GTX460 or 470

vorticalspace · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:17

Hi Guys
Please help me decide :confused:

Do I go for 470 GTX @ £220 or save 50 notes & opt for something like Gigabyte GTX460 OC which when clocked is not far off a std GTX480

I am only gaming at 1280 x 1024 but am looking to run all current /next 12 month games graphically maxed with the exception of AA.

My heart is telling me GTX470 but my head is saying 460.

I've always generally worked along the lines of being able to experience the latest related DX/shader related graphical advances at a playable frame rate.

Thanks

RavenXXX2 · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:20

For a start a heavily overclocked 460 will not get near a 480, 470 yes. At your rez a 460 should max most things out, more so when overclocked. In fact a £130 768mb 460 would do the job.

vorticalspace · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:27

RavenXXX2 said:
For a start a heavily overclocked 460 will not get near a 480, 470 yes. At your rez a 460 should max most things out, more so when overclocked. In fact a £130 768mb 460 would do the job.

When I say get close to a GTX480, i'm referring to the Vantage results on Guru3D. I'm pretty sure that a heavily OC'd 460 will get close to 17000 on the GPU test which is quite close to a std 480 (17500 ish).

I know a 470 will OC higher which is why I have this dilemma.
I would much rather pay £50 more & no that I am future proof for the next 12 months than always have those nagging "should I" doubts

My other slight concern with the GTX460 is the known W7 64 bug with certain mobo's.

Thanks

Marine-RX179 · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:28

To be honest I don't think it's worth it considering your res and already have a GTX260 216 (which can run Crysis at 1280x1024 High Detail with no AA from what I recall).

If anything you should upgrade your monitor first, then may be upgrade your graphic card to a GTX470 or a 6850 (if the price is right) after that.

The Running Man · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:31

what if neither can run all games maxed?

where i see a gtx 460 losing frames due to something being maxed out - the gtx 470 will also lose fps in the same place.

arc@css · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:34

Marine-RX179 said:
To be honest I don't think it's worth it considering your res and already have a GTX260 216 (which can run Crysis at 1280x1024 High Detail with no AA from what I recall).

If anything you should upgrade your monitor first, then may be upgrade your graphic card to a GTX470 or a 6850 (if the price is right) after that.

+1

Monitor first then uprgrade your video card soon after. At your current res I would say a 470 is a bit of a waste. If you are not going to buy a new monitor anytime soon then a 460 should be more than enough.

vorticalspace · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:53

Marine-RX179 said:
To be honest I don't think it's worth it considering your res and already have a GTX260 216 (which can run Crysis at 1280x1024 High Detail with no AA from what I recall).

If anything you should upgrade your monitor first, then may be upgrade your graphic card to a GTX470 or a 6850 (if the price is right) after that.

Upgrading the monitor may be an option which as you point out would probably justify going for the GTX470, but to be honest, I don't have a major problem gaming at current res.
I think what you are saying is that the 470 will be slightly more future proof & if OC'd, should perform better than the 460

RavenXXX2 · 13 Sep 2010 at 15:55

Like me at 1680x1050, I am more than happy to game at that res on a top monitor, it's not as if I'm doing 100 fps in all the demanding latest titles out there, so if you're happy with your monitor stick with it.

Rroff · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:08

GTX470 would get my vote... easily overclocks to GTX480 performance and with a bit of pushing I'm not hideously behind Raven's decently OC'd GTX480 results. (41 v 46fps in heaven benchmark). A GTX460 just won't reach those kinda levels.

vorticalspace · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:10

RavenXXX2 said:
Like me at 1680x1050, I am more than happy to game at that res on a top monitor, it's not as if I'm doing 100 fps in all the demanding latest titles out there, so if you're happy with your monitor stick with it.

And you run a GTX480 :cool:

I suppose my original/current dilemma was/still is, 460 or 470 assuming I keep my existing monitor.
If i'm being honest, if I got a 460, I would always be thinking should I have got a 470.
At least with the GTX 480, that is priced sufficiently high to at least rule it out as a possible option

RavenXXX2 · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:13

Sorry Rroff but heaven is not reminiscent of games performance, and an 850 overclock is noway guaranteed, extra volts and power consumption all add up to a big increase in temps.

Rroff run the crysis bench at my res all very high, see what games performance you got with them clocks.

OT, a 470 is overkill for your rez, I don't often say that but in this case I believe it true, go 460 and overclock it, runs way cooler than a 470 even when clocked high and way less power usage.

Scougar · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:15

470 if you plan on keeping it a while. But a 1gb 460 would do very well on your res (I've just moved from 1280 as well!)

Can't see your sig (turned off), but what card you have now?

Rroff · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:16

Not saying its guaranteed but you have a good chance with a GTX470 of getting in performance thats not hideously behind the top end - whereas a 460 is always going to trail by quite a bit.

RavenXXX2 · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:18

Yeah but 1280 x 1024 .....

Scougar · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:21

But there may be some challenging DX11 titles in the next 12 months Raven. The bar is constantly being raised.

In your side of things, I was still managing to run a 3870 at 1280 with most things on low on BFBC2, but moving up to another card would have allowed to run loads of AA and AF etc that would make up for the low resolution

RavenXXX2 · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:22

Yeah I agree, don't know what I was thinking with that comment, get the best you can afford.

Scougar · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:29

Soz, wasn't trying to shoot you down, there is a point that a higher card is pointless because it's bottlenecked by the CPU. Just that if he ran higher settings that could be negated to some degree.

What card do you have now OP ?

Cards seem to be price crashing at the moment.

Marine-RX179 · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:31

vorticalspace said:
Upgrading the monitor may be an option which as you point out would probably justify going for the GTX470, but to be honest, I don't have a major problem gaming at current res.
I think what you are saying is that the 470 will be slightly more future proof & if OC'd, should perform better than the 460

It's just that your current GTX260 216 is more than capable for 1280x1024, and should be able to max out with 4xAA for around 97% (if not more) of the games. Is your GTX260 actually struggling in any games that you are playing? If not, how about leave the graphic card upgrade till when you GTX260 actually struggle?

Don't upgrade for the sake of 'future proof', as there's not such a thing...upgrade when you NEED IT (i.e. your existing card can no longer offer reasonable performance or maxing out games) is always better performance and value for money. Wait for demanding titles you play/wanna play to arrive first then upgrade is a better idea than upgrading to a current decent graphic card to anticipate for demanding game that you don't know when they will come (as the chances are by then you can get a better card for the same price you are paying now). Also, if you ask anyone is it worth upgrading only for the sake of moving from dx10 to dx11, they will tell you no it's not...as dx11 game titles at the moment hardly look any better than dx10 (it might change with future titles though).

But if you really have an upgrade itch that just refuses to go away, then by all mean upgrade to what you want

vorticalspace · 13 Sep 2010 at 16:53

Scratch, Scratch

Running 260GTX-216 OC'd to 700 core.

Cards on the table, I do have an urge to upgrade.
Most people need a reason, some more than others, & mine is to be able to run DX11 titles in all their glory at playable fps.
Whilst we're being honest, i also enjoy buying/playing with new tech.
My current card is by & large fine with all the titles I play i.e Crysis, FO3, Oblivion, JC2 although even on my little old monitor, it does at times struggle

Having quickly analysed all the informed replies, I am pretty sure I am going to go with a GTX470 as it will give me extra performance over a 460 with the added benefit of satisfying my curiosity/ego whilst saving me £120.00 for near 480 performance when OC'd.

Marine-RX179 · 13 Sep 2010 at 17:36

vorticalspace said:
Scratch, Scratch

Running 260GTX-216 OC'd to 700 core.

Cards on the table, I do have an urge to upgrade.
Most people need a reason, some more than others, & mine is to be able to run DX11 titles in all their glory at playable fps.
Whilst we're being honest, i also enjoy buying/playing with new tech.
My current card is by & large fine with all the titles I play i.e Crysis, FO3, Oblivion, JC2 although even on my little old monitor, it does at times struggle

Having quickly analysed all the informed replies, I am pretty sure I am going to go with a GTX470 as it will give me extra performance over a 460 with the added benefit of satisfying my curiosity/ego whilst saving me £120.00 for near 480 performance when OC'd.

Will your itch kill you before the launch of the 6850?

If you can survive without upgrade till then, may be you can wait and see what it has too offer. Think it is gonna be out around Oct/Nov.