Graphics card for 1920x1080 gamin

[npowers86]

ok so i am finally ready to get a new gpu and need some advice. so here is my setup. i just bought an asus 24 inch monitor that will be at 1920x1080. i have a 20 inch monitor which i will be using but not for gaming. just want to have my gpu temps and stuff on the 20 inch while gaming. my question is what gpu should i go for?

right now i am using a sapphire radeon 4870 1gb.
i am looking at the radeon 6870 and the 7850. my main question is if the 7850 would be overkill for just doing 1920x1080 resolution? if the 6870 would do as well at this resolution i could save myself about a hundred bucks. the games i play are skyrim and battlefield 3.

my max i would pay is the 260 bucks for the 7850 but if i dont need to spend the extra money i dont want to. also should i wait and see what the gtx 660 looks like? thanks for any advice.

my setup is an i7-870 with 8gb of g-skill ripjaw ram. my boot drive is a corsair force gt 60gb and all files are loaded on a 1 terabyte samsung spinpoint hd. psu is 650 watts.

 

[jaguarskx]

The following should help you decide what video card provides the type of performance you are looking for in BF3. 1920x1080 has 11% less pixels than 1920x1200, so I would say you will see around a 7% increase in performance. Note that a Core i7-920 @3.8GHz is used in the test rig. Click link to see other benchmarks in the review.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7850_HD_7870/8.html

If a were to buy a video card right now, it would probably be the Radeon HD 7850. I don't think the extra performance of the Radeon HD 7870 is worth the extra $100.

 

[refillable]

Yes like jaguarskx says, 7850 is a very solid card for the price. It should be fine in your system, and we have no details about GTX 660, it's still on the dark...

 

[Onus]

What brand and model is your "650W" PSU? If it's an Antec, Corsair, or other quality brand, you're good. If it's a Diablotek, Logisys, or similar, it may not be good for 60% of what is on its label, and will die a fiery death when asked to power a strong card.

Run your HD4870 long enough to see how much of an improvement you want, then decide. If you like the gameplay and decide that even using a lot of Medium settings looks pretty good, you may even be satisfied with a HD6850.

I do agree though, that a HD7850 would be a good choice. A GTX560Ti is a little weaker, but costs less.

 

[jay2tall]

Ok here is my input, and take it as you will because your decision will be based off your budget, your requirements, your upgrade timeline, etc.

1) If you can wait for the other Kepler based cards to come out, I would. The GTX670Ti will be out soon and is going to be priced $349-$399. This card will compete with and most likely completely outperform the AMD 7950. If this is at all possible with your budget, I would highly recommend this card. It will basically be a GTX680 with 1 SMX unit disabled and probably clocked slighly lower. This would be a GREAT card to get at that price.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/geforce-GK104-Kepler-GTX670_Ti-GTX670,15235.html

2)If that is out of your price range, the GTX660 would be the next cards coming out and I am sure they will give whatever AMD card in that price range a run for their money. It might be worth waiting to see what transpires. I don't know if this is coming out with the 670's or sometime after. I would assume that $249-$299 price range.

3)If waiting is NOT an option the 7850 is probably a good option at the $250-$260 price point, "at this time". At $100 more I don't think the 7870 is worth the money especially with the GTX570 coming in at $300 or less with promo codes and rebates. Those two cards trade punches depending on the game. At the $350-$360 price range (the 7870) I would REALLY consider waiting for the GTX670Ti to come out.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

i will tell you if either the 660 or 670 are ANYTHING like the GTX680, it would be worth the wait. The difference between my previous GTX580 and current GTX680 cards is NOTICEABLY different. It's about 20-30% faster in anything and the OC headroom is much higher. The 600 series also has Adaptive Vsync, which I turned on and think is a really cool feature.

As far as any card being overkill for the 1920x1080 resolution... I would say no single GPU card is overkill right now, unless you only play specific games. However, as soon as you add BF3 to that list, my comment is validated. My 580 could only run BF3 on Ultra detail, the rest of the settings on high, AA differed disabled, and Vsync on giving me 60FPS. With the 680, everything is on ultra, AA deffered on MSAAx4, and Vsync On @ 60FPS.

 

[tuffluck]

the 7850 comes in several OC versions (stock) too, which are the same price as the no-OC versions most of the time. the 7850 can run at 7870 performance with an OC, easily beating out the 570, and using less power. i bought my sapphire 7850 yesterday on newegg for 260 with a free dirt 3 game. though i think i got the last one because they are out of stock now...

unless you want nvidia, waiting isn't that necessary. radeon isn't releasing anything new, and i don't think their prices are going to be grossly affected by kepler, at least in the <$300 range. i think i read the 570 equivalent 600 card isn't coming out until probably august. that's a long time to wait.

oh and if you get dirt 3 game free on the same OC sapphire i purchased, that's basically a $50 credit. even if you didn't want the game, sell it for $30 on ebay and essentially get the 7850 for $230. that's a steal with or without kepler competition.

 

[jay2tall]

i did find this article. Sounds like the 670Ti will come late April early May. However, the 660 cards will be later 2012, that sucks. That is true on the selling the game coupon, however, eBay might take it down as those things can't, or shouldn't, be resold. Sounds like the AMD cards will be good in that mid $200 range for a while.

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/23231/geforce_gtx_670ti_and_gtx670_to_hit_late_april_or_early_may/index.html

 

[jay2tall]

I found this as well. http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-prepares-cut-down-gk104-chip-gtx-670-ti-to-compete-against-hd-7950/15440.html

If you are going to purchase in this range, it may be worth holding off at least until they are release to see what happens. If the lower model cards won't be released until later 2012, then it might be worth just upgrading now and enjoying the performance.

again just my $.02

 

[tuffluck]

I found this as well. http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-prepares-cut-down-gk104-chip-gtx-670-ti-to-compete-against-hd-7950/15440.html

If you are going to purchase in this range, it may be worth holding off at least until they are release to see what happens. If the lower model cards won't be released until later 2012, then it might be worth just upgrading now and enjoying the performance.

again just my $.02

just remember the more expensive the card, the more the depreciation. IMO after 300 USD the depreciation is too much for my blood. i.e. the 7950 is well above that range. i think the 7850 or the 560 ti 448 is the best card for the money right now, but as stated, with kepler coming soon, the ti 448 might not be the best money spent (and 1gb isn't really future-proof either).

 

[jay2tall]

just remember the more expensive the card, the more the depreciation. IMO after 300 USD the depreciation is too much for my blood. i.e. the 7950 is well above that range. i think the 7850 or the 560 ti 448 is the best card for the money right now, but as stated, with kepler coming soon, the ti 448 might not be the best money spent (and 1gb isn't really future-proof either).

Selling my 580 paid for 2/3 of my 680. I can handle that. Usually the previous version only fetches about 50% of the no comer. It's all up to what you are ok with. I stumbled into the higher end cards with the GTX580 because I had a 5870 that was sent back 4 times and they finally replaced it with a 5970. I sold that and bought the 580. Otherwise I would have had a GTX570 and have been waiting for the 670. That is usually the sweet spot for the performance cards.