Gtx460 or 6850 or 6870 No OC

[harrypotin]

Hello,
I'm planning to upgrade my system in like 2 days so if i could get some feedback about the following it would be really helpful.

Planning(or more like definitely) to get a

Core 2 Quad Processor Q8300 / 2.5 GHz 1066MHz,3MB,LGA
INTEL G41 DG41CN 16x, V, S, L Motherboard
4 GB DDR3 RAM
--Currently own a Samsung LCD Monitor with screen resolution 1360*768(recommended)

So wanted to know which GPU to get
GTX 460 1Gb or 6850 or 6870 (ATI) U must have gotten an idea about my price range too i guess.

I will NOT be overclocking the graphic card which i buy and intend to run it at its stock speed. Plus i'm an amateur at overclocking so dont wanna mess around with it.

I'll be mostly playing decent graphic games like Crysis, Crysis 2(hopefully) , Starcraft 2, Mass effect 2 etc etc i guess u got my drift. A card which pretty much plays all the games for atleast 3-4 years would be nice.

Also, just on a sidenote which pc gamepad would u prefer a logitech Rumble 2 or an Xbox 360 controller (it's just an optional question, the GPU thing remains the main).


P.S: Read the rules, searched the forums and i couldn't find a similar thread, if it's anything related to 460...its all about overclocking and stuff, Hence made this thread.

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

Get the 6870 you almost cant overclock the 6870 due to the fact it is already running at full speed..But you will lose some features such as 3d,physx and such but the technology isnt implemented widely.I am a Nvidia fan no doubt but Buying Nvidia without Overclocking is really like wasting hardearned cash..But the 6870 should have the Eyefinity feature if i am not mistaken..

 

[purple stain]

I would reccomend a 6870, it is the fastest of the ones listed,but if your trying to save some money go for 460.With an ATI graphics card like the Radeon 6870,ATI Overdrive is perfect for beginers who want to O.C. it's in the software they give you.
I don't know much about controllers but the Xbox 360 controller works perfectly for Windows,since their both made by microsoft, it is really easy to use and setup.From 2 years from now you can buy a new mobo and crossfire and it should keep you up to date with current games at that time.

 

[17seconds]

The 6870 is probably the fastest of the bunch at stock speeds. It is possible to find factory overclocked GTX460's, like the EVGA FTW that will match the 6870. You would also get PhysX with the GTX460, just look for factory clock speeds near 800mhz. For the price, you may also want to look at a GTX470. If the Gigabyte GTX470 Superoverclock is in your price range, I would get it hands down. I'm giving you options, but the 6870 is probably your best bet for your price range.

 

[harrypotin]

And if i were to choose between a 6850 and a GTX 460 (of course again no OC) which would be the better one? I've heard that 460 has exhausted all its driver updates and that 6850 still has many driver updates yet to come. So, yea would that make much of a difference?

Also, i've checked the prices of the 3 cards and it looks like 6850 and the 460(1GB) are pretty much evenly priced.

 

[purple stain]

I believe the 6850 is faster than the 460.The 68xx series is brand new, just came out last month.But it depends on which version of the 460 you get,the GTX 460 Hawk Talon Attack is factory O.C. and has special modifications than the regular 460's.In price comparasion the 460 should be $50 cheaper, i see one for as low as 130 after MIR.Best bang for your buck would be the GTX460 Hawk Talon Attack,it's around the same price as the 6850 and it's a lil faster.Me personally,i would go with the 6850 because it's newer and ATI Overdrive is really easy to use,O.C.'d 6850 would beat that special edition 460.Keep in mind the 6850 is a brand new card and will go a long way.

 

[notty22]

If your not going to o/c that 2.5 c2Q, you will bottleneck all of those gpu's . One won't outperform the other. IMO.
So get the cheapest, you might want to consider a 100 dollar 5770 if you can get one on sale.

 

[17seconds]

Notty has a point. But like I said earlier a factory overclocked 460 will match a 6870, therefore it will beat a 6850. I'm not aware of any 6850's that come with enough of a factory overclock to push it into 6870 territory.

 

[purple stain]

DO you have a current Power Supply or were you going to buy one to go with the build?
Within the same ballpark as the 6870, is the 470...i mean i read a couple reviews and i saw that they were mostly tied,in Metro the 470 scored 10 Fps better,and in other games like BFBC2 the 6870 was 5FPs better,so i guess it really comes down to your personally choice or best buy.

 

[mactronix]

What with the CPU and the resolution of your monitor, you dont say if that will be changing anytime soon, i would say save some money and get the 6850.
The 6870 is obviously that bit faster but then it all depends on where you are shopping and whats available. there was a thread yesterday where someone had found a 5850 for £114 on amazon and wanted to know if a 6850 would be better. Well no not at that price (the 6850 is approx £150.
So that may be something you might want to consider doing because if you can get a 5850 for similar or less then that would be a sensible option to me.

Mactronix

 

[harrypotin]

Best answer selected by harrypotin.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey