6850 or gtx 460?

[cera25]

Hi everybody, I want to upgrade my gts 250, but I'm not sure. Which one is better: ati 6850 or gtx 460???

 

[_orbital_]

6870

 

[_orbital_]

http://www.ultimatehardware.net/ati/xfx_radeon_hd_6850.htm

 

[chumly]

It would be nice to know if you are on an AMD or Intel platform, it could possibly sway my decision. Unless you are planning on using Adobe CS5, I think the 6850 is the better choice, especially if you're looking at CFX down the road, the 2x card setup scales amazingly.

 

[cera25]

amd phenom x4 @ 3.0 ghz

 

[_orbital_]

amd phenom x4 @ 3.0 ghz

than 6850 for sure

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The reviews are pretty split with some sites favoring one and others the other....but the 6850's performance seems to sit between the 768 MB and 1 GB versions of the 460. here's one review favoring the green team.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/XFX-Radeon-HD-6850-Video-Card-Review/1127/12

....the GeForce GTX 460 with 1 GB was up to 32% faster than the Radeon HD 6850 (between 8% and 32% faster on 3DMark Vantage, up to 10% faster on Call of Duty 4, between 7% and 18% faster on Far Cry 2, between 5% and 9% faster on Alien vs. Predator, up to 11% faster on Crysis Warhead, and up to 15% faster on Lost Planet 2).

Other sites have different benchies and go the other way.

I like benchmarkreviews articles cause they include a value analysis which I'll paste in here:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=627&Itemid=72&limit=1&limitstart=14

GTX 460 768 MB - $57.05 per fps
Radeon 6850 - $57.40
GTX 460 1 GB - $68.57

Keep in mind that today's prices will change those numbers even if the article is only a week or two old. A lot will depend on "buy day" prices.....

So, it seems to be a neck and neck thing and in that case, I'd have to lean nVidia. The 460 comes with CUDA, PhysX, etc. The fact that you already have a 250 which could be kept and used as a PhysX card would seal the deal for me.

Looking at newegg I see among "brands that I'd buy", both the 1 GB 460 and the 6850 at the same $200 price. At $200 for either, that would make my decision easier to go with the 460, especially if ya can find a superclocked one at that price like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571

 

[chumly]

The reviews are pretty split with some sites favoring one and others the other....but the 6850's performance seems to sit between the 768 MB and 1 GB versions of the 460. here's one review favoring the green team.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/XFX-Radeon-HD-6850-Video-Card-Review/1127/12

....the GeForce GTX 460 with 1 GB was up to 32% faster than the Radeon HD 6850 (between 8% and 32% faster on 3DMark Vantage, up to 10% faster on Call of Duty 4, between 7% and 18% faster on Far Cry 2, between 5% and 9% faster on Alien vs. Predator, up to 11% faster on Crysis Warhead, and up to 15% faster on Lost Planet 2).

Other sites have different benchies and go the other way.

I like benchmarkreviews articles cause they include a value analysis which I'll paste in here:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=627&Itemid=72&limit=1&limitstart=14

GTX 460 768 MB - $57.05 per fps
Radeon 6850 - $57.40
GTX 460 1 GB - $68.57

Keep in mind that today's prices will change those numbers even if the article is only a week or two old. A lot will depend on "buy day" prices.....

So, it seems to be a neck and neck thing and in that case, I'd have to lean nVidia. The 460 comes with CUDA, PhysX, etc. The fact that you already have a 250 which could be kept and used as a PhysX card would seal the deal for me.

Looking at newegg I see among "brands that I'd buy", both the 1 GB 460 and the 6850 at the same $200 price. At $200 for either, that would make my decision easier to go with the 460, especially if ya can find a superclocked one at that price like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571

The AMD nforce boards are crap. Unless you want him to hack an AMD board, I would still go with the 6850. If he needs more graphics later, he can get another 6850 and go all stompy on most of the single cards out there right now.

Using this benchmark (which I think is the most modern and stressful):Battlefield Bad Company 2 Dx11 @ 1920x1200, 8x AA, 16 AF
I got these numbers at cost/fps (using neweggs current prices (w/o MIRs and promos):

 

[IzzyCraft]

? He never said he had a mobo that is crossfire compatible to begin with or a psu.

W.e is cheaper imo. If you wanna oc sure i'd go with a 460 it be cooler and quieter under a high oc of like 825-850 which most 460's can do similarly the 6850 can oc pretty well but it's hotter.

6850 uses 1 6 pin
460 uses 2

I'm also only comparing the 1gb 460 which is not so memory bound.

If you keep things stock i'd go with w.e is cheaper to get a hold of which is likely a 6850 which is also faster at stock so win win.

 

[chumly]

A 550W psu will CFX 6850's just fine. And the motherboard necessary to do it with is a LOT cheaper...

I am of the opinion right now that card is the most bang for the buck.