Tell me, GTX 460 Hawk or 6870

B

BioInclined

Limp Gawd
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May 23, 2011
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Looking to build a new PC for a friend.
Main thing he plays is WoW on a Gateway monitor 22"
He would like to be able to play other games, more recent ones though to. It will account for only 5-10% of his overall gaming if at all.
I'm not familiar with WoW but we all know it is NOT graphically demanding but a CPU heavy game. He may switch to the new star wars MMO for awhile too.
He has no reason to wait for the next 7xxx series from AMD.

I think not being a power hog is always nice and neither will get OC'd other than a bit in Afterburner or other program needed.

Other parts are...
AMD Phenom X4 955 BE
8GB G. Skill Ram 1600
620 Antec PSU
Coolermaster Storm Enforcer case(good amount of room)
Do NOT have a mobo picked out yet.

His budget is in mind and those cards are about as high as i seem him needing and willing to spend.

EDIT: I have done some looking and seen some charts, that's why i am asking. I am leaning toward the MSI GTX460 Hawk due to cooling and slightly faster.
 
Rule of thumb is since your going with an AMD cpu might as well go AMD GPU. AMD 690 and 6970's are Excellent Choices :D Less heat and less power consumed to
 
I just picked up the MSI 6870 Hawk and it's a dream. Absolutely silent even on high (especially compared to my old 4890) and super cool running.

I'm a big fan so far, it's getting the job done very well and is doing it without breaking a sweat.
 
If he plans on crossfiring in the future I say the 6870, power efficient too so that 625watt is enough
 
Just remember a 6870 @ 1000 core = a gtx460 at 875 core.
When both are overclocked to the fullest a gtx560 will beat a overclocked 6870.
Mymsi gtx460 hawk does 950 core but I run it @ 930 core. A regular gtx560 will overclock higher than my card and my card will beat any overclocked 6870 and cost 35$ less..
 
The 6870 is the better buy, plus you get 3 free games right now if you buy one right now as well (including the new deus ex).
 
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Alright, well guys....
He is on a budget, so that's why we are doing AMD. I can OC his CPU for him but I'd rather not have to have a GPU OC'd.

He won't ever crossfire. I don't see any reason too and like i said, especially at his gaming preferences he won't get into anything that demanding.
Budget on the GPU we are at $150. It's the whole more time more money thing but then deals end.
We're at $150 because he still needs a Mobo too.
His games list is....
WoW - Shogun 2 - Half-Life - Company of Heroes
He doesn't play FPS like BFBC2 or CoD series. He said he may, but he is NOT a huge GFX nut so if he runs some stuff on Medium he will not complain.

EDIT: After looking at the chart( and of course i knew Intel beat it) for the extra ~14 fps(in WoW)after being past 70FPS already, he won't care when the Phen X4 955 BE he will get only cost $80. And i'd rather save him a bit there, put it towards a decent GPU and mobo(MAYBE even a AM3+ mobo if i help him with funds)

There are a handful of variables but i'd like to think so far he's doing ok. Mouse, RAM, Case, PSU, CPU at only ~$230 spent.
 
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BioInclined said:
Alright, well guys....
He is on a budget, so that's why we are doing AMD. I can OC his CPU for him but I'd rather not have to have a GPU OC'd.

He won't ever crossfire. I don't see any reason too and like i said, especially at his gaming preferences he won't get into anything that demanding.
Budget on the GPU we are at $150. It's the whole more time more money thing but then deals end.
We're at $150 because he still needs a Mobo too.
His games list is....
WoW - Shogun 2 - Half-Life - Company of Heroes
He doesn't play FPS like BFBC2 or CoD series. He said he may, but he is NOT a huge GFX nut so if he runs some stuff on Medium he will not complain.
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

$154 after mail in rebate. And you get Deus ex, which is a $50 game for free.

Or for $159 after mail in rebate. You can get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561

And the XFX is a lifetime warrenty with Deus ex and Dirt 3 for free. Thats a $100 in games for free.
 
happymedium said:
Just remember a 6870 @ 1000 core = a gtx460 at 875 core.
When both are overclocked to the fullest a gtx560 will beat a overclocked 6870.
Mymsi gtx460 hawk does 950 core but I run it @ 930 core. A regular gtx560 will overclock higher than my card and my card will beat any overclocked 6870 and cost 35$ less..
Click to expand...

You shouldn't bring your card into it. You are always telling everyone to buy the cheapest nVidia card they can find and then O/C it to ultra high clocks, but is that what you did? Hell no! You bought that card used at a premium ($170) just because it was such a good O/C'er. Get real and lead by example, if you really give such good advice.
 
$80 for the PII X4 955 is hard to argue with :)
If you get a case with nice airflow going by the card, go for an MSi Hawk. My gut says go for the 6870 over the 460.
:edit: If you can squeeze a 560 or 6950 1GB into your friends build, that would be prime.
:edit 2: Grab a nice 870 AM3 mobo for your friend, bonus points if u get one with USB3 in addition to SATA 6GB/S. Can be had for under $80. If you forgo USB3 and SATA6GB/s you can save another $30 I think and still not have the worst board ever. Don't know if you bought the ram yet, but just get him 4GB to save him $30-40 dollars (I imagine) and put it toward the GPU. How much is that PSU costing him and whats the model?
 
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DASHlT said:
Please ignore this post. This guy has no idea what he talks about, he even recently lied about playing Deus ex and not liking it because its an AMD Evolved game. He said he gave the game to a buddy of his and uninstalled it.....Well you cant give it to your buddy when it attaches to your steam account (HUGE nvidia fanboi)

The 6870 is the better buy, plus you get 3 free games right now if you buy one right now as well (including the new deus ex).
Click to expand...

Ha, yea ever hear of a wireless hardrive and a password? Thats all it takes to share a steam account. I guess you missed this post too. More proof that your the liar or can't read? If thats the case I'm sorry.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32173763&postcount=81

Everthing I said is a fact and I own a gtx460 HAWK.
If you cant dispute the facts , you attack the messenger, thats the definition of a fanboy in my book.
I'll show you some benchmarks of a gtx460 @ 850 core = a 6870 @ 972 core @ 1920x1080 4x aa.

First google hit on this page.
http://www.google.com/search?q=hard...gc.r_pw.&fp=f582e101530810fb&biw=1078&bih=507

Goto the conclusion page and look at the chart.
Yes like I said a gtx460/560 @ 875 core will = a 6870 at 1000 core.
Have any evidence that I'm wrong?
I didn't think so!


CHallenge my facts or stfu.

Here is some more evidence at the Op's 1600x1050 res. 14 games of evidence with a stock regular gtx560 @ 810 core vs a stock 6870 @ 900 core.
perfrel_1680.gif
 
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Relayer said:
You shouldn't bring your card into it. You are always telling everyone to buy the cheapest nVidia card they can find and then O/C it to ultra high clocks, but is that what you did? Hell no! You bought that card used at a premium ($170) just because it was such a good O/C'er. Get real and lead by example, if you really give such good advice.
Click to expand...

No i bought my card used last year at that price (and got my moneys worth) and the gtx 460 hawk (my exact card!) IS ON SALE AT NEWEGG for 124$AR!!!
The best gtx460 for the lowest price on newegg,? I stand by my advice!
 
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DOOMHAMMA said:
Don't know if you bought the ram yet, but just get him 4GB to save him $30-40 dollars (I imagine) and put it toward the GPU. How much is that PSU costing him and whats the model?
Click to expand...

He did get the RAM and we went with 8GB, like i said, with the multitasking he does between games and other random programs(engineer work in future) open and the prices have been amazing.

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...17075X740592X55b62193d0c76436f5f9dd5660aa5468

That was one of the reasons power consumption was kept in my mind. It is reviewed as solid and guys here said they are, but less power is always nicer. There are 3 of us in an apartment whos PCs are running at least 10-12 hours a day each. :eek:

As far as OCing, again, thanks happy but it's just not in the cards. Plus he said he could get the 2 games and either sell or play.
 
BioInclined said:
He did get the RAM and we went with 8GB, like i said, with the multitasking he does between games and other random programs(engineer work in future) open and the prices have been amazing.

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...17075X740592X55b62193d0c76436f5f9dd5660aa5468

That was one of the reasons power consumption was kept in my mind. It is reviewed as solid and guys here said they are, but less power is always nicer. There are 3 of us in an apartment whos PCs are running at least 10-12 hours a day each. :eek:

As far as OCing, again, thanks happy but it's just not in the cards. Plus he said he could get the 2 games and either sell or play.
Click to expand...

Good luck to him
 
Thanks,

Went with the XFX 6870, for the minor increase in performance in whatever chart you posted, it's just edged out a little in power consumption and preference.
also, i saw this chart showing performance opposite what you posted. I'm not at all calling you a liar or wrong, just showing there seems to be different areas tested or something. The difference as said before is negligible based on his needs.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776-13.html
 
BioInclined said:
Thanks,

Went with the XFX 6870, for the minor increase in performance in whatever chart you posted, it's just edged out a little in power consumption and preference.
also, i saw this chart showing performance opposite what you posted. I'm not at all calling you a liar or wrong, just showing there seems to be different areas tested or something. The difference as said before is negligible based on his needs.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776-13.html
Click to expand...

That was with a stock clocked gtx460 @ 675 core, the model I showed you is clocked @ 780 core , so add 12% to those scores with the gtx460. :D Ah haaa!? woops.:D
ANd is he really gonna run with 8xaa? I don't think so.

Anyway good luck , the 6870 is a good card.
 
Both cards are good cards and will be able to run anything easily.

The AMD CPU is also fine. Sure Sandy Bridge is a beast and better than any AMD CPU but the one you chose will easily run any game fine with either GPU you choose. There are very very few games that push hardware to the limits these days.
 
happymedium said:
No i bought my card used last year at that price (and got my moneys worth) and the gtx 460 hawk (my exact card!) IS ON SALE AT NEWEGG for 124$AR!!!
The best gtx460 for the lowest price on newegg,? I stand by my advice!
Click to expand...

When you got it you paid more for it than you could have gotten the same card for brand new. You did it just because it was a tried and proven O/C'er. You said so yourself at AT forums.

Your advice in this thread was to buy the 560 and O/C it to well over 900MHz. I would agree with you if you had recommended buying a 460 Hawk for $124AR. As long as you didn't make it sound like it was a lock that it will O/C like your card does.
 
Relayer said:
When you got it you paid more for it than you could have gotten the same card for brand new. You did it just because it was a tried and proven O/C'er. You said so yourself at AT forums.

Your advice in this thread was to buy the 560 and O/C it to well over 900MHz. I would agree with you if you had recommended buying a 460 Hawk for $124AR. As long as you didn't make it sound like it was a lock that it will O/C like your card does.
Click to expand...

No, at that time my card was 219$ new and one of the most exspensive 460 cards, but it is true I bought it for its overclocking abilities.
 
fightingfi said:
Rule of thumb is since your going with an AMD cpu might as well go AMD GPU. AMD 690 and 6970's are Excellent Choices :D Less heat and less power consumed to
Click to expand...

Maybe your rule of thumb. I got a 1090t and gtx570 and I'm really happy. So I don't see where your rule of thumb applies here.
 
Gonna be doing 2xGTX460's to replace 2xRadeon 5770's, hoping it's a good experience.
 
I had Asus 6870 for only about 1 or 2 weeks BAM !!! I got black screen hang all the times, tried different drivers no go, so I decide take it back to replace gtx 560 non ti, I was happy to see boost more fps on BCFC2 than 6870.

Stay away from old any GTX 460, get GTX 560ti or non ti, ATI 6950 is good choice.
 
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