Gainward or Zotac?

[shardware]

For almost identical price, I can get Gainward "Golden Sample" gtx 650 ti Boost and a Zotac one with the same clock speed and dual fans. Which one should I go for?

 

[rothingham]

I've got a Zotac myself (GTX 570) , and it runs pretty hot (But it as semi-stock fans, this one hasn't).
I heard a lot of good from gainward, so that's probably a good pick.
But there's most likely not a lot of difference between the two.
Pick the one with the best warranty.

 

[VincentP]

The gainward is clocked higher and looks to have a better cooler. I would go with that.

 

[shardware]

Actually, the zotac is only 993 Mhz, compared to Gainward's 1072 MHz. And the Gainward is cheaper by 300 INR ($5). And I am getting a 7850 for the same price - Xfx double dissipation 2GB.

My current specs are-

Antec VP 450P power supply
i5 3470 @3.2GHz
Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GBx2 @1600MHz

Will my power supply be able to handle the 7850 safely? AMD's website suggests 500W.

 

[VincentP]

HD 7850 2GB is good, a little faster than the GTX 650 Ti boost.

Recommendations from AMD and Nvidia have to cover a wide range of CPUs and power supplies so they are conservative.

Your system needs at least 309W (25.75A) on the +12V rail.
Your power supply as two +12V rails, each rated at 18A.
This should be plenty.

This card requires two 6-pin PCI-E connectors.
Your power supply only has one.
Because you appear to have enough power available, you could use an adapter.
This however will require two available molex power connectors for the adapter and the supply only has one.
The card may or may not come with one of these adapters.

Short answer, you power supply is probably OK but there are a few maybes in there.
Trying it shouldn't hurt anything, but make sure all the cables are correct before powering it on.

Consider the following as alternatives:
XFX Pro 550 (very good quality 80 plus bronze rated unit, manufactured by Seasonic)
Seasonic G 450 (very good quality 80 plus gold rated unit)
Seasonic S12II 430 (very good quality 80 plus bronze rated unit)
Corsair CX 500 (not as good as the units above, but still 80 plus bronze rated and good quality for a budget supply)

 

[shardware]

HD 7850 2GB is good, a little faster than the GTX 650 Ti boost.

Recommendations from AMD and Nvidia have to cover a wide range of CPUs and power supplies so they are conservative.

Your system needs at least 309W (25.75A) on the +12V rail.
Your power supply as two +12V rails, each rated at 18A.
This should be plenty.

This card requires two 6-pin PCI-E connectors.
Your power supply only has one.
Because you appear to have enough power available, you could use an adapter.
This however will require two available molex power connectors for the adapter and the supply only has one.
The card may or may not come with one of these adapters.

Short answer, you power supply is probably OK but there are a few maybes in there.
Trying it shouldn't hurt anything, but make sure all the cables are correct before powering it on.

Consider the following as alternatives:
XFX Pro 550 (very good quality 80 plus bronze rated unit, manufactured by Seasonic)
Seasonic G 450 (very good quality 80 plus gold rated unit)
Seasonic S12II 430 (very good quality 80 plus bronze rated unit)
Corsair CX 500 (not as good as the units above, but still 80 plus bronze rated and good quality for a budget supply)

So I think i should go with the 650ti boost gainward card, since there is not much difference b/w 7850 and 650ti boost.
Maybe i could oveclock it too..

 

[VincentP]

It's up to you. As I said before, the HD 7850 is a little faster.
If you want to overclock, be careful not to damage the card.
I personally just stick with the factory overclock.

 

[shardware]

It's up to you. As I said before, the HD 7850 is a little faster.
If you want to overclock, be careful not to damage the card.
I personally just stick with the factory overclock.

I just checked my PSU and i found 2- 4pin molex connecters on one rail and 1- 4pin molex on the other rail , So should i try dat 2*4pin molex into pcie converter or not.?
Is it worth the risk???

 

[VincentP]

It's up to you. As I said before, the HD 7850 is a little faster.
If you want to overclock, be careful not to damage the card.
I personally just stick with the factory overclock.

I just checked my PSU and i found 2- 4pin molex connecters on one rail and 1- 4pin molex on the other rail , So should i try dat 2*4pin molex into pcie converter or not.?
Is it worth the risk???

If the connectors are on different cables, it doesn't necessarily mean they are on different rails.
Try the adapter, the power supply should just cut out if you exceed the rating on one of the rails.
Safest option is to use one molex connector from each of the cables for the molex to PCI-E adapter.

 

[shardware]

It's up to you. As I said before, the HD 7850 is a little faster.
If you want to overclock, be careful not to damage the card.
I personally just stick with the factory overclock.

I just checked my PSU and i found 2- 4pin molex connecters on one rail and 1- 4pin molex on the other rail , So should i try dat 2*4pin molex into pcie converter or not.?
Is it worth the risk???

If the connectors are on different cables, it doesn't necessarily mean they are on different rails.
Try the adapter, the power supply should just cut out if you exceed the rating on one of the rails.
Safest option is to use one molex connector from each of the cables for the molex to PCI-E adapter.

one last query.. The mobo i have is gigabyte B75m-D3H (rev 1.2), will there be any problem fitting any of the above discussed cards as the ram slots are quite close to the pcie slot..

 

[VincentP]

It's up to you. As I said before, the HD 7850 is a little faster.
If you want to overclock, be careful not to damage the card.
I personally just stick with the factory overclock.

I just checked my PSU and i found 2- 4pin molex connecters on one rail and 1- 4pin molex on the other rail , So should i try dat 2*4pin molex into pcie converter or not.?
Is it worth the risk???

If the connectors are on different cables, it doesn't necessarily mean they are on different rails.
Try the adapter, the power supply should just cut out if you exceed the rating on one of the rails.
Safest option is to use one molex connector from each of the cables for the molex to PCI-E adapter.

one last query.. The mobo i have is gigabyte B75m-D3H (rev 1.2), will there be any problem fitting any of the above discussed cards as the ram slots are quite close to the pcie slot..

It will be fine. The double slot cooler covers the PCI slot next to the PCI-E slot. Clearance between the RAM and the back of the graphics card is the same as any other PCI-E card.