Nvidia 470 gtx or an ATI card? 1.2k gaming rig!

I think 6870 is a good value for money choice. And no, your card won't melt. Also look at HIS HD 5850 iCooler V - excellent card with low heavy load temperatures.

hd 6870 outperforms a gtx 470 and an hd 5850 in most games, the gtx 470 only outperforms it in nvidia biased games, but the gtx 470 is power hungry and runs hot, the hd 6870 is a perfect choice its not power hungry at all neither does it run hot and it scales very well in crossfire, its a no brainer

i would go for the hd6870

all right then

thanks for all your replies

i read that the 470s run at like 90C+ under heavy load, and that's a bit scary for me, whereas the ati ones run like 20-30C cooler.

i guess i'll go with ati card then, since that's what i was planning on getting from the start. hopefully it will last a couple years b4 needing an upgrade.

gtx 470 on load goes up to 105 degrees celsius, it just makes more sense o get an hd 6870, the 69xx cards should be coming out sooner or later so why not wait for them?

Err sub $1k HD6870CF rig?

Strictly on the 470 point:
The card is built to run hot. Mine idle's at 90 under full load (AvP with DX11 Tessellation etc; COD4MW2; Medal of Honour the new one, etc). It ht 103 in its initial running days, but then I changed the fan RPM and now it sits between 87-90, which is alright for the card. However, it swallows whatever I throw at it.

From whatever little I know about the two cards (470 and 6870, the 470 is the better performer in most of the games, barring a few like AvP and BFBC2 where the 6870 has an advantage by 1-2 frames, so I really wouldn't say that it's a clear winner over the 470. However, it's a personal choice. The 470 is more expensive and hotter than the 6870....which is the only differentiating factor I would consider between the two and not the performance.

first of all if you say it is built to run hot, when you turn your PC off it goes to room temperature so listen to me, the expansion and contraction will decrease the life of the card, it runs so hot and then it will cool rapidly when you turn the PC off now tell me thats good for the card? also the 6870 scales so well in crossfire 2x 6870s are equivalent to 2x 5870s, also hd 6870 is cheaper, uses nowhere near the same amount of power as a gtx 470 and runs a lot cooler, now tell me again why would you go for a gtx 470???

^someone needs to chill out. most cards come with 1-lifetime warranty. technology will have moved on by then.

1) if you buy the gtx 470 get either the evga (lifetime warranty) or msi twin frozrII. i have the twin frozr and it runs so much cooler than a regular 470. its overclocked higher than its big brother

2) the hd 6870 have just been released 3 days ago so there really isnt alot of reviews yet. most people havn't gotten their cards.

3) both cards trade blows. meaning 1 card does bettter in some games then the other. also check if the games you play are nvidia based.

4) if you have a weak power supply go for the hd 6870. if its strong oh well gtx470 uses a few more watts big deal?? if your cooling isnt the best ie. live in a hot climate then again go for the hd 6870.

5) if you have a case with decent airflow dont let gtx470 temps scare you. They are made to run hot.

i'm getting an i7 so is it true that nvidia cards scale better with intel processors?

i read somewhere on forums that ati card with amd phenom II x4 does better than if you put nvidia card with x4.

i have not heard such an arugement so not sure.

I agree with Jason. The gtx 470 competes really well with the 6870 and it scales really well in SLI. It's not really clear-cut either way. Someone says that the gtx 470 outperform the 6870 in NVIDIA-biased games, so you should check benchmarks of the games you'll play. If the 470 wins in those titles, then it's the better card for you. And the NVIDIA cards still tesselate better.

hd 6870 scales well in crossfire

What about having a mid tower with 3 fans? Would that be sufficient enough to handle the 470's max temp? I mean it would be kind of silly spending 300 bucks on something only to have it melt lol.

quoted from a site

we have the Radeon HD 6870 at $240 and the Geforce GTX 470 at $250-$260. Performance wise, they trade blows, with the GTX 470 being slightly faster overall, while being slightly more expensive as well. However, the GTX 470 consumes over 100 Watts more and is way noisier (~+6 DBa) than the Radeon HD 6870. Personally, the much lower noise alone makes the 6870 more desirable, while the power consumption/heat of the GTX 470 would require a beefier power supply and better case ventilation. Overall, I don’t feel that the small performance advantage of the GTX 470 is worth the ridiculous power consumption and noise compared to the Radeon HD 6870.


also it says 2 6850s in crossfire outperform 2x 5870s (no not a typo 2x 6850s) so now imagine what 2 x 6870s can do

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-rade...

dont look at the order look at the fps, see how the 6870 crossfire beats gtx 470 SLI, while being cheaper, running at lower temps and uses less power, a single gtx 470 on load uses a 100w more power over a single hd 6870 on load

^what if he doesn't plan on sli'ing the card? last i looked gtx 470s sli'd awesomely. i think people forget that these are new tech cards. they dont always require sli'ing esp something that gives 60+ fps

Which case do you have kdmaris? it all depends on the fan size/opening's.

your card will not melt lol it will be just slightly louder. check out the msi twin frozr II. it tells you how much cooler/quieter the card is compared to other gtx 470. and if youve got a good/decent power supply dont worry about consumed power. probably extra $20 a year (est)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127513&cm_re=twin_frozr_ii-_-14-127-513-_-Product

16c cooler than a reference gtx 470
21.5db quieter

if you choose the 6870. id wait for cards besides the reference to come out (see what msi/gigabyte have to offer) their add on fans usually bring down the card temps/noise level which in the end will make it last longer or be able to overclock them higher.

In the end both cards are great and are probably more than you need.

I actually call not buying either... Your already well into October. Basically close to November. That's when Cayman is supposed to come out. So lets see how Cayman performs. Also, Exhail you don't need to freak out and defend AMD. Calm down bro. -_-

hey guys thanks for ur support as always

i gotta point out a few things:

-this will be my first time building my own computer
-i'm only going to be playing wow, dragon age, fallout, and swtor when its out, so i'm looking for something that can play these games at 60+ fps and will last like 4-5 years. however, i want this system to haul some ass.
-i'm not really going to OC since i have no clue how it works

current build:
cpu: i7 950 3.06 $300 ghz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
mobo: $210 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
memory: $130 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
psu: 750watt $110 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
hard drive: i don't know which one to get but I don't want to spend over 50 dollars on it  
case: $90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

that's 840 dollars without a hard drive. if you have suggestions like other parts I can switch in instead of the ones I have plz feel free to do so. I'd like to save as much money as I can, so if there are better and cheaper alternatives plz tell.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... would be a beast to pop in to it lol but would it fit and be well ventilated with that case?

For hard drive, you want this one: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB

are my psu and case good for running that msi 470gtx card?

also any other suggestions for other components appreciated!

and thnx for the HD that one rocks lol only 55 and 500gb!!! NICE!

man i cant wait to go back to college after winter break with this thing. i got a laptop atm (dell studio 15) which keeps shutting off randomly and its cpu speed is highly variable (dipping into 200mhz) and dell said (after like 3 hrs of hell on the phone) that they can't even tell what's wrong (its not a virus or anything like that) nor will they bother to help. hell i'll have firefox and word open and BAM computer shuts off. it gets to like 62C cpu temp and shuts off kinda lame >< and dell says its not a cpu problem (but won't tell me if its a fan problem either because fan seems to be working).

gahhhhh so happy xD

Ok well Let me just tell you this. your memory and mobo link are the same if i'm not mistaken. Also Actually ALL of your links are the same -_- You should fix that. For the hard drive. The best option is the Samsung F3's. Best of the HDDs for a budget. Most builds on budget Tom's does are use F3's. Samsung F3's have both the 500gb and 1tb model, so... Yeah. Anyway With the games your playing and for the things you want to do. The GTX 460 or the 6850 is good enough. Dragon Age is really the only "some what" graphically intensive game if you'll run. Also, if the 460 and 6850 is as good as they say. Then you'll have no problem running any of em on max and run smoothly. For instance "apparently" the 460, well it can, can be OC'd to the 5850 and 5870 performance, when I OC my 5850 to 1000/1200 clocks, so stock 5870 performance, I run Fallout 3 + Expansions, just fine. On max 1680x1050. So... With either the 460 or 6850 you'll have no problem. The only thing is, that board will not support SLI so it's not that I don't like SLI. It'd recommend the 6850, then OC a bit. (I recommend the 6850 Gigabyte or Directcu[when it comes out on newegg]) Then if you ever need more graphical performance, instead of having start building again, you just need to buy another 6850. If scaling is what they say, then you'll have no problem getting it to be the performance of the 5970.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_C...

Although the 470 is good. The games you just stated don't require that kind of graphical performance, for that matter expense.

wow that clipboard didn't work so well xD

gimme a sec

  Errr sorry for the hassle, links are failed again, Just tell me the models, I'll just search it myself XD Or the general Idea. Then I'll just suggest anything if you do need some advice on any parts.

gosh im sorry for that

X558040

By the way, your 470 situation, let me evaluate more. With the money you get with the 470, you could affor two 460s or ALMOST 2 6850s which will improve performance ALOT.

Case:COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

cpu: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950

mobo:GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8T-6GBRM

psu: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply


sorry my links keep breaking idk why

ahh very nice

can you explain what exactly modular psu means?

also the reason why i want a pc with such great (at least for me) features is because I've always owned computers that were underpowered. they've been all right for my work, but you throw a little extra challenge at them and they have heart attacks.

Well... When you're playing games, you're gpu and maybe your cpu will go on load. If you aren't powered enough, your computer will most likely. Shut off. Obiviously. So its good to have some headroom. Effiencey also matters, you could have a 750watt with the worst effiency possible, and so it wouldn't be able to power your system. of course 80+ certifies whether on not the psu has 80% or above of power load effiency.

Anyway, Modular is just refering to the cables. That they are able to detach from the psu. just look at the pictures on a modular PSU you'll get it. I'm surprised you've never heard of modular -_-

I say ditch the ud3r. heres why:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/276715-30-x58a-ud3r-raid-bsod-disk-boot-failure

all reviews complain and there is no fix yet. not worth the hassel.

look at 1 of these:

EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-KR
ASUS P6X58D-E
ASUS P6X58D Premium

is there any mobo that has a 5 star rating? also i don't want to spend like 270 on the mobo or i go over my budget   240 is the max i can spend on one.

should i get 1 or 2 yr warranty on the mobo, gfx card, cpu? with 2 yrs warranty on 3 of those my price went up 155 dollars for a grand total of 1374 dollars

how's this mobo? its 190 dollars

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


otherwise its going to be http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Get the sabertooth. great Mobo. was my 2nd choice.

The Sabertooth is a great mobo, you'll be fine. Plus it has USB 3.0. Also the 1156 Sabertooth was a great board, this'll most likely follow the trend. ALSO! Don't look at ratings all the time for Newegg. Because mobo's can come DOA from shipping and people give it one stars because they're stupid... I've never had a DOA before and I've built 3 computers from newegg.

Anyway, warranty is a waste of you money, because manufacturers already offer like 2-5 yr warrenty out of factory. Plus if it's DOA Newegg will either send you the money back and or replace it.

all right cool thnx

if all works out well i can finally have an overpowered computer!!!

Alright, so you have found out all the things you need to know right?

actually i got one question

for the OS...

my current laptop (dell studio 1555) came with vista but had the free upgrade to windows 7. my university has free download of windows 7 (one license).

if i download windows 7 from my school how do i put that on my computer when i build it? or can i boot up my new comp with the vista disk and upgrade that to windows 7 and then use the win7 license from my school on my computer?

i don't want to pay another 100+ for win 7 if i can get it free from my school

Well... You can DL and burn it onto a disk and in bios set the boot to "Boot to D:/" D being the disk drive.

shedeze, that's a bad batch from July. Quit linking it.

I've had a UD3R and it's running perfectly, as a whole lot of others are.

all right cool hopefully that works out perfectly

man azn you and everyone on this forum are awesome and very helpful xD i ask a question and you guys rapid fire answer  

TY!!!!!!!!!!

final price of all components including tax and shipping comes out to 1270 dollars and then there's additional 40 dollars from mail in rebate, so it will actually cost 1230

this will be a good system right? sorry but this is gonna be a big purchase xD if you want i'll put up the full list so you can see if everything will work right etc



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Yep its good to go. One thing though, you might want to look into is your Thermal paste, not that it is a big deal. But if you cancel now you'll be at the same price, but lower temps which I think is a plus when its the same price.

AC MX-2 review:http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-r...
Product: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Oh and no problem

nice ty vm i'll buy that instead

 

alrighty, so your all set?

yes im set tyvm  

Alright   Help the mods out and close the thread though! BA the biggest helping post.

Best answer selected by kdmaris.