any suggestions fellow blades? i have an amd 955 be 8gb mushkin 1333 ddr3 880g+ biostar matx motherboard i plan on getting a new mother board since this one wont boot if i attempt to overclock past 3.4 ghz. my budgets around 200......i'll spend a bit more if i need to, but i'd like to stay in that range. ive been looking at the hd 6850 for a while now...if anyone has it i'd like to know what yuo think about it. thanks!
i was planning on geting one from newegg...(gift card+taxes). They dont even have the 8800gt in stock there anymore. Thing is a long beast i dont think it would even fit in my matx case.
ive definitely considered it. new egg has an evga gtx 460 1gb gddr5 for 159(139 after mir) O_O. hell of a deal imo. the only thing that turns turns me off about the card is the power requirements. needs 2 6pin power conecters. Would need a new psu. what are youre average fps on games you play?
I have a tiny comp case, and I got the 8800GT in there. Measure it up man, cus it's a badass card for the money.
Well I have a small monitor and i run 1440x900 resolution in all games, and in bad company 2 I can max out all settings using directx11 and easily get above 60FPS. Call of duty 4 I run completely maxed out with more than 120FPS. I also play fallout 3 a lot, which It can easily max out with more than 60FPS at all times. Far cry 2 runs at highest settings with around 90FPS. It will pretty much run any new game you could throw at it. I would try to get a card that uses directx11 just for future proofing, and the GTX460 offers probably the best price to performance ratio in the $150 range. Newegg.com is your friend, read all the reviews on a card before you buy one
alright so ive decided to go with the 6850. dx11support and less power requirements. i lost alot of sleep thinking about it. thank you all for your input, i really appreciate it!
go for the 6950! you can upgrade the firmware and itll run as a 6970 (for the most part) the ram on the 6950s arent the same as the 6970s but stock 6970 clocks seem perfectly fine for the slower 6950 ram
I'm about to purchase a 6870 myself, looking forward to it. Will be an upgrade from a 260 core 216. One thing I have to say is that you may already need a new PSU. What kind are you using now? Your mobo deciding not to boot after an OC could be a power issue considering you need to overvolt the CPU to overclock. Just a thought.
yeah this is true ...i have an oem psu rated at 350 watts(just checked). not enough for much really... i also think it could just be my motherboard...it was an openbox on newegg.. paid like 40 bucks for it. no major issues besides that. i might consider a new one if it keep doing the same. but Now im left with a dilemma.... just saw a 5870 priced at 220(199 mir). crap this is tough ''
i would love to get it but its a few dollars out of my price range. i also need to get a psu to go with my card unfortunately.
It is very tough, man. I'm in the same boat. I only have a 550W PSU which has powered my system well for a while. I want to get a new card myself, but even my 550W limits me. As well as my mATX form factor mobo/case. An nVidia 260 fits in there which is the same size as the newer cards (bigger in some cases) but the 6970 is longer, not sure it would fit. It is a hard choice especially when it is that much money. I screwed myself by buying mATX...
I say you go for an HD5830 if your budget is $200. maybe even a 5850. gotta make sure your case will fit it though. if it doesnt, 5770
gtx 470 beats all of the above, so does a gtx460 1gb, i got 2 of em in sli, theyre a killer deal. Also they take load off the cpu during certain tasks like bluray watching and others im not sure of. Id say go with the gtx 460, its the best bang for your buck atm. Only the 1gb model tho, the 768mb is alot slower. gtx460 is the same as a ati6850, but the 460 will oc better, thus the better choice. The 460's overclock like mad, thats another thing to consider, my 460's overclock yield performance comparable to 470's. These are stock speeds Check out the overclocked 460 Also you can always sli the 460's down the road like i did since their cheaper. I actually originally bought one then went to sli when the price dropped. Even a single OC'd 460 1gb will max out any game ive played at 1920x1200. I have a phenom II aswell @ 3.8ghz. Also your overclock problems are probably not your board, its probably the settings. Whats your volts, these chips take alot of volts to oc. Im on 1.65v for 3.8ghz. For 3.6ghz i gave it 1.5v. Also try to up the ram volts a bit and up the north bridge. The max recommended for the cpu is 1.55v lol the most ive gave mine was 1.7v and it was fine.
if your PSU is weak, you could always buy like a 500W for $50 and spend up to $150 on a card instead. Also, what Hydroriffic said, you can always SLI or CF in the future.
looking at that chart the 5870 fairs pretty damn well for a single card. i dont intent to crosfire or sli. my mother board doesnt support it. definitely within my range. this thing is massive though Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity
ATI Baby . Nvidia is wack now a days (although I prefered them back in older eras). Get a 5850. If you're price range is a little high, a 5870. If it's lower, 5770. Those cards are for real you're best bet. And if the 6000 series is out even better (I'd assume)... sorry I built my computer right after the 5000 series was released. And hey have you noticed in benchmarks AMD/Nvidia is flip flopped if you view it on a different site?