Best bang-for-buck Graphics Card?

sdanseo

Hi folks, just looking for a little advice here.

I want to spend a max. of about €230 on a graphics card as part of a system build with a max. budget of around €900.

I'm looking at a rake of reviews and it seems the GTX560 Ti is the way to go (I play a lot of Flight Simulator, which for AA just doesn't work with ATi cards, and I have a HD4870 - will never ever touch an ATi or AMD product again). What I'm really wondering is what's the best GTX560 Ti out there.

I'm looking at www.hardwareversand.de - specifically this but I'm open to contributions...I want to buy everything in the one place and HWV seem to be cheapest and I've bought from them before (my previous system build, about 3 years ago) with no complaints whatsoever.

M00lers

You say you don't want an AMD card but infairness the 6950 is probably one of the best "bang for buck" cards available at the moment. There is also a chance it could be unlocked/flashed to a 6970.

ShadowHearth

moolers2000 wrote: »

You say you don't want an AMD card but infairness the 6950 is probably one of the best "bang for buck" cards available at the moment. There is also a chance it could be unlocked/flashed to a 6970.

this.

i allways used only nvidia and newer had any trouble. now i got ati 6870 and i could not fault it.

these new ati cards are great bangornomics. 6950/6970 would fit your budget.

wasnt there some trouble with 560?

sdanseo

ShadowHearth wrote: »

this.

i allways used only nvidia and newer had any trouble. now i got ati 6870 and i could not fault it.

these new ati cards are great bangornomics. 6950/6970 would fit your budget.

wasnt there some trouble with 560?

As I say, the games I play most do not work properly with ATi cards. It's as simple as that unfortunately - its a problem with the sim, not with the card.

I can and will only buy an NV card this time, that's not through blind stubbornness, it because anything else won't do what I want done. I also despise AMD and ATi after my horrrible two years with this heap of **** HD4870 which has caused me nothing but pain.

M00lers

sdeire wrote: »

As I say, the games I play most do not work properly with ATi cards. It's as simple as that unfortunately - its a problem with the sim, not with the card.

I can and will only buy an NV card this time, that's not through blind stubbornness, it because anything else won't do what I want done. I also despise AMD and ATi after my horrrible two years with this heap of **** HD4870 which has caused me nothing but pain.

Fair enough, can't say fairer than that. Any reason for the 2GB version?

sdanseo

moolers2000 wrote: »

Fair enough, can't say fairer than that. Any reason for the 2GB version?

Hence the need for advice :P

Just wondering really what the best brand to go for is. I've picked my GPU, just not a vendor or version.

M00lers

sdeire wrote: »

Hence the need for advice :P

Just wondering really what the best brand to go for is. I've picked my GPU, just not a vendor or version.

Hi sdeire,
I'm not familiar with the requirements of Flight Simulator but some games would benefit from the extra RAM on the 2GB card. Also if you are running a high res monitor or multiple screens again the extra RAM would help, but by how much I'm unsure.

Are you bothered about noise from your rig? If you are you might want to research the acoustic properties of that card, it could be quiet or it could sound like a jet engine(which might be desirable to you considering the games sims title ). This would also have a bearing on what card you would choose.

Is SLI (multiple cards) an option for you at any stage in the future? If it is, I would probably get a card that is closer to reference i.e. EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti , might be easier to get a second card from EVGA than a 2GB from Palit.

Anyway enough rambling, just make sure you do plenty of research and you'll have no worries.

Moo

Teutorix

The best bang for your buck is the HD 6870 really.

I dont understand why people ask for best value and then refuse to get an AMD card.

PogMoThoin

sdeire wrote: »

As I say, the games I play most do not work properly with ATi cards. It's as simple as that unfortunately - its a problem with the sim, not with the card.

I can and will only buy an NV card this time, that's not through blind stubbornness, it because anything else won't do what I want done. I also despise AMD and ATi after my horrrible two years with this heap of **** HD4870 which has caused me nothing but pain.

I've had a 512MB 4870 and a 2GB 4870x2 before now, I have a 1Gb 4890 in another pc and now a 1GB 6870 in this one. I'm not an Ati fan, they're just better value for money. I've never had a single bit of bother with any of them (well other than the lack of crossfire support in some games with the x2, would be the same if I went Nvidia Sli) and I've played some sims too. What sim did you have bother with and what bother did you have?

Overheal

I ran flight simulator X with a 4850 and it was... fine?

You know you can use Catalyst to force it to AA right?


Never a bother with ATI/AMD. Nvidia on the other hand, ****ed me.

deconduo

You are probably just using old/bad drivers. The 4870 runs Flight Sim fine with AA, AF whatever, as does any modern graphics card.

srsly78

Driver problems happen with nvidia as well. Sounds like OP just got unlucky once with ATI

Skerries

if you change your mind which i think you should here are some prices

1gb 6870
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/10304803/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-6950-1-gb-gddr5.html
2gb 6870
http://www.dabs.ie/products/xfx-ati-radeon-6950-hd-800mhz-2gb-pci-express-2-1-hdmi-79BQ.html?q=6950

these sites have cheaper delivery as hwv charge 30 euro no matter what you order

ShadowHearth

I bought 6870 a month ago and it is savage thing. Best bang for you money.

I was allways nvidia fanboy ( just allways ended up with nvidia stuff ), but I did not had any second thoughts about amd stuff these days. Best bang for your money.

When I will be building new rig later this year I will go for amd too. Much cheaper and Ussually less power drain.

Overheal

im guessing Either the 6770 or around. The 5770 was the dollar-for-flop favorite last year.

warlikedave

i have the 560GTX Ti Asus OC. Its a fine card and it runs Crysis 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Op Flashpoint Red River very well at full spec and at 1920x1080 (1080i and 1080p) (Ive to get more games to really test this card out). As for Flight Sim it isnt great as it does struggle with it. Problem with Flight Sim though as a mate explained to me is that Flight Sim is very CPU dependent so that is a factor that you need to take into account (ive an i7 sec. gen and it still has problems with FSX).

Here is my build - my card's exact model is listed there. Ye can check it out and compare it to other cards (its come down in price since I bought it for 230 euro)

https://www.elara.ie/members/viewpwishlist.aspx?wishid=4324

Im not familiar with personal use of ATI cards. Ive always been nvidia myself but ATI are well known for their bang for buck. Much more so than nvidia altho the 560ti isnt a bad price either in my opinion.

Overheal

I've looked at Ti vs. non-Ti and can't honestly see the justification in the price difference.

warlikedave

TI version:

GPU Engine Specs:
384CUDA Cores
822 MHzGraphics Clock (MHz)
1645 MHzProcessor Clock (MHz)
52.5Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec)
Memory Specs:
4008 MHzMemory Clock (MHz)
1024 MBStandard Memory Config
GDDR5Memory Interface
256-bitMemory Interface Width
128Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)
Feature Support:
4.1OpenGL
PCI-E 2.0 x 16Bus Support
YesCertified for Windows 7
DirectX 11, 3D Vision, CUDA, PhysX, SLI, 3D Vision SurroundSupported Technologies
Display Support:
YesMulti Monitor
2560x1600Maximum Digital Resolution
2048x1536Maximum VGA Resolution
YesHDCP
YesHDMI
Mini HDMI, Two Dual Link DVIStandard Display Connectors
InternalAudio Input for HDMI
Standard Graphics Card Dimensions:
10 inchesLength
4.376 inches (111 mm)Height
Dual-SlotWidth
Thermal and Power Specs:
99 CMaximum GPU Temperature (in C)
170 WMaximum Graphics Card Power (W)
500 WMinimum System Power Requirement (W)
Two 6-pinSupplementary Power Connectors

Non TI

GPU Engine Specs:
336CUDA Cores
810-950Graphics Clock (MHz)
1620-1900Processor Clock (MHz)
45.4-49.8Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec)
Memory Specs:
2002-2200Memory Clock (MHz)
1024 MBStandard Memory Config
GDDR5Memory Interface
256-bitMemory Interface Width
128Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)
Feature Support:
4.1OpenGL
PCI-E 2.0 x16Bus Support
YesCertified for Windows 7
DirectX 11, 3D Vision, CUDA, PhysX, SLISupported Technologies
2-waySLI Options
Yes3D Vision Ready
Display Support:
YesMulti Monitor
2560x1600Maximum Digital Resolution
2048x1536Maximum VGA Resolution
YesHDCP
YesHDMI
Two Dual Link DVI-I, Mini HDMIStandard Display Connectors
InternalAudio Input for HDMI
1.4aHDMI Version
Standard Graphics Card Dimensions:
8 .25 inchesLength
4.376 inchesHeight
Dual slotWidth
Thermal and Power Specs:
99 CMaximum GPU Temperature (in C)
150 WMaximum Graphics Card Power (W)
450 WMinimum System Power Requirement (W)
Two 6-pinSupplementary Power Connectors
3D Vision Ready
Yes3D Blu-Ray

There is not much between both cards indeed - how big a price difference i need to research again since i bought my Ti a while ago. Asus did do a specially build custom cooling unit for thier Ti design - dual fans with a modified heat sink so it runs cooler which allows a higher OC if desired plus its very quiet due to its modifications

Overheal

If the Ti is in the cooling thats fine but it's not clear what the Ti/Titanium really means on the shelf. Like I know where I'm at when I get a Vapor-X Sapphire card.

warlikedave

Overheal wrote: »

If the Ti is in the cooling thats fine but it's not clear what the Ti/Titanium really means on the shelf. Like I know where I'm at when I get a Vapor-X Sapphire card.

I get ye - Indeed the Ti isnt in regard to the cooling - im not sure what nvidia were thinking in regards to Ti classification. When it comes down to it all I see in the difference is a better memory speed and number of cores thus giving it a edge (noting big however plus you caa get a slightly slower Ti with 2gb gddr 5 - more aimed towards 3d rendering since it is slightly slower but double capicity in terms of memory) and then it comes down the modifications done by asus for example in terms of eeking out the extra stock speed and OC capibility which goes hand in hand with a quality cooling system (which i didnt see on any GTX560 non Ti but that is down to Asus and not nvidia). I remember having a sapphire 8800GTS card - they do great tweaking. That card is still going after 6 years on the PC i gave to my mate.