Quick Card Selection Question

[emungi]

Hello.

I'm looking for a graphics card that has good performance for price and will be able to play crysis 2 on fairly good settings.
Which one should i get: gtx 460, 550 or 560.
My budget is $250.

Any help is much appreciated!

[wazza300]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

It depends on what resolution you game at,I can run crysis all on top settings (see YouTube link) but I only have 1024x724 res,the gtx 460 would be fine at that res but higher or if in high def 1080p then id choose the higher cards

[profJim]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

I don't play games but my MSI N460GTX Hawk (1GB) easily overclocks to 920MHz and 4200 MHz (QDR) memory. The high end 460 1GB cards virtually guarantee a decent overclock and should have better cooling and lower noise levels. The 460 SE and 768MB card's won't overclock as high and performance will be at least 10% lower than the best 460 cards when compared at stock settings. Price for the best 460 cards is about $180 - $200 (USD) with mail in rebate.

The 550 and 560 cards are newer upgraded versions of the 450 and 460 cards. The GTX 560 Ti offers about 25% better performance than best 460 cards, and the 560 cards sell for about $240+ (USD), which is about 25% higher. It probably won't be to long before "custom" o/c 560 cards will be available from vendors.

I would advise avoiding the older 465 or 470 cards, even if they're available for a "reasonable" price due to higher power demands and heat output.

Check out http://forums.tweaktown.com/video-ca...g-results.html to see how well my card overclocks.

You don't appear to want to consider AMD cards. I think it's best to keep an open mind and not be a fanboy of one brand or the other.

Check out the better review sites such as HardOCP and read their reviews. Their in depth reviews give objective, detailed information about card performance, settings, and playable screen resolutions and usually compare the results with similar priced cards.

Hope this helps.

[emungi]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Thanks for the responses!
Didn't expect them so fast and detailed.

You don't appear to want to consider AMD cards. I think it's best to keep an open mind and not be a fanboy of one brand or the other.

I've never used an AMD card before and don't know anything about them.

Is there an AMD Card similar to the 460 and 560 at the same price?

[wazza300]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

There's the 6950 1gb or 2gb,or 6870,I don't know what the prices would be in the u.s

[profJim]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Wazza, I think he's a distant relative of yours, NSW = New South Wales, Australia.

[wazza300]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Yes,forgive me as I'm on my phone and cantsee the whole screen so I didn't spot where your from,so g'day

[emungi]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Thanks mate for all the help.
I'll be looking in this a bit more, but at this time I'm leaning towards the 560.

Everything in Australia is three times more expensive than US anyways. Even though our currencys stronger...?

[profJim]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Oops, I missed post #4.
AMD cards are aggressively priced and they have several cards in the 460/560 price range. Spend some times reading reviews and you'll find that AMD does better in some games and Nvidia does better in others.

I have no regrets with my card, it was the best bang for the buck when I bought it last December. I upgraded from a 7600GT to my 460. My original choice for an upgrade was the 5770 for about $140 at the time. After reading reviews and researching video cards, I decided that the 460 would be a better buy for about $20 more. Then I found out that the upper end 460 1GB cards offered noticeably more performance if I'd only spend an additional $20 - $30 more. Arrrrrg!!!!! This was right before the holidays and I decided to wait a bit and see what "holiday sale prices" might be offered. For me it was a no brainer when I saw the highly rated MSI 460 Hawk on sale for $190 with a $30 mail in rebate.

My card is great, but if I were buying a video card right now, there are several AMD cards in the same price range that offer similar performance and also have some features that are better than my card.

Another thing to consider is if your motherboard supports SLI or Crossfire using two video cards, this might influence your choice of AMD or Nvidia if you think you might want the significantly faster performance that you can get when you buy a second "similar" card in the future.

**edit**
Do a web search on:
video card buying guide

Check out Guides - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News and look at their holiday buying guides and system builder's guides, where they give objective recommendations from lower end components up to insanely expensive high end stuff.

Happy Hunting

[wazza300]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

The ATI 6950 supposed to be similar to the NVIDIA 560,just search around for reviews and comparisons and the best prices,you could crossfire but the extra heat with two cards it would be better to run a faster single gpu,

[profJim]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Also keep in mind that with two upper mainstream/enthusiast cards, you'll need a quality power supply that delivers at least 650 - 750 watts of continuous power.
You might be able to buy a new 58xx or 59xx for a somewhat lower price than a 69xx card, but you'll need to see what the differences are between the "older" and newer cards.

[emungi]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

My current card is the 240, outdated I know, and my motherboard is the gigabyte ep41-ud3l.
Would using sli with a new card be of any benefit or like you said would it be better to throw away?

[profJim]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Your EP41-UD3L only has one PCI-E slot, so you're currently limited to a single card setup.
Buying a higher end mobo that supports two video cards would be needed, but most will only support SLI (Nvidia) or Crossfire (AMD).
I think your best bet is to buy a 560 or AMD 5xxx or 6xxx card now.

On this side of the pond, there are virtually no higher end LGA775 motherboards available, unless your willing buy on ebay.
In another forum thread, the poster recently bought a new EP45-UD3P on ebay for $160 (USD).

BTW, your 240 is several steps up from my 7600GT ;)
Your 240 probably isn't worth selling, I'd keep it as a backup just in case your new card has problems and has to be sent back to the manufacturer under the warranty.

[smail]

Re: Quick Card Selection Question

Oh, well written, top fuel you ha ha
office 2010
coach handbags
Office Professional 2007