Need graphics card, deciding between HD 7790 or GTX 650 Ti BOOST?

[SilvanNosty]

Want to purchase a graphics card soon. Budget: 170-180 max.

For gaming and tv/movie watching, nothing else. Mostly play Diablo 3, WoW, Runescape, LoL. I don't have the computer for things like Crysis or Metro.

Integrated RADEON HD 4250 and a HIVE-550 PSU.

AMD Athlon II X3 Rana 460 3.4ghz triple-core, Asus M4A88T-M, 8GBs DDR3 1333.

Preferred Site: http://www.newegg.com

No parts preference.

OC: maybe, SLI:no, CFire: no

Monitor Resolution: 1600X900 (20 inch).

I'm not even sure if my computer can fully use either of these cards. But they seem to be decent entry-level, so that's where I was starting. Any advice is appreciated, and anything that will be good for cheaper would also be appreciated.

EVGA 02G-P4-3658-KR GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST SuperClocked 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130910

SAPPHIRE 100356OCL Radeon HD 7790 OC 1GB DDR5 PCI-Express Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202029

 

[mace200200]

Your right that your CPU will bottleneck. A 7850 is only $15 more than that 7790, they're actually looking to do away with the single gig 7850 cards after they introduced the 7790, which is why they're dropped down in price right now. So, I would get the 7850 before they're gone, best performance for the money, it'll be slowed down by your current CPU but you're looking to upgrade that soon too right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004
If you don't want a bottle neck your looking at the 7750, 650, 7770 range.

 

[SilvanNosty]

What exactly is the consequence of it being bottlenecked? I am looking to upgrade my mobo/cpu but not for a while until I can grab a z77/ivy-bridge combo or something.

Also that 7850 looks like a nice deal too.

 

[nforce4max]

Your power supply looks to be generic which means it is not likely to be a true 550w unit or at the least very inefficient. The cpu is the weakest link performance wise.

Upgrade your cpu and power supply along with a new card. I suggest a Phenom 2 quad, a small boost from the L3 cache and another from the fourth core. The power supply is the cheapest to upgrade to a Bronze or better true 550w or higher. As for the card the 650 Ti Boost is the best choice in the short term as it is a beast on a buck but as Kepler ages and GCN based console ports the 7790 will prove to be possibly the better aging card than the 650 ti boost. Compute wise Kepler has no balls and a full spec 660 barely manages better than a 460/560 in some apps but GCN does. OpenCL is deadly performance wise on Nvidia.

 

[17seconds]

 

[SilvanNosty]

Looks like I'll go ahead and get the HD 7850. I'll be upgrading my CPU and Mobo in the next few months.

Thanks.

 

[mace200200]

I'm not sure if any one explained bottle necking to you so I will. What would happen (in your case) is that your GPU will not be able to run at a whole 100% because your CPU is slowing down. You won't be able to get the full use out of your card until you get a new CPU is what it comes down too.

 

[david cassar]

Also you might want to look at the gtx 650 ti boost since nvidia cards fare better with wow and diablo 3.

 

[mace200200]

Also you might want to look at the gtx 650 ti boost since nvidia cards fare better with wow and diablo 3.

That is true but, the 7850 is more powerful all around and in the benchmarks someone linked even it outperforms the 650 ti boost.

 

[david cassar]

Also you might want to look at the gtx 650 ti boost since nvidia cards fare better with wow and diablo 3.

That is true but, the 7850 is more powerful all around and in the benchmarks someone linked even it outperforms the 650 ti boost.

+1 Also bioshock infinite seems to perform better on nvidia cards

 

[jessterman21]

Your CPU is fine, unless you plan to play a lot of Crysis 3.

GTX 650Ti 2GB is the best card for your price range. The free games that come with the HD 7850 are tempting, though. If you decide on the Radeon, make sure to get the 2GB version.

Of course, if you can find a GTX 660 on sale, go for that.

 

[david cassar]

Your CPU is fine, unless you plan to play a lot of Crysis 3.

GTX 650Ti 2GB is the best card for your price range. The free games that come with the HD 7850 are tempting, though. If you decide on the Radeon, make sure to get the 2GB version.

Of course, if you can find a GTX 660 on sale, go for that.

2gb 7850 are currently overpriced. You could get a gtx 660 for cheaper.

 

[jessterman21]

Your CPU is fine, unless you plan to play a lot of Crysis 3.

GTX 650Ti 2GB is the best card for your price range. The free games that come with the HD 7850 are tempting, though. If you decide on the Radeon, make sure to get the 2GB version.

Of course, if you can find a GTX 660 on sale, go for that.

2gb 7850 are currently overpriced. You could get a gtx 660 for cheaper.

Very true - but free games.

 

[mace200200]

7850 won't use 2gigs unless your running a 1080p monitor.