• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Video Card Upgrade, need help

P

Pilsner73

n00b
Joined
Nov 16, 2004
Messages
27
Currently running a MSI geforce 9600gt and thinking it's time to upgrade to something new since I upgraded to windows 7. Plan on getting some new games soon like Civ5 and others and figured it might be time to upgrade. I usually upgrade every 2-3 years looking for a decent card that will hold me over for that time period. After price/performance I look for a model that is quiet.

My current system is
Antec p180b case
HX620w Corsair Power supply
Intel q8400 cpu
4gb memory
Asus p5k-e motherboard
Dell 2209wa monitor 1680x1050 monitor

So after some research it looks like a decent card can be found in the $100-200 price range I am looking to spend. From what I can tell the gtx460 and 6850/6870 based cards seem to fit my requirements but what brand/model should I look for?

Update - I also want to add I may upgrade my motherboard/ram/cpu in the next 15-24 months.
 
Last edited:
can you oc your cpu? if not then a gtx460 768mb would be about the most I would go with at 1680x1050.
 
Cannondale hit the nail on the head.

$130: GTX 460 768MB

$150 after MIR: this. This will match the $200 6870 if you overclock it.

$200 after MIR: this. This will have good resale value because of the transferable warranty.

From this thread, I have not read the whole thread but this guy seems to be legit.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1576338
Click to expand...

It seems that the same person is selling these 6850s. I bought one from scottmargel myself, and it didn't include an order invoice, which OP will need for HIS warranties. Since he only upgrades every 2-3 years it may be risky to not have a warranty.
 
XacTactX said:
Cannondale hit the nail on the head.

$130: GTX 460 768MB

$150 after MIR: this. This will match the $200 6870 if you overclock it.

$200 after MIR: this. This will have good resale value because of the transferable warranty.



It seems that the same person is selling these 6850s. I bought one from scottmargel myself, and it didn't include an order invoice, which OP will need for HIS warranties. Since he only upgrades every 2-3 years it may be risky to not have a warranty.
Click to expand...

I forgot to add, I may upgrade my motherboard/ram/cpu sometime in the next 15-24 months. As for overclocking haven't thought about it.

So because of my processor/chipset the recomendation is a 768mb 460gtx? I wouldn't see a benefit from a 1mb 6850 or 460gtx?
 
Pilsner73 said:
I forgot to add, I may upgrade my motherboard/ram/cpu sometime in the next 15-24 months. As for overclocking haven't thought about it.

So because of my processor/chipset the recomendation is a 768mb 460gtx? I wouldn't see a benefit from a 1mb 6850 or 460gtx?
Click to expand...
a gtx460 768mb is a pretty fast card at 1680 and can be had for very cheap. at 1680 and with your cpu there will not be much of difference if any in many games with a faster gpu than that. 24 months from now there will have been much faster cards for the same or even less money. in other words get the video card that suits your system and upgrade it in 2 years when you have a better cpu.
 
cannondale06 said:
a gtx460 768mb is a pretty fast card at 1680 can be had for very cheap. at 1680 and with your cpu there will not be much of difference if any in many games with a faster gpu than that. 24 months from now there will have been much faster cards for the same or even less money. in other words get the video card that suits your system and upgrade the video card in 2 years when you have a better cpu.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, so a 6850 or gtx460 would be fine for a 1680x1050 display. EVGA and HIS good brands or are they recommended more because of price?
 
Pilsner73 said:
I forgot to add, I may upgrade my motherboard/ram/cpu sometime in the next 15-24 months. As for overclocking haven't thought about it.

So because of my processor/chipset the recomendation is a 768mb 460gtx? I wouldn't see a benefit from a 1mb 6850 or 460gtx?
Click to expand...

Considering how long you usually keep your graphic card, yes it would be a good idea to go with the 1GB GTX 460 or 6850. The MSI 460 I linked is the best bang for your buck buy in your price range. The 6850 that was linked is good too, but you can't count on getting a warranty with that, so I wouldn't recommend it for you. MSI's warranty is three years I believe which will go nicely which your upgrade schedule.

EDIT: Cannondale made a good point in his last post. The most cost-effective way to upgrade graphics while staying current performance-wise is generally to upgrade every 18-24 months. It's just that we don't know when 768MB of memory is going to become a limiting factor, so for the slightly higher cost I think a 1GB graphic card will be better. If you upgrade more often, such as in around two years, you may be able to get away with 768MB of memory.
 
Last edited:
Pilsner73 said:
I forgot to add, I may upgrade my motherboard/ram/cpu sometime in the next 15-24 months. As for overclocking haven't thought about it.

So because of my processor/chipset the recomendation is a 768mb 460gtx? I wouldn't see a benefit from a 1mb 6850 or 460gtx?
Click to expand...

yes but diminishing returns. I would go with a 6850. really at your resolution there isn't much difference between a 6850 and a 6950. I would go with the 768mb 460GTX simply on the bang for buck. its pretty outclassed by the 6850 but I have seen it go for 90 bucks AR.(look in the hot deals forum) the 6850 is an awesome value and card but it cant touch that. http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1577091 if you can find a 460GTX 1gb, one of the OCed models, on the cheap that is not a bad choice at either

if you do plan to upgrade your monitor anytime soon go with the 6850. or if you feel like it http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1578639 200 dollars AR for XFX 6870 is a pretty good deal.
 
Thanks for all the responses so far. Yes warranty does matter and would like something to at least cover 2-3 years with good customer support if something happens.

The 6850/70 cards sound like they are a bit better than the 460gtx but I noticed they lack Physx. Is physx really a desriable feature? I don't see a lot of games using it but if more are on the way and it is a feature that does improve gameplay/performance noticerably I would take that into considreation.

Now going on what I know I think I'll watch the prices out there for 460gtx, 6850, and 6870 and see which one seems the best deal. Any brands to look for or stay away from for video cards? I would rather spend 10-20 dollars more for a video card with the same features but built better with good customer support. I also know some models are better at being quiet while keeping the temp/power levels lower.
 
Pilsner73 said:
The 6850/70 cards sound like they are a bit better than the 460gtx but I noticed they lack Physx. Is physx really a desriable feature? I don't see a lot of games using it but if more are on the way and it is a feature that does improve gameplay/performance noticerably I would take that into considreation.
Click to expand...

I only played 3 games since getting a Nvidia card that use Physx. Mafia 2, Batman, and Metro. Didn't even notice what it added to Metro but its great in Mafia 2 and Batman. It really made the games more fun to play and I don't mind replaying them after I already beat them on my 6870. I had no interest in Physx before I tried it but now I would miss it. Here is a list of some Physx games http://developer.nvidia.com/object/physx_good_company.html I noticed some games are missing though.
 
Last edited:
PhysX isn't really desirable to most people, but if you play nothing but one of the titles it works well in, maybe you would be interested.
 
Pilsner73 said:
Thanks for all the responses so far. Yes warranty does matter and would like something to at least cover 2-3 years with good customer support if something happens.

The 6850/70 cards sound like they are a bit better than the 460gtx but I noticed they lack Physx. Is physx really a desriable feature? I don't see a lot of games using it but if more are on the way and it is a feature that does improve gameplay/performance noticerably I would take that into considreation.

Now going on what I know I think I'll watch the prices out there for 460gtx, 6850, and 6870 and see which one seems the best deal. Any brands to look for or stay away from for video cards? I would rather spend 10-20 dollars more for a video card with the same features but built better with good customer support. I also know some models are better at being quiet while keeping the temp/power levels lower.
Click to expand...

physx isn't worth much of anything. there are about 3 games that it actually makes a difference, and then not all that much. batman AA to date is really the only game that I have seen that it was actually a real selling point. so nice to have when needed but really nothing I would base my buying decision on.

good customer support would be XFX for AMD and Galaxy and EVGA for Nvidia cards. all have board reps that you can talk to if you have an issue. worth the price premium IMO.

if your worried about power and temp AMD would be your card. but the 460GTX isn't as bad as the rest of the 400 series in that regard.

if your looking for good third party cooling MSI is hard to beat. they have several options and all are pretty damn good. decent warranty, haven't heard anything bad about their customer service, just don't hear great things about it like EVGA, Galaxy, or XFX.
 
I currently own MSI 9600gt and really never had a major issue with the card. I read the XFX 6850 cards could be louder than other brands. A review of the MSI cyclone card was very favorable but can not find it anywhere for sale so far.
 
Last edited:
Latest update. I notice the 460gtx cards are pci 2.0 and the 6850 are pci 2.1, my motherboard is 1.1, would there be any compatiblity issues, loss of performance with either?
 
Pilsner73 said:
Latest update. I notice the 460gtx cards are pci 2.0 and the 6850 are pci 2.1, my motherboard is 1.1, would there be any compatiblity issues, loss of performance with either?
Click to expand...

PCIe v1 x16 is as fast as PCIe v2 x8, and HardOCP's comparison has shown that GTX 480s in SLI are not hampered by x8 even at 2560 x 1600.

No, no penalty whatsoever.
 
XacTactX said:
PCIe v1 x16 is as fast as PCIe v2 x8, and HardOCP's comparison has shown that GTX 480s in SLI are not hampered by x8 even at 2560 x 1600.

No, no penalty whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Ok, I'll be just using a single card solution and wanted to make sure there will be no compatiility issues with the pci versions (motherboard and card) and/or speed decrease.

Would hate to get a new card have issues do to different versions of the pci bus or find out i overbought with no major performance gain compared to a lesser model card or even my current one.
 
Just an update, received my card yesterday. It's the version 2 Asus 6850 with two power connectors. I sent a request to Asus tech support which one to use and they responded to use both power connectors.

I am just waiting for the new catalyst driver package that is supposed to be out today to install the card.
 
Two 6-pins, jesus, that's poor. 127W for the HD6850, yet they use power connectors for 150W+ spec.
Yet another reason not to buy Asus cards, if I didn't already have enough.
 
samuelmorris said:
Two 6-pins, jesus, that's poor. 127W for the HD6850, yet they use power connectors for 150W+ spec.
Yet another reason not to buy Asus cards, if I didn't already have enough.
Click to expand...

I have no idea if it's true just what tech support said. Seemed like a stock answer of "If there's two, then you have to connect two". There has been some speculation on various sites that maybe Asus is just using the 6870 board for both versions. The manual appears to say both do not need to be connected.
 
Ok last night I removed the nvidia drivers, rebooted in safe mode and ran DriverCleaner.net to remove all ATI and Nvidia drivers, shut computer down and installed the card.

The card is quieter than my old MSI 9600gt but I have to say Asus may want to reduce the card size or at least the cooler plastic cover size because it was a tight fit into my case.

Thanks again everyone for their help and guidance.
 
If you can snag the $89 MIR MSI gtx 460, that's your best bet. For your price range, you can run SLI :)

I bought one recently as an upgrade, but it was an EVGA for warranty purposes.
 
Pilsner73 said:
Ok last night I removed the nvidia drivers, rebooted in safe mode and ran DriverCleaner.net to remove all ATI and Nvidia drivers, shut computer down and installed the card.

The card is quieter than my old MSI 9600gt but I have to say Asus may want to reduce the card size or at least the cooler plastic cover size because it was a tight fit into my case.

Thanks again everyone for their help and guidance.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem with my 5870 in my P182 chrome. I had to remove one of the 3.5 brackets to make room.

glad it worked out for you, enjoy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top