Nvidia Gtx 550ti or 460

[bravo95]

Hello, i just have a few questions:

1. I can't tell what card is better for more of a graphical pull. I was looking at benchmarks and it seems these cards vary back and forth meaning better fps wise. I was looking at these cards comparisons on which one might be better at geforce.com and its a bit confusing to me. Since Dx11 is both in place for them i can't tell to much. Which card might be better for alien vs predator 2010, lost planet 2, and for the up coming games diablo 3 and aliens.

2. My card at the moment only has one 6 pin power connector and my psu is way more then enough to support these two cards. but these two cards are saying 2 6 pin power connectors are required. Would this make any difference on the wattage that is being used or no? Or is it simply just asking for me to attacth another while no more wattage is being done.

Thanks

 

[Supernova1138]

The GTX 460 1GB is the faster card by about 10% I believe, the 550Ti sits in the tier right below the 460 1GB. The GTX 460 SE or GTX 460 768MB would probably be about comparable to the 550Ti.

If the cards need two 6 pin connectors that means they are going to pull more power than your current card. Since your current card only has one connector, it is only pulling a maximum of 150 Watts or less. A card with two six pin connectors could potentially pull up to 225 Watts, though no cards in the performance bracket you are looking at pull quite that much. I think the 460's maximum is around 180 Watts. As long as your PSU can support the extra wattage that a new card could pull you will be fine.

 

[bravo95]

thank you for the info, one last thing.
I do have a pretty bare system here and like to push out what ever i can get due to money reasons.
The card i have now is a gts 250 (1 6 pin connector) running along a 460 watt psu. Would you think the gtx 460 would run on this or would this not be a good idea?

 

[bravo95]

http://www.geforce.com/Hardware/GPUs/geforce-gtx-460/specifications

down below on specs page it says
"Supplementary Power Connectors 6-pin & 6-pin"
Would that mean theres 2 pins or just one? I find it a little misleading is all.

Not sure why quick edit made double post, apologies.

 

[Supernova1138]

The GTX 460 requires two 6 pin connectors, as it uses more than 150 Watts. Whether your PSU could handle a 460 I can't say without knowing the Brand, Model number, and number of amp on the +12V rail. If you have a good 460 Watt PSU, you should be fine, but a crappier one probably won't be enough to run a GTX 460.

 

[bravo95]

cant say sure for the brand but the sticker i know of met the requirements of the gtx 460

 

[Supernova1138]

Probably best to open your case and make sure it can. You don't want to buy the card and then find out your PSU can't power it. Worst case scenario, loading a bad PSU too much can cause it to blow and potentially take other components with it.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

the gtx460 gives the 550ti a huge wedgie and hangs it on a hook. Take the 460, it is the better card. You wont notice a huge performance jump from your gts250, especially once you turn dx11 on.

 

[amirp]

Sorry but supernova is not correct, the correct order of the cards is:
550ti =~ gtx460 SE < gtx 460 768mb < gtx 460

here is some evidence... http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GeForce_GTX_550_Ti_Cyclone_II/23.html
and keep in mind this is an overclocked 550ti in the review so the difference would be even greater.

The recommendation is still the same though, get a gtx 460 as it's a good upgrade from a gts 250, but a better upgrade would be an ati 6870 or a gtx 560ti.

I would still get the gtx 460 and overclock it to as it overclocks like a beast.... I had one for a little while before giving it to a friend, and I had it at 920mhz (up from 675mhz stock) and it was really fast.


And listen to supernova1138, open up your case and read the sticker on the power supply, tell us the total amps on the +12v rail and the total wattage of it. Model number would be good as well.

 

[bravo95]

Thank you all, mentioning this gts 460, what about the 560?

PSU: cant find brand
output wattage 460w
12Va 16a
12Vb 15a
12Vb 8a

my system as of now..

intel core 2 duo e8400 3.0
5 gigs of ram
gts 250 512mb (1 6 pin power connector )

 

[amirp]

a gtx 560 (non-ti) is identical to a gtx 460 clock for clock, so just save the money, buy a gtx 460 with a good cooler (most of them are good) and overclock it to gtx 560 levels (which is really easy by the way) and then you will have a free gtx 560.

The 560 ti however is different than the gtx 460 and 560.

This is the 460 I would buy, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121391

or this one which is a bit more expensive but already overclocked nicely and with a great cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518

 

[bravo95]

Well thank you all, ill decide to get the gtx 460. Thank you all again.

 

[bravo95]

Best answer selected by bravo95.