Best videos card to start building a new gaming computer with

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I am currently building a new gaming rig, and after reviewing the endless choices of video cards, i cant make my choice. I think i would prefer to stay with nvidia and would eventually like to sli, but not right off the start, i have around 300 dollars to spend also.
Will be running mainly mmo's, im building this computer with SWTOR in mind!

Help would be awesome, TY
 
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what does your pending build consist of, so far?? The MSI geforce gtx 560 Ti twin frozr II card is a good card for under $300, there are also alot of other nice cards for around $300. We'll help you the best we can, but i also suggest you look at the many benchmarks and reviews here on Tomshardware, if you haven't already..
 
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Hi sorry for not being more specific, i am 2 days into the build currently i have a coolermaster haf932, and a asus sabertooth 990fx mobo, going to be adding 12gb of 1600 ram most likely gskill, and a 8 core amd cpu(when they come out). Also 1000w psu min and ssd drive, a 7200rpm 64mb 1 tb drive.
Thats my current plan so i was wondering what would work best im looking for a card for 300 as i wanna sli when i get more cash after the initial build!

TY
 
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With a computer like that, you may want to look at an HD 6970 or a 570GTX. They are both over $300 (around 350) but at the same time, you do not need that 8 core AMD CPU that will probably be very expensive. No games will use 8 cores for a VERY VERY long time; hell, very few games even use more than 2 right now. I would get myself a Phenom II x4 975 BE or one of the Bulldozer 4 cores which will overclock like a beast and give you amazing performance.

Save yourself some money on that CPU and get yourself a HD 6970 or GTX 570. Either of those gpu's is what a system like yours deserves
 
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I see what your saying? I have looked at the amd cards and the 2gb is a selling point to me, was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with gtx560ti 2gb how does it compare to the other cards you guys have recommended!

i really appreciate the help thus far, and may consider that cpu you guys are suggesting! also about to order 16gb of 2x
Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

ty
 
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wow... glad i asked for the other specs. thats sum build you got going on there, buddy. Dont get me wrong, i think we all would love to have an 8core cpu. truth is, there arent any games that would use 6cores let-alone 8cores. So, as phishy said, i would get a quad core CPU and then get a nicer 6950 2gb/ 6970 with the left over moneys. I can personally vouch for the AMD Phenom IIs, my 965BE handles any game just fine. But, if your dead set on that set-up, A good match for that 8core CPU would probably be a 6990 for ~$700. Im honestly not sure what a good match would be for a 8core cpu, under $300....
 
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seems like everyone is trying to steer me in the direction of amd, maybe coz they have the 2gb gpus. Besides the amd's what nvidia stuff as good if not better than the 6950, and after reading the card tests on this website they seem like all the nvidia products out perform the amd stuff, clarification on this would be nice, im not against amd just as my mobo has the option of both i wanna make the right discision!

TY
 
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generaly speaking, amd is the cheaper of the 2. Nvidia is usually a bit more expensive, but you will often find that Nvidia cards run a lot of games faster than their AMD counterparts. Im not sure if greghome knew this but, the GTX 560Ti actually comes in a 2gb version. So, if you want a great performing Nvidia card for around $300, the GTX 560TI 2gb would be a good choice. Also check out the Nvidia GTX 480 1.5gb. Glad to see your doing some research and looking at benchmarks:)
 
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Thanks Hooru yes i was looking at the 2gb version of the 560ti that evga makes for $250 dollars palit also makes one as does sparkle i believe! Was wondering how this card matches up to the 6950 and 6970 as they are similar configs. Does anyone have experience with 560ti 2gb if so how is it. I wasnt saying that the amd stuff isnt as good as the nvidia stuff i was just looking for an alternative so i can keep my options open. eventually i will be buying another to either crossfire or sli wonder which pairing of the 3 cards is better when running a pair.

Comments and experience would be ver helpfull TY
 
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I mean dont get me wrong im picking apples from oranges these are all great cards, just trying to get help as to whats what,i hope i didnt rub you the wrong way and your comments have been helpful!
 
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Like hooru said, that comment wasn't directed at you mate, as for what card(s) you should choose, good luck with that! :lol: There are some really good choices about at the moment and unless you have some preference for a certain manufacturer or AIB then choosing any particular card is going to be quite tough and I don't envy you at all.
 
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As the X6 series of CPUs are outperformed by X4s at the same clock (due to game coding, graphics driver threading,OS overhead, etc.) I doubt an 8 core is going to improve things *for a gaming system*; the 8 core cpu will be likely be equaled or outperformed by the BD quadcore, and at a lower clockspeed....and lower cost.
 
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I have to admit u'll have to go quite high up in settings and the games u play to feel it,
I do think there will be a bottleneck in Games in the future if not now

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-16.html
http://media.bestofmicro.com/R/7/273139/original/CrossFire Metro 2033 Scaling.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/R/5/273137/original/CrossFire Metro 2033 1920.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/R/6/273138/original/CrossFire Metro 2033 2560.png
Click to expand...
Well if you cast your mind back to the release of the GTX460's then you may recall that Nvida themselves stated that those cards were not aimed at resolutions higher than 19 x 10 hence why they were only capable of two way SLi and as the GTX560 is the direct replacement of the 460 it stands to reason that the same rule applies. So why you keep mentioning their capabilities or lack of at 25 x 16 I don't know because they are not and never were aimed at that resolution.
 
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HD 6950s 2GB if u're considering dual GPU.
the 1GB frame buffer on the GTX560Tis would bottleneck them when in SLI......

.....
Click to expand...
Not quite sure what this statement means, or is supposed to mean....

Pitting a slower 6870(1gb) against a 6950(2gb) is not really an 'apples to apples' comparison.

Here is a graph showing gamng framerate comparisons of 560 Ti, 6870(1gb), 6950(1gb) and 6950(2gb)...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4137/amds-gtx-560-ti-counteroffensive-radeon-hd-6950-1gb-xfxs-radeon-hd-6870-black-edition/5

1gb of framebuffer is plenty up through even 2560x1600, save for perhaps F1 or whatever the detail heavy racing game was; reviews of 6950(2gb) vs 1gb variants has nearly identical performance in all comon titles; oddly enough, frequently the 1 gb version was slightly faster except at 2560x1600. (Enthusiast shader settings at 2560x1600 did slow the 1 gb variant a tad, however...)

A pair of 560Tis scales with SLI just as well as do the other Nvidia cards, but, *MIGHT* not be the best choice if wanting max enthusisast settings at 2560x1600.
 
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No, they don't run loud. They run loud if they are crossfired with no space between them. Most the Sandy Bridge motherboards now add an extra slot between their PCIe slots.
 
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sorry i have been busy with work last couple of days but reading your comments:

I will be running the best monitor i can get so resolution is not an issue!

Here are my choices so far from research and reviews and your feedback!

Evga gtx560ti 2gb

palit gtx560ti 2gb

evga gtx480fermi 1.5gb

xfx 6950 2gb

asus 6950 2gb


i know thats alot of cards and figuring out which is best is a hard chore i also think i am going to go with a x6 1100t just coz the 990fx mobo form reviews and asus feedback runs those x6 better than it did on the 890 series mobo's!


Feedback is much appreciated ty all so far for your help!
 
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was looking at these monitors:

ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" 2ms Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 10,000,000:1 (ASCR)

SAMSUNG P2770HD Rose Black 27" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 50,000:1(1000:1) Built-in HDTV Tuner & Speakers

Acer H274HLBMID Black 27" 5ms Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 100,000,000:1 Max (ACM)

I hope this helps but this gives you an idea of what im looking at getting!
 
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