Heat, power consumption, and 5770 vs 460 (768mb)

[bobbyorr4]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: black friday
BUDGET RANGE: < $125 or so (after rebate)

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: some gaming (sc2, cod mw2, some others), surfing/watching videos etc.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: EVGA GeForce 8600 GT 256MB, antec earthwatts 380W

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
Athlon II X3 435 (@3.48 ghz)
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H
3 gigs of ddr2 ram
winxp pro
antec solo case

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, there's a microcenter 20 minutes away, but that would be if i were looking to buy a cpu.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: ny, us.

PARTS PREFERENCES: noise, heat and performance are what i'm concerned about. the computer is 3 feet from my bed and the heat wave during the summer had my room feeling like a furnace (my computer stays on 24/7). also, i'm using all four hard drive bays in my antec solo, so whatever card i get should fit in that space (around 8.25").

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 and 1024x768

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
i had a question about heat generated. i've been assuming that it's basically equal to the power consumed. so a system idling at 150W is generating twice the heat of a system idling at 75W. so when i look at reviews and they list the temp under load, that's pretty much just showing how effective the cooler is (by comparing it to power draw) and not how much heat it's generating?

lately i've seen both the 5770 and the 460(768mb) for $115 on newegg. from reviews i'm seeing that the gtx460 is a bit faster(esp. with AA), quieter, but has a significantly higher power consumption under load.
so is the 5770 enough to run most games at max settings at 1080p? are there any versions of the 5770 that is known to have a quiet cooler (vapor maybe)? if i overclocked a 5770, could it match the 460's performance while using less power?
and i'm not really interested in the 1gig 460 unless the price difference is really small. i guess it's possible there could be a huge discount on them on black friday.

 

[HostileDonut]

If you want to game at 1080p go for the gtx 460 hands down. The radeon would be bottlenecked by the CPU probably anyway. The gtx 460 is better and you can OC it even further. GO FOR THE GTX 460!

 

[eyefinity]

I had a 5770 with egg cooler, and it's just really cool there are no heat issues. It's not at all noisy either compared to my new 6850.

I think you can approach the 460 768mb performance with an overclock, but obviously the 460 overclocks as well.

If performance is all that matters, the 460 is faster eod. If good enough performance and quieter/lower power is important, the 5770 is a very solid buy.

 

[bobbyorr4]

If you want to game at 1080p go for the gtx 460 hands down. The radeon would be bottlenecked by the CPU probably anyway. The gtx 460 is better and you can OC it even further. GO FOR THE GTX 460!

why would the radeon be bottlenecked, but not the 460?

also, when i approaching overclocking, i'm thinking more about performance per watt (or performance/heat generated).

 

[HostileDonut]

Your CPU is much much stronger than the GPU. When you put a slower radeon 5770 in it it will bottleneck your CPU. Put the gtx 460 in and the 460 will not bottleneck. (Will not bottleneck much that is)

 

[eyefinity]

Your CPU is much much stronger than the GPU. When you put a slower radeon 5770 in it it will bottleneck your CPU. Put the gtx 460 in and the 460 will not bottleneck. (Will not bottleneck much that is)

Honestly...just no. Most people would say a 5770 was the stronger component compared to an Athlon X3 435. And they'd be right too. The difference between a 5770 and gtx 460 768mb is pretty small and neither will bottleneck any Athlon cpu.

 

[HostileDonut]

Ya but his Athlon is @ 3.5Ghz! The GPU WILL slow down the CPU. Honestly... just yes. Go for the GTX 460 and OC it!

 

[eyefinity]

Really.....just no.

 

[HostileDonut]

He has his CPU running at such speeds that the hd5770 can NOT keep up. When people have CPUs that fast they buy a better card. It would be a waste of money buying a radeon hd5770 when he could bay a gtx 460.

 

[eyefinity]

That's not how it works.

See how higher clock speeds mean very little? It's because gaming is done on the gpu, not the cpu. In a few games the cpu makes more of a difference, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

There is no way that a 5770 will be "bottlenecked" by any Athlon 2 cpu. No way.

 

[HostileDonut]

When the CPU is feeding the GPU more than it can take it is bottlenecking.

 

[HostileDonut]

Okay nevermind my last comment. You win. In some games that end up taking actual CPU power it will bottleneck. So yes in some surcomstances the radeon will not bottleneck the CPU.