ATI/AMD vs Nvidia

[irCRiz]

ok im still trying to find out which manufacturer is better. I know that Radeon cards run better at higher resolution and are a lot cheaper than Nvidia cards. Basically im trying to find out which is the best card of the two for 150 bucks. I asked this awhile go but i still don't know so i want to ask again. I want to be able to play the new games coming out this year and early next year on high settings, i only run on a 1440 by 900 display so i know there has to be something out there for that price. I also have a Mobo that supports x8 sli so later on i could just add another one of these cards to make it preform again. A lot of people have been telling me about the Radeon 5850 but i know that card came out over 2 years ago so i really don't want to get such a old card. i also hear good and bad things about the brand new 6790 but again i don't really want a Radeon card since i have sli. I also hear about the GTX 460 but i don't know if the 768mb will be enough to run these knew games. Anyway thanks for reading this and thanks for your help ahead of time.

Here are my pc specs,


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W
Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit

with a MSI NF750a-G55 sli mobo

 

[purple stain]

The 5850 is still a very good card it beats the GTX460 1G version in a lot of different games,yes it is old tech but it's still a powerful card and for the price they are now thats really the only reason to get one.
The GTX460 768mb versoin can certainly handle your resoultion,so if you wanted to get it you can and not suffer performance just because it only has 768mb.If you do upgrade your monitor than maybe you should of a 1G for futureproofing.
If you wanted to get some new tech their are 6850's going for around $160.Very good card,i have the 6870 myself and it's really really good.6850,imo,is more futureproof than either the GTX460 or 5850 because it's better at tesselation which newer games will start to use theirfore the 6850 will start to get better and better.

The $15 extra for the 6850 is well worth it.I would reccomend getting the 6850 over the GTX460.

HIS 6850 $164 + $8 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&cm_re=6850-_-14-161-348-_-Product

Also wanted to add that if you do plan on crossfire the 6850 is the perfect card for it.Scaling with the 6850 is so good that they beat a pair of 5850's in crossfire.The 6850 is definitly a good choice if you plan on crossfireing.

 

[irCRiz]

The 5850 is still a very good card it beats the GTX460 1G version in a lot of different games,yes it is old tech but it's still a powerful card and for the price they are now thats really the only reason to get one.
The GTX460 768mb versoin can certainly handle your resoultion,so if you wanted to get it you can and not suffer performance just because it only has 768mb.If you do upgrade your monitor than maybe you should of a 1G for futureproofing.
If you wanted to get some new tech their are 6850's going for around $160.Very good card,i have the 6870 myself and it's really really good.6850,imo,is more futureproof than either the GTX460 or 5850 because it's better at tesselation which newer games will start to use theirfore the 6850 will start to get better and better.

The $15 extra for the 6850 is well worth it.I would reccomend getting the 6850 over the GTX460.

HIS 6850 $164 + $8 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&cm_re=6850-_-14-161-348-_-Product

ok so you think i should definitely go with the 6850 which as both new technology and power.
Im just wondering if i do end up getting a new monitor that would maybe 1080p monitor do you think it would really greatly affect the card performance and would maybe make me go from ultra setting to high settings. and another question is do you think i should go with just one 6850 and not worry about having to get sli with nvidia cards. Because to tell you the truth i don't want to have to run sli because this isn't the best sli board. Just let me know what you think about this situation

edit: and if i were to get the 6850 im going to want the best one so out of these which one should i get.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600083901%20600083830&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20HD%206850

 

[cloonso]

I would look @ spending a little over $150 say $160 to $170. For that you can get a 6850 or GTX460 1gb. Both of these cards have a lot of leg room to OC and should be good for awhile. I have the 460 in a machine and it is a very good card. I have not used a 6850 but have a 6950 flashed to a 6970 in my main gaming machine. Nvidia drivers seem to be better but the AMD cards seem to have more raw power.

 

[irCRiz]

I would look @ spending a little over $150 say $160 to $170. For that you can get a 6850 or GTX460 1gb. Both of these cards have a lot of leg room to OC and should be good for awhile. I have the 460 in a machine and it is a very good card. I have not used a 6850 but have a 6950 flashed to a 6970 in my main gaming machine. Nvidia drivers seem to be better but the AMD cards seem to have more raw power.

ok im not really it to oc so which one is better with out oc

 

[Embra]

For $150 bucks and the resolution you are playing at, the %850 is probably your best bang for the buck. It is a little better than the 6850 and 460gtx.
You will need to raise your price to find a better choice I think. If your looking to buy a new monitor, than a 6950 or 560gtx would handle 1080p very well, but that will cost a lot more.

I am stealing this link from a previous poster (jvjjy), but it is a nice card and price ==> Sapphire HD 5850

 

[irCRiz]

i really don't know what i should do i don't really know what card i should get i know im not going to get a new monitor anytime soon so i would most likely either go with the 6850 or GTX 460 because they have newer technology which is really what im looking for plus they have alot of power.
another think to keep in mind when helping me choose is that im planning on recording my gameplay with this program called fraps and it does drop the frame rate quiet a bit.

 

[purple stain]

Going from your resoultion(1400x900) to a 1080p resoultion is a huge step up.It doesn't matter with either card you choose GTX460,6850,5850 you will see a drop in FPS.Not sure how much but you will loose some.You won't have to suffer as much of a loss if you get a 1G card.Defnitly stay away from the GTX460 768mb version if your planning on upgrading to a 1080p monitor.

The 5850 at $150 is a great deal but personally i'd rather have the 6850.6850 is much better on power and way better at tesaelation.Don't forget when you crossfire 6850's to 5850's the 6850's out perform the 5850's.As a single card the 5850 beats the 6850 but in crossfire the 6850 crossfire beats the 5850 crossfire.

Well your board is x8/x8 right?Don't see the problem in crossfiring.
I'd say get a 6850 now and if you feel liek you need more power than get another 6850 when you have the money.A 6850 crossfire is really strong and will have no problem playing games maxed out in 1080p and it should last you about 2-3 years depending on which games you play.

What types of games are you looking to play?

 

[irCRiz]

Going from your resoultion(1400x900) to a 1080p resoultion is a huge step up.It doesn't matter with either card you choose GTX460,6850,5850 you will see a drop in FPS.Not sure how much but you will loose some.You won't have to suffer as much of a loss if you get a 1G card.Defnitly stay away from the GTX460 768mb version if your planning on upgrading to a 1080p monitor.

Well your board is x8/x8 right?Don't see the problem in crossfiring.
I'd say get a 6850 now and if you feel liek you need more power than get another 6850 when you have the money.A 6850 crossfire is really strong and will have no problem playing games maxed out in 1080p and it should last you about 2-3 years depending on which games you play.

What types of games are you looking to play?

well the think is that i have a sli config so i don't think i can crossfire as far as i know. and im looking to play most of the newer games coming out such as crysis 2 battlefield 3 games like that i know that the farther we get into 2012 the lower my graphic settings are going to be.
So i don't really mind playing on medium settings but i do want to be able max out games coming out this year.

 

[chesteracorgi]

When you decide (I'm an Nvidia fanboy myself because I think you get more bang for the buck and they update their drivers constantly) you should look at Newegg and TigerDirect for the best prices (and Directron if you are willing to go for a no customer service seller). Otherwise some patience at Ebay can get you a GTX 470 or comparable AMD/ATI for about $150.

The problem with auction is waranty and customer service. Definitely go Newegg or TigerDirect if warranty is important.

ok im still trying to find out which manufacturer is better. I know that Radeon cards run better at higher resolution and are a lot cheaper than Nvidia cards. Basically im trying to find out which is the best card of the two for 150 bucks. I asked this awhile go but i still don't know so i want to ask again. I want to be able to play the new games coming out this year and early next year on high settings, i only run on a 1440 by 900 display so i know there has to be something out there for that price. I also have a Mobo that supports x8 sli so later on i could just add another one of these cards to make it preform again. A lot of people have been telling me about the Radeon 5850 but i know that card came out over 2 years ago so i really don't want to get such a old card. i also hear good and bad things about the brand new 6790 but again i don't really want a Radeon card since i have sli. I also hear about the GTX 460 but i don't know if the 768mb will be enough to run these knew games. Anyway thanks for reading this and thanks for your help ahead of time.

Here are my pc specs,


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W
Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit

with a MSI NF750a-G55 sli mobo

 

[purple stain]

Here's a review of the 6850 crossfire.It's actually better than a 5970.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/7

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_CrossFire/4.html

Those games have a lot of tesselation in them,which is perfect for the 6850.All of them use DX11.Well Crysis 2 is supposed to have DX11 but their lagging.
I actually don't think you will have to lower your graphics that much.A single 6850 you might but not a crossfire.6850 crossfire should last you a while.And if you look at the market right now some of the best games still use DX9(COD:Black Ops,SC2,WoW and many other popular titles).This means that game makers probably won't introduce DX11 to all games for a very long time.
No matter which GPU you choose because it is your choice but just know that an O.C. of you CPU will give you better FPS.Since oyu have a BE processor.

How much do you actually have to spend?Do you really need a card for $150? or are you jsut conserving? Because if you have the money a 6950 would last a lot longer and give you a lot better perfromance.

 

[chesteracorgi]

Agreed on the 6950, and you can flash it to a 6970 if you get a quality card.

 

[irCRiz]

Here's a review of the 6850 crossfire.It's actually better than a 5970.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/7

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_CrossFire/4.html

Those games have a lot of tesselation in them,which is perfect for the 6850.All of them use DX11.Well Crysis 2 is supposed to have DX11 but their lagging.
I actually don't think you will have to lower your graphics that much.A single 6850 you might but not a crossfire.6850 crossfire should last you a while.And if you look at the market right now some of the best games still use DX9(COD:Black Ops,SC2,WoW and many other popular titles).This means that game makers probably won't introduce DX11 to all games for a very long time.
No matter which GPU you choose because it is your choice but just know that an O.C. of you CPU will give you better FPS.Since oyu have a BE processor.

How much do you actually have to spend?Do you really need a card for $150? or are you jsut conserving? Because if you have the money a 6950 would last a lot longer and give you a lot better perfromance.

To tell you the truth i don't have even 150 so i would have to save up for that which is y i want the most bang. Again i understand your coming from and those 2 6850 look really great together. I don't think im going to be able to over clock because i just don't want to take the risk.
I wonder if i could run crossfire on a sli mobo.

 

[purple stain]

I think you can but i'm not sure.You might want to post that question and your mobo's specs in the Motherboard section or Graphics Cards Section.Both i'm sure can give you an answer.

Well if thats the case then the 5850 is the most bang for your buck if you just wanted more FPS as a single card.But honestly I would get the 6850.It's just as a good as the 5850,way better on power,runs cooler and corssfire perfromance is great.
What is your main factor in choosing a GPU?

 

[irCRiz]

I think you can but i'm not sure.You might want to post that question and your mobo's specs in the Motherboard section or Graphics Cards Section.Both i'm sure can give you an answer.

Well if thats the case then the 5850 is the most bang for your buck if you just wanted more FPS as a single card.But honestly I would get the 6850.It's just as a good as the 5850,way better on power,runs cooler and corssfire perfromance is great.
What is your main factor in choosing a GPU?

Ok so i looked around and it does say that i cant crossfire which sucks. My main factor is that i don't have a lot of money which is why i want to get a card for 150 and i want something that gives me a really high fps on all new games coming because im planning to record so when you record your fps drops a lot for example playing CS:S run right now on my mGPU at low settings at 40-50fps and if i start to record it drops all the way to 10-30fps. And i my other factor is that i want a card that is going to last as i'm not able to get a job yet for probably the next year and half so i want the card to last at least that long if not longer. Which is why im worried about the 5850 because it already is 2 years old.

 

[shrkbay]

5850 will serve you well on this resolution for good 2 years, it's best bang for buck for 150$, probably 6850 is 10% better than 460 and 460 is going to be replaced with new 560 non-Ti *same amount of shaders, new chip*

 

[Rustyy117]

I don't know why your worried about the HD5850 being 2 years old... Its not outdated...It plays all the games a GTX460 or HD6850 would, just at slightly higher frame rates.

I think your naive if you think just because its 2 years old it must be worse.

 

[Carc369]

Agreed on the 6950, and you can flash it to a 6970 if you get a [strike]quality[/strike] reference card.

Fixed.

 

[cloonso]

ok im not really it to oc so which one is better with out oc

The GTX460 1 gb is what I would go for. I am no fanboy a have Nvidia and AMD cards and both have their pros and cons. The GTX 460 is just a solid card with good drivers. If you just want to put it in your rig and forget it thats the way to go The 460 will run cooler and quieter if that matters to you. I love my 6950/6970 but it is loud under load when the fan cranks up and I can almost feel the heat radiating out of the case. I have had the best luck with EVGA cards. If you want to save a couple of bucks look at the GTX 460 SE 1gb. I put that card in my sons machine and have been very impressed. If you go with an Nvidia card be sure to down load EVGA Precission as it is a great tool to use for monitoring temps and such.

 

[shrkbay]

SE is pointless buy, 5850 consumes as much power as 460 and runs 15% faster, it's also a lot cheaper, heat difference and silence by both cards are the same

 

[irCRiz]

ok all of you guys are making a good point so i really don't know what to choose i know that the 5850 is faster but i wonder what the temp are for that card because i also want a cool card that i know isnt going to fail on a oc with the catalyst software that amd card get. I also like the 460 1Gb because its a nvidia card and it newer than all the other cards but i don't know if i could oc that card very well.

 

[shrkbay]

460 OCs same as many other cards out there *good*, if you look @ the 5850 Xtreme deal on tigerdirect for 150 bucks then it'd be cooler than most of 460s available, and imo there's no such an arguement like 'newer' or 'nVidia/AMD card' many old cards can run better than new and many AMD cards can run better than many nVidia and opposite...

 

[irCRiz]

ok so i was watching this video and this guy makes a valid point of how the 6850 is right in between the 5770 and the 5850 but when you OC the 6850 that it will do better than the 5850. So let me know what you think about that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzAlX4T94bU

plus i know the best way to OC 6850 because this guy teaches you the best OC settings for the 6850.

 

[Rustyy117]

you do realise the HD5850 overclocks really well right? Anyway I thought you didn't want to OC?

Had a pair of HD5850's @ 1000Mhz Core and 1200Mhz memory (Stock is 725/1000)

 

[irCRiz]

yea ha i just figured that out and i do think im going to end up get the 5850 because it looks like it would be able to handle my type of gaming.

I want to look at some graphs of the 6850 5850 and gtx 460 of some games to see how they compare their frame rates.