Eeny.. meeny.. miny.. mo! (6870 help)

[divinedragon]

So I've been in the market tossing builds back and forth, and just realized that with the falling prices in graphics cards lately(plus rebates) that it would be a good time to at least bite on one for now. I was about to get a radeon 6850 when I read somewhere that there was about a 25% increase in frame rate, should I choose to go up a step to the 6870. Not sure how realistic that is, but it seemed logical to me, so I started looking for his big brother.

Newegg seems to be going bonkers on sales with these things probably due to a new season of cards to be coming to us this fall/winter. Here's where I need the expertise of those greater than I to help to make up for my lack of understanding, and things I might overlook (or over analyze for the matter). I'm just focusing on the gaming side of things even though I'll be using my build for some heavy Adobe rendering, etc.

I'll have a 2600k OC'd processor, 24"1920x1200 monitor, and 2x4 gigs of anywhere between 1600-2133 flavor of corsair ram, (most likely a CL9) running on this MB.

Rather than list off a bunch of cards, I'd rather give you a page straight from Newegg of the cards currently available. What I need the most help with is what REALLY is important with these cards. Is is nicer to have it OC'd from the beginning? Is there a fan assembly that is obnoxiously louder than the rest? I'd love to get the cheapest ah heck at $155, but am I sacrificing quality over price? Can I OC on my own and get the same results as a factory OC'd one? Help me find the sweet spot. I'd love to finally get one of these today. If I missed a detail that would help with the decision process, please slap me upside the head.

 

[jyjjy]

The HD6870 is more like 15-20% faster than the HD6850 and a good amount of that is due to the different stock clocks(HD6870 has an extra 125mhz.) They are the same GPU however and should for the most part be overclock to the same levels(1ghz or a lil higher.) That said the price difference isn't very large right now so if you want an HD6870 then go ahead. The Sapphire card at $155 after MIR is fine.
Another option you may want to consider is the GTX 460. It is on par with the HD6850 but overclocks better and performance tends to scale better with an OC on those cards. Here is one for $120 after MIR;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500202
Here is an article with benchmarks for all of the cards both with and without a high overclock;
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd6950/4.htm

 

[mosox]

That XFX dual fan HD-687A-ZDFC is very nice, read the customer's reviews. It's $159.99 after the mail-in rebate and you get a free game and lifetime warranty (with registration of the card on the XFX site within 30 days of purchase).

 

[jyjjy]

That XFX dual fan HD-687A-ZDFC is very nice, read the customer's reviews. It's $159.99 after the mail-in rebate and you get a free game and lifetime warranty (with registration of the card on the XFX site within 30 days of purchase).

It comes with 2 free games actually with this combo;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.656834

 

[divinedragon]

I'm not 100% on that one. I know that they had one similar like that before, but I'm sure there's some kind of exception there. With that said though, I found this card that has an additional $15 off code along with the $30 MIR, and the DIRT 3 game. Can't complain about $145. Thanks for the extra effort Jyjjy. Does anyone think I would run into a cooling issue with only a single fan on the unit?

 

[divinedragon]

Also, so Nvidia doesn't feel left out, and to cover all my bases, there's a couple cards at a good price right now.

560ti @ $175 AR

or

460 @ $115 AR

Does that change anyone's mind for my card?

 

[jyjjy]

The GTX 460 is probably the best value for the money after MIR and the GTX 560 Ti the best card you are looking at and has particularly good cooling for an OC.
I recommend you look at that article I linked with numbers for all these cards when fully OCed and decide for yourself.

 

[divinedragon]

Best answer selected by divinedragon.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey