GTX 460 Vs. Radeon HD 6850

[ChuckFerrera]

Hello all,

I am having a tough time choosing which card to go with. I may run SLI or XFire later on down the road so please keep that in consideration.

The below are two cards that I have found which seem to be solid cards for a budget.

GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI V3 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125412

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908

If you have other suggestions please let me know. Also let me know if you feel a different series, say 560 or 5950, would be better.

Budget: < $150

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[gamerkila57]

this would better than both ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521

 

[Brut_Man]

this would better than both ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521

He said his budget was <$150
That card says $174 for me.

 

[gamerkila57]

lol its $149 AR ?

 

[motorneuron]

Yes, if you're willing to do the mail in rebate route, then that 6870 is a great choice at the price. The original 6850 vs 460 question is a bit harder. Here's a reasonably thorough benchmark: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/542?vs=539 I'd pick whichever is cheaper, or do a game-by-game analysis (what are you playing?).

If you're willing to tolerate rebates, I'd also throw a 560 into the mix; it's substantially quicker than the 460: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/542?vs=543 You could consider, e.g., this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500225

I still prefer the 6870 overall to the 560.

 

[vitreoushumor]

Just looking at the Graphics Card Hierarchy for July you can see the HD6850 is one tier higher than the GTX460 192-bit.

Next month we should get to see the GTX660 and GTX650, if anything they should drive midrange prices lower.

 

[Brut_Man]

lol its $149 AR ?

Didn't see that derp.
I'm not familiar with this site, yeah that's a good excuse.

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Thank you all for the input. After I posted this, I did see the Graphics Card Hierarchy for July and felt dumb for posting this (New to the forum).

I did receive some good info on the 6870 however... and the GTX 660 and 650 bit is great! I am thinking about running on the Intel graphics until the 660 and 650 come out. I believe I am patient enough.

As you may be able to tell, this is my first official build on my own. I just want to do it right so I don't have too much of a headache. ^_^

Thanks again for all of your help! I want to select all of your comments as best answer!

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Best answer selected by ChuckFerrera.

 

[bgrt]

Well not so fast. Before anyone overlooks this, the hierarchy chart that shows the 192-bit GTX 460 one tier under the 6850 is referring to the original GF104 based 768MB 192-bit GTX 460. The Gigabyte 460 in the OP is the GF114 based 1GB 460 v2 which is significantly better than 768MB version. An OC'd 460v2 (such as that Gigabyte) is nearly on par with a reference 256-bit GF104 GTX 460, which is on the same hierarchy level as the 6850. The 460 v2 was one of NVIDIA's stealth chips, so it didn't get many reviews.

 

[motorneuron]

bgrt is right. Note that the benchmark I posted above is for the more recent 460 1GB model. And anyway, benchmarks > Tom's hierarchy chart (not that the chart is bad, but benchmarks are more useful when you have them). As I said, take a look at the actual games you're playing.

In any event, I would still recommend either the 6870 or the 560 over either the 6850 or 460, particularly if you're considering getting a second card later on. Microstutter is worse the harder the cards have to work, so you're better off with more powerful cards. Here, the performance bump you get is definitely worth the $15 extra or so you'd pay for either the AMD upgrade (6850->70) or the nvidia upgrade (460->560).

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Well not so fast. Before anyone overlooks this, the hierarchy chart that shows the 192-bit GTX 460 one tier under the 6850 is referring to the original GF104 based 768MB 192-bit GTX 460. The Gigabyte 460 in the OP is the GF114 based 1GB 460 v2 which is significantly better than 768MB version. An OC'd 460v2 (such as that Gigabyte) is nearly on par with a reference 256-bit GF104 GTX 460, which is on the same hierarchy level as the 6850. The 460 v2 was one of NVIDIA's stealth chips, so it didn't get many reviews.

bgrt is right. Note that the benchmark I posted above is for the more recent 460 1GB model. And anyway, benchmarks > Tom's hierarchy chart (not that the chart is bad, but benchmarks are more useful when you have them). As I said, take a look at the actual games you're playing.

In any event, I would still recommend either the 6870 or the 560 over either the 6850 or 460, particularly if you're considering getting a second card later on. Microstutter is worse the harder the cards have to work, so you're better off with more powerful cards. Here, the performance bump you get is definitely worth the $15 extra or so you'd pay for either the AMD upgrade (6850->70) or the nvidia upgrade (460->560).

Thank you very much for this guys!!!!