• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Need help choosing new graphics card!

CAT-THE-FIFTH

CAT-THE-FIFTH

CAT-THE-FIFTH

Caporegime
Joined
9 Nov 2009
Posts
25,773
Location
Planet Earth
Now with Crysis 2 coming upon us I have decide to do one more graphics card update for my venerable system.

I currently have a Shuttle SD37P2 SFF PC meaning that I want to get a graphics card with a blower type fan. This is the PSU I have ATM:

http://www.shuttle.eu/products/xpc-accessories/pc55/?0=

It has three 12V lines and can do 17A,17A and 15A. I know that the 400W version of the PSU can run an HD6870 1GB.

The system currently has a Q6600 running at around 2.67GHZ ~ 2.95GHZ,a 975X motherboard,4GB of DDR2 and an overclocked HD4830 512MB.

These are the graphics cards I am considering:

1.)EVGA GTX460 1GB SC EE ~ £140

This is the shortest card of the three I am looking at.

2.)Sapphire HD6850 1GB Toxic ~ £150 to £160

Has an aftermarket cooler and uses the HD6870 PCB.

3.)Asus HD6870 OC ~ £160 to £170

Uses stock cooler.

4.)XFX HD5850 1GB ~ £140 to £150

I would need to replace the stock cooler with an Akasa Vortexx Neo(I already have one). However,I don't know if the cooler is compatible with an HD5850 1GB.

The noise of the cooler is not too much of an issue unless it is high pitched. All the cards are going to be run at stock speeds.

The EVGA GTX460 1GB in the review uses the same cooler as the EVGA GTX460 1GB EE but is clocked around 11% higher. This review seems to compare all three cards:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/amds-radeon-6870-6850-renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market

Assuming the GTX460 performance has linear scaling with clockspeed this would mean the EVGA GTX460 1GB would be slower than the Asus HD6870 but probably faster than the Sapphire HD6850.

However,what concerns me is that the GTX460 1GB has higher power consumption than the HD6870.

ATM,I don't know which card to choose!

Is there any news on the GT550/GTS550/GTX550??
 
Last edited:
I can overclock it further but heat becomes an issue as it is an SFF PC. Anyway,I intend to get a new computer towards the end of the year so the new card will go into that build too(hopefully).

I have a 1680X1050 monitor so I game at that resolution or 1440X900.
 
Last edited:
CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
I can overclock it further but heat becomes an issue as it is an SFF PC. Anyway,I intend to get a new computer towards the end of the year so the new card will go into that build too(hopefully).

I have a 1680X1050 monitor so I game at that resolution or 1440X900.
Click to expand...

I game at your res too....I can bump the core up to 810 on the Gigabye 460 1gig model( without voltage tweak) and game with most settings high.

these cards are around for £130
 
CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
3.)Asus HD6870 OC ~ £160 to £170

Uses stock cooler.
Click to expand...

This is a reference card and would be a good choice. I much prefer reference cards.


The 5870 is generally a faster card than the 6870. I don't know which 5870 you are looking at but watch the size, a reference 5870 is almost 11.25" long. Power requirements of the 5870 are just about the same as the 6870.
 
Last edited:
arc@css said:
What is your budget, Cat?
Click to expand...

Around £165 at a push although not more than £150 if possible.

TropicLightning said:
This is a reference card and would be a good choice. I much prefer reference cards.


The 5870 is generally a faster card than the 6870. I don't know which 5870 you are looking at but watch the size, a reference 5870 is almost 11.25" long. Power requirements of the 5870 are just about the same as the 6870.
Click to expand...

This would mean that the HD5870 1GB would only fit if I modified one of the power connectors on the motherboard. AMD cards are too flipping long!! :(

So ATM it either looks like the EVGA GTX460 SC EE for around £130 to £135 or an HD6870 1GB for around £160 to £165.

All the cheaper HD5850 1GB cards use non-reference coolers meaning I would void the warranty if I could fit the Akasa Vortexx Neo I have.
 
Last edited:
From the US Warranty:

Limited Warranty on XFX GRAPHICS CARDS FOR NORTH AMERICA (UNITED STATES AND CANADA)

** XFX has carefully selected the optimal thermal or fansink component for your graphics card model. We do not encourage the removal of components due to damage that may result in the process. XFX understands that some enthusiasts may choose to replace the original component with their own cooling solution. To support the gaming community, we recommend that you contact XFX prior to any modifications so that we can update your profile and product registration to avoid potential issues with warranty support. In addition, XFX support will be able to walk through the installation with you or provide feedback and pointers on available options for your specific product. You may even consider shipping your components to XFX and allow the technicians at XFX to perform the modification for you (shipping charges to XFX apply).
 
Last edited:
TropicLightning said:
From the US website:

** XFX has carefully selected the optimal thermal or fansink component for your graphics card model. We do not encourage the removal of components due to damage that may result in the process. XFX understands that some enthusiasts may choose to replace the original component with their own cooling solution. To support the gaming community, we recommend that you contact XFX prior to any modifications so that we can update your profile and product registration to avoid potential issues with warranty support. In addition, XFX support will be able to walk through the installation with you or provide feedback and pointers on available options for your specific product. You may even consider shipping your components to XFX and allow the technicians at XFX to perform the modification for you (shipping charges to XFX apply).
Click to expand...

I had just found this thread and it seems the XFX UK warranty does not support cooler removal:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=18012117

:(
 
That sucks. Best reason to buy an XFX in the US. Although I really don't think any of the MB manufactures (Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, etc) would kick about it. So long as it is returned to them in its original condition.
 
I don't want to hijack this thread, however, I also have Q6600 and am looking at getting the 480 SE card. Would my processor hold this card back dramatically?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom