First build GTX 480 vs. GTX 560 Ti vs. GTX 570 vs. HD 6950

[boozehound59]

Hey all, new to the forum so first a hello.

I'm working on my first build, a gaming rig. I'm pretty stumped on what GPU to get, so hopefully someone can give me some opinions on the cards I'm looking at.

What I've chosen for my build so far is:

Intel i5-2500k CPU
Antec Earthwatts 650w PSU
Corsair Vengeance 8GB RAM
Hyper 212 Plus Cooler
Asus VS248H-P 24" 1080p Monitor

And for the GPU I've been looking at:

EVGA GTX 480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130759

The 480 seems like a great card, especially for the price, but apparently it gets really hot and consumes a lot of power. I can see where that might cause issues for someone inexperienced such a myself because I don't know how to properly power and cool it.

MSI GTX 560 Ti Hawk
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578

Looks like a nice card, weaker than the 480 and 570, but at a more comfortable price than the 570 and easier to manage than the 480. Might be nice if I settle for playing games on lower settings.

MSI GTX 570 Twin Frozr III PE/OC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127582

Seems like a more stable and easy to manage version of the 480. Powerful and has a good cooling system already. A powerful card, but the price point is high, especially as this is my first build.

XFX Radeon HD 6950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150549

Same thoughts as the 560, they look to be very similar, not sure which is better.


So those are the cards and my thoughts on them. The price points are what's getting me, I'm not sure the extra money is worth the upgrade. I'd appreciate any advice that could help with my decision.

 

[loops]

7850 or 480 for the money.

570 overpriced
6950 not bad

if you get a 480 make sure you get a good case...at least haf 912 lvl

 

[fudoka711]

Of all of those, I would go with either the MSI GTX 570 or the XFX RAdeon HD 6950.

To save yourself a little bit of money, I would go with the 6950. You could always wait a little while to see if the hd radeon 7850 will drop $10-20. I think its performance is on par with the 6950, consumes less power (saves money in the long run), and runs cooler.

Between the gtx 480 and gtx 570, I would pick the gtx 570. My reasons for this are: the gtx 480, while a great gpu - runs very hot and is pretty inefficient. Nvidia got fermi right when they made the 500 series. The gtx 570 is basically the gtx 480 from the previous generation, but a little cooler and more energy efficient. It has the same performance specs (maybe someone could correct me if I'm wrong though).

I'm sorry if I'm not giving you a definitive answer. There are a few factors that your decision will depend on and you need to figure out which factors take higher priority such as:

-power consumption
-performance
-heat
-price
-noise

I'm sure there are more experienced readers here who could answer your question better though xD.

 

[boozehound59]

The GTX 570 is definitely the one that caught my attention the most.

There's this version which is much cheaper:

EVGA GTX 570
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

Would I see a huge difference in performance between that and the MSI? Is the MSI performance worth the extra price tag?

 

[quilciri]

7850.

If you can find a 480 or 6950 for $200, thats an ok investment, but at $220, they're not worth the money because you can get your hands on a 7850 for $240-250.

The 570 isn't worth the money anymore, either. The 7850 performs the same as a 570, it's cheaper than the 570, and it uses 1/3 the power that a 570 does.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

card rankings:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

power consumption:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7850_HD_7870/24.html

good luck!

 

[ilysaml]

Simply;
GTX 570=GTX 480 (GTX 570 is 1% faster than GTX 480)
GTX 570>HD 6950>GTX 560Ti

The GTX 480 runs as hot as hell, consumes much power and noisy. Right now the best bang for buck is the HD 7850, only 5% slower than GTX 570 but runs cooler and draws half the power of GTX 570.

 

[Guest]

Simply;
GTX 570=GTX 480 (GTX 570 is 1% faster than GTX 480)
GTX 570>HD 6950>GTX 560Ti

The GTX 480 runs as hot as hell, consumes much power and noisy. Right now the best bang for buck is the HD 7850, only 5% slower than GTX 570 but runs cooler and draws half the power of GTX 570.

false the gtx 480 is not loud even my reference evga is not loud at 100% fan speed.But to the official poster i highley reccomend the gigabyte super overclocked gtx 480 it comes overclocked out of the box and is faster then a gtx 580 and you should beable to find one for less then $250 if you look hard enough.Even if you find a used one gigabyte has a 3 year warrenty even if you are not the original owner you can still rma it if it goes to crap.The card has 3 fans and runs cool under 70C and will beat the snot out of any card listen in this thread.best bang for the buck is not the 7850 either even the reference gtx 480 from newegg is better bang for the buck.

 

[ilysaml]

false the gtx 480 is not loud even my reference evga is not loud at 100% fan speed.

Don't call me wrong unless you have a prove to your sayings, I take reviewers words over yours, from Guru3d review of the GTX 470/480;

For both cards you can expect roughly similar noise levels with the GTX 480 being a notch louder when it's stressed. Once the GPU starts to heat up the fan RPM will go up real fast and the card does become audible. We measure roughly 43 dBA for the GTX 470 and 45 DBa with heavy GPU stress. Not at all annoying, but you can hear the airflow.

By the way the gtx 480 is faster then the 570 again man im not sure where you get your numbers from?do you just make stuff up as you go along?best bang for the buck is not the 7850 either even the reference gtx 480 from newegg is better bang for the buck.

I get my numbers from techpowerup review of the GTX 570

For the noise levels, power consumption & heat of course the HD 7850 is the best bang for buck, with a little OC you cover the gap between GTX 570 and HD 7850 for $80 less. GTX 480 is out of question unless you wanna spend $70 on an aftermarket cooler.

 

[quilciri]

the reference gtx 480 from newegg is better bang for the buck.

No. Just no.

The 480 *is* $20 cheaper, and does perform roughly the same as a 7850, but

the 480 uses 361 watts at load and 55w idle.
the 7850 uses 101 watts at load and 10w idle.

At the average price per kwh in the united states and average PC usage, the 480 is going to cost you $20 more than the 7850 in 3-4 months. If you keep your system for 2 years, the 480 is going to cost you $120-$160 more than the 7850.

I can't imagine how much of a bath you'd take on an overclocked 480 >.<

 

[Guest]

No. Just no.

The 480 *is* $20 cheaper, and does perform roughly the same as a 7850, but

the 480 uses 361 watts at load and 55w idle.
the 7850 uses 101 watts at load and 10w idle.

At the average price per kwh in the united states and average PC usage, the 480 is going to cost you $20 more than the 7850 in 3-4 months. If you keep your system for 2 years, the 480 is going to cost you $120-$160 more than the 7850.

I can't imagine how much of a bath you'd take on an overclocked 480 >.<

Dude im talking pure numbers raw power fps so no your wrong.

 

[Guest]

Don't call me wrong unless you have a prove to your sayings, I take reviewers words over yours, from Guru3d review of the GTX 470/480;

For both cards you can expect roughly similar noise levels with the GTX 480 being a notch louder when it's stressed. Once the GPU starts to heat up the fan RPM will go up real fast and the card does become audible. We measure roughly 43 dBA for the GTX 470 and 45 DBa with heavy GPU stress. Not at all annoying, but you can hear the airflow.

I get my numbers from techpowerup review of the GTX 570
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_570/images/perfrel_1920.gif
For the noise levels, power consumption & heat of course the HD 7850 is the best bang for buck, with a little OC you cover the gap between GTX 570 and HD 7850 for $80 less. GTX 480 is out of question unless you wanna spend $70 on an aftermarket cooler.

Theres gigabyte superclocked cards to be had for $200 as well and that runs as cool as any card on the list.Have you ever owned a gtx 480?The first batch of them were loud then they altered the design a bit as recon can give you more details about that but the evga run of the mill gtx 480 is damn quiet.3rd quietest card ive ever owned.I reccomend getting a used one to as the warrenty carries over from owner to owner and with a 3 year warrenty your set.Lets say you got a brand new one from newegg for 209$ put a $50 aftermarket cooler on it chances are you will get 850 mhz out of the core clock and that my friend is beyond a stock gtx 580 for about the same price as a 7850.even if you did go that route $260 for a gtx 480 with aftermarket cooling its still the best bang for the buck on the list and its not even close.

 

[quilciri]

Theres gigabyte superclocked cards to be had for $200 as well and that runs as cool as any card on the list.Have you ever owned a gtx 480?The first batch of them were loud then they altered the design a bit as recon can give you more details about that but the evga run of the mill gtx 480 is damn quiet.3rd quietest card ive ever owned.I reccomend getting a used one to as the warrenty carries over from owner to owner and with a 3 year warrenty your set.Lets say you got a brand new one from newegg for 209$ put a $50 aftermarket cooler on it chances are you will get 850 mhz out of the core clock and that my friend is beyond a stock gtx 580 for about the same price as a 7850.even if you did go that route $260 for a gtx 480 with aftermarket cooling its still the best bang for the buck on the list and its not even close.

You can tell he's a troll by the green hat.

....or that words don't come from his mouth, only bullshit.

EVGA warranties don't transfer, and if you buy a new EVGA card online, you don't even get a warranty unless you buy it from one of their licensed dealers. That means if you buy an EVGA card from ebay, even if it's brand new, sealed in the box, you have no warranty.

http://www.evga.com/support/warranty/

All Long-term warranties, Step-Up options, EAR options, Cross-Ship Options, and Extended Warranty options are only available to the original purchaser and do not transfer to the next owner if the card is given away or sold

For the original owner of the product with a valid invoice that can be verified from an approved reseller the warranty begins from the date of purchase on the invoice.

here's the approved reseller list
http://www.evga.com/products/WhereToBuy.asp?t=Online

Oh, and only Amazon.com itself counts as a reseller. If you buy from someone else on Amazon.com marketplace, no warranty for you.

 

[xxsnakeyez]

Wait for the the other kelper gpus to come out so then you have more choice to choose from.

 

[quilciri]

Wait for the the other kelper gpus to come out so then you have more choice to choose from.

The 660 will probably be a good alternative to the 7850, if/when it comes out, and assuming it doesn't have a supply shortage like the 670/680.

Google 7850 vs 480 and see how many people actually recommend the 480. It won't be a big number. While you're at it, you could also check out the 30-40% overclocks on the 7850.

 

[quilciri]

Dude im talking pure numbers raw power fps so no your wrong.

you said

a gtx 480 with aftermarket cooling its still the best bang for the buck on the list and its not even close.

You don't seem to know what "bang for your buck" means. Cost-to-own is included in bang for your buck, so the 480's power-guzzling ways are a factor in "bang for your buck". You're telling the OP to spend $5 a month, every month, until he gets a new system....for a 1-3 fps increase.

Oh, btw the 7850 and the 480 are in the same tier of tom's hardware rankings, so If you think there's such a big difference in performance between them, you should take it up with the site owners....and pretty much every professional reviewer on the planet.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[quilciri]

the 7850...

- Consumes way less power
- has more RAM
- Runs a heck of a lot cooler
- Smaller
- Is about on par with a GTX 480
- overclocks to better performance than a 480 can.

7850 vs GTX 570
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=518

GTX 570 vs GTX 480
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/309?vs=306

The GTX 480 was a beast in its day, but that day was nearly 2 years ago now..

 

[UAhmed]

I'd say hd 7850... i too am buying gigabyte hd 7850 2gb OC. try to buy the OC edition if u can it's better 😀

 

[boozehound59]

The 7850 is looking pretty appealing. How much better will it be when overclocked? And what's the best version?

 

[ilysaml]

Pretty good enough to surpass the level of GTX 570; also depends on what model you'll get and how far you can OC it

Best said HD 7850 is the Asus DC II followed by Sapphire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121623&Tpk=Asus%20HD%207850

 

[UAhmed]

The 7850 is looking pretty appealing. How much better will it be when overclocked? And what's the best version?

I'm buying the gigabyte one bcz i can't buy asus dc ll, if u r buying the OC version try to look which one has hgher memory clock and core clock in their specification gigabyte has 975 mhz core clock

its this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419&Tpk=gigabyte%20hd%207850

the asus one has 870 mhz core clock where as gigabyte one has 975 mhz which is far greater than asus 😀

 

[tiger6k]

I'd also say HD7850.

I have an MSI Twin Frozr III and OCing it was as simple as opening up MSI Afterburner.

It's now very stable, quiet and cool at 1050 MHz core and 1450 MHz memory.

I'd take it over a hotter, louder, more power hungry card any day, EVEN if it was a bit slower, which, it's not.

 

[bigcyco1]

gigabyte doesn't make better GPU than ASUS or MSI imo gigabyte is decent but i rather have a card made by ASUS or MSI

 

[UAhmed]

gigabyte doesn't make better GPU than ASUS or MSI imo gigabyte is decent but i rather have a card made by ASUS or MSI

I too was thinking that i still haven't bough the hd 7850 yet, so if it was a gigabyte hd 7850 vs asus hd 6950 d cu ll what would u choose????

 

[XmortisX]

Honestly,

MSI GTX 570 Twin Frozr III NEVER had problems with these bad boys and they run cool and oc great! Out of manufactures I go with Asus>MSI>Gigagyte.

 

[blazorthon]

gigabyte doesn't make better GPU than ASUS or MSI imo gigabyte is decent but i rather have a card made by ASUS or MSI

Gigabyte and Asus don't make GPUs, they make video cards (technically, they don't even make their video cards). They are not the same thing. Also, if the Gigabyte has higher clocks than the others, then it is better at stock. Gigabyte cards tend to not overclock as well as the competition, but at stock, that Gigabyte is the best of what has been recommended so far. Preferring a card just because of it's brand name is a poor way to recommend cards. A card should be recommended based on the situation.