which one to get

[vincedea]

Asus GTX 660 = $169 AR + AC 4 and Spliner Cell

Asus 7870 = $140 AR

Asus 7850 = $110 AR

Card is for GF brother running an E6850

Will buy tomorrow after reading your suggestions

 

[Jaydip]

So what is your max budget?

 

[3DVagabond]

Exactly which models. Not all are created equal.

Never mind, I just looked @ Newegg and I assume you are talking the Asus DCII for AMD and the MSI gaming for the 660. Personally, I would get the 7850 and save $60. The 7850 DCII is an excellent O/C'er. If you didn't want to take the chance with O/C'ing the 2 free games probably give the edge to the 660 over the 7870. Assuming you would buy the games at retail if you didn't get them with the card.

 

[vincedea]

Don't want to spend too much as her brother doesn't play graphic intensive games. I would take those game that come with the 660, but doesn't really matter to me

 

[lehtv]

The best card I would combo with a puny Core 2 Duo 3Ghz is this Asus 7790 $110 ($70 AR). It's close to 7850 performance for $50 less. Grab it before it goes out of stock.

Make sure the PC's power supply has at least one 6-pin PCIe connector.

 

[vincedea]

I thought about another idea of giving him my gtx 560ti and getting a new card? What would go well with my q9550?

 

[nwo]

The best card I would combo with a puny Core 2 Duo 3Ghz is this Asus 7790 $110 ($70 AR). It's close to 7850 performance for $50 less. Grab it before it goes out of stock.

Make sure the PC's power supply has at least one 6-pin PCIe connector.

I think a 7790 is a pretty darn good choice at that price, especially since it uses a lot less power than a 7870 and 7850. That way you would not have to worry about having to upgrade the PSU to accomodate a 7870 or 7850. A 7790 only uses about 80W at full load.

If your choices are limited to those that you posted, I would say 7870 is your best option.

 

[vincedea]

I think a 7790 is a pretty darn good choice at that price, especially since it uses a lot less power than a 7870 and 7850. That way you would not have to worry about having to upgrade the PSU to accomodate a 7870 or 7850. A 7790 only uses about 80W at full load.

If your choices are limited to those that you posted, I would say 7870 is your best option.

I wouldn't say I am limited budget wise it's just the guy doesn't play graphic intensive games. Might even make more sense to give him my 560ti and I get some gtx 700 card?

Also I don't have to worry about the psu as their pc is an old build of mine.

So new card for him or new card for me? Lol

 

[Warsam71]

I wouldn't say I am limited budget wise it's just the guy doesn't play graphic intensive games. Might even make more sense to give him my 560ti and I get some gtx 700 card?

Also I don't have to worry about the psu as their pc is an old build of mine.

So new card for him or new card for me? Lol

New card for you! Since he won't play games and seems to be more of a casual user. The 7850 has had a pretty good track record for us; we've used it extensively throughout the year in various industry events.

 

[PliotronX]

My 7850 has made me tilt more towards NVIDIA. The little GTX 650 I have in another system has been completely painless compared to my 7850 even though it has less than half the horsepower. The drivers function much more stably, overclocking doesn't cause screen corruption watching video, doesn't flicker the secondary screen.

 

[24601]

The best card I would combo with a puny Core 2 Duo 3Ghz is this Asus 7790 $110 ($70 AR). It's close to 7850 performance for $50 less. Grab it before it goes out of stock.

Make sure the PC's power supply has at least one 6-pin PCIe connector.

This, the people who recommend anything more than that for the CPUs that were listed in the OP don't have a clue how CPU limits work.

 

[vincedea]

This, the people who recommend anything more than that for the CPUs that were listed in the OP don't have a clue how CPU limits work.

Please explain what the downfall would be if I were to get something more than a 7790?

 

[24601]

Please explain what the downfall would be if I were to get something more than a 7790?

Your CPU will be the limiting factor.

As in those more powerful GPUs won't actually make your game-play experience significantly better compared to it's potential.

You will have huge frame variance, huge increases and decreases in FPS frame by frame. And your minimum frame rate will stay right where it is in the absolute and the 99% time frame of reference.

Your GPU is a slave to your CPU. If your CPU isn't feeding the draw calls to the GPU fast enough, there's nothing the GPU can do about it but wait. This is limited by everything the CPU has to do in the game and in your system.

The playability of a game isn't determined by the average or maximum FPS that is delivered, it is determined by the minimum and the 99% frame rate of the setup.

This is because games are played in real time. You can't make up later what you lost before.

 

[vincedea]

Your CPU will be the limiting factor.

As in those more powerful GPUs won't actually make your game-play experience significantly better compared to it's potential.

You will have huge frame variance, huge increases and decreases in FPS frame by frame. And your minimum frame rate will stay right where it is in the absolute and the 99% time frame of reference.

Your GPU is a slave to your CPU. If your CPU isn't feeding the draw calls to the GPU fast enough, there's nothing the GPU can do about it but wait. This is limited by everything the CPU has to do in the game and in your system.

The playability of a game isn't determined by the average or maximum FPS that is delivered, it is determined by the minimum and the 99% frame rate of the setup.

This is because games are played in real time. You can't make up later what you lost before.

Thank you for your explanation. With that said, having an e6850 and q9550 we are both better off getting a 7700?

 

[PliotronX]

He's right about the CPU limitation:

Although if you plan on upgrading the CPU, you could go with the more powerful GPU and when you do get a better CPU it will scale accordingly. I wouldn't go with a less powerful GPU just because the GPU was holding it back unless you really need to cut costs. Who knows, maybe a friend will give you a Phenom quad or something.

 

[24601]

Thank you for your explanation. With that said, having an e6850 and q9550 we are both better off getting a 7700?

If you don't want to have wasted money on power you cant use, yes.

I would highly advise you to consider getting a 4670k or equivalent for your next upgrade though, as games have gotten seriously CPU intensive in the last 3 years.

 

[moonbogg]

What isn't acceptable to me may be acceptable to others (regarding the CPU). Of the cards listed I would get the 7850, but I have to mention that a newer CPU would be insanely beneficial for gaming, regardless of GPU choices mentioned. Ask about a GPU on a tech forum and you may have people suggest a CPU.

 

[vincedea]

So I went with a 7850 and will be upgrading the pc within 2 weeks