What is the fastest nvidia card I can get?

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bunnyfubbles

Lifer
Sep 3, 2001
12,248
3
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I have no plans on using AA or AF so I probably don't need a really expensive video card. There seems to be a good bit of back and forth on if I can run a better card of not with my current power supply.

the PSU in your SG05 is a legit 300W unit, we were worried it was some old/dated/cheapo POS, and since we also now know its a small form factor unit, we also then know you're not plugging in dozens of peripherals to suck juice from the PSU.

I'd concur with what someone else said, you could start looking into the GTX460 and Radeon 6800 range as long as they aren't overly long

I'd say unless there is a particular reason for going nVidia, AMD would net you better performance per watt and that a 6800 would offer you the best overall value
 

Infraction Jack

Senior member
Dec 9, 2011
239
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Maybe I should wait for a 7000 series mid ranged card? I read something about them requiring less power. Something like a HD 7670 should be decent right?
 

Lonbjerg

Diamond Member
Dec 6, 2009
4,419
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Maybe I should wait for a 7000 series mid ranged card? I read something about them requiring less power. Something like a HD 7670 should be decent right?

Only the toprange is going to be GNC.
The mid/low range is going to be VLIW4, so their perf/watt should be lower.
 

Infraction Jack

Senior member
Dec 9, 2011
239
0
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The terms GNC and VLIW4 are above my head. I am basically looking a a 1 GB card that will let me play some games in 1080P. I don't care about running everything at max settings, medium settings is fine with me as long as I have a good frame rate. If I can get that for about $100 or so without having to replace anything else in my system it would be ideal.
 

Lonbjerg

Diamond Member
Dec 6, 2009
4,419
0
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The terms GNC and VLIW4 are above my head. I am basically looking a a 1 GB card that will let me play some games in 1080P. I don't care about running everything at max settings, medium settings is fine with me as long as I have a good frame rate. If I can get that for about $100 or so without having to replace anything else in my system it would be ideal.

GNC = AMD's next architechture.
It sacrifices perf/watt and gaming performance for better GPGPU.

VLIW4 = AMD current architechture.
It has better perf/watt, but is more a miss than hit for GPGPU.

That is what matters in relation to your question..an understanding of the underlying architechture and it's benefits/drawbacks.