Graphics card upgrade help

[stevie44]

Okay my specs first:


Gigabyte mobo GA-MA785GM-US2H
amd 955 BE cpu
4GB DDR2 RAM
ATI HD 4670
ANTEC EARTHWATTS 430 PSU


Firstly am a father of two on a budget, so save me the upgrade my psu replys. A previous tomshardware geek got me into the ati 4670, when only had a 300 watt psu. He taught me the power requirements are over stated. So keeping the above psu, looking for advice on a better psu that will work with plenty of breathing room on my new Antec earthwatts. It is 2 rails, continous power and 80 plus certified. Sorry not sure if any of that matters. It can be ATI or NVIDIA gpu. Just want the most processing power. Blogs I read debate which are better....ATI or NVIDIA. I was looking at the Nvidia 450 or the ATI 5770. Thanks for your help.



Steve

 

[brandondiep]

Looks like you have everything solved.. a simple google would show that the 5770 is faster at stock speeds.

 

[stevie44]

How about this gpu....on newegg. Better...or just about the same.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150540

 

[brandondiep]

Pretty much the same card, get whatever is cheaper

 

[rockyjohn]

What is your budget?

For $130AR you can get the GTX 460 1GB card that is on sale because it is being replaced by a newer card - the GTX 560.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600007323%20600062521&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

This review from Anandtech shows the total test system with that model of card using 300w (and provides you some benchmarks on the card):

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4344/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-top-to-bottom-overclock/15

There is a link at the bottom of the text to navigate to other pages in the article.

Here is a chart comparing the performance of the 4670, 5770, and 460
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2010-gaming-graphics-charts-high-quality/compare,2496.html?prod%5B4568%5D=on&prod%5B4611%5D=on&prod%5B4515%5D=on

 

[stevie44]

space is my issue...have a micro atx case. I'm not sure can squeeze the nvidia cards. I got a pci wireless desktop card under my ati hd 4670. Only one pci slot empty, before the wireless desktop card....about 1 1/2 in of space. Nvidia cards seem to be too big...vs ati 5770. Correct me if am wrong. I can spend about $150 too. Needing to stay at the 400 watts limit.

 

[rockyjohn]

Note that both cards - the HD 5770 and GTX 460 1MB are double wide cards that take up two slots. The 5770 is 0.2" shorter at 8.3 inches (21 cm) compared to 8.5 inches for the GTX 460. So there really is not much difference in size as long as that 0.2" is not critical.

The HD 5770 does have the advantage in power consumptions. Varius reviews showed the total system with that card using 240w-280w at full load, while the 460 used 290w-330w. Both would work with a 400w PSU - but obviously the 5770 provides more overhead for growth and protection.

Antec Earthwatts is a good PSU - I have the 500w version in one of my systems.

The 5570 is a good card. It is a little slower than the 460 but uses less power and costs a little less. If you go with that card I would recommend the XFX card which has a lifetime warranty at $110 AR:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447

Either card will give you a nice jump in game performance over the HD 4670.