Video Card Advice

[dguy1]

I've recently begun purchasing parts for a new computer since the one I built back in 2006 is a bit outdated. I have mostly everything purchased, but a graphics card is still something that I'm having a hard time deciding upon. I really am not trying to pay a fortune for a card as I don't play many hardcore games, but I would like to have a little room and not trying to buy the bare bones either. Right now I'm stuck between the 7850, 7870 and the 560 Ti FPB (mostly due to its price). I know the 560 is last generation and apparently there is a 660 Ti be released in the near future, so that is something that I am also debating. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ASRock z77 Extreme 4
i5 3570K
G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB
Samsung 830 128GB
Seasonic SS-560KM 560W PSU

 

[chimaxi83]

I've recently begun purchasing parts for a new computer since the one I built back in 2006 is a bit outdated. I have mostly everything purchased, but a graphics card is still something that I'm having a hard time deciding upon. I really am not trying to pay a fortune for a card as I don't play many hardcore games, but I would like to have a little room and not trying to buy the bare bones either. Right now I'm stuck between the 7850, 7870 and the 560 Ti FPB (mostly due to its price). I know the 560 is last generation and apparently there is a 660 Ti be released in the near future, so that is something that I am also debating. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ASRock z77 Extreme 4
i5 3570K
G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB
Samsung 830 128GB
Seasonic SS-560KM 560W PSU

There is a sticky thread at the top of the video card forum. Fill it out first, it's a short questionnaire. You listed some parts, so other than telling us what resolution your screen is, fill in:

Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option.


II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?


III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?


IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?


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?


VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?

 

[dguy1]

Sure...

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option.
Preferably under $300 USD, but would like to get as close to $200 as possible, hence why the 560 Ti FPB was an attractive option as it is less than $200 after rebate on Amazon.


II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?
I'm coming from an 8800GT so I'm partial to nVidia, but wouldn't mind switching.

III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
No

IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
As I said, I'm currently looking at the 7850, 7870 and GTX 560 Ti FPB. However, if the GTX 660 is indeed coming out in a few weeks, I'm considering that as well.

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?
The only game that I currently play on and off that needs any kind of power is SWTOR. However, there are other programs I use that utilize a graphics card that I would like to have decent performance in. Not sure if its graphics card heavy, but I also use Solidworks.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
Not sure, haven't realy considered it.

Also, my monitors screen resolution is 1920 x 1080.

 

[Jaydip]

Have a look at this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150617
But if 660 is coming out in few weeks I would rather wait

 

[dguy1]

Oh and my case can fit up to a 10.5" card..

 

[dguy1]

I hate to do this, but does anyone else have suggestions?

 

[InfoTiger]

7950 is an option.

 

[dguy1]

Well I pulled the trigger on the MSI deal on Newegg for the 7950...just couldn't convince myself to spend $50-70 less for the 7850 or 7870 for that big of a drop in performance. Plus, the three free games was attractive too. Just disappointed that Amazon didn't have it in stock to get 3.99 overnight shipping or the three games. Bummer!

 

[netzz3d]

heard that an oced 7870 will reach 7950 performance

 

[RussianSensation]

Well I pulled the trigger on the MSI deal on Newegg for the 7950...just couldn't convince myself to spend $50-70 less for the 7850 or 7870 for that big of a drop in performance. Plus, the three free games was attractive too. Just disappointed that Amazon didn't have it in stock to get 3.99 overnight shipping or the three games. Bummer!

That's about as good as you could have done right now performance wise for ~ $300. I am not sure about its length though. It looks to be almost 11 inches. Most of those overclock to 1.1ghz+ at which point it surpasses a stock GTX680/7970. Can't go wrong with that. Even if GTX660Ti is as fast as a stock 7950, it's doubtful that it will have the same overclocking headroom. I hope it fits!

 

[dguy1]

Actually, I just cancelled my order for the 7950. After doing a bit more research, I realized you can get those three games for next to nothing. I also just realized that the 7950 really doesn't have much stock performance over the 7870 for the 70 dollar premium. Instead I'm gonna order this bad boy and maybe just OC it to 7950 levels. After rebate and coupon, the final price will be just under $250. Plus the card is shorter than the 7950.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161410

 

[Denithor]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129230

Suggest this card instead.

$220 shipped, much closer to your $200 target. 2GB instead of that XFX linked above. And this will easily OC to 7870 territory, probably nearly to 7950 stock levels if you push it.

 

[poohbear]

if you're looking at the same price range as 560ti & 7870, then i'd definitely wait for the 660ti. its only a matter of 2 weeks before its released (maybe less)