1gb GTX460 SE vs 768 GTX460 SC

[JonBeam]

Trying to buy a budget card. I have two options at roughly the same price. The 1gb GTX 460 SE or the 768 GTX 460 SC. Which will give greater performance? One has less memory, and the other has less everything else. My gut tells me 768 GTX 460 SC.

768 GTX 460 SC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130564

1gb GTX 460 SE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591

 

[Helltech]

Do you care about rebates? Here is a normal 1GB for 135 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551

or this...

I don't really like Galaxy though...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162055

 

[JonBeam]

Actually, after rebate the SC is $129 and the SE is $139 at compusa. I just didn't mention or link that because I wanted to limit the conversation to performance only.

As for the msi card, it's for my girlfriend. So I'd rather go with evga. I know, have used and trust their cards. I've heard a lot of good things about msi, but I haven't used one in one of my own machines yet, so I'm not sticking them in a machine built for someone else until I have personal experience with them.

 

[joshua07]

Go with the SC. I've looked at the same two cards before and found that the SC will outperform the SE even with the less memory.

 

[Helltech]

As long as shes not playing a really high resolution get the SC, granted I'd still get a normal 460 1GB.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

id go for the 1gb se, then you can overclock it yourself to beat the full gtx460 1gb. 768mb is just not quite enough memory for the future imo. for example, my 8800gts 640mb was considered to have too much memory and was unneccessary when i bought it. if i had gone with the 320mb version i would be regretting it as it would struggle with most games now. here is an example pulled from toms vga charts http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/compare,1812.html?prod%5B3640%5D=on&prod%5B3642%5D=on most of the time the 2 cards are on par, but in some circumstances the card with the lower 320mb memory loses serious FPS, you dont want a card that does that do you????

 

[JonBeam]

Well, that's two votes for the SE (one was my brother) and two for the SC.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/34089-nvidia-geforce-gtx-460-1gb-gtx-460-768mb-review-10.html
There you have it.
Looks like the 1Gb typically destroys the 768Mb.

Definately go with EVGA, though. They're probably the best of the nVidia manufacturers. For Radeon I'd typically say MSI, but it's hard to put it up against EVGA's warranty... plus they're just sexy...

 

[JonBeam]

Well the problem with these two comparisons is that they don't account for the 1gb being the SE version.

Not saying the conclusion is wrong...it's what I'm leaning towards so far...but the supporting evidence isn't what it could be.

 

[nforce4max]

Get the 1gb card. Eventually we are going to start seeing games that really require 1gb for most settings. Trust me you want the 1gb.

 

[JonBeam]

undecided on oc. would most likely decide that after card was already bought so i could monitor it and ascertain what i felt was safe.

 

[nforce4max]

Some are hovering for less than $100 on eBay but however I still stand by getting a 1GB or better card regardless of ones preferences. As for the newtboxes they are not gaming at 1920x1080 or higher with aa and af models with large textures along with possible tessellation.

 

[JonBeam]

The price isn't highly negotiable. The build isn't one of desire but necessity. Girlfriends laptop died from hp pavilion GPU bug. I can only take a blowtorch to it so many times ><.

So costs have to be kept down as we're both unprepared and having to rush. However, I've been using benchmark divided by $ as a determinant for other parts. Which brought about the topic. The EVGA GTX 460's hadn't been competitive at the time of post, and still from what I had seen only seemed to be around a 10-16% performance increase for a 26% price increase.

I hadn't mentioned this before now because it didn't matter, but around half way through this thread I had to make a decision. I went with the GTX 460 SE. I kept the thread going because I was interested in the answer and other people seemed to be too. Anyway, upon installation the card was toast. So thread's utility was renewed. And this is now relevant because along with above price logic I am now limited to exchanges to compusa brick and mortar stores. Ebay's out.

That said, the computer that necessity built is now built, and needs a video card to run. I'll be making my decision within the next few hours. Technical curiosity is keeping me interested in the answer to the question as nothing 100% absolutely definitive has come along, but the 1gb SE seems to be edging forward and I will most likely go with that again. Compusa changes their discounts every damn day, though, so it'll be an on the spot judgement call.

I'll probably check this thread one last time on my phone before I buy. I doubt much will change though . Feel free to continue the discussion or post more info if anyone else is as technically curious as I am. The answer won't serve much other purpose than that at this point, though. Or to frustrate me if the 1gb turns out the loser.

 

[JonBeam]

I got frustrated with the lack of knowing for certain which one was the winner so I shelled out money for the 460. I stand by my belief that at 130-140 these cards are competitive with the more expensive version with regard to performance per dollar, but not knowing was driving me mad to the point where i just shelled out the money to be certain.

Unfortunately I'm still curious about the answer, but I don't think anything definitive is going to come out. Which also makes picking a best answer rather difficult. I guess I'll mark it solved anyway so it's easier to tag and bag.

 

[JonBeam]

Best answer selected by JonBeam.