Which Video Card Would You Go With?

[whitewingjek]

Im deciding between a few video cards at the moment (my GTX 285 is on the verge of death) and I was selecting a few that I liked at Newegg. Here are the ones I like, which one is the best for the price. Any suggestions for a better one other than ATI.

Also is the 2GB worth it if the only difference is that it has a little smaller memory clock than the 1gb version. I have a 1920 x 1080 display.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%2050001402%204017%204801%20600007855%20600158457&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20560%20%28Fermi%29

BTW, my motherboard only has PCIe 2.0 so I can't go the GTX 6xx route.

Systems Specs:
Windows 7 64bit
ASUS P6T Deluxe
Intel Core i7 920 2.66ghz
Cooler Master v8
6 GB DDR3
EVGA GTX 285 1 GB
NZXT 800 Watt Power Supply

 

[fpoon]

I'd go with none of them, actually. PCIe is backwards/forwards compatible so you can actually use a 3.0 card in a 2.0 slot. With that said, you can get a GTX 660 or wait for the GTX 650 Ti.

 

[obsama1]

You are really limiting yourself by going the Nvidia route. The 7770 beats the 550Ti and 650. The 7850 beats the 560 1GB/2GB.

I suggest that you get a 7850. Great for 1080p.

 

[trapper]

You are really limiting yourself by going the Nvidia route. The 7770 beats the 550Ti and 650. The 7850 beats the 560 1GB/2GB.

I suggest that you get a 7850. Great for 1080p.

I'd second that suggestion.

 

[swifty_morgan]

the 285 and the 550 are almost the same...... maybe even throw the 650 in with them....... yes, you can put the gtx 6 series on that board....... yes, 2gig's of vram at that res is an upgrade. there will be situations where 1gig won't be enough. I wouldn't waste time on the 560. I had one. meant two.


what's the rest of your system. include opsys. ?

 

[whitewingjek]

I am on a buget here, im looking to spend no more than $180 dollars, so theres one reason I can't go with the GTX 6xx series.

As for the ATI Graphics cards, like I said, id rather not go that route.

 

[Embra]

I am on a buget here, im looking to spend no more than $180 dollars, so theres one reason I can't go with the GTX 6xx series.

As for the ATI Graphics cards, like I said, id rather not go that route.

7850 is really your best option at your budget. You can go GTX 6xx, but like stated above and considering your budget ...a HD 7850 is your best bang for buck.

Buy what you like.

 

[swifty_morgan]

save some money. you're right on the edge between getting a capable card at your res and throwing money away.

 

[whitewingjek]

Let me ask this a different way. My GTX 285 can play battlefield 3 at med settings pretty nicely (just an example). What card at a good price would match or surpass a result like that? Would the 560 be able to match or surpass that, 560ti?

 

[obsama1]

The 560Ti and 560 are beat by the 7850. Just look at the Anadtech benches. The 7850 gets 2x the FPS in Skyrim. And in games like Dirt Showdown, the 7xxx series is a lot better than the 5xx and 6xx. And when you overclock the 7850, you can get it to 7870 levels, and it will even beat the 560 Ti 448.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=547

 

[obsama1]

I know you don't like AMD, but in the sub $300 market, they are the way to go.

 

[whitewingjek]

Do you personally have this card? I am asking because I have heard some bad reviews about SOME ( not all ) ati cards. I'd like to ask someone who is currently using the card.

 

[obsama1]

I don't have the card, but it is a great card, nonetheless, and it gets rave reviews for it's performance per dollar.

 

[swifty_morgan]

A while back I looked and had 4 cards in my basket to post here but said screw it.......... every one was an AMD product.

here are 2.. or one.......... ??? the one I have was slightly over clocked when i got it. the cheaper of the 2 has a free game download certificate. think both have a switch to unlock shaders or something.... I never touched mine. Plays Crysis2 BBC3 and everything else without a problem at 1920x1200 with high settings............ don't know exactly what they are without looking but I never compromise.........

I don't see why ( without looking at various benchmarks ) why the 7800 series would be any worse..... ( 2gig cards naturally )


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102954

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987

 

[bigcyco1]

Guys he doesn't want a amd card for whatever reason i agree the 7850 is a better choice here however like the saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink

 

[swifty_morgan]

then he either saves his money or he buys something in his price range that's not worth the performance or the upgrade for the money..... write nvidia a letter telling them the performance per dollar and quality in that price range sucks........ stop ripping the consumer off............ let us know what they say.

 

[bigcyco1]

then he either saves his money or he buys something in his price range that's not worth the performance or the upgrade for the money..... write nvidia a letter telling them the performance per dollar and quality in that price range sucks........ stop ripping the consumer off............ let us know what they say.

I doubt they even respond i know what your saying though and hes being stubborn not getting what's in his best interest.

 

[swifty_morgan]

I'll tell you. I've owned mostly nvidia cards since i can remember. Back around the time the 4890 came out I've owned more ATI cards than ever. Last card was a 5850. Lack of vram had me looking for a replacement. I purchased a 560 2gig. had problems, rma-ed it. got a 6950 2gig card as a replacement. was miles ahead of the 560. I had another 560. Junk........ sure there are those that would disagree. Don't care!.......... I used this 6950 2gig in several machines, mostly for gaming, and nothing stops it. I want another nvidia card. got tired of waiting for nvidia to let loose with the 6 series. Bought another 2gig 6950. Nothing stops it either, no problems what so ever..... Now, finally, nvidia brings the 670 out followed by the 660......... I would gladly pay $300 for the 670 but it sure as hell isn't worth the $400 they want for it. The 660 won't give me what I expect out of a video card and it too is over priced for what it is. So I'm not happy I can't have what i want so why shouldn't the OP come to his senses. What you want isn't always the best.

 

[bigcyco1]

You have a point i won't say you didn't have bad experiences it happens i like both company's and have never had a problem with my 460 1gb or my 570's i also have owned 6850's in the past and a 6950 i enjoyed them so i can't talk bad about either company however i do agree what you want isn't always the best.And nvidia cards are quite expensive

 

[whitewingjek]

Thanks guys for all the advice, but at this point I'm starting to think that it isn't even my graphics card that's failing. I opened another thread about it here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/348253-28-graphics-card .

 

[swifty_morgan]

all my personalities say it's a bad video card.

 

[jtenorj]

So I read your other thread and googled your psu. That nzxt 800w(if the one I found on newegg is the same
one. If it's on NZXT's website it isn't readily apparent) has 4 +12v rails(2x18A, 1x20A, 1x22A) with a max total
+12v output of 720w(average 15A per +12v rail). I don't think NZXT is exactly known for the stellar quality of their
power supplies, and if you've had it a while(not one of the shiny new one's on their site, discontinued at newegg),
then you may well be looking at a failing psu. So, while you contemplate the possibility of replacing it, you may
want to contemplate the possibility of replacing your gpu as well. I understand that when BF3 launched, dx10
video cards had difficulty rendering the game without graphical glitches. I don't know if those problems have been
ironed out, but you may want to consider a dx11 gpu. With that in mind, please read what I've been composing.

Hardocp showed that a mildly OCed xfx 7770 provides the same gameplay experience as hd6870 and gtx560ti.

http://hardocp.com/article/2012/02/14/xfx_r7770_black_edition_super_overclocked_review/

If you read the BF3 page, you will see that their 7770 allowed them to smoothly frag people online on ultra*(fxaa
instead of 4xaa, ssao instead of hbao, and no motion blur because it both lowers frame rate and obscures vision)
at 1920x1200. That was with launch drivers. Newer drivers enhance performance notably. OCs like crazy, too.

That was a 1GB model. 1GB of frame buffer is starting to become a bottleneck and will continue to do so.

This is the cheapest hd7770 I can find in the US. It's $114.99 with free shipping after a $15 MIR at newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161402&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Here's an xfx model for the same price, shipping and rebate as the HIS on newegg, but at ncix instead:

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=68528&vpn=FX777AZNF4&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1265

The cheapest gtx560 I could find is the one at the top of the link you posted of gtx560s at newegg.

Here's a Galaxy gtx560 2GB for $156.99 with free shipping after a $10 MIR at amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005XJWQKU/?tag=pcpapi-20

Here's a Galaxy gtx560ti for $154.99 plus $7.87 shipping after a $25 MIR at newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162074&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Here's an Asus DC2 2GB hd7770 for $164.99 with free shipping at ncix:

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74144&vpn=HD7770-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS

Here's an Asus hd7850 DC2 2GB slightly overclocked for $177.99 with free shipping after a $10 MIR at newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121623&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Here's the same card, but a newer version with stock clocks for the same price, shipping and rebate at newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121651&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Here's an EVGA gtx480 for 179.99 with free shipping at ncix:

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=68760&vpn=015-P3-1480-KR&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1265

At stock, the hd7850 matches the hd6970 and gtx570(aka gtx480) in some games, and it too OCs like crazy.

http://hardocp.com/article/2012/09/13/asus_geforce_gtx_660_directcu_ii_video_card_review/

In this hardocp article, they are testing the new gtx660 against similarly priced cards, like a factory overclocked
hd7850. They didn't have that exact card on hand , so they overclocked their reference 7850 to the same clock
speeds as the other 7850(many would say this oc is weak and the card can go even higher, especially on a
custom cooled card like the asus being linked here). It nearly matches the gtx660, which in turn nearly matches
the hd7870, which matches or beats gtx580. You should be able to push this asus 7850 to around 1200mhz.

Also, I'd like to mention power consumption at stock speeds. The 7770 is only 80w(1pcie 6pin), 7850 is 130w,
gtx560 is 150w( I believe it has 2 pcie 6pin so you can overclock, but you won't get all that much out of it), the
gtx560ti is 170w, and gtx480 is 250w(requires 1 pcie 6pin and 1 8pin/6+2pin). Your gtx285 is 204w and was
matched or bested by hd5850. 6870 is the same or better than 5850, and a mild overclock lets a 7770 meet or
beat a 6870. 7770 is quite a bit less expensive than gtx560, but can provide the same gameplay experience as
gtx560ti which costs even more(and you can push the 7770 even higher).

You never said exactly what your budget is(though if you need a new psu, the cost of a new one will likely lessen
the amount available for a new gpu), but I would like to address the gtx600s flanking the cards already listed.

The gtx650 at a minimum of 110 bucks performs worse than a 7750 which can be had for 25 bucks less at $85.
It also has a high starting clock around 1050mhz, so has less room before it reaches the max clock the gpu will
allow(the pcie 6pin extending the 65w tdp won't help much). The 7750 is 800mhz at 55w but can reach close to
1200mhz on the core with the peg slot alone(less % oc on the memory, though).

The gtx660 is a minimum of 230 bucks(the same price you can buy a superior 7870) and has less overclocking
potential(140w tdp limited to 150w max on the PEG slot and a pcie 6pin combined vs 7870 with 175w tdp and 50w
headroom with 225w max on the PEG slot and 2 pcie 6pin connectors). I imagine the 7870 uses much less power
in games than the tdp(like how 7950 and 7970 mirror 6950 and 6970 with 200w max/140avg and 250w max/
190avg power usages respectively). I believe 6950 used less power than gtx560ti and 6970 used less power than
gtx570(their price performance competitiors). 7850(with its 130w tdp constrained to 150w max on the peg slot
and 1 pcie 6pin) also uses much less power when gaming. It has more room to grow as well, and at more than
50 bucks cheaper than gtx660(able to essentially tie it with a less than usual overclock) is a better deal.

I want to leave you with a potential power supply replacement. It has about half the rated wattage of your nzxt
800w(actual max of 783), but this is a high quality psu that can deliver more than its rated wattage at higher
case temperatures(vs some supplies merely loaded with parts at room temp)and do so with little variance in
output voltage and low amounts of ripple. It is also extremely cheap after rebate right now. Take a look:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

28A +12v rail(336w) and 1pcie 6+2pin. Most pc parts nowadays use +12v power in one way or another, and the
cpu and gpu are by far the biggest culprits. Even so, a system will never reach max tdp on all parts at the same
time(not even if you ran prime95 and Furmark at the same time, let alone playing a game). Even if you had an
overclocked 95-125w cpu and overclocked 7850(along with some drives, fans, usb powered devices, you ram and
expansion cards) you would be fine with this power supply. I don't know what speed your ddr3 is, but with some
ddr3 1333 you could probably oc you i7 920 to 3.33 pretty easy(matching i7 975x). Just a thought. Good luck.

Edit: In addition to its power use, the gtx 480 is hot(95c), loud, and doesn't overclock very well.

Edit: gtx480 is 10.5 inches long, but hd7850 is generally a much shorter card. The asus dc2 model is kinda long,tho.

 

[whitewingjek]

Wow jtenorj, thank you for this extensive answer. I appreciate that you accounted for the possibility of a failing PSU and/or my GPU.

I will probably end up testing my PSU and swapping my video card out into other systems to test it out.

While your right that I should probably swap out both my PSU and GPU (my entire system is a bit over 3 years old) I am most likely going to swap out the defective item, whether that be the GPU or the PSU. Keeping in mind what you said, I will mostly likely replace the other part shortly (when I am able to afford it).

I hope to have the answer to what is failing by Monday and at that point I will buy a replacement for the bad one. I doubt both have failed, and I am sure that the good part will last at least a month or two longer.

Again thank your for your answer, now I just have to read all the links

EDIT: Btw if it is solely my GPU that is the issue I am most likely going to with the GTX 560ti.

EDIT: After reading some reviews on ATI cards I might change my mind, but as for now doesn't really matter since I can't confirm that it is in fact my GPU.

 

[jtenorj]

I don't know if the games you play(or want to play) use physx, but you could get an hd7770 and a cheap geforce:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162115&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0083CA88G/?tag=pcpapi-20

This Galaxy gt610 is $29.99 with free shipping after a $10 MIR at both newegg and amazon. It has 48 cuda cores
at 1600mhz, which is more than enough for physx(32 cuda cores minimum). Since the hd7770 is 114.99 with free
shipping after a 15 dollar MIR (130 up front), the two cards have the same up front cost as gtx560(140 bucks after
a 30 dollar MIR or 170 up front) and are only $5 more total(but you don't lose a 48 shader block ie 336 down to
288 on gtx560 when enabling physx with this combo). You would use less power with the combo(gt610 tdp is 30w).
I googled your mobo and I guess you can run several graphics cards. Put the slow gt610 in the far away slow lane.
It doesn't need as much bandwidth and that setup would give the primary card more breathing room.

You can overclock gtx560 to gtx560ti levels, which would help you mitigate the loss of a shader block while using
physx by applying more clock speed to the other blocks. The best way to push your gpu clock to the extreme is
to add voltage, though. More voltage adds an exponential increase in power on top of the linear increase in power
use caused by increasing clock speed.

Having a less power hungry setup would allow you to spend less on your power supply. Just some stuff to ponder.

 

[whitewingjek]

Well I just confirmed that it was in fact my graphics card that is failing, now to decide what to get...