Graphics Card options

[chaosfissure]

I'm looking to see what the best value I can get is for graphics cards at around $400 in a machine I plan on building within the next six months (hopefully less, depending on what deals pop up).

I'm pretty much set for parts I am looking for, and am looking to shape up the graphics cards. I intend to use this for casual gaming, and possibly gpu-accelerated rendering.

I am not too attached to Nvidia or ATI; I'm just wondering what would be the best performance (two cards in xfire or sli, or a single card, and what cards would I use)

Between the motherboard, graphics card, and power supply, I want to know if my choices will work together effectively and are reasonable deals, or if there is a better graphics card/power supply I should use instead:

*sees template and pastes*

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next few months, at worst half a year.

BUDGET RANGE: $400 for graphics cards,

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (High settings for games like Crysis), GPU rendering, Movies.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: If you mean what my laptop runs compared to what this desktop will use, I'll just state that I'll be happy with a setup if it doesn't consistently overheat when I try playing a game.

I'm currently looking at these:

- 2x EVGA 01G-P3-1372-TR GeForce GTX 460 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571 )
or
- 2x MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127593 )

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:

- i7-2600K@3.4
- 12 gig of ram
- Case: Antec 300 Illusion ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 )
- GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512 )
- Power: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020 )


PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: NewEgg.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: I've been hearing that Nvidia cards are better at GPU rendering, and are pretty much in line with ATI cards for graphics, but as long as they support gpu rendering and play games smoothly, I won't be opposed to either ATI or Nvidia.

OVERCLOCKING: No, I don't intend to overclock my stuff, I prefer to just use it normally.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes. If a single card is better than two in an Xfire or SLI configuration, then I'd prefer a single card, however.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: If I need to change the power supply to fit a graphics card or dual graphics cards, I'm certainly willing to do so.

Thank you very much for your time in advance!

 

[rolli59]

6 months from now there will be new cards and prices on current lineup is going to be different.

 

[theitaliansico]

when you say 400 do you mean 400 to 500 or 400 and below. IF so go with GTX 570 or even 580. two 560's will give you performance of a 570 i believe and a little more.

 

[theitaliansico]

psu should be fine for two 560's maybe go with the 750w/850w for future proofing as far as dual card setups.

 

[ilysaml]

@theitaliansico
Don't you understand ? OP says half a year from now.

 

[dish_moose]

Ya - so 2 weeks before you buy you can ask again. My crystal ball is in the shop for repairs.
-Bruce