Upgrade Advice: From GTX460 to 1gb 7850 or 7870?

[sabonis]

Hello all,

In my country usually the prices are higher than US.

But now there's nice deal for Asus 7850 1gb: 160 $
Powercolor OC 7870 (an older version OC) is 205$ and asus 7870 DCU is 220$

I wanna buy 7850, it's cheap and has a nice cooler, it can even be overclocked. But since I almost always use my video card for the next 2.5-3 years or so, getting a 1gb card worries me. Because it can get outdated pretty fast as the games start to recommend 2gb memory for 1920*1080 resolution.
Though on the other hand even my 1gb GTX 460 OC version can run most of the games today almost comfortably, so why should a 1gb 7850 have problems?

So as you can see I'm a bit split between the two sides. Or do I just wait for my GTX460 to really struggle and then upgrade for a better card than 7870? So hard to decide...

My CPU: i3550
Ram: 8gb
Screen resolution: 1920*1080

Which one should I get and why?

Thanks

 

[blastingcap]

Get the 7870. The 1GB 7850 will not be enough VRAM to last 3 years, not with next-gen consoles having 8GB of system RAM.

 

[norseamd]

would get 2 gb as that seems where games are heading

 

[Bubbleawsome]

You might try an r9 270 non-x. Built off a 7870 with 2gb VRAM but lower clocks.

 

[Gloomy]

Yep, 1GB is a really bad idea right now.

 

[sabonis]

Thanks for all the answers. Is 1gb really bad idea even for just 1920*1080 gaming ?

and on top of that do you guys think I should buy the Asus 7870 or the Powercolor one. Is the price difference worth the fan/cooling build quality?

 

[Attic]

1gb isn't enough for 1920x1080 going forward. It's fine for your 460, but not good for a new purchase.

The R9 270 non x is worth considering as well as the 660 GTX.

I've been really happy with the 270, all mine have hit 1100/1500 (faster than 270x stock).

That being said, the 7850 2gb I have was still pretty close in performance to my 270's at 1100/1500 once OC'd, but they are hard to find for what they are worth, $130 or so.


I'd reccomend ya keep the 460 until next generation GPU's are released to be honest. I upgraded a 5770 to the 7850 and it was a big boost, but it still didn't play strong enough at 1080p for my liking.

 

[lehtv]

Agree with the others, go with 7870 2GB. It will last you a fair bit longer before it needs to be upgraded, and you'll get better framerates in the meantime.

 

[blastingcap]

Thanks for all the answers. Is 1gb really bad idea even for just 1920*1080 gaming ?

and on top of that do you guys think I should buy the Asus 7870 or the Powercolor one. Is the price difference worth the fan/cooling build quality?

Yes you need 2GB if you want it to last 3 years unless you plan to play only older games.

Probably not worth $15 to buy the more expensive 7870. Save the money for other upgrades or games. But it's a close call and some people may disagree. You might get slightly better performance or be quieter, but I'd still rather keep the $15.

 

[nwo]

I'd get the asus 7870 and call it a day. 1GB of VRAM is definitely not going to cut it for 1080p. It probably has better cooling than Powercolor. Which means you will be able to OC it higher and it will run cooler and more silent. All 3 of those factors combined will easily make up for the slightly higher price.

What are the prices of 270s/GTX 660? Those are both slightly faster than the 7870 and it may be worth grabbing one of them instead if the price is right.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Yes you need 2GB if you want it to last 3 years unless you plan to play only older games.

Or lowering the settings is also an option.

It's unlikely a 7850 with 1 or 2 GB will push new titles either way, so settings will already be reduced.

Not that I wouldn't opt for 2GB over 1GB for 1080p, I'm just saying even his 460 will play upcoming titles with the proper settings.

 

[sabonis]

First of all thank you again for helping. Below, I got a few questions for you all (especially the bold part), if you can inform me and educate me, I'll be really glad.

1gb isn't enough for 1920x1080 going forward. It's fine for your 460, but not good for a new purchase.

The R9 270 non x is worth considering as well as the 660 GTX.

I've been really happy with the 270, all mine have hit 1100/1500 (faster than 270x stock).

That being said, the 7850 2gb I have was still pretty close in performance to my 270's at 1100/1500 once OC'd, but they are hard to find for what they are worth, $130 or so.

I'd recommend ya keep the 460 until next generation GPU's are released to be honest.

1) gtx660 is 192bit, isn't it bad? Even my gtx460 is 256bit and I think that helped it keep its relevance to this day

2) the 2gb 7850 is only 10-15 bucks cheaper than 7870. I guess it's not worth it right? rather buy the 7870 or R9 270 right? Do others also say r9 270-nonX version is on par with 7870 ?

The prices of the said cards are like this:
PowerColor TurboDuo R9 270 2GB GDDR5 OC is at 215$ (930-1400mhz)
ZOTAC GTX660 GDDR5 2GB 192Bit Nvidia is at 210$
Powercolor OC 7870 (an older version OC) is at 205$
(all the cheapest brands of the said models)

3) About the bold part. I'm strongly considering keeping the 460 to myself and then upgrading in the summer or whenever the new cards come out (the current ones get cheaper or I buy a newer model). Though then my 460 will almost be worthless (right now it's sold around 80-85 bucks). What do you guys think of this choice, keeping the 460 until it starts to really struggle?

 

[blastingcap]

Is this going to be one of those indecisive-OP threads asking 10 variants of the same question? Haha.

192 bit means nothing by itself. The speeds of the VRAM chips also matter. GTX 660 is better than GTX 460 256-bit. Period. GTX 660 has faster GPU and faster VRAM chips.

Yes, it's foolish to save 10-15 bucks on a 7850 2GB when you can get a 7870 2GB instead.

I would not bother with the R9 270 at that price, the Powercolor 7870 OC @ $205 is the best choice out of all of those. It's 5-10% faster than the GTX 660 but costs only $5 more.

If you can wait, my recommendation is to wait and see what happens in 2 months when Nvidia releases its next generation of cards. Even if you don't want those cards, their release may drive down prices on cards you DO want.

If you can't wait, then the Powercolor 7870 is the best bang for the buck out of the cards you listed. Second best is either the ASUS 7870 or the ZOTAC GTX 660.

 

[sabonis]

haha, I am one indecisive lad, I'll give you that. But I won't be asking the same question over and over again, at least I hope I'm not doing it right now.

and no, I didn't mean my 460 was better than 660. I just said the gtx660 is 192bit, doesn't it mean that it would suck compared to my other choices?

and thanks for the detailed answer. Would love to hear other people's opinions as well if possible. if not, thanks to everybody again for helping out.

 

[nwo]

At those prices, I would definitely pick the 270. It is cool, quiet, on par with the 7870 (keep in mind that most 270s can easily reach 270x stock clocks/performance), and it has the lowest power consumption out of the three cards listed. Definitely worth the extra few bucks.

Here are some benchmarks that prove my point:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-270-review-benchmarks,3669.html

 

[sabonis]

well something just came up. Right after I gave an order for 7870, I had to cancel it because I just learnt that my friend who has the same gtx460 with me, upgraded his card.

he's gonna lend me the card for 4-5 months and I'll check out the new cards which are coming out in march-april, and then make a purchase or continue using gtx460 SLI.

I do have a question though, my computer runs on a Corsair TX750 power supply, I know the 460s aren't efficient in terms of power consumption. Would a TX750 be sufficient for gtx460 SLI ?
I do have 1 SSD and 3 hard drives, an Asus Xonar D2/PM and a dvd writer.

 

[nwo]

TX 750 should be sufficient to run three GTX 460s. It won't even break a sweat running two of them.

I think you made a good decision to hold off on the upgrade. You should have a lot of better options 4-5 months from now.

 

[Plimogz]

And GTX460 SLI will be a great opportunity for you to see when and where 1GB VRAM does get to be a bottleneck for your games and settings.

 

[Zstream]

I came from a 460 and went with a r9 270. A huge upgrade in performance and now I can use AA in most of my games at 1920*1080.

 

[sabonis]

And GTX460 SLI will be a great opportunity for you to see when and where 1GB VRAM does get to be a bottleneck for your games and settings.

umm is this bad :biggrin:

 

[blastingcap]

well something just came up. Right after I gave an order for 7870, I had to cancel it because I just learnt that my friend who has the same gtx460 with me, upgraded his card.

he's gonna lend me the card for 4-5 months and I'll check out the new cards which are coming out in march-april, and then make a purchase or continue using gtx460 SLI.

I do have a question though, my computer runs on a Corsair TX750 power supply, I know the 460s aren't efficient in terms of power consumption. Would a TX750 be sufficient for gtx460 SLI ?
I do have 1 SSD and 3 hard drives, an Asus Xonar D2/PM and a dvd writer.

Your PSU is fine and you would be a fool to upgrade now when your friend is lending you a card for 4-5 months. Just enjoy it for 4-5 months, then upgrade.

 

[sabonis]

well right now I have the SLI. any advice to test my new rig? other than 3DMark?

haven't tested it much yet, though I can see that SLI is capable of getting good FPS in Tomb Raider while setting everything to maximum, with 1x AF and no AA. Though the hair technology TressFX still makes it unplayable, so I have to turn that off.

as far as I know, gtx460 SLI is on par with gtx580, which is at the same level with 7870. hell maybe since my 460s are sonic platinum editions, I might even surpass that.

 

[Attic]

460 SLI is solid, on par with GTX580 and a 7850 over clocked.

VRAM limitation will be hit or miss with no AA applied. I don't think you'll get away with AA in any newer games. You can track VRAM usage with a tool like MSI Afterburner.

 

[aldamon]

I'd reccomend ya keep the 460 until next generation GPU's are released to be honest.

I agree with this (and the really cheap SLI 460 option) if you're going to game at 1080p. Just about all of the cards suggested or considered in this thread are 2 years old or rebrands of 2-year-old cards. I'm sorry, but it's a bad idea to plan to keep a card until its tech is 4-5 years old. A better jumping-off point should be available soon.

 

[Zstream]

well right now I have the SLI. any advice to test my new rig? other than 3DMark?

haven't tested it much yet, though I can see that SLI is capable of getting good FPS in Tomb Raider while setting everything to maximum, with 1x AF and no AA. Though the hair technology TressFX still makes it unplayable, so I have to turn that off.

as far as I know, gtx460 SLI is on par with gtx580, which is at the same level with 7870. hell maybe since my 460s are sonic platinum editions, I might even surpass that.

If you like jaggies you will be fine. If you like AA you won't be. Pretty simple really