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Which GTX 460 to get?

Sure.

I think there's only two PCI cards in that system now. A raid card and my X-Fi Fatal1ty... the raid card is the one below the GFX card anyway, and is the smallest.

Once I get the smaller HDDs replaced, the raid card can come out altogether.
It's just the way it is at the moment. I think my old 7900GTX was dual slot, and that never had any heat issues...mind you, obviously generated a lot less heat too I'd imagine.

Thanks for getting back to me guys,
Always appreciated!

Vin.
 
Sorry, it's me again! ;)

I've decided to have a change of heart, and I'd rather stick with OcUK, as they've been great in the past when I've had dodgy cards.

So, that rules out the Gigabyte, and brings me back to the MSI.
The MSI 1gb card is indeed about £15 more than the Gigabyte... I can live with that.

However, the 768mb version is currently on offer here, £160 for that, or £200 for the 1gb. At 1680x1050, or 1920x1080 when I play on the TV, is it worth £40 to get the 1gb model? The other specs look the same. My current 8800GT always seems to have coped with 512mb without issue... but I'm not sure. If it were just a few quid in it, I'd get the 1gb, but £40 is a fair saving. Would Crysis use 1gb of ram if the details are wacked up to very high?

Vin.
 
Nickg said:
for 1080p u want the 1GB model.

but having owned MSI GTX 460, Sparkle, KFA2 and now a gigabyte id recommend the gigabyte.
Click to expand...

LOL, any particular reason for preferring the Gigabyte?

When these cards first came out, I was considering the Palit, but read about the noise. Now I CAN'T STAND that. My 8800GT little fan makes an awful noise during the POST, but only for a second, and it's never ever span up that high during game usage.

So I'd decided on the Gigabyte and MSI due to reading peoples comments about them being quiet.

So I was simply interested, seeing as you've tried them both, what it is that makes the Gigabyte better, and which of them is genuinely the quietest?

Vin.
 
I went for the Palit 2GB. at £185 on the today only the other week I could not ignor it!! as for noise i have read that updating the Palit card will resolve the loud fan issue... so i read, will try it out at some point. if im honest i play games with a decent volume and cant hear anything other than the game. if you can hear the card turn the volume up! easy fix :D
 
ggidd said:
I went for the Palit 2GB. at £185 on the today only the other week I could not ignor it!! as for noise i have read that updating the Palit card will resolve the loud fan issue... so i read, will try it out at some point. if im honest i play games with a decent volume and cant hear anything other than the game. if you can hear the card turn the volume up! easy fix :D
Click to expand...

I think some people have more sensitive hearing than others.
When I used to sit in my living room late in the evening, when I turned everything off, I could hear my Nokia phone charger high pitched squeal on the other side of the room.

I just hate whining fan noise.

I saw the early thread for the Palit, and they showed how the review card and the retail card differed, that the retail card had no heatsinks on the ram, making it warmer. Sure, a firmware update may make the fan wait until a higher temp to spin up, but to be honest, when I saw the missing heatsinks, I just decided to hang on and wait for a better solution.

So for me, it's the MSI or the Gigabyte.
A bit of a whooshing sound I can handle, but any kind of tone with it just frustrates the hell out of me, and I simply wouldn't use it.

But we're all different, some people can handle all kinds of noise while they game and just discard it.

For me, noise is just as much an issue as performance, if not more so, as I genuinely just wouldn't use the card if it made loads of noise.

Vin.
 
I hate noise, can't stand loud cards.

The default MSI fan profile is set rather aggressive, and while it isn't what i'd call loud, you can here air whooshing under heavy load (talking furmark/occt), however temps are excellent.

As such you've got a load of head room to play with temp wise, so if you manually set the fan profile so it tops out at 60% fan speed you can't hear the card at all, and you'll still be only around 70C stock and 80C max load (when OC'd and over volted).

Which is what I run.


The Gigabye has a better default profile for the fans, so is quiet from the start.


Both perform very similar, both get around the same temps, and around the same card noise when tweaked.
 
HeX said:
I hate noise, can't stand loud cards.

The default MSI fan profile is set rather aggressive, and while it isn't what i'd call loud, you can here air whooshing under heavy load (talking furmark/occt), however temps are excellent.

As such you've got a load of head room to play with temp wise, so if you manually set the fan profile so it tops out at 60% fan speed you can't hear the card at all, and you'll still be only around 70C stock and 80C max load (when OC'd and over volted).

Which is what I run.


The Gigabye has a better default profile for the fans, so is quiet from the start.


Both perform very similar, both get around the same temps, and around the same card noise when tweaked.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for a helpful post.
If only OcUK sold the Gigabyte!

The MSI does seem the most tempting somehow now. That big fan just looks like it should make less noise than two smaller ones.

Then again, from what you're saying about the Gigabyte one, I could just install it and forget it, with regard to fan profiles... something I've never bothered to play with in the past.

All I know is that my 8800GT idles at 29% fan which I can't hear, which gives me about 70 degrees... under load it's 90 degrees, but I still can't hear the fan, so it doesn't ramp up too much.

So from this perspective, it does sound like the Gigabyte one could be the one for me, for lower out of the box fan noise.

Damn to and fro, to and fro. I don't know that I've ever had such a job choosing a graphics card! Thing is, it's been a while, and I haven't really been keeping up with all the latest cards.

So thanks again for all the input.

Vin.

EDIT: What are people using now for fan profiles and overclocking? I used to use Rivatuner, but it doesn't seem to have been updated for ages. I've read of Afterburner... is this the tool of choice? I've yet to try it.
 
V1N said:
A bit of a whooshing sound I can handle, but any kind of tone with it just frustrates the hell out of me, and I simply wouldn't use it.
Vin.
Click to expand...

Same with me, which is why I got rid of the Palit, because that whine was still there, even when the fans were at minimum.

The good news is the Gigabyte is virtually silent - no whine, and virtually no whooshing noise on the default profile. It's quiet enough that I don't notice it at all while gaming, while I could always tell how fast the Palit fan was spinning from its noise.
 
Yeah the Palit had awful fan motor noise.

The MSI and Giga's have zero fan motor noise.



As for fan profile tweaking, use Aferburner, it's litterally a 2 second job.

You get a graph that shows you what the fan speed is at certain temp levels, and you just drag the points around until you have a curve your happy with.

Mines something like 40%<50C, 50%@60C, then 60%@80C.

Most games won't even make your card hit 60, and the heavy use games will get you to the early/mid 70's, so in games you'll rarely get to 60% fan speed.

And for me anything under 60% can't be heard over ambient.

Even 70% isn't bad, at 70% all you can hear is slight whoosh.

Over 70% it starts to get loud.

But as I say, you'll never hit 60% gaming, never mind 70+.:)
 
Thanks again.

I don't know why... but I'm still getting pulled across by the MSI.
I want to want the Gigabyte, because it's cheaper! ;)

But I have to say, OcUK's previous customer services is worth a bit extra to me in itself.. I had a hell of a time once years ago, with getting a working 7950 I think it was.. I got through about 5 of them, all had bad memory. OcUK were good as gold, always got me a new card out in 24 hrs, refunded all postage, and were friendly throughout. That counts for a lot in my book. If they sold the Gigabyte, I may well get that.... so I was originally going to go for a GTX460 because they were around £150... and now I'm looking at £200 lol Even the Gigabyte at .... wait a minute, done my sums wrong, the Gigabyte is £22 cheaper! It's £178 inc at the moment.

I'm almost tempted to just wait a day for OcUKs next This Week Only offer to see if it moves from the MSI 768mb to the MSI 1gb.. if they could match, or nearly match that price, I'd be sorted.

Blimey, to and fro, to and fro.
Anyway, regarding the cards you guys have given me all I need I think, so thanks.
I think I'll just mull over it for a while.
£200 for the MSI, £178 for the Gigabyte.... but from a competitor.
Anyone from OcUK reading this? Can't you lower the MSI 1gb by £15-£20 to make it directly comparable to buying the Gigabyte elsewhere? ;)

I want to buy from OcUK, but is it worth burning an extra £22? ;)

Vin.

EDIT: Sorry, I do have one further question. Do these cards require one or two PCI-E power connectors?
 
Last edited:
I would say for £200 you are better off with the HD5850.

And, my Gigabyte one came with 2 adaptors from moles to PCI-E so the others should be the same.
 
Ezyryder said:
I would say for £200 you are better off with the HD5850.
Click to expand...

lol, well this is the thing.
It was initially attractive as I was looking at the £150 cards.
Then I was looking at the gigabyte 1gb card this morning for £178, and now the MSI at £200.

I'm just going to have to think about it.
At least I have the info to make a decision now.
Part of me is even starting to wonder if it's worth it with this old rig, and just start again with an i7.

But all your replies have been appreciated, so thanks again.
Vin.
 
Ezyryder said:
You could always send a message to Gibbo to see if he can put one up on Today Only. You never know! :)
Click to expand...

lol, it wouldn't hurt I suppose.

Regarding the PCI-E, if I recall correctly, as I've not been in there for a while, my PSU was a modular PSU, and if I can find the box, I'm sure I have another PCI-E cable in there, which I'd just connect to the PSU, and then I should have two. I guess a part of me was just still a little concerned about overloading the thing.

Molex converters would be no good for me, because I already have too many HDDs and optical drives already, and have no Molex spare, and don't want to go back to using molex splitters in there.

I may well send a message to Gibbo though, why not.
It'll give me time to make my decision too, and if the 1gb MSI comes down in price a bit, it'll make my decision for me!

Cheers,
Vin.
 
Ravenger said:
Gigabyte or MSI - Sonic Platinum is nowhere near as good quality, and has a whiney fan.

I've got the Gigabyte and it's whisper quiet with exceptional performance and was cheaper than the standard Palit Sonic card I bought originally before returning it.
Click to expand...

Are you serious I just put in an order for 2 :(
 
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