Advice for Graphics card upgrade.

[Cepholapod]

Hello,
I'm in need of an upgrade on my system to play SWTOR, below are my current specs.
MB: Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H
CPU: AMD Phenom II Black edition 965 quad core
Ram: 8GB ddr3 1600
Video Card: Saphire Radeon HD 5750
System runs fine, just video card needs an upgrade, any advice on a card around $200.00?

 

[esrever]

the 6870 will probably be a good card to get. You might be able to get away with a 6850 depending on if you want the ~$30 of savings.

 

[Cepholapod]

I was thinking about going with Nvidia this time around, radeon has caused me nothing but trouble lately. was thinking of a GTX 470, any thoughts?

 

[esrever]

radeons are pretty good these days, drivers are good since the 5XXX series but going with nVidia I wouldn't choose the 470, instead the 560 ti is a lot better of a choice if you can get one for a comparable price.

the 470 is a lot more power hungry and less powerful that it would make sense to get the 560 ti. The 460/560(non ti) could also be choices which should all be priced pretty competitively.

 

[de5_Roy]

gtx 560 non ti:
EVGA 01G-P3-1460-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card, @$179.99, $164.99 with Rebate $6.98 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660
GIGABYTE GV-N56GOC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card, @$194.99, $174.99 with Rebate, $7.56 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125383
ASUS ENGTX560 DC/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card @$194.99, $174.99 with Rebate, $7.56 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121466

gtx 560 ti:
GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card, @$209.99, $189.99 with Rebate $2.99 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401
Free NBA2k11 game w/ purchase, limited offer MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card, @$239.99, $219.99 with Rebate, $7.56 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127594
EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card, @$229.99, $209.99 with Rebate, Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130623
look up the reviews. make sure your psu can run the card. recommendations are based on price.
sw tor performance analysis:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087.html

 

[punnar]

I think that the 560 is just a rebranded extremely overclocked 460. I'd spend the extra 30 and get the TI.

Just a thought. The SW:ToR seems to favor the Raedon cards on the review.

 

[Cepholapod]

So, if i went with a radeon i'd probably just throw out the extra $50.00 and get a 6950, but which of these recommended?

Gigabyte 6950

or this one?

 

[de5_Roy]

second one (between those two). it is factory overclocked a bit and is from gigabyte's ultra durable series.

560ti vs 6950 1 gb
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=331
560ti vs 6950 2 gb
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=293

 

[gooseta]

This 6950 has amazing cooling so u can overclock it more and it's just $235 after rebates
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150549

 

[punnar]

The 6950 is an awesome card and both will work but keep in mind that the AMD Phenom II Black edition 965 will be a bit of a bottleneck.