HD7850 best budget card atm?

[Mahisse]

Hello

I'm new ot the forum... so HELLLO everybody!!!

I have just bouht a new rig
i5 3750k
4 gb ram
Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3P motherboard USB3, PCI Express 3.0
PSU 550W
OS: Win7

... and I now need a new graphic card since my 8600gt is hella outdated now (although I was surprised I could play Batman Arkham city very smoothly)..

So I've been asking around and searched the internet a bit and it seems to me that the HD7850 is the best budget choice at the moment.. But I'm real careful in my decesions and now that it's christmas time I can't really decide if I should wait untill after christmas...

Considering the price range has to be around what HD7850 lies in right now what would you do? (Or better yet... WWJD?)

Any thoughts

 

[prototype18]

Well need some info

PSU ? Brand / model

Budget

Resolution

 

[blazorthon]

7850 is the best choice at its price point of right at or under $200 (don't get a 1GB model unless it's more than $30 cheaper than the next best 2GB model, 1GB has been proven to cause a memory capacity bottleneck for the 7850 in too many situations), but the term "budget" can be interpreted to be quite the large price range of around $50 to a little over $200, so you'd have to be more specific about what you're looking to spend for a more specific recommendation.

Also, prototype18 is correct about PSU info being important, but I partially disagree about the relevance of resolution. Any resolution between say 720p and 1920x1200 is generally ideal for the 7850 (simply use AA and such when performance is unnecessarily high for a game at your resolution). Except for the extreme unlikelihood of you having a resolution outside of that range, resolution shouldn't matter much.

 

[Mahisse]

LPG Serie 12cm fan

LPG12-35, Item No. 2621
max. Output: 550W
1x120mm fan, thermal controle
EuP ready
connectors:
1x 20+4pin;
1 x 4pin 12V;
1 x 4pin Floppy,
2 x 4pin Molex,
3 x Sata
1 x PCI-E

I guess a budget card for me is just around 200$ but I wouldn't mind saving a www bucks if possible. I want to be able to play most games in 1080 resolution...

 

[prototype18]

Well that seems crappy

IMO you need a new PSU. Maybe a Antec Vp-450 that dominates the bottom line of the PSU or Cx 430 V2. But antec is cheaper .

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=62331&vpn=VP450&manufacture=Antec

So 170 for the GPU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102999&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Its 10 more than your budget. But this the best i can give you.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=76367&vpn=GTX660-DC2O-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1030

For 20 more u have a 660. Slightly better than 7850 and IMO worth the money.

 

[blazorthon]

I wouldn't bother with the 660. The 7870 can be found around the same price and is considerably faster overall.

 

[prototype18]

I wouldn't bother with the 660. The 7870 can be found around the same price and is considerably faster overall.

Link it plz ? @ 190$ u can find only XFX and @ 180only 7850.

 

[twelve25]

7850 and 7870 have serious bang for the buck. I bought a 7850 a few weeks back, but anymore you can even find 7870 deals for under $200.

I think around $100, find a 7770. Around $150 get a 7850 1GB rebate deal and around $200 get a 7870 2GB. Then the next step up is all way at $300-325 for a fight between the 7950 and GTX670

GTX 650 Ti might be there in between the 7770 and 7850 for some rare deals or use cases, but I think AMD has the under $300 market cornered right now.

 

[prototype18]

Well i agree with you. But as i checked now there are no -200$ 7870. And the OP dsnt have that much money.

I suggested him 7850 for 10 $ more and 660 for 20$ more.

Sure 7870 its a "bit" better than 660 but as it is cheapr i would get 660.Not even talking about the Ti version.

 

[blazorthon]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#c=114,82,110&sort=a5

There are a few 7870s around the 660 price points which are superior cards. There are also a few 7850s with huge factory overclocks that are on-par with the reference and factory overclocked 660s.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr785oc2gd
That one is my favorite. It is great for overclocking, is a 7850 2GB, and has stock performance around the 660 with great cooling temps and low noise. Above all of that, it's cheaper than the cheapest 660s (maybe not counting some deals and MIRs, but still).

A close second is this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-ax78502gbd52dhpp
Slightly higher stock performance than the Gigabyte model linked above, but an inferior cooler and slightly higher price (still a little below the cheapest 660 and still probably the better overclocker compared to any 660, but still inferior to the gigabyte model in all but stock performance).

 

[Mahisse]

Thank you for all your asnwers. I think I'm still leaning to the 7850 2GB. Maybe I'll wait for after christmas and look for any drop in prices

Well that seems crappy

IMO you need a new PSU. Maybe a Antec Vp-450 that dominates the bottom line of the PSU or Cx 430 V2. But antec is cheaper .

Why would you say that? I thought max output ws the most important thing here. Are you saying that my PSU won't be able to run a 7850 card?

 

[blazorthon]

Thank you for all your asnwers. I think I'm still leaning to the 7850 2GB. Maybe I'll wait for after christmas and look for any drop in prices

Well that seems crappy

IMO you need a new PSU. Maybe a Antec Vp-450 that dominates the bottom line of the PSU or Cx 430 V2. But antec is cheaper .

Why would you say that? I thought max output ws the most important thing here. Are you saying that my PSU won't be able to run a 7850 card?

I think that your PSU would run it, but your PSU is not a reliable model and I too would recommend something such as the Antec VP450 or Corsair CX 430 V2. The Antec VP-450 better deals with higher loads in terms of reliability and efficiency, but the CX-430 V2 has higher output power quality and both are similar in price, so they're a trade-off between reliability/efficiency and output quality.

 

[Mahisse]

I think that your PSU would run it, but your PSU is not a reliable model and I too would recommend something such as the Antec VP450 or Corsair CX 430 V2. The Antec VP-450 better deals with higher loads in terms of reliability and efficiency, but the CX-430 V2 has higher output power quality and both are similar in price, so they're a trade-off between reliability/efficiency and output quality.

Okay so what you are basing this on (just trying to understand here) is the reputation/model of the PSU and not the specifications? Is this model known to fail on bigger stress or...?
Say that I stay with the current PSU. If it fries will it damage anything other than itself?

 

[blazorthon]

Okay so what you are basing this on (just trying to understand here) is the reputation/model of the PSU and not the specifications? Is this model known to fail on bigger stress or...?
Say that I stay with the current PSU. If it fries will it damage anything other than itself?

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Tier 5 is where it's in and that's as bad as it can get and is recommended to be replaced ASAP due to probably reliability concerns. Bigger stress is one such example and the 7850 might push it too far with your system.

If it fails, it will probably take other components with it (CPU, motherboard, graphics, and hard drives are the most common for such PSUs). A more worrisome and not unlikely possibility is an explosive failure. They happen and with such PSUs, far too often to ignore the possibility. Suffice to say that an explosion may damage more than just the computer's other components, but also things near the computer, especially right behind it where the PSU's grill is externally open and may burn things.

IDK exactly about this model, but the site doesn't state any exceptions from that company as being good models, at least none that I see. For the record, Antec VP-450 is in tier 2b (second best) and Corsair CX 430 V2 is in tier 3 (fourth best, not great but still decent).

 

[abundantcores]

The 7850 is clock for clock ~10% slower than the 7870.

It blows the GTX 660 out of the water and for less money.

Its the only choice to be had.

 

[blazorthon]

The 7850 is clock for clock ~10% slower than the 7870.

It blows the GTX 660 out of the water and for less money.

Its the only choice to be had.

How does it blow the 660 out of the water?

 

[Mahisse]

Best answer selected by Mahisse.

 

[abundantcores]

How does it blow the 660 out of the water?

Perhaps to stronger wording on the latest Drivers the 7870 is every bit at fast as the GTX 660TI, the 7870 is only 5% to ~10% faster than the 7850.

The difference between the GTX 660 and GTX 660TI is more than 5% to ~10%

It is faster and cheaper.

 

[Mahisse]

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Interesting list... I will definitely take a closer look into this.

I did read about this model at Newegg and looked at the feedbacks from diffferent customers. It seems that those who received a working unit was quite happy with it.. But alot of them wrote they never received a working unit, which probably has caused a very low ranking on the reliability.

 

[blazorthon]

Perhaps to stronger wording on the latest Drivers the 7870 is every bit at fast as the GTX 660TI, the 7870 is only 5% to ~10% faster than the 7850.

The difference between the GTX 660 and GTX 660TI is more than 5% to ~10%

It is faster and cheaper.

With both at reference, the 7870 has a much greater lead on the 7850 than the 660 Ti has on the 660 and this is especially true with current drivers, at least in my experience. The 7850 that I recommended is much closer and it is true that the 7870 is only about 10% faster per clock of the GPU with the same memory frequency (I think that it's closer to 15%, but I'd have to check to be sure), but you didn't specify as my 7850 recommendations.

 

[blazorthon]

Interesting list... I will definitely take a closer look into this.

I did read about this model at Newegg and looked at the feedbacks from diffferent customers. It seems that those who received a working unit was quite happy with it.. But alot of them wrote they never received a working unit, which probably has caused a very low ranking on the reliability.

Exactly. Tier 5 PSUs are generally more hassle than they're worth and your post here exemplifies that.

 

[Mahisse]

Whoops.. Didn't mean to choose that as the best answer although it was very helpful..

 

[abundantcores]

With both at reference, the 7870 has a much greater lead on the 7850 than the 660 Ti has on the 660 and this is especially true with current drivers, at least in my experience.

Yes, but thats only because the 7850 is clocked 14% lower than the 7870, at the same clock there is little in it.

 

[Mahisse]

Exactly. Tier 5 PSUs are generally more hassle than they're worth and your post here exemplifies that.

The questions is if the working units are reliable ... But I wouldn't guess so... Pretty sure sign of weak components if many of them arrives faulty from start.

 

[blazorthon]

Yes, but thats only because the 7850 is clocked 14% lower than the 7870, at the same clock there is little in it.

In my experience, the 7870 has a roughly 13-15% performance per MHz of the GPU frequency advantage with similar memory bandwidth. The stock frequency difference coupled with this is quite a difference, but even at about the same frequency, the 7870 can pull off a noticeable win. The 7870s also tend to overclock to higher frequencies.