Best Low Profile GPU (HD 7750 / GTX 750 Ti)

[Adrian Sanchez]

I built a HTPC (Slim case - low profile) and I'm looking to upgrade my GPU to the best low profile card out there for the occasional gaming (D3, CoD: Ghosts, CS, Garry's Mod).

HTPC Build:
MB: MSI 760GMA-P34 (FX)
CPU: Athlon II X2 215 (2.7GHz) (Future: FX-6300 (3.5GHz))
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 8570 1GB DDR3 (Future: Pending...)
PSU: 300W (Future: Pending...)
RAM: 8GB DDR3 (Crucial)
HDD: 500GB SATAIII 7200RPM

Research has told me that the best card is the AFOX HD 7850 (eBay, $375) but it's hard to find and/or expensive. The next best choice is the HD 7750 (1GB GDDR5) which can be found by Sapphire (Newegg, $100), PowerColor (Newegg, $110), VisionTek (Newegg, $132), HIS (Newegg, $100), Diamond (Newegg, $120), Club 3D (N/A), and maybe others.

Now, on the NVIDIA side, I've seen, in low profile, the Zotac GTX 650 1GB GDDR5 (Newegg, $110) and the GALAXY GTX 750 1GB GDDR5 (GALAXY, $130) and GTX 750 Ti 2GB GDDR5 (GALAXY, $160).

So, my question is: Which, of the cards mentioned above (or any other that I missed), is the best choice?

According to TH's Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart, the GTX 650 is the equivalent to AMD's HD 7750 and the GTX 750 Ti is the equivalent to AMD's HD 7850. Therefore, I would hope that the obvious answer is that the GTX 750 Ti is better than the 7750.

I've read that the Sapphire HD 7750 is the best of all the HD 7750s...
Is the $60 difference between the Sapphire HD 7750 ($100) and the GALAXY GTX 750 Ti ($160) worth it? Should I get the GTX 750 Ti or save the $60 by getting the HD 7750 and investing the difference elsewhere (CPU/PSU)?

By upgrading my GPU to the HD 7750/GTX 750 Ti/other, will my GPU be bottleneck'ed by my current CPU or vice-versa? When I upgrade my CPU to the FX-6300, will my CPU be bottleneck'ed by the GPU or vice-versa?

I have created a poll to tally up your opinions.

 

[Rapidz]

what about a 7770 mang? I used to have one until i got another in crossfire, was preetty sweet.

 

[Adrian Sanchez]

what about a 7770 mang? I used to have one until i got another in crossfire, was preetty sweet.

I don't believe they ever made a low profile (half-size) HD 7770

 

[Scampi]

I would suggest the PSU has at least 20 amps on the 12v rail.

Yes, there will be bottlenecking from that Athlon CPU, perhaps not as heavily in much older games. But the FX-6300 will be a good compliment & must have upgrade, it won't bottleneck this tier/level of GPU.

The GTX 750 Ti is a lot faster than the AMD 7750. Even the GTX 750 would be a more reasonable compromise if you want save some money.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_750_Ti_OC/25.html

 

[haider95]

750ti beats the HD7770, this is coming from a HD7770 owner.

750ti will absolutely demolish the 7750.. this shouldnt even be a valid question lol

 

[Adrian Sanchez]

750ti beats the HD7770, this is coming from a HD7770 owner.

750ti will absolutely demolish the 7750.. this shouldnt even be a valid question lol

I figured this much. But then, based on this assumption, I developed the question:

Is the $60 difference between the Sapphire HD 7750 ($100) and the GALAXY GTX 750 Ti ($160) worth it? Should I get the GTX 750 Ti or save the $60 by getting the HD 7750 and investing the difference elsewhere (CPU/PSU)?

 

[Adrian Sanchez]

I would suggest the PSU has at least 20 amps on the 12v rail.

I'll look into this when I get home. The PSU came with the case so information on it is not easily found.

Edit: I have examined my current PSU and have concluded that it is of SFX size.

+3.3V - 20A
+5V - 17A
+12V - 11A & 8A
-12V - 0.3A
+5V - 2.5A

 

[haider95]

Yes, it is well worth it.. to the point where I wish I had saved up more money for the 650ti

 

[Adrian Sanchez]

I would suggest the PSU has at least 20 amps on the 12v rail.

Does the 12V rail matter if this GTX 750 Ti is not externally powered (it gets its power solely from the PCIe slot)?

The GTX 750 Ti is rated at 60W. 60W / 12V = 5A. Doesn't this say that I would need at least 5A on the 12V rail?

My motherboard states that it has PCIe 2.0 so the slot alone provides 75W (that's probably why this GPU doesn't require external power).

 

[Scampi]

Only an insignificant amount of that 75w is provided by the other rails. The GPU will still rely on the 12v rail for the majority of its power.