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460 vs 6850

HD 6850 stock is generally the same performance as GTX 460 1GB stock in most games. If you use dual cards, the 6850 has slightly better scaling.

The GTX 460 has potential to outperform the 6850 in future games (more raw tessellation performance), but for now performance is nearly the same.
 
I would beg to differ a little from the comments above.

These are both fantastic cards and the best bang for your buck out there right now. You will be happy with either.

I currently have both setups 2 gigabyte gtx460 1gb in SLI and 2 Sapphire 6870's in crossfire. I have the gigabytes overclocked to 850/1000 and the Sapphires overclocked to 950/1050. Once overclocked the sli setup scales much better for the games that I play. COD:BO, Battlefield 2, Civ 5, Arcania, Anno 1404, Assasins Creed.

I've run both setups with the rig in my sig and I would take the GTX 460's every time.

If you are not thinking about two cards however they are both equal in my mind. One beats the other depending on what game you play but they are both great and I would be happy with either. (the 6850 is a great overclocker and so should get you on equal footing with a GTX 460 oc'd or a 6870)

Buy whichever you can find the best deal on unless you are planning on going with two cards down the road. If that is the case then buy whatever your motherboard supports. If you have a choice go SLI.
 
No company preference?
Running a single GPU setup?

Flip a coin. Buy whatever's cheaper.
 
Hulk said:
Which one is faster and by how much?
Click to expand...

if you are capable of locating this site and posting here for 5 years then surely typing "6850 review" on google is not a problem. I mean every person that is giving you answers is looking at the same reviews you can look at for yourself.
 
That's sort of true, but if everyone here just googled for an answer, then there would be no need for this forum....or any others.
People ask here for advice, and sure they can google, but the answers here are either well informed, or from personal experience.
Just my idle thoughts....:D
 
How much do you want to spend?

If <= $150, get the 460 768MB. It's 6% slower than the 1GB and 10% slower than the 6850 even at 1080P, but it costs 30% less.

Around $180, the 460 1GB and 6850 are basically identical. 6850 has lower power consumption by a good margin, and has MLAA, and HDMI 1.4a. The 6850 is a better choice at 1080P.

This is where I got my info.. Since your asking about cards <= $200, buy the one that has the best bang/buck, they're all good.
 
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Trillock said:
That's sort of true, but if everyone here just googled for an answer, then there would be no need for this forum....or any others.
People ask here for advice, and sure they can google, but the answers here are either well informed, or from personal experience.
Just my idle thoughts....:D
Click to expand...
well it boggles my mind that someone that has been here for 5 years would start a thread like this. yeah the forums are for discussing things in details but not even taking the time to look at dozens of reviews for yourself is pure laziness. if he was new here or just confused about something then that would be different. if I have a question as simple as a which current video card is faster then I do a little research on my own first. thats what all those tech sites, including the one we are on, are for.
 
I believe you can pretty much overclock GTX 460 1GB to infinity. Then without a doubt it will out perform 6870.
 
Go with the 460, I got a 6850 and it is good but the drivers aren't all that great right now, they are alot better than at launch though.
 
UG_PL said:
I believe you can pretty much overclock GTX 460 1GB to infinity. Then without a doubt it will out perform 6870.
Click to expand...
if you oc the 460 to 825-850 then it will match or beat a stock 6870 for the most part. it really depends on the game and actual settings being used. not every gtx460 will oc that high without additional voltage though.
 
Yeah, my Gigabyte overclocks really well and it is super quiet. I run it at 875/2000 to be on the safe side, but I've been able to achieve 900/2200 with with 1.075 core voltage.
 
6800 series is faster than 460 series. Thus the price cuts on the 460. It really depends on how much performance you need and your resolution.
 
XacTactX said:
6850 has lower power consumption by a good margin
Click to expand...

No. The margin is so close, you would never be able to tell the difference. An average consumption of 90w versus 101w is just roughly a %10 difference, and will not be significant when taken as part of your whole system consumption.

Also, the idle power consumption is exactly the same, and this is where the machine will spend roughly %80 of it's time.
 
cannondale06 said:
well it boggles my mind that someone that has been here for 5 years would start a thread like this. yeah the forums are for discussing things in details but not even taking the time to look at dozens of reviews for yourself is pure laziness. if he was new here or just confused about something then that would be different. if I have a question as simple as a which current video card is faster then I do a little research on my own first. thats what all those tech sites, including the one we are on, are for.
Click to expand...

That makes sense too..........:D

Sometimes though someone asks a question without really looking into to the 'problem' before posting here........the OP should have looked at various sites and then posted here to finalise his query stating why etc.....

Anyway........Merry Christmas.......:D
 
defaultluser said:
No. The margin is so close, you would never be able to tell the difference. An average consumption of 90w versus 101w is just roughly a %10 difference, and will not be significant when taken as part of your whole system consumption.

Also, the idle power consumption is exactly the same, and this is where the machine will spend roughly %80 of it's time.
Click to expand...

4 watts at idle, 65 watts at load. The entire rig using 65 watts more because of a GPU when the 6850 is as fast/faster is a good margin.

EDIT: It doesn't matter to most people that one GPU uses more power than another, but some people(like myself) like the idea of better efficiency. Why uses 399 watts to get the job done when I can use 334? So if the OP cares about this, then he can take it into consideration. If not, then oh well.
 
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Jcricket said:
Not if you also use Nvidia 3D Vision. My main PC has ATI 5870 but my secondary gaming machine has Nvidia GTX460 due to it also having 3D Vision. I'm now considering Nvidia GTX580 fro my main PC too because AMD/ATI latest top dog just does not offer me enough of a performance increase over my current 5870.
Click to expand...
Well really he just asked what was faster, and he didn't even say he was "buying" anything.
If you need a specific Nvidia feature (PhysX and CUDA stuff included) then I guess it just makes the choice easier for you. But you certainly shouldn't be on HardForum asking which brand to buy, if you specifically need 3D Vision.
 
They're both good cards and the 460 1Gb often has an edge with overclocking and AA @ 1920x.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...d-6850-vs-gtx-460-1gb-overclocking-study.html

Honestly, I don't think you'd regret owning either.

An overclocked HD 6850 or an overclocked GTX 460 1Gb, are great price vs performance choices for 1920x gamers. An HD 6850 should do 900-930 with little trouble and a GTX 460 1Gb should do 810-850 without issue. Outside of Meto 2033 with DOF there's nothing you won't be able to play with moderate filtering.
 
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