For casual gaming, which card is best?

Recin

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Hi all!

I am assembling an upgrade for my system and am totally stumped on the new graphics cards out now. I am going to get a Phenom x4 965 and my monitor is a SyncMaster 930B which is at 1280x1024.

Ive been told the GTX 460 and Radeon HD 6850 are good models. I wanted to get your advice on which below (if any) is most ideal for a casual gamer who doesnt need to run everything on max settings and wont be looking at FPS monitors. I just have to idea what the difference is between core clock, shader clock and memory...

EVGA FPB (Free Performance Boost) 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562

EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591

MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127512


Thanks!!
 
Solution

HDMI and DVI are both digital and carry the exact same picture. This is not a matter of opinion. The main difference is that HDMI also carries audio. The other difference is that HDMI supports HDCP(annoying DRM) which is necessary to carry a bluray signal I believe.

Recin

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I suppose add this to the list too, since it is on heavy promo:

SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102883&cm_re=5870-_-14-102-883-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=
 

fatkid35

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at the resolution your using, any of those cards will be way more than needed. but it will be nice to know if you get a larger monitor, the 460 will handle the bump in res. the more memory the card has the bigger the frame buffer you'll have. i have the gtx 460 768 mb card with a 22 in. moniotor at 1650 X 1050 and it works wonderful.

ps. the msi has the nicest cooling solution and will be the quietest. good news is all the 460's run cool and pretty quiet overall. 460's will use less power than the 5870 as well.
 

Recin

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I don't think I am going to get a new monitor - would is be better to look at even lower cards like the GTX 450 for $100?
 
Hmm internet malfunction lost my post I guess.

I agree with fatkid, any of those is way more than you need at current resolution. You could get by just fine with a 5770 or a GTX 450.

If you plan to upgrade to a 1920x1080 monitor (which you should ;) ) then IMO a 1gb 460 is going to do the trick, but it and the 5850 are about as low as you want to go for 1080p and still have highest settings in almost all games.

A 5870 is a very good card, it'll max out basically any game at 1080p.

It really just depends what games you play and if you'll upgrade the monitor in the future.
 

Recin

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Ok ok, now you got the gamer in me thinking. I also have no idea about monitors, but I saw this one on sale! If I sprung for the GTX 460 (which from the first post is better?) how would this monitor stack up?

ASUS MS246H Glossy Black / White 23.6" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50000:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236086
 
Well the 1gb model is something like 7% faster than the 768mb model because it has a higher bitrate, plus with the extra RAM it can handle slightly more VRAM intensive settings like AA/AF. As far as stock speeds go, not much to worry about because it's super easy to overclock video cards these days beyond any factory OC, which are generally quite conservative.
 

Recin

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Gotchya - what do you think about this monitor?

ASUS MS246H Glossy Black / White 23.6" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50000:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236086
 

Recin

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One final question on it - I was looking at getting the following video card and mobo. The mobo is pretty cheap - will it hinder the performance of the video card I selected?

EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


and

ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard


to go with a AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
 
That monitor is a good deal for the money and upgrading is a good idea if you can afford it. A GTX 460 or HD6850 would be very good choices for the money for a 1080p monitor. If the 768mb card is all you can afford I would get this one as it has very quiet and effective cooling;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121390
For the 1gb card or an HD6850 these are the cards I would say are the best deals for the money right now;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551
 

Don't get the GTX 460 SE. It is a pointless card. The 768mb non-SE card is notably faster for the same money,
 
This is a good page to keep an eye on for good deals on a monitor;
http://www.logicbuy.com/subcategorydeals/13/Computers/36/LCD_Monitors.aspx
In general I would recommend actually going to a store with a decent variety of monitors on display to see what kind you personal prefer. Personal preferences on size, resolution, pixel density, aspect ratio, contrast ratios, viewing angles, response times, glossy vs matte, etc. vary widely. I wouldn't buy in the store however as you will surely find better deals online.
 

Recin

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You sold me.

Only on is HDMI though. Is HDMI important for gaming? I don't have blueray or anything. But I imagine I would use Hulu plus with HD shows.
 
HDMI is used to transfer clearer and better colors. HDMI would give you a more crisper picture compared to VGA and DVI. Course it's all the opinion of the person as all people see it differently. If you get any new cards, they're most likely to have HDMI now. VGA or DVI (can't remember which) is slowly being phased out so.... HDMI would be the best upgrade. Blu-ray has nothing to do with HDMI to my knowledge, unless of course you mean a separate blu-ray player. HD shows on Hulu are different as well, they are just meant to fit your resolution in a sense. Like if I was to watch a Youtube video on my 1680x1050 (Woot LG) monitor (full screen), It'd look the best on 720P/1080P. Hulu's HD is 480P or 720P I think? Anyway, if you get those monitors. I suggest getting a DirectCu 6850 or DirectCu 460 1gb, or for that matter a 6870 maybe. Mainly the 6850 because you'll be able to CF in the future (should your mobo support it) not many AMD chipset boards (i don't think any) support SLI. Cept the 980n which isn't an AMD chipset.
 

HDMI and DVI are both digital and carry the exact same picture. This is not a matter of opinion. The main difference is that HDMI also carries audio. The other difference is that HDMI supports HDCP(annoying DRM) which is necessary to carry a bluray signal I believe.
 
Solution