GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Man, I'm picking up the MSI Cyclone 6850 from Rolling Stone (saw they offer shipping all over the US). Out of everything listed here, it’s easily the best one. Honestly, when I first laid eyes on it a month or two ago, it was love at first sight.😍

Hey everyone, quick question for you all..
Here’s what I’m running right now:
Intel Core i3 clocked at 3.0GHz after unlocking that fourth core
2 GB DDR2
Sapphire HD 4670 512MB
ASUS Motherboard
Dell Monitor 23.6" 1920x1080
A random 420W power supply that came with my case

Thinking about picking up a new graphics card soon. Any recommendations? My budget is anywhere from $0 to $450

Here's this one:

And honestly, you really should invest in a high-quality power supply, something like this:

James Fisher11 said:I'm picking up the MSI Cyclone 6850 from Rolling Stone—they ship nationwide, so that's convenient. Out of everything listed here, it's clearly the best option. Honestly, when I first saw it a couple of months back, it was love at first sight.😍

I’d suggest going with this instead:

EVGA Graphics Card - $1,149.45 - Rolling Stone

Performance-wise, this card beats the reference 6850 series and holds its own against yours. On top of that, the 5850 series is legendary for overclocking potential—over at Guru3D, they managed to push them close to 5870 levels in Crysis Warhead. Plus, this specific model has excellent cooling. At the end of the day, the price speaks for itself.

Sean Rivera4 - same recommendation.

Well, he's looking at the Cyclone, not just some basic reference model. The Cyclone has incredible cooling and handles overclocking like a champ...

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-ra...ower-review/21
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-r5...r-ii-review/24
😁

dustyskipper77 said:He’s looking at getting the Cyclone, not the reference model. The Cyclone has great cooling and overclocks well...

My point was that it beats the reference card, and if you overclock it like he plans to, they're basically equal. Just like his card, it has solid cooling and scales well with overclocking. Plus, once you push it, you'll see performance levels approaching a 5870 in certain games.

Paying nearly $100 more—that's a 26% markup—for two cards with essentially the same performance doesn't strike me as a smart move.

But hey, that's just my take. It's not my money.

James Fisher11 said:http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-ra...ower-review/21
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-r5...r-ii-review/24
😁

The first link shows it has great overclocking potential.

However, in the second link, you used the 5830 for comparison, which is significantly weaker than the 5850.🙂

You can actually grab an HD 6870 for the exact same price here

http://www.rollingstone.com//artikl.asp?...X-HD-687A-ZDFC

Paul Wright7 said:Alright, fine, the first link clearly shows it clocks like a beast.

But in that second link, you’re comparing it to a 5830, which is a significantly weaker card than the 5850.🙂

Dammit, I didn't even notice that was a 5830. I can't seem to find a Guru3D review specifically for the 5850 twinfrzr 2.
EDIT: Just go to the MSI website and compare the 5830 twinfrzr 2 against the 5850 twinfrzr 2.
The 5830 is stronger...

James Fisher11 said:Damn, I didn't realize that was a 5830. I can't find a Guru3D review for the 5850 TwinFrozr II somewhere.

It’s fine. There isn't a specific review for that card, but I checked the reviews for the standard 5850 single and CrossFire setups, including the overclocking sections:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...w-crossfire/21

- For example, it says here: "As you can see, this is a substantial overclock. As a result you are nearing 5870 performance" in Crysis Warhead.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-ra...ower-review/19

- In this section, the standard HD 5850 beats this 6850 Cyclone by a hair, yet your card clearly has the edge in certain games.

The suggestion from Ryan Hayes82 is solid. 👍 If you were willing to pay $33 more, you could grab:

A GTX 560 Ti at $1,552.19 via Rolling Stone, or an XFX HD 6950 1GB DDR5 at $1,563.35 also via Rolling Stone. That would be a significant jump in performance—the Radeon starts off slightly stronger, but NVIDIA clocks better.

That said, I still think you're getting the best value for your money with $0.38. Good luck with the new build.🙂

EDIT: How can you think the 5830 is stronger? It might have a slightly higher core clock, but the actual performance gap comes down to this:

Radeon HD 5830 has 7x 160 Shader clusters = 1120 Shader processors
Radeon HD 5850 has 9x 160 Shader clusters = 1440 Shader processors

There's also a comparison in this second link featuring the 5830, 5850, and the Cyclone.

You can't just throw in some tenth random card now and claim it's somehow superior.
1. Take a closer look at the FPS numbers. You'll see the Radeon hd 5850 with SLI only manages one extra frame at 1280x1024, while the 6850 only gains a single frame at 2560x1600.
2. Here is the review for the EVGA Graphics Card in Crysis Warhead—which, by the way, is actually more powerful than the one you suggested I pick up [the 5850]. Compared to my results, there's a 10-15 fps difference, but since the 5850 is weaker, we're looking at a 15-20 fps gap.
I do like what Ryan Hayes82 mentioned, but I think I'll stick with this Cyclone because it overclocks much better. Honestly, once both are overclocked, I suspect this one might even come out on top. Plus, it runs cooler and quieter, which is pretty important to me.😁

James Fisher11 said:You can't just throw out some random tenth card and claim it's better.
1. Look closer at the FPS. You'll see the 5850 SLI setup only beats it by 1 FPS at 1280x1024, while the 6850 gains a single frame at 2560x1600.
2. Here’s the review for the EVGA Graphics Card (which is actually stronger than the one you suggested I get, the 5850) in Crysis Warhead. Compared to my results, there's a 10-15 FPS difference, and since the 5850 is weaker, expect a 15-20 FPS gap.
I like what Ryan Hayes82 mentioned, but I'm sticking with this Cyclone because it clocks much better. Once both are overclocked, I think this one actually comes out ahead. Plus, it runs cooler and quieter, which is important to me.😁

Whatever... I'm done arguing. If you don't believe me, ask the others for their input, but I'm telling you the 5830 is stronger than the 5850.🤣

Alright, take a look at this
EVGA Graphics Card
EVGA Graphics Card

Radeon hd 5850

GPU Specs
GPU Specs
GPU Specs
GPU Specs
Engine clock speed: 725 MHz
Processing power (single precision): 2.09 TeraFLOPS
Processing power (double precision): 418 GigaFLOPS
Polygon throughput: 725M polygons/sec
Data fetch rate (32-bit): 209 billion fetches/sec
Texel fill rate (bilinear filtered): 52.2 Gigatexels/sec
Pixel fill rate: 23.2 Gigapixels/sec
Anti-aliased pixel fill rate: 92.8 Gigasamples/sec

Radeon hd 5830

GPU Specs
GPU Specs
GPU Specs
GPU Specs

Engine clock speed: 800 MHz
Processing power (single precision): 1.792 TeraFLOPS
Processing power (double precision): 358 GigaFLOPS
Polygon throughput: 800M polygons/sec
Data fetch rate (32-bit): 179.2 billion fetches/sec
Texel fill rate (bilinear filtered): 44.8 Gigatexels/sec
Pixel fill rate: 12.8 Gigapixels/sec
Anti-aliased pixel fill rate: 51.2 Gigasamples/sec

James Fisher11 said:just read it...
EVGA Graphics Card 5830
EVGA Graphics Card 5850

It isn't stronger... a 5830 could only beat a 5850 if it was some factory overclocked edition—not this one...

The EVGA Graphics Card is an absolute steal at this price point. Honestly, it’ll outperform any 6850 out there—once you factor in overclocking and everything else—unless you're looking at a Toxic model, I guess.

I was hoping to get some collective insight regarding a potential graphics card purchase. Some family members are visiting from out of town soon, and I’m considering having them order a card for me. To be honest, I’m feeling a bit indecisive about which direction to take. Here is the link to the site they suggested I browse: http://www.compusa.com/applications/...DD2-_-CatID_28
Essentially, I’ve been running an ATI 5770 up until now, but I’m curious about switching over to a GeForce. If I opt for a GeForce and connect it to an LCD TV via HDMI, will I need to run a separate audio cable? I didn't run into any issues with my ATI setup, but I recall that back when I was using a GeForce 9600, I had to deal with a separate audio connection. Also, what is the situation with these cards regarding PCI 2.1 compatibility? I suppose you might wonder if they will work on a PCI 2.0 slot? If you could look through the options on that page priced under $200, I’d appreciate it. I primarily use the card for watching MKV movies and playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Thanks

The only 6850 you can grab around here costs about $33 more...
Same goes for the GTX 460...

Pretty sure this is hands down the best deal out there..
http://www.compusa.com/applications/...295&CatId=3585
Or even this
http://www.compusa.com/applications/...081&CatId=3585

Those GTX 560 cards are way overpriced,

p.s. You won't find any decent GeForce under $200; the 6870 just absolutely crushes everything else in that price range..

Does anyone know what the going rate for a 6870 is around here, and where I might actually find one in stock?
Could you perhaps explain the actual difference between PCI 2.0 and PCI 2.1 slots when it comes to graphics cards? Also, I'm trying to figure out what's actually worth ordering from overseas—I'd rather not end up with an empty box after paying all that shipping. I'm considering other components too, since everything seems to be significantly more expensive here in the States compared to what you see online.