059

or these are quieter

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185058

 

[aphelion02]

If you care about quietness you can maybe spend a little more for this HD 6870. Supposedly they are dead silent (I believe they have the same cooler referenced in AT's review of the 6950)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-521-_-Product

 

[Davidh373]

If you care about quietness you can maybe spend a little more for this HD 6870. Supposedly they are dead silent (I believe they have the same cooler referenced in AT's review of the 6950)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-521-_-Product

No can do I'm afraid, I was originally planning to get the 5830 because it's so cheap right now, then I noticed 460s and 6850s dropped down in price a few bucks. I'm already stretching...

 

[betasub]

If you care about quietness you can maybe spend a little more for this HD 6870. Supposedly they are dead silent (I believe they have the same cooler referenced in AT's review of the 6950)

LOL, I'd take that "supposedly" with a pinch of salt. Pretty quiet for an HSF-cooled graphics card, maybe, but in no way silent: for this kind of improved cooler I'd expect idle to be very quiet, with load being quiet but audible.

 

[gorcorps]

lol @ running Metro 2033 smoothly on DX11

I have a GTX570 and 2500k which won't even play it smoothly. I bumped it down to DX10 and it works great with little noticeable differences. If DX11 Metro 2033 is your goal be prepared to shell out some dough.

 

[Zap]

I realize this, but I really don't like the people over there as much.

Haha, fair enough.

BTW you just missed a hot deal on a Zotac GTX 560 Ti for $145 after coupon and rebate.

So did I. Had it on my screen and thought about it. Then spent too much time reading forums... went back and it was sold out.

 

[aphelion02]

LOL, I'd take that "supposedly" with a pinch of salt. Pretty quiet for an HSF-cooled graphics card, maybe, but in no way silent: for this kind of improved cooler I'd expect idle to be very quiet, with load being quiet but audible.

According to AT's review there was no measurable difference between the card at load vs the ambient noise of the testbed.

 

[fffblackmage]

^ I remember that review too. Maybe not quite "dead silent," but still impressively quiet.

 

[Davidh373]

BTW you just missed a hot deal on a Zotac GTX 560 Ti for $145 after coupon and rebate.

I don't have the PSU to run one of those. I only have a 430W, and I believe the 460 is like 'the limit' of a 430W.

According to AT's review there was no measurable difference between the card at load vs the ambient noise of the testbed.

That's impressive!

 

[aphelion02]

Just want to add, I just looked at the review again and that was for XFX's Black Edition 6870, not the one I linked to. The coolers look identical though.

 

[Zap]

I don't have the PSU to run one of those. I only have a 430W, and I believe the 460 is like 'the limit' of a 430W.

It all depends on the quality of the PSU and how many of the 430W is +12v. I have an Antec True Power Trio 430W (made by Seasonic) that I used to use in my overclocked Core 2 Duo (actually Xeon E3110 but who's counting?) LAN rig with an overclocked GTX 285.

 

[BoomerD]

It's a bit more $$ than some of the cards listed...but I have this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130568

and am happy as hell with the performance of the card. It's definitely an upgrade from my Visiontek X850XT PE card in my last build...

 

[Davidh373]

It all depends on the quality of the PSU and how many of the 430W is +12v. I have an Antec True Power Trio 430W (made by Seasonic) that I used to use in my overclocked Core 2 Duo (actually Xeon E3110 but who's counting?) LAN rig with an overclocked GTX 285.

It's a Antec BP430 which has basic 80+ Cert. I don't know details about voltage of the top of my head.

So now I guess it's between the 460 1GB and the 6850. I personally love the idea of CUDA as I do some 3D modeling/ rendering / video editing / encoding with Premiere and After Effects. The thing is, most of that is done downstairs on my workstation. I hate the idea that a 460 pulls more wattage at load then my current card. It's around the same, I know, but the 6850 pulls 60 less watts at load, soooo... what do you guys think?

 

[mfenn]

lol @ running Metro 2033 smoothly on DX11

I have a GTX570 and 2500k which won't even play it smoothly. I bumped it down to DX10 and it works great with little noticeable differences. If DX11 Metro 2033 is your goal be prepared to shell out some dough.

You sure somethings not messed up with your setup? I have a 6970 which is about the same performance as your GTX 570 and it plays pretty smoothly (~45-50 FPS usually).

 

[mfenn]

It's a Antec BP430 which has basic 80+ Cert. I don't know details about voltage of the top of my head.

So now I guess it's between the 460 1GB and the 6850. I personally love the idea of CUDA as I do some 3D modeling/ rendering / video editing / encoding with Premiere and After Effects. The thing is, most of that is done downstairs on my workstation. I hate the idea that a 460 pulls more wattage at load then my current card. It's around the same, I know, but the 6850 pulls 60 less watts at load, soooo... what do you guys think?

MPE acceleration is awesome, so if video editing took up any significant chunk of my time, I'd be going with the GTX 460.