£100 budget gfx

Scoob145 · 16 Oct 2012 at 01:35

As title . Looking for a gfx card for my htpc rig , it will be powered by a ivy bridge 3570k and 8gb of DDR3 .

What gfx card cards in this range for gaming at 1080p and be cool enough to put in a zalman hd503 with restricted airflow . Could stretch the budget slightly for better performance. Don't mind if the card is second hand as long as it works well . I've seen a 480gtx for £140 new on a famous auction site but would like ure ideas

climhazzard36 · 16 Oct 2012 at 20:51

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-101-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1699

A HD7770 will perform about the same as a HD6850 for ~£100. The GTX480 is a lot better than those two however.

If you are willing to hit the £140 mark then this GTX560ti (448 Core) will perform the same if not better (at lower power) than the GTX480

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-177-
MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1854

Scoob145 · 16 Oct 2012 at 22:27

I could always stretch if it is worth it . I don't need something that is going to cause me heat issues in my htpc rig tho . Do those cards run hot as the zalman case it is going in is going to have limited airflow

JonSmith · 16 Oct 2012 at 23:10

Avoid the 560ti and the 480 and opt for a 7850 if you're going for the £140 price range. The 7850 only requires a single 6 pin power connector and runs far cooler than both of them, the 480 especially. I'll chastise the above poster for even recommending it, a 480 in a limited airflow case is a bad bad idea if you don't want lots of melting.

For the £100 price range, the 7770 has poor memory bandwidth compared to the older generation cards so isn't ideal for 1080p. I'd go for a HD6850 if you can get one and must spend about £100.

humbug · 16 Oct 2012 at 23:27

JonSmith said:
Avoid the 560ti and the 480 and opt for a 7850 if you're going for the £140 price range. The 7850 only requires a single 6 pin power connector and runs far cooler than both of them, the 480 especially. I'll chastise the above poster for even recommending it, a 480 in a limited airflow case is a bad bad idea if you don't want lots of melting.

For the £100 price range, the 7770 has poor memory bandwidth compared to the older generation cards so isn't ideal for 1080p. I'd go for a HD6850 if you can get one and must spend about £100.

This

The GTX 480 is a bad idea in a HTPC, the GTX 560ti is not a good idea either.

Best bet is a 7850 or for a GTX 660

Scoob145 · 16 Oct 2012 at 23:31

So a amd card will run cooler and still perform well enough for gaming and 1080p playback on movies whilst keeping the heat to a minimum if I could stretch to a £150 would a new 7 series card be better or should I buy old tech and a buy a 6 series card ?

Motherboard ill be using is a z77 gigabyte d3h . It's crossfire compatible but only 8x 8x so don't even want to entertain xfire

humbug · 17 Oct 2012 at 00:11

Scoob145 said:
So a amd card will run cooler and still perform well enough for gaming and 1080p playback on movies whilst keeping the heat to a minimum if I could stretch to a £150 would a new 7 series card be better or should I buy old tech and a buy a 6 series card ?

Motherboard ill be using is a z77 gigabyte d3h . It's crossfire compatible but only 8x 8x so don't even want to entertain xfire

For 1080P the 7850 or the GTX 660 is perfect, and yes they run cooler and use less power.

for a HTPC i think this GTX 660 would be best as it blows the hot air out the back instead of dumping it into the case, that is unless it's to long? it looks long.

But if £150 is your limit this 7850 is right there.

Both cards are about as good as eachother.

As For Crossfire you only need 8x + 8x or 16x + 8x which is what the Gigabyte D3H Z77 has

PS: a 7850 / GTX 660 is equivalent to a 6950 / GTX 570 in performance

Scoob145 · 17 Oct 2012 at 00:52

Gtx 660 are expensive

I'm sure If I got a 480 it wouldn't make my case that much hotter ?

What do the 7850s overclock like ? Would it have enough power to do what I need ? Been reading some reviews and they are not very well rated

wazza300 · 17 Oct 2012 at 00:57

id choose the 7850,they dont get hot even when overclocked,rarely see mine go above 65c atm when gaming,they can beat a gtx 580,id only go higher if your using above 1920x1080 res

Scoob145 · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:07

Will be used on a HDTV at 1080p resolution . What's the best manufacturer for amd cards ? Would like a decent warranty

humbug · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:08

Scoob145 said:
Gtx 660 are expensive I'm sure If I got a 480 it wouldn't make my case that much hotter ?

What do the 7850s overclock like ? Would it have enough power to do what I need ? Been reading some reviews and they are not very well rated

7850's are one of the best clocking cards around, trust me the GTX 480 will melt a compact case and its self, not to mention you would need a fairly substantial PSU to power it, it's about the worst GPU you could think of, whats more its no faster than the 7850.

Edit, Gigabyte are the best warranty for UK, but they are over £170 again. i can't say what Sapphire are like, don't know.

wazza300 · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:09

gigabyte and msi offer the best warranties 3 year as apposed to 2 from other makers

if you can get a 7870 for around the same money then plump for that but tbh the cheaper 7850 will match its performance without any faffing

Scoob145 · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:13

For £170 I could get a gtx 660 tho . Is the 7850 as quick and as supported as nvidia with driver s ? I've always had nvidia cards in the past and never been let down .

wazza300 · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:18

tbh i dont know on nvidia,last time i read, it matched a 7950,i can only speak for a 7850 and ive always used ati cards.never had a driver issue at all since an old x1950 pro card

i also read gtx 670/680 can suffer from microstuttering,idk if they have cured it or it applies to the gtx 660? maybe someone else can chime in

humbug · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:29

7850 > GTX 660
7870 > GTX 660TI
7950 > GTX 670
7970 > GTX 680

All the AMD cards are just a little slower than the Nvidia equivalent, but the AMD cards have higher overclocking room (with exception to the 7870 which is fairly highly clocked already, but generally does achieve a higher clock speed than the 7850's)

At the end of the day there really is nothing between any of them other than different levels of performance in different games.

The 7850 has massive overclocking potential, more than the GTX 660, in the end it's probably a little faster, actually.

Scoob145 · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:34

7850 looks like a nice card . I'm guessing the 2gb version would be better for gaming at higher resolutions ?

When are the 8 series cards due out as that will surely lower the price of the current range ?

humbug · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:41

Scoob145 said:
7850 looks like a nice card . I'm guessing the 2gb version would be better for gaming at higher resolutions ?

When are the 8 series cards due out as that will surely lower the price of the current range ?

Yes, even 1GB is enough for 1080P for the moment, but only just. 2GB will run 1440P nicely and has some future proofing.

8 Series cards, no one knows any facts, they are rumoured for February 2013. its far more likely they will be out closer to summer, 7### series cards prices will drop. the rumors are they will cost what the 7### cards cost now.

Given the state of the economy and the effect that's having on high end Hardware sales its very likely all Hardware makers will cut their profit margins by that time.

Scoob145 · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:44

I don't fancy waiting till next year for price drop lol . Will have to choose a 7850 then

problem is my build is spiralling out of control . I was originally going to xfire a 6670 with apu trinity chip but was talked out of it. This rate it's looking like its the cheaper option . Any particular 7850s I should avoid ?

Scoob145 · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:49

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-100-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

That has an extremely fast clock already . Do u think it will clock higher if pushed ?

humbug · 17 Oct 2012 at 01:57

Scoob145 said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-100-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

That has an extremely fast clock already . Do u think it will clock higher if pushed ?

I just had a look in that AMD or Intel thread you talked about having been talked out of the Trinity APU, looks like you have come looking for a HTPC and ended up with an enthusiast's level gaming rig instead.

Anyway, Gigabyte is what i'm running, good warranty - good clockers, altho i was not that lucky with the clocks on mine, it's not bad either.
I'm running it at 1200 Core and 1500 Memory.

From that card you should expect 1050Mhz without adjusting any voltages, 1100 to 1150 with a reasonable voltage adjustment, that with 1400 on the memory, you might get more.

As i said 7850's are good clockers.