Zotac GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) -any good?

HawkeyeRecon

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Feb 13, 2008
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Hi guys. I'm slowly buying components for a BF3 rig ~$1000.

I will be using a 2500k Sandybridge with a z68 chipset board. I will have SSD for the OS and programs.
This is the power supply I have bought:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049

I would prefer an Nvidia graphics card.

After rebate Newegg has this graphics card for $139.99:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e0d3dd3b6195f6

I have never heard of Zotac and was wondering if any of you have experience with this company or this card. Do you think it will be able to play BF3 on high on 1920x1080? At least medium? I realize the BF3 specs aren't out yet.

Is this card worth getting to start with and then possibly upgrading graphics cards at a future date? I was hoping to not have to spend more than $200 for a graphics card that could play BF3 on high.

If it is not, what should I be looking at?

I'd appreciate any insight the community might have.

Thanks!
 
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T101

Senior member
Oct 13, 1999
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Personally I have nothing but bad experiences with Zotacs graphics cards. Out 4 Zotac 470, and 1 570, I have a 100% fail rating. Under load they crashed, after a while became so unstable they would crash at the desktop even. I know people have good experiences with them. I just have not had any. So I can only give my 2 cents.
 

HawkeyeRecon

Member
Feb 13, 2008
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Personally I have nothing but bad experiences with Zotacs graphics cards. Out 4 Zotac 470, and 1 570, I have a 100% fail rating. Under load they crashed, after a while became so unstable they would crash at the desktop even. I know people have good experiences with them. I just have not had any. So I can only give my 2 cents.

Thanks for the input.

Any suggestions on something that would possibly work on medium or high for BF3 but still be in the ~$200 range?
 

T101

Senior member
Oct 13, 1999
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I dont know your pricing there. But look for any Gigabyte or Asus 560s, if it is 560 that you want, never had any of those brands fail me so far.
 

Chinoman

Senior member
Jan 17, 2005
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I know you have an Nvidia brand preference but I suggest you take a look at the Radeon 6870. It's pretty much the best you're gonna get under $200. If you're willing to save up a little more, you could aim for the GTX 560 Ti or even the 6950. Both are great cards which seem poised to run BF3 very well.
 

HawkeyeRecon

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Feb 13, 2008
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I know you have an Nvidia brand preference but I suggest you take a look at the Radeon 6870. It's pretty much the best you're gonna get under $200. If you're willing to save up a little more, you could aim for the GTX 560 Ti or even the 6950. Both are great cards which seem poised to run BF3 very well.

Would an ATI/AMD card work smoothly with an intel z68 chipset and intel 2500k pcu?

My only preference for Nvidia is that is what I have always used and I once lost a ton of money on AMD stock options.
 

Chinoman

Senior member
Jan 17, 2005
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I'm using a Sandy Bridge platform with a 6850 and it's been working great. In fact, I've even overclocked the 6850 and had a stable experience. It was my first Radeon card, my past cards were 6600 GT, 7800 GT, GT 250, and I had no issues transitioning.

AMD's stock options probably had more to do with their CPU division rather than GPU, expecially depending on the time period.
 

mmaestro

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Jun 13, 2011
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If you don't mind waiting for a rebate to come back, the EVGA 560 Ti is regularly down at $210 or even $205 occasionally after rebate. Not under $200, but close.
 

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
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Do you plan to overclock whatever GPU you get?

If you'd rather go cheap than quite that fast, then I'd say this is among the better options.
 

HawkeyeRecon

Member
Feb 13, 2008
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Do you plan to overclock whatever GPU you get?

If you'd rather go cheap than quite that fast, then I'd say this is among the better options.

I wasn't initially planning on overclocking either the 2500k or the graphics card. Having the ability to do so though is desirable.

Is the 560 TI significantly better than the 460 GTX? If it is much better it would probably be worth the extra ~$40 or so.
 

mmaestro

Member
Jun 13, 2011
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Yay, benchmarks.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/313?vs=330

I think for $210, the 560 Ti is a good buy (Newegg has it currently at that price). I wouldn't buy it for much more than that. But then, that's what I bought, for that price. Others who made different decisions probably have different opinions. If you can't wait for the rebate to come back (mine was returned in under a month from EVGA, which was a nice surprise), or can't stretch that much, the 460 is still a fine card.
 

HawkeyeRecon

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Feb 13, 2008
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Yay, benchmarks.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/313?vs=330

I think for $210, the 560 Ti is a good buy (Newegg has it currently at that price). I wouldn't buy it for much more than that. But then, that's what I bought, for that price. Others who made different decisions probably have different opinions. If you can't wait for the rebate to come back (mine was returned in under a month from EVGA, which was a nice surprise), or can't stretch that much, the 460 is still a fine card.

Thanks! That info is very useful. Hopefully there will be a good 560 TI deal over the next couple of weeks.
 

dac7nco

Senior member
Jun 7, 2009
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I don't usually root for AMD, but the 6870 is the best deal for your needs. the 6870 is available from NewEgg for $175. It's a sapphire card, which is the EVGA of the AMD world.

Daimon
 
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Crap Daddy

Senior member
May 6, 2011
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The 560Ti will play BF3 well enough so you won't need an upgrade soon. The 6870 is also a good option.
 

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
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560ti or 6870, as others have said. If you have a preference for one brand over the other, go with it. It'll leave you in a better state of mind, I find. ;)

The 560 (non TI) is basically an O/C'd 460. It's a bit more efficient (which is a good thing), but if you get a decently built 460 and O/C it to the same clocks as the 560, you've got the same performance. Not a good value, in my book. Between the two I would personally opt for the ti version.
 

Smartazz

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2005
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GTX 560ti or HD 6870, but just be aware that the 6870 doesn't overclock very well due to its high stock clock.
 

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
204
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GTX 560ti or HD 6870, but just be aware that the 6870 doesn't overclock very well due to its high stock clock.

The 560ti is pretty highly clocked as well. Not the ~23% O/C room people like to talk about for nVidia cards. I'd say on avg. you are probably looking at an ~8% O/C on a 6870 and an ~11% O/C on a 560ti. Not a big difference. The 560ti is a bit faster of a card to start with though (and a bit more expensive). It falls into the slot between the 6870 and 6950.
 

HawkeyeRecon

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Feb 13, 2008
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You guys have helped me narrow it down to 2 or 3 choices which I will research in further detail. Thanks for all the info!

Quick question. It has been awhile since I have built a computer. Is there a step by step guide that is good to follow when I do the actual build?
 
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mmaestro

Member
Jun 13, 2011
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Honestly? Probably the instructions that come with the case, mobo, processor, and GPU will be enough. It's really, really simple these days.
 

thun712

Junior Member
Aug 25, 2011
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I am not going to vouch for the quality of their newest cards, but I have been running 2 Zotac cards without issues for 3 years now. And I have heard similar good things about them from other acquaintances. However, the above suggestions will more than likely do you better.