GTX 460 vs GTX 560 vs HD 6870?

[need2know]

Time to buy a new video card.

I have read all the reviews I could find concerning the cards I am looking at (including all brands within the GPUs I am considering).
But I would like to hear from people who have actually used and/or own(ed) the exact  cards I am considering, if possible. (Educated opinions are welcome, too, of course).

Nvidia 
GPU:  GTX 460 (but NOT the SE version). 
Brand/Model:  EVGA 01G-P3-1371-TR 
Brand/Model:  ZOTAC ZT-40408-10P
Brand/Model:  ECS NGTX460-1GPI-F1

GPU: GTX 560 (not Ti)
Brand/Model:  ECS NGTX560-1GPI-F 

ATI
GPU: Radeon HD 6870
Brand/Model:  PowerColor AX6870 1GBD5-2DH
Brand/Model:  SAPPHIRE 100314-3L

Budget: around USD $130.00 - $160.00 after rebate.
I plan to buy it this week.
Will buy from almost any reputable online store in the US (if you know of a good one, please tell me).
I will not be overclocking.
No SLI or CF.
Mon. res: 1280 x 1024 (only 1 monitor).
The quieter the better but mainly just not annoyingly loud.
I'd like to stick with the stock cooling if possible.

My PC: MSI AM3 mobo (NB=760G, SB=710), 4GB DDR3  1333 RAM, Phenom II x4 955BE, Rosewill Challenger case, PSU Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL. WinXP Home (may upgrade to Win 7, if I find a good deal).
I don't need settings maxed out, medium high is fine (but if it'll do more with these cards, I won't complain!).

Games I will be playing: The Elder Scrolls IV, Call of Duty MW2,
Need for Speed (several versions), Half Life, Crysis, and Terraria.

Also, with the GTX 460 & 560, would the OpenGL bug affect those games?

Thank you!

 

[jyjjy]

For your resolution any of the cards you mentioned should do very well. Is there a reason you are limiting yourself to those specific cards?
My personal recommendation would be this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518
It has very good and quiet cooling and a nice factory OC although it should go a lot higher if you are willing to OC more on your own.

 

[need2know]

For your resolution any of the cards you mentioned should do very well. Is there a reason you are limiting yourself to those specific cards?
My personal recommendation would be this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518
It has very good and quiet cooling and a nice factory OC although it should go a lot higher if you are willing to OC more on your own.

Thanks for answering so quickly.

I chose those cards because they are within our budget (barely) and they have fewer negative ratings within their classes.

About the MSI Hawk card you referrenced; it has a lot of negative reviews, DOA cards, early failures, beeps, and complaints about Customer Support being poor (plus rebates not being honored). Do you have this card? If so, for how long? Any problems? Have you dealt with MSI customer service?

What about the OpenGL bug? Have you seen it in your gaming?

This (along with the other parts we just bought) is a huge investment for us and we probably won't do this again for another 8 years (that's how long we've had our current PC, we bought it used in 2003). Thus I would like to be as sure as possible that the video card we buy is a good, well-made, well-supported one.

Tom's Hardware hierarchy says the HD 6870 is equal to the GTX 560 and a tier above the GTX 460. And the Anandtech bench comparison also shows better framerates for the HD 6870 (except for Civ V).

Within the ones I have chosen, some brands are not as well known (Zotac and ECS) but they may well be up-and-comers, and PowerColor is a little better known but not for it's overall quality and coolness. That is why I was hoping owners or previous owners could shed some light on those cards. The usual well-known brands have a surprising amount of bad reviews, DOAs and poor or unresponsive customer service complaints.

One problem for me is I have always loved/used Nvidia cards [although I was very upset with them for killing the Voodoo cards way back when! ;-/ ]. So, as much as I WANT to be convinced that the GTX is the way to go, it looks like the HD 6870 may be the better card (?) {still not totally convinced}.

And I would still like help with the brands I listed...

Thanks again for your input. Any additional thoughts will be very welcome!

 

[jyjjy]

Well if you are concerned about longevity of that magnitude then getting a card with a lifetime warranty makes sense. I believe EVGA, XFX and Zotac all offer such(though not on all models so be sure to check.)
As for the GTX 560 vs HD6870 I believe the results are close enough to be pretty indistinguishable overall so if you really want to go with Nvidia then do so.
Have you already bought the other parts for the computer? Some of your choices are non-optimal IMO. Especially the PSU. If you haven't bought anything yet what is your total overall budget?

 

[serge44]

Hey there, you were asking for some actual owners insights so here I go.

I own a MSI Hawk 460GTX 1GB and I can't say anything bad from it. It's a devil. It's allowed me to run all games I have on max settings on a 1440x900 monitor. It's not whisper-quiet but it's nothing that will bother you. I've never even heard of the OpenGL bug. You say you don't plan to overclock, well this guy comes with factory overclock but is built to handle even more overclocking. I run mine at 830MHz (stock cooling, which on the Hawk is quite somethig) which is even more than the 560, and haven't had a problem. It can surely push further but can't see why.

I also watch my blu rays trough it's HDMI output and both video and audio are superb.

Anyway, just my two cents.

 

[need2know]

Hey there, you were asking for some actual owners insights so here I go.

I own a MSI Hawk 460GTX 1GB and I can't say anything bad from it. It's a devil. It's allowed me to run all games I have on max settings on a 1440x900 monitor. It's not whisper-quiet but it's nothing that will bother you. I've never even heard of the OpenGL bug. You say you don't plan to overclock, well this guy comes with factory overclock but is built to handle even more overclocking. I run mine at 830MHz (stock cooling, which on the Hawk is quite somethig) which is even more than the 560, and haven't had a problem. It can surely push further but can't see why.

I also watch my blu rays trough it's HDMI output and both video and audio are superb.

Anyway, just my two cents.

Thanks for the info! Sounds good. You haven't hooked up to a monitor using the vga adapter by any chance, have you?

 

[serge44]

Thanks for the info! Sounds good. You haven't hooked up to a monitor using the vga adapter by any chance, have you?

Yup, that's how I connect to my 1440x900 monitor, which has a VGA input instead of DVI.. The 460 has 2 DVI outputs and 1 miniHDMI, so I have to use an adapter (included with the card!) to connect to the monitor, but with no problem at all. When I want to go large (watching blu rays, for example), then I plug my 42" LED TV to the HDMI output, and it automatically outputs HD audio trough it (as well as the video signal, of course).

No problem whatsoever, I'm quite happy with its performance.

 

[need2know]

Well if you are concerned about longevity of that magnitude then getting a card with a lifetime warranty makes sense. I believe EVGA, XFX and Zotac all offer such(though not on all models so be sure to check.)
As for the GTX 560 vs HD6870 I believe the results are close enough to be pretty indistinguishable overall so if you really want to go with Nvidia then do so.
Have you already bought the other parts for the computer? Some of your choices are non-optimal IMO. Especially the PSU. If you haven't bought anything yet what is your total overall budget?

Lifetime warranty - good point. I'll look into that.

I have already bought those parts. The Rosewills were a combo deal. They got good ratings so will be keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks for all your help!

 

[need2know]

Yup, that's how I connect to my 1440x900 monitor, which has a VGA input instead of DVI.. The 460 has 2 DVI outputs and 1 miniHDMI, so I have to use an adapter (included with the card!) to connect to the monitor, but with no problem at all. When I want to go large (watching blu rays, for example), then I plug my 42" LED TV to the HDMI output, and it automatically outputs HD audio trough it (as well as the video signal, of course).

No problem whatsoever, I'm quite happy with its performance.

That is great news! Thanks!

 

[need2know]

Thanks everyone for your help.
Am ordering the card tonite!

 

[need2know]

Best answer selected by need2know.

 

[Mousemonkey]

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