uncle in US want GFX ~$300

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 13:49

my uncle is in the US and i want a nice graphics card that is around the $300 mark

i currently use a 5850 in each of my machines and i was thinking something along the lines of 6950 or 570 or something

is the 6000-series better than the 5-series?

i game at 1080p

should i be worried about warranty? some manufacturers dont care about us/uk difference

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 13:59

stulid said:
The equivalent 6series is better than a 5 series (rrp at release)

6990>5970
6970>5870
6950>5850
6870>5830

Cant your uncle buy from one of the US shops and get some cash rebate?

But I suppose you mean the Nvidia 5 series

he wants to buy from Bestbuy/ Fry's electronics

also i meant is the 6000-amd series better than the 5xx-nvidia series?

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:02

stulid said:
6950 vs 570 = http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=306

6970 vs 580 = http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=305

so the nvidea 5-series are significantly better then!

im looking at this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/EVGA+-+...=1218324435018&skuId=2389207&st=570&cp=1&lp=1

p.s. this is a US site, but if this comes under competition, please tell me and ill remove the link

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:04

cmndr_andi said:
+1 for stulid's equivalents.

However, with a 5850 already, I wouldn't suggest upgrading to a new $300 - as you won't see a big boost in performance. Personally, I would wait for the new 28nm cards to come out at the start of next year - as these are expected to provide nice performance increases, unlike shifting between two 40nm cards.

If you have an uncle in the US who can buy you a cheaper graphics card - then make sure you cost in stuff like international insured shipping, import duty and customs fees. Also, if it breaks you would need to ship it back to the US for the RMA, which adds a lot to the cost if the card breaks.

my uncle is on holiday for the next few weeks in the US, not unless 28nm launches quickly

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:12

cmndr_andi said:
Ah, if he is on holiday then I really wouldn't do it.

He would legally have to declare it to customs when he gets back to the UK and that will pretty much wipe off your saving.

Not to mention that RMAing a US-bought card to the US with no US address would be tricky.

ok, ill take that into account

but sidestepping these issues, which card would you suggest?

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:19

cmndr_andi said:
then it doesn't seem such a great deal.

that is true, but what i didnt tell you is that he wants to get it for me as a present

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:28

stulid said:
Surely your Uncle can pull a straight face as hes walking through the Green zone I know I can

i hope your not suggesting anything illegal

cmndr_andi said:
I would get a 6970 2GB

1) best buy dont sell it, he prefers best buy

2) at Fry's it is too expensive and he cant do a rebate becuase he needs a us bank account

3) i would say it was roughly equal to the 570 anyway

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=306

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:29

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:36

cmndr_andi said:
Ah, if you can't get a 6970 then a GTX 570 is nearly as good imho and performs a bit better in some games. Since you are playing at 1080p, then 1.3GB VRAM of the GTX 570 should be plenty

mmm, ok, so now to nitty gritty - which brand of 570?

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:39

stulid said:
Gigabyte.

unfortunately, they dont stock gigabyte

i guess it will have to be the cheaper of the two, the asus is too expensive

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchp...p=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960

EDIT: but EVGA are good arent they?

panyan · 27 Sep 2011 at 14:41

cmndr_andi said:
Looking at the options for GTX 570s on that site (please list all the options if there are more than the EVGA and ASUS), I would go with the ASUS with the DirectCU cooler (its very cool and quiet). But if that's too much, then EVGA are known to make their cards well and the Nvidia reference cooler it uses is pretty decent.

good good - thanks for that - i think that is the one i will suggest to him

EDIT: WWOOOOWOWW! 2000th post

panyan · 28 Sep 2011 at 20:31

sldsmkd said:
Should check newegg.com for US hardware.

bestbuy only unfortunately

panyan · 29 Sep 2011 at 12:31

mickyflinn said:
The GeForce GTX 570 offers unmatched performance for $320, competing with the Radeon HD 6970 at $350. In many cases, both cards perform slightly slower than GeForce GTX 460 cards in SLI and Radeon HD 6850 cards in CrossFire, but they do so without the hassles associated with a multi-card rig (such as micro-stuttering).

full article
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,3018-5.html

nice find - thanks