Should I get a Radeon HD 6850 or GTX 550 Ti?

[Nick481]

I'm building an under 600$ gaming computer (which will also be used for photoshop and sony vegas as well as MX Simulator) and pretty much have all my hardware decided except my gpu.
My monitor is 1280x1024, and I will be using an AMD Phenom II X4 Black Edition 965 Deneb on an ASROCK 970 Extreme3 and this will all be on Windows 7 64 bit. I just would like the opinions of you guys on which of the two would have better performance, reliability, and run cooler. Here's the links to the specific ones:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625
edit: Wow, I'm not even sure if the Radeon will work with my mobo (it's PCI express 2.0 while the Radeon is PCI Express 2.1)

 

[ko888]

At a display resolution of 1280x1024 the Radeon HD 6850 will have a 17% relative performance advantage over that OC'ed GeForce GTX 550 Ti.

The PCI Express 2.1 card will be fully backward compatible with the motherboard's PCI express 2.0 x16 slot.

 

[halcyon]

For the tiny difference in price I'd also consider: This

 

[Nick481]

Thanks for the reply, but I'm pretty new to computer hardware, what does backward compatible mean? Does it mean that it is like putting an AM3 socket CPU on an AM3+ socket mobo? Also, Halcyon, I'm already over my budget, so I'm not really willing to spend more than than $150, but thanks for the advice anyways.

 

[ko888]

Thanks for the reply, but I'm pretty new to computer hardware, what does backward compatible mean? Does it mean that it is like putting an AM3 socket CPU on an AM3+ socket mobo?

It means there should be no compatibility issues.

 

[joemama069]

that is exactly what it means, and i agree with halcyon, the 560 outperforms the 6850... not by much but it does nonetheless

 

[bluewr]

Instead of a 550TI, I'd say a GTX 460 would be better and the price should generally be the $150 limit.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127646
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125412

 

[Nick481]

OK, that makes sense. Since the Radeon is pretty much at my max budget, I'm probably going to go with it. I'm not going to be playing very high end games like Crisis or Battlefield 3 anyways. In the future I might consider upgrading. I do have one more question though, is Sapphire a good company for AMD gpu's? I know EVGA makes some of the best NVIDIA cards, but I am less familiar with the radeons.
edit: bluewr, how does the 460 do compared to the 6850?

 

[bluewr]

OK, that makes sense. Since the Radeon is pretty much at my max budget, I'm probably going to go with it. I'm not going to be playing very high end games like Crisis or Battlefield 3 anyways. In the future I might consider upgrading. I do have one more question though, is Sapphire a good company for AMD gpu's? I know EVGA makes some of the best NVIDIA cards, but I am less familiar with the radeons.
edit: bluewr, how does the 460 do compared to the 6850?

Stock - Both are pretty close.
Factory Overclocked, according to this review is better then 7850
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-geforce-gtx-460-ftw-01g-p3-1378-tr-overclocked,2795.html

 

[joemama069]

Yea, it depends on the game stock for stock, but with the cooler on that MSI card you could get some very nice overclocks

 

[ko888]

Stock - Both are pretty close.
Factory Overclocked, according to this review is better then 7850
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/evga-geforce-gtx-460-ftw-01g-p3-1378-tr-overclocked,2795.html

I don't see a 7850 in that review so it isn't better than a card that never existed when that review was done.

 

[ko888]

OK, that makes sense. Since the Radeon is pretty much at my max budget, I'm probably going to go with it. I'm not going to be playing very high end games like Crisis or Battlefield 3 anyways. In the future I might consider upgrading. I do have one more question though, is Sapphire a good company for AMD gpu's? I know EVGA makes some of the best NVIDIA cards, but I am less familiar with the radeons.
edit: bluewr, how does the 460 do compared to the 6850?

Is your power supply unit capable of powering these cards?

 

[Nick481]

I don't really plan on overclocking it, maybe my processor but probably not my graphics card. Of course, that is subject to change in the future. But I think bluewr meant to say 6850 not 7850.

 

[ko888]

I don't really plan on overclocking it, maybe my processor but probably not my graphics card. Of course, that is subject to change in the future. But I think bluewr meant to say 6850 not 7850.

Actually I think he meant 6870.

 

[psirohi]

7850 or the older GTX 480 ( yes great vfm). In both cases assuming that you have the pus to handle them

 

[Nick481]

I used the power supply calculator and it put my system at a recommended 412w I believe, but I am getting a 630W psu. I'm pretty sure that will be plenty for the 6850 right?

 

[psirohi]

I used the power supply calculator and it put my system at a recommended 412w I believe, but I am getting a 630W psu. I'm pretty sure that will be plenty for the 6850 right?

Yup. That would be more than enough for your needs. Though would recco that you get a decent manufacturer's PSU, dont skimp.

 

[ko888]

I used the power supply calculator and it put my system at a recommended 412w I believe, but I am getting a 630W psu. I'm pretty sure that will be plenty for the 6850 right?

For a system using a single Radeon HD 6850 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 29 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector.

For a system using two Radeon HD 6850 graphics cards in 2-way CrossFireX mode AMD specifies a minimum of an 600 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 42 Amps or greater and have at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Total Continuous Amperage Available on the +12V Rail(s) is the most important factor.

What I've recommended above will handle any factory or manually overclocked Radeon HD 6850 running Furmark or some other equivalent GPU stress testing utility.

What is the make and model of the 630W PSU that you've purchased?

 

[Nick481]

Well I have not purchased it yet but am going to when I order all of my computer parts. It is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200
It appears to have 50 amps on the +12v and a 6 pin PCI express connector, but correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[ko888]

Well I have not purchased it yet but am going to when I order all of my computer parts. It is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200
It appears to have 50 amps on the +12v, but correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct.

 

[Nick481]

I have one last question, is the XFX version of this card better than the Sapphire version? I know they're pretty much the same, but since they're the same price I might as well get the better brand.

 

[ko888]

I have one last question, is the XFX version of this card better than the Sapphire version? I know they're pretty much the same, but since they're the same price I might as well get the better brand.

Both have their own Customer service horror stories.

They both have the same 2 year warranty period.

The Sapphire model outsells the XFX by a huge margin. Reason could be that it appeared on the market almost half a year before the XFX model showed up.

 

[Nick481]

Both have their own Customer service horror stories.

They both have the same 2 year warranty period.

The Sapphire model outsells the XFX by a huge margin. Reason could be that it appeared on the market almost half a year before the XFX model showed up.

I did notice some of those in the review section on Newegg lol. But they sound pretty similar then, except Personally I would go with the Sapphire because it sells more (just seems right to me). I'm guessing there isn't any other brands better than the two though?

 

[ohyouknow]

I would suggest Sapphire as your brand since they usually also give lots of extras in their graphics cards. If you could fit in and scrape $20, try to pick up the 6870. It is worth it.

 

[halcyon]

I would suggest Sapphire as your brand since they usually also give lots of extras in their graphics cards. If you could fit in and scrape $20, try to pick up the 6870. It is worth it.

Um, what exactly is in the bowl?