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£200ish budget for GPU

kingbal

kingbal

kingbal

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Joined
31 May 2011
Posts
353
OK so i'm about to start my new build and i've got the basics covered (GD53, i5 2500K, 750w PSU) and now i need to decide on graphics.

My original plan was to go for a 560ti like this but im now wondering if its worth paying an extra £60 and going for a 570.

Im only starting out with one screen but i want to play the decent games i.e Crysis, Metro 2033 at full HD + max graphics.

Is the 570 going to be overkill? Should i just go for the 560 then get another one when they come down in price and SLI them?

Any thoughts (or alternative recommendations) appreciated! Cheers
 
I like the sound of the PhysX feature - looks like a nice touch.

All the numbers are confusing - am i right in thinking the 480 is the top line of the 4xx range and if so, is it comparable to the 560/570 models in terms of performance seeing as they are the newer 5xx series? OR have i got that completely wrong? :p
 
It's better than both the 560/570. Only a little quicker than the 570 but overclocks allow for a bigger difference, not sure how well the 570 overclocks. The 480 is power hungry and runs very hot.
 
Vegeta said:
It's better than both the 560/570. Only a little quicker than the 570 but overclocks allow for a bigger difference, not sure how well the 570 overclocks. The 480 is power hungry and runs very hot.
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480 is power hungry and can get hot and loud in stability testing (Kombustor etc), but IMO its fine in games and it o/c's well and is reliable. Heard some stories about reliability issues with of overclocked 570's.

480 is a GREAT card if you can power it and fit a quality quiet cooler.

Most 480's can be clocked to match a 580 at stock speeds (although obviosuly 580's can also be o/c'ed!)
 
Yeah another vote for a GTX 480 (if your after raw power and dont mind the heat and higher power consumption). As above, during gaming and everyday use their not too bad and can be overclocked brilliantly! Otherwise a rev 1 6950 2GB.
 
If you can plump the extra and get a non-reference GTX480, then definitely go for it, stonking cards they are, and they will overclock to 580 speeds. However, the cheaper one on OCuk at the moment is a reference model. The reference 480 is one of the hottest, loudest and most power hungry graphics cards ever released. If you're sensitive to noise/have a cheaper power supply, I'd suggest getting the 6950 instead, or maybe a GTX570? They are pretty reliable, and it is eminently possible to get an 850-900mhz overclock out of them.
 
I'd suggest putting a bit more money in and getting a non-reference 480. Still really good value for money. My mate has a reference 480 GTX and I can hear the damn thing from over his mic when we're gaming.

If budget can't be stretched than a 6950 is probably your best bet :).
 
I agree with everything that's been said. I'd go for the GigaByte SE rather than the stock Asus + aftermarket cooler since it works out cheaper and is a lot more convenient. However, if you can't stretch to the SE and your PSU isn't a known brand 600W+ then the 6950 linked to above is a great card.
 
if u r buying new, but current generation, 570, 6950, or 6970 - you can find it for 240 if u r lucky, ocuk had a deal on the msi last week.

plus if u buy the 480 its going to be harder to find another one in say 1 year time to sli - it'll be 2 generations old by then, where as the current generation (570/6950/70) will be cheaper and easier to find, still.
 
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arnoldma said:
plus if u buy the 480 its going to be harder to find another one in say 1 year time to sli - it'll be 2 generations old by then, where as the current generation (570/6950/70) will be cheaper and easier to find, still.
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This was one of my main concerns; its exactly what i plan to do and buying an older generation top line card seems like a nonsensical move if i want to SLI in the future. I think i'll go for a 570, probably this one.

Am i wasting the extra £50 though when i can get the ATI 6950 twin frozr for £200?
 
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I don't think it will be hard at all to find a GTX 480 in a years time. No card made in the last 5-6 years is hard to come by really. Members market will be swarming with them by then as they're popular cards and no doubt a new better card will be out by then.
 
kingbal said:
Am i wasting the extra £50 though when i can get the ATI 6950 twin frozr for £200?
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As you have stated you are thinking of going sli/xfire.

Consider the 6990 and 590 perform roughly same, some games favour the red team other games favour team green.

As the 6950 and 570 in xfire/sli are more or less a 6990 and 570, so imo you would save ~£100 going for the 6950. As you have a 750W psu, you wouldn't need to replace it for powering 6950 xfire, I imagine you would need a new psu for 570 sli which incurs even more cost.

kingbal said:
Im only starting out with one screen but i want to play the decent games i.e Crysis, Metro 2033 at full HD + max graphics.
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If you are planing at all on going down the multi monitor route, then at higher rez, the extra vram of the 6950 will enable higher iq settings than the 570.

Vegeta said:
I don't think it will be hard at all to find a GTX 480 in a years time. No card made in the last 5-6 years is hard to come by really. Members market will be swarming with them by then as they're popular cards
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I agree that it won't be hard to find a 480 on the members market, but I personally wouldn't touch a 1 or 2 year old 480. It runs hot for starters which imo can only diminish the life of the card and has more than likely been over clocked to hell and back which can only make matters worse for failure.
 
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3 for 3! :)
 
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As a 570 user, I can heartily recommend them. But, you'll be paying well over the £200 mark. If you can tho, its usually a good idea to go for a card with a decent aftermarket cooler as well. Most 570's can clock within 580 speeds as well, given a little tweaking.

The 6950 at £200 is a cracking card for the cash tho, and thats what I'd opt for if sticking to budget.

Oh, and be aware that big coolers on cards can often hinder any future plans for sli/crossfire, due to the slot spacing on mobo's.
 
thanks for the replies - i'm getting closer to buying and i've decided to stay within budget.

Just noticed this 560ti for £175

Think i'm going to go for it!
 
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