GTX 550 ti or 5850 or 6850 ??

[Enzo_660]

I need to choose one out of these cards but unfortunately my power supply is limited and its efficiency sucks big time,
Cooler master extreme plus 550 watts
PSU : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171038

So what is the most powerful card that i can get regarding my psu ?? of course i know that 5850 is the most powerful and power consuming card but will my psu handle it ?? or shall i stick with lower consuming GTX 550 ti ??

In my country Gtx 550 ti costs 158 $
5850 166 $
6850 208 $

My current pc specs:
Dual core 3.0 ghz
5670 HD ---> to be changed
gigabyte G31 mobo
2 gb DDR2 RAM
750 gb western digital HDD
Cooler master USP 100 case with 550 watts PSU

 

[henydiah]

Your system dualcore 3.ghz , I think would be bottleneck with 550ti or above , and In theory 550W can handle all vga in above ,
I'm sorry for better get PSU First than buy vga, see review your psu with 73.5% - 77.5% efficiency.
www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-550-W-Power-Supply-Review/969/9
I'm sorry just suggestion.

 

[Enzo_660]

Well according to this PSU calculator :
http://c1.neweggimages.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html?cm_sp=Cat32_PowerSupply_left-_-PowerSupplyFinder030510-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2fproductfinders%2fpowersupply.jpg

With a GTX 550 ti i will be needing 406 watts, so i think it is possible to have GTX 550 ti installed.

anyways is it worth it to upgrade from 5670 HD to GTX 550 ti ?? i am running 1270*720 low res screen, but my 5670 doesn't max games with decent frame rates, so will a GTX 550 max them out with same monitor and cpu ???

 

[Silvune]

I think that 5850 is probably a bit too good to pass up, especially if you are willing to replace the PSU in the event that it is not able to power your build, afterall it's not like 5850s are the most power consuming cards available.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4344/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-top-to-bottom-overclock/15
A recent GPU review from Anandtech shows virtually no difference in power consumption between a 550 Ti and a 5850, even under furmark.

 

[ringelos]

I'm running a build with an HD 5850 on an OCZ 500w power supply, I think it should be fine.

 

[Cygnus x-1]

yeah get the 5850 without a doubt. It's the fastest out of the three and comparable in power consumption.

 

[henydiah]

Think about bottleneck and safely hardware in longterm if use @OP PSUs

 

[spentshells]

no reason not to say 6850 all the way not one I can see

EDIT I READ 108 for the 6850

Where do you live ? on the moon ?

 

[Supernova1138]

Unless it is a really old dual core, there shouldn't be a significant bottleneck with a 5850 with most games. There was an article on here that tested a 5850 with an i3 530, 2.93GHz and there was no bottleneck with the games they tested. He might hit a bottleneck if he intends to play some very CPU heavy titles like Grand Theft Auto IV or Battlefield Bad Company 2, but under most circumstances the 5850 will work fine. Definitely invest in a better PSU though, The 5850 pulls 150 watts maximum on its own, you probably don't want to put that heavy a load on a questionable PSU.

 

[geekapproved]

At such a low resolution, most of the graphics load is on your cpu. You should upgrade your monitor and ram before thinking about a new video card.

 

[Lutfij]

@ enzo - where dya live btw? and welcome to the forums newcomer!

a mistake on your part is by getting a hold of aging hardware. Try to stay within 6xxx series for Ati and the GTX 5xx series for nvidia. You don't have an older card by any manufacturer's that'd be good for an SLi/Crossfire config so thats why i suggest staying in tune with whats new.

I also suggest getting a mobo/CPU/ran upgrade before tackling the GPU - though you could just pick up a higher end card and transplant it to your new machine later on if the upgrade will be imminent. One more thing, take a look at this ; http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-7.html

my opinion though