New Graphics Card Consideration

[Remlap]

Hey guys, at the moment I am saving up to upgrade my computer to a newer system. I was disappointed by my last gfx card choice so I thought I would ask here to get a second opinion.

I have always been an ATI guy (just never used nVidia) and I have never been let down except with my latest card (XFX HD 4650 1 GB). So I want to make sure that I get a card I will be happy with.

At the moment I am leaning towards a Radeon HD 6870 1GB DDR5, but I don't know which manufacturer to choose. From what I can tell the card is really good and it will OC to be even better.

I am open to suggestions for a different card if you recomend it (even an nVidia one) However my price cap is at $300ish USD before tax maximum. I would really like to keep it down in the $200-250 range.

Thanks in advance!

~Remlap

[Big Boss]

Bam, here ya go. Has a lot of rebates and such tacked on too.

For around the $250 mark you'll get into GTX560s and 6950s.

[Remlap]

Ahh excellent thank you, what would be a good reason to go for the 560 or 6950? In your opinion.

[Big Boss]

Well, what games do you play, and at what resolution?

[Remlap]

I play NTW, Mass Effect (1-2), Half-life 2, Civ 5, Oblivion, and a lot of mods for RTW and M2. I'd like to be able to turn all of the settings up on my 1440x900 monitor (which I may upgrade when I build my new pc but it won't be much bigger). I am also looking at getting Crysis, as well as S2 and the new Elderscrolls eventually.

[Big Boss]

Umm, at 1400x900 I'd say a 6870 should be able to max all of those. If you're thinking about grabbing a 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 monitor in the future, may want to grab a 560 or 6950 for future proofing.

[Remlap]

Allrighty, thank you very much for your time and excellent responses! I have one more question, of the two which would you recommend?

[GasMask]

ATI.

IMO ATI are on par and are leading the charge now go ATI.

Again i have mostly used ATI graphics chips over the years so i cant say much about nvidia.

[WelshDragon]

I have had both brands over the years, tend to play ATI these days, though both are putting out good cards right now IMHO, and each will be a little better at some games vice the other. I think you'll be fine with a late model of either

[Remlap]

Alright thanks for the suggestions guys.

[GasMask]

Alright thanks for the suggestions guys.

My avatar was made by thy so any help is always granted from me

Enjoy your purchase on whatever card you pick .

[Love Mountain]

GTX 560, easily. At your resolution Video card memory doesn't matter as much, and you can overclock the 560 way beyond the 6950 levels.

[Remlap]

Can you give me some specs on it?

[Freddie]

Can you give me some specs on it?

If your serious about replacing your monitor I would get a Radeon HD6950 1Gb, there cheaper and faster then the 560 Ti even when the 560 is overclocked. You should read some reviews.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

I would go with the GTX560 if I were upgrading to a 1920x1080 monitor. Otherwise with your current resolution I'd go with the 6870.

[Remlap]

Allright thanks for the replies, you have given me quite a bit to think on

[GasMask]

Please im not just saying this for my AMD brothers and all but please please stay away from nvidia untill they bring there new cards out thats if they can actually make a big enough difference !

AMD are market leaders jeez if you load shogun 2 up even CA have turned to AMD.

AMD FTW join the us join the cool guys ! LMFAO.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Please im not just saying this for my AMD brothers and all but please please stay away from nvidia untill they bring there new cards out thats if they can actually make a big enough difference !

AMD are market leaders jeez if you load shogun 2 up even CA have turned to AMD.

AMD FTW join the us join the cool guys ! LMFAO.

The GTX460, 560, 570, and 580 are all excellent cards that compete head to head against AMD's similarly priced cards, the 460 and 560 are especially good with their low thermals and almost silent full load noise. Last I checked Nvidia was still the market leader by a fair amount although AMD did have the lead back when they released the 5000 series, unless you've got some new source you'd like to share that confirms what you said.

[Ishan]

CS you have SLI on your PC can you confirm that shogun 2 demo doesn't gives less fps when on SLI i read and 2 TWC members said that a single card(Nvidia) gave more fps than SLI.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

CS you have SLI on your PC can you confirm that shogun 2 demo doesn't gives less fps when on SLI i read and 2 TWC members said that a single card(Nvidia) gave more fps than SLI.

I haven't downloaded the demo due to my slow internet

I believe ETW lacked proper SLI support until awhile after launch. Once a driver set was released by Nvidia post-ETW launch it was fixed. I didn't even play ETW for awhile because back then I had 2 GTX260's in SLI and a single card just wasn't able to run the game all that well.