7870 vs 7950... $10 difference?

[Guest]

I've been looking around, trying to figure out what card is best for me. I've decided to sell some things to get a higher-end card, and I've come up with about 300 bucks, but I can go a bit higher.

I've come up with two cards: the MSI 7870 HAWK: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127681, or the MSI 7950 Twin Frozr II: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667.

There is a $10 difference between these cards (!) but I'm not sure if my PSU can handle either of them. It's a ThermalTake 450watt.

My PSU says: +12V = 19A (228W)

Will my power supply handle the 7950? What about the 7870? If no to both of those, what is the highest-end card I can go with?

Specs:
A6-3650 oc to 3GHz
Patriot 2x4GB 1333MHz DDR3
Seagate 1TB

Thanks.

 

[mace200200]

I wouldn't plug either of those cards into that PSU, it's just not enough power. As to which card is better, I will share with you what I share with so many other people, on of my most favorite places to START looking at which of two cards is better.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=550
Remember this doesn't take into account OC ability or better/worse driver support, it's just a good place to start.

 

[mace200200]

Oh and heres a good PSU for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096
You can shop around a bit more and try and find a better deal, but that's what your looking for.

 

[Guest]

I never really understood bottlenecks. I mean, if the game is more GPU-reliant, then it won't matter if the CPU isn't up-to-par.

I want to play the best games on the market at 60FPS, High settings, 1080p.

EDIT: Can't afford a new power supply AND a new video card right now...

I also want to get a current-generation video card. No sense getting an old GPU.

 

[AyuX]

Unless you run multiple monitors, HD 7850 is far more than enough for you. Save the money for some future upgrades.7950 and 7870 are high end cards. maybe your processor can't handle them. Also the PSU. Please check the compatibility of even hd 7850 before buying them. To tell you the truth, core i3 performs better than A6-3650 in games. So if you are getting a new rig very soon, then buy the 7870. I think it has better price to performance ratio

 

[Guest]

If I were to get a new PSU though... I wouldn't get the 7850. That defeats the purpose of me getting a new GPU. I know the 7850 would work on my PSU, but I'm not sure about the 7870/7950.

I'm probably going to go with the 7850, because it seems that the 7870 would not make do with my PSU.

AyuX, this IS my new rig... I just expected more graphical juice out of it. So now I'm trying to get a new GPU.

 

[Guest]

Would this 7850 play along with my PSU?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161416

... and is a 140MHz difference in core clock enough to justify spending an extra $40 on that card over this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102986 ?

 

[doron]

Don't. Use. This. Power supply.

Throw it away. It'll be highly irresponsible for anyone to recommend a graphics card before you replace this power supply.

As BigMack70 said, get a 7850 and a new power supply. You'll be able to max out most of the games and won't be at risk to burn down precious components in your computer and / or your entire house.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,2862.html

 

[Guest]

Alright then.

Problem is... I can't afford a nice 7850 AND a nice power supply... so, I've compromised.

I found this video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130685
and this power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Those should work well together and I can SLI in the future if I need to... right?

And what can I expect from that card? I'm hoping to max out games like: Fallout series, Left 4 Dead series, Call of Duty series, NBA 2k series. And I want to play games like Crysis and BF3 on, at least, medium settings. Resolution of 1920x1080.

 

[ballinb0ss]

Yeah, you should meet that for all of those games, at about 30-60 fps, sometimes more or less, point being you will be able to play games with that card, you will just have to play around with setting until you get the performance you want, but bf3 is really demanding in multiplayer, so you will have to play with settings especially for that game, good luck man, and you may be able to sli with that psu, but you should post info on your motherboard so we can know for sure

 

[mace200200]

That's actually a little bit on the expensive side for a 560, granted it's a higher end company and has two fans in it. But like always $20 would be able to get you a card a step above that, in this case a 560Ti, a very well spent extra $20 or in this case $30 actually.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500196

 

[mace200200]

And heres some benchmarks between the two, I love looking at benchmarks.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/543?vs=547

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by reboh79.

 

[Guest]

I'm trying to stay within $300, now. I'd rather get the best nVIDIA manufacturer (EVGA) and a slightly-slower card than a no-name nVIDIA manufacturer and a slightly-faster card.

 

[stant1rm]

I'm pretty sure ZOTAC isn't a no name manufacturer. I've used two (9800GTX+, and GTS 450) and seen them in several high end builds. I've never really heard anything negative, so while it might not quite be an EVGA card, it's still pretty damn good. Feel free to chime in if I'm wrong.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey