Q6600 3.6GHz and 480 GTX vs 560 TI

[Shadow591]

Hey all,

I'm faced with the difficult choice of upgrading my Graphics card. I've looked for the past few days at both the GTX 480 and the 560 TI and I still haven't decided what to get.

My system consists of:

Q6600 2.4Ghz @ 3.6Ghz
8800GTS G92 512MB
4GB RAM @ 800
EVGA 750I FTW Edition
Xclio 750W PSU
Windows 7 Premium x64

I want to know how bad my system is going to be bottlenecked by the CPU and Ram if I put in either of these cards.

I play a large variety of games such as:

Elder Scrolls
Stalkers
League of Legends
Others....

I want to know if it would be worth it to upgrade or just to wait until I upgrade to a whole new rig.

Also what is your take on the 480 vs 560 as I know one is more efficient and one is more powerful.

 

[vilenjan]

Your cpu is still plenty capable, and you could always double your ram since ram is so cheap. If you are really set on Nvidia, than a 560ti 448 is a great option. the 480 GTX is just bad, it sucks on power and runs hot and loud. The regular 560ti is a good card but lots of new games are asking for more than 1gb vram nowadays, so the extra on the 448 will be helpful.

If you dont mind hopping to the green team, the 7850 is an all around champ at that price. Its as fast or faster than a 560ti 448 at stock, and easily OCs to be faster than a 570 GTX, heck heavy OCs bring up to 580 GTX levels while still consuming less power than a regualr 560 GTX. And than 2gb vram is nice to have

 

[kelthic]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/319411-33-560ti

The 480 is the more powerful card. It runs close to a GTX 570 in terms of performance. For $209.99 you can get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130759

 

[Shadow591]

I'm trying to get the best bang for my buck. I was looking more towards the 560 TI that lacked the extra cores.

 

[vilenjan]

If all you care about is brute power, go for the 480 GTX. But again, its loud, it runs hot can get to 100 C under load (and will not OC well due to this). And if you plan on keeping the card for at least 2 years you got to consider the extra power use as well, its about 100W more power under load compared to a 560ti.

 

[Guest]

If all you care about is brute power, go for the 480 GTX. But again, its loud, it runs hot can get to 100 C under load (and will not OC well due to this). And if you plan on keeping the card for at least 2 years you got to consider the extra power use as well, its about 100W more power under load compared to a 560ti.

The gtx 480 is not loud at all.The reference one on newegg is one of the ones i have and at 100% fan speed it isnt very audible at all.It runs hot but this is how they were made.they can run safely at 100 celcius but you probably wont see 90 celcius with a decent case.Obviously you never owned one and just read reviews on it.gtx 480 on newegg the evga is one of the quietest cards ive owned actually.

 

[cumi2k4]

I'd wait for the nvidia gtx 660 series if i were you... (i usually against this waiting game)

 

[sk1939]

I'd wait for the nvidia gtx 660 series if i were you... (i usually against this waiting game)

Depends on your budget of course. I considered it, but the 660 will be more than the $210 it costs to get a GTX 480.

 

[Shadow591]

I found this " http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=6cdU1JLrEeGFk36WTPcdwA0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16814102987 "

It currently with a coupon code is 199.99 and has free shipping. I know that without unlocking the card it will never be as fast but If I unlocked it would there be a sway in votes? I run at 1650 by 1080 so the 2gb may not really be all that useful except in future proofing.

 

[Guest]

I found this " http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=6cdU1JLrEeGFk36WTPcdwA0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16814102987 "

It currently with a coupon code is 199.99 and has free shipping. I know that without unlocking the card it will never be as fast but If I unlocked it would there be a sway in votes? I run at 1650 by 1080 so the 2gb may not really be all that useful except in future proofing.

6950 is a good card to but i dont think you will find one that unlocks anymore.

 

[homiezheadsup]

I think it is time for you to wait a little longer. Judging from your setup it looks like you've kept this system for awhile. While I can see why you want to upgrade from the 8800gts, I got a gtx 280 and I've been itching for an upgrade for months now, but the problem is the current cycle of GPUs out right now isn't falling within my preferred budget, and the closest thing I can think of to a perfect card right now is the GTX 560ti 448, especially when it was on sale in the low $200s a few weeks ago. Second to this card would be the 7850, and it's currently overpriced. That's why I say wait. Wait for the GTX 670.. 660 ti and whatever its going to be called. That's when AMD will adjust their price and who knows how much better the next gen mid-high end Nvidia cards will do at ~$300. If the performance to price ratio of the 680 to 670/660 scales similarly to how the 580-570/560 and the 480-470/460, then in my opinion those cards will be the right buy.

 

[Guest]

I think it is time for you to wait a little longer. Judging from your setup it looks like you've kept this system for awhile. While I can see why you want to upgrade from the 8800gts, I got a gtx 280 and I've been itching for an upgrade for months now, but the problem is the current cycle of GPUs out right now isn't falling within my preferred budget, and the closest thing I can think of to a perfect card right now is the GTX 560ti 448, especially when it was on sale in the low $200s a few weeks ago. Second to this card would be the 7850, and it's currently overpriced. That's why I say wait. Wait for the GTX 670.. 660 ti and whatever its going to be called. That's when AMD will adjust their price and who knows how much better the next gen mid-high end Nvidia cards will do at ~$300. If the performance to price ratio of the 680 to 670/660 scales similarly to how the 580-570/560 and the 480-470/460, then in my opinion those cards will be the right buy.

I doubt waiting for the nvidia cards will change anything.the 7850 isnt overpriced the 7870 is though.8800 gts doesnt play much anymore atleast at decent settings.even upgrading to a $110 gtx 460 will give him a huge upgrade from what he has.

 

[wotdrag]

I have basically the exact same set up [q6600, 650 watt psu, 6 gb ram] and my 8800gts just died on me today after 4 years. I'm considering doing the oven cooking tomorrow to see if that resurrects it, but I'm not counting on it.

As such, I need a new card now and can't afford to wait. I'm looking for a card for under 200 shipped before rebates and was considering getting the 6870. I won't be OCing it. Any suggestions/comments?

 

[Guest]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130759

i know you said under 200 but for $209 this is easily the fastest card in the $200 price range

 

[sunnk]

gtx 480 will be good one because it is at low price with good performance but the fact is that the card runs hotter buying an cooler will be an option.

 

[Guest]

I think people have to get over the hot issue.Funny thing is i remember the 8800 gts running into the 80's and 90's also.My 8800 GT would get up to 102 celcius and 4 years later its still a working card in my exes computer.They can handle the heat not sure what the issue is with people and heat.As recon said they can be tamed and i got the exact same card i posted to never go above 85 celcius and thats all stock reference fans.

 

[sunnk]

my friend has that card and it goes upto 100c and some time more some time less. idont think so that is normal temp btw the gtx 480 is an good card for gaming my freind is telling me that gtx 480 is very well card but the temp is the problem.

 

[Guest]

If he sets his fans to 70% he should never go to much above 90 celcius.Even in furmark i only hit 100 celcius but do not break 85 c in games

 

[sunnk]

his fan settings is upto 60% increasing the fan speed decreases the gpu life keep it in mind bro.

 

[Guest]

No it dont.Unless hes running it 24/7 at 90 or 100% it has very little effect on gpu life.Even if you set it to 100% just for gaming you will not lose life from it.24/7 possibly

 

[Guest]

believe me running a card at 100 celcius constant will have way more of an affect at shortening a gpu life then fan speed.If the fan dies buy another one easy fix

 

[sunnk]

no my one freind about 2 years ago installed a 9800 gtx which runs well but a bit higher in his thoughts he has save up money to buy that card we save money because we are studentshe doesnt like heating of gpus then he had increased the fans to 80-85% from 60% for atleast 1 years the gpu stays cool and he plays game on that gpu every day but suddenly the gpu stopped working he called an engineer and open thread on local forums then he got that the problem of gpu to die was caused by increasing fan level thats why increasing fan settings for cooling is not a good thought to keep card cool maybe it doesnt happen to you?.

 

[Guest]

I had my 8800 gt for 3 years and always had to run it at 100% fan speed and never had problems.Im sure it does hurt alittle but a card getting hot will hurt way more.I would rather keep my fan at 100% then to run over 100 celcius lol

 

[Shadow591]

I bought the 480 GTX. I'm glad I did as the price went back to 300 today. I'll just buy the extended warranty, Its 15 dollars, and use their "Step-Up" program and get something newer within 90 days from now.

 

[Guest]

dangitt it went backup before i could snag another!