New Graphics Time!

[Eightball]

So I just ordered one of these yesterday as an upgrade to my 22" ASUS with only a DVI and VGA input (I plan to take my Wii and PS2 back to university). I already found a buyer for the monitor, and potentially my graphics card. I'm sporting a GTX 260 right now, and I don't think that will be enough to run all of my games (cough metro 2033 bad company 2) at the new 1920x1080 I'll be using with max settings. So I ask of you, my friends, what are your recommendations for graphics cards in this day and age? I know the GTX 400 series is out, though I don't know how that stacks up against the 5830s, 5850s, and the like. Scar ordered a GTX 460 and we'll be testing it on my rig later on, so I'll probably make my purchase then.

For reference, my budget is pretty high; high enough to encompass just about any reasonable card. Let's put it at $450. I just don't want to have to upgrade it anytime in the next 2+ years. Hit me!

I'm also really looking for opinions on manufacturers. XFX? Sapphire? EVGA? ASUS?

[Chief]

I'm also really looking for opinions on manufacturers. XFX? Sapphire? EVGA? ASUS?

i can already tell you that XFX is the better manufacturer because they have a better warranty than Sapphire if you're looking into some ATI cards

also ill post the giant PM spore gave me

GTX 460: When you get two of these mofos they are comparable to two 5870's which would cost over $750. Here is some charts and graphs with the numbers and letters and whatnot.

These things things overclock like crazy:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?it...91&page=14
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_p...ew,10.html

Some serious SLI performance makes it the greatest frames you can get for $450:
(Whole review for SLI performance) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDI...X_460_SLI/

Quiet, Low Power Draw, Cool Temps:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-review/13

More reading:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...mb-review.html
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=25391
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...roduction.html
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-review/
http://www.legionhardware.com/articl..._review,1.html
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=954
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...TX_460_768_MB/
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Z..._GTX_460_1_GB/
http://hothardware.com/Reviews/NVIDI...ut-ZOTAC-EVGA/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/...gtx_460_review


If you do decide that this is what you guys are looking for, remember to look for the 1GB versions (<--- IMPORTANT) and have a power supply that is around 700 watts or more. Not too bad. A couple more things to note are that the SLI scaling is best at high resolutions, 1080p and up. So, to be honest, if your pal is playing at less than that this really isn't worth it (but neither is a 5870). And as always with new cards, this is early driver support and Nvidia is incredibly good with improving frames substantially as they release new drivers (especially for SLI). Lastly, you have the benefits of Nvidia specific features such as CUDA and PhysX. What these cards will provide is killer performance for a killer price that will last. Message me back with what you think in the end.

Disclaimer: I own a 5870 and fucking love it, but these 460's rule.

[CaffeinePowered]

Asus - Disclaimer I am a fan boy


3 year warranty, and they did an awesome job for me when my card broke and when my laptop broke

[zaneyard]

yeah my xfx 4890 is working pretty good, my friend likes his 5850

[copulatingduck]

this is why i wont buy a bigger monitor

[Versus]

this is why i wont buy a bigger monitor

among other reasons

[zaneyard]

monitor size doesn't matter you silly duck

[copulatingduck]

monitor size doesn't matter you silly duck

res does moron

[beep beep diglett]

[quote author=zaneyard link=topic=4823.msg165090#msg165090 date=1279675290]
monitor size doesn't matter you silly duck

res does moron
[/quote]

i like having big empty spaces on my monitor

[KorJax]

I just bought a single 460 gtx 1gb on saturday, it should arrive either tomorrow or on thursday. I'll let you know how it is, upgrading from a 9600gt (which is a good card but not exactly modern and up to date on everything to run at high res/specs/FPS).

I know the 460 is a bit... "under" on your budget but the SLI dealio sounds like a good plan if you don't mind the power draw and heat such a thing would cause.

[Versus]

don't SLI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814102872

this seems pretty good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814121373

bit higher than $450, it's $480 in cart, $460 if you ever get the rebate.

[Surf314]

I'm following this thread too.

[Kirby]

yeah my xfx 4890 is working pretty good, my friend likes his 5850

This.

I got an XFX 4890 and I <3 it

and double lifetime warranty == transferable if needed.

[KorJax]

Got my GTX 460 today 

Pretty much runs Metro 2033 at max settings, sans max MSAA

[Versus]

Got my GTX 460 today 

Pretty much runs Metro 2033 at max settings, sans max MSAA

what's your res again?

[KorJax]

1680x1050

Arma2 is also much more bearable to play now that it's not running at 15-25 FPS constantly on med/low settings. It looks great max'd out

[Kirby]

Turning AA up to max is silly for p.much everything anyway, the noticeable difference between 4x and 8x is nil and the performance hit is noticeable for any card, anti-aliasing is by far one of the most stressful things you can do to a card, 'specially when we're talking full blown HD res

[Vandamguy]

i usually only run 2x , i find any more than that make things look too blurry.

[Kirby]

i usually only run 2x , i find any more than that make things look too blurry.

I run 2x on mostly everything just to avoid the rapid FPS drops when you go around a corner and are suddenly presented with a big area full of lines to be anti-aliased and a shock load on the GPU.



2xAA / 8X AF I find works great on most heavy games like Crysis or Metro 2033

4xAA / 16xAF for older/lighter duty games like HL2 engine games

[Surf314]

Thoughts on MSI as a manufacturer and is DVI dying?