Graphic Cards Midrange GPU advice

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sarang

sarang

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Sorry, starting a new thread as most of the current 68xx/4xx threads are derailed into something else.

The template

What is your budget?
~10K (+/- 1K)

Current rig Specs
CPU - i5 750
Motherboard - P7P55D -Deluxe
RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 1600MHz
Monitor - Dell Ultrasharp U2410

Which PSU/SMPS will you be using? Rating + Brand 80+ VX450

Primary use? (Casual gaming, Hardcore gaming, Just for display, Movies/HTPC)
Casual Gaming
This does not mean I need crappy graphics, I game occasionally and hence would prefer something which lets me play with quality settings at native resolution (1920x1200).

What resolution do you game on?
1920x1200

Interested in Crossfire/SLI?
No

Open to both Nvidia/ATI?
Yes

Interested in OC
No

Additional info
1. Would prefer a less noisy card.
2. Would prefer something from either HIS/Asus/XFX as I've had relatively better experiences with Rashi (touchwood) and could trust PoornamTech as well.

Have seen various 6850s out there as well as GTX460s.

1. The discussion point is, considering 460 is slightly more powerful and priced nearly same why is everyone recommending a 6850?
2. Is the 6 + 6 Pin power connection (and lack of it on the VX450) really an issue? If yes how serious is it?
3. I believe 5850 would be a better performer than both these cards. In other markets the difference between a 6850 and 5850 is about 20$, I could not find a 5850 around that mark. Any idea?
 
Your budget goes over to the GTX 460 or the HD 6850 performance issue

here is a comparison link Bench - GPU11 - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News, now performance is more or less same apart from applications which are optimized to function with nVidia's CUDA cores CUDA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Next it is dependent on whether the HD 6850 is available at the given price point of ~ 11K < maybe prices might have dropped >, but the GTX 460 has various versions available in this price band MSI Cyclone, Zotac Standard edition.

Later if you change your mind about OC the GTX 460 is a veritable gold mine due to its great performance and easily lended design for the purpose but beware that it also leads to greater power consumption < touching GTX 470 territory >.

A basic review of both cards ATi HD 6850 ---> AMD Radeon HD 6870 & HD 6850 Review AND GTX 460 ---> NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB & GTX 460 768MB Review

Hope this helps. I personally pitch for the ATi HD 6850 good card, decent thermals and not to much of power consumption. Also the problem with VX 450 will not be much because I've heard a HD 5850 running on them here on TE but if plan to expand your rig further you might need a better PSU first, the only issue you'll face is routing your molex to six-pin adapter cable.
 
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Go with the HD6850 GPU as Alpha has suggested.... it consumes less power than GTX460... it requires only one PCI-E 6 Pin Power connector... And it performs On Par with GTX460 and in some games better ;)
 
Who said that GTX 460 is slightly powerful than the HD 6850?

The 6850 delivers ~ 5frames more than the GTX 460.

The power connectors wont be a problem.

You could use the molex to 6 pin converters which are a part of the bundle.

Both the cards are almost same on the noise level...GTX 460 is 1,2 dBA quieter than the HD 6850.

You should go with the HD 6850(HIS)

1. More powerful than GTX 460

2. Less power consumption than GTX 460.

Win Win situation. :)
 
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ragzdiablo said:
Who said that GTX 460 is slightly powerful than the HD 6850?

The 6850 delivers ~ 5frames more than the GTX 460.

The power connectors wont be a problem.

You could use the molex to 6 pin converters which are a part of the bundle.

Both the cards are almost same on the noise level...GTX 460 is 1,2 dBA quieter than the HD 6850.

You should go with the HD 6850(HIS)

1. More powerful than GTX 460

2. Less power consumption than GTX 460.

Win Win situation. :)
Click to expand...
And HD6850 gives better minimum FPS... which means less LAG in GPU intensive games... :P
 
@Alpha17: Thanks mate, repped!
About OC: Been there, not enough time nowadays so looking for a no effort solution, hence no OC.
About CUDA: No application that I am using currently uses CUDA so not a priority either

Gone through the reviews before starting the thread as well.

A good friend of mine (anks) is selling his 460 Cyclone, since the VX450 is anyway a single rail design does it really matter whether the PCI-e connector or the molexes are used? Just curious.

EDIT: Thanks Hades, ragzdiablo, yashchitale. Going with the 6850. Another little question, will 4GB be enough or is it another bottleneck?
 
^

What price is he quoting for it all depends on that look if it is around 9K or below grab it or if it hovering around 10K a new one will keep you in better stead.

4 GB of RAM is more than enough on the safe side, for now.

Thanks for Rep :).
 
sarang said:
A good friend of mine (anks) is selling his 460 Cyclone, since the VX450 is anyway a single rail design does it really matter whether the PCI-e connector or the molexes are used? Just curious.
.... will 4GB be enough or is it another bottleneck?
Click to expand...

Nothing much to bother about connectors if not OCing, I've tested GTX470 with 6 pin + 6 pin Molex connector on my bro's CM-500W PSU (Make sure connector/wire is not damaged and linked tightly).

Don't bother about RAM, I play games on U2410 native with 3GB on Win 7 with excellent performance. Adding more RAM means 64 bit OS + 64 bit applications else compatibility mode.
Go ahead get a 460 and start cyclone ;)
 
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