New Graphics Card (£100ish budget)

[barry2811]

My graphics card is currently the weakest link in my PC and I'm looking to upgrade fairly soon. Budget is approx £100 but if there is a good case for upping it then I can probably find a bit extra. I've been thinking about a HD5770 which is within budget but I'm also tempted by the GTX460, which is over budget.

I game occasionally, but would like to game a bit more. Most of my activity is with emulators, in particular, development, which doesn't overly tax the GPU. However, there is always the likely possibility in the future, that a lot of the graphics work could be offloaded to the GPU. I would probably be aiming to game at 1680x1050 or 1920x1080 when possible.

I'm conscious of power consumption and particularly sensitive to noise, and hence heat. This PC is the family PC and lives in the living room. I believe the cards I'm looking at are pretty quiet, but is there any model I should look out for over others?

Is the GTX460 worth the extra over the HD5770 for me? Is the 768MB version enough of a boost or is the 1GB version more than worth the extra? If I'm looking at upping the budget should I be considering the HD6850?

Thanks in advance for any opinions/advice.

[Ultima2876]

The 5770 is an excellent card for the money. It'll run most games at 1680x1050 on max settings. If you're playing at 1080p you may have to drop settings on the most intensive games (eg Crysis) but realistically speaking it should do you very well.

Comparison:

http://www.hwcompare.com/8140/geforc...adeon-hd-5770/

Note that the 5770 runs at a smooth 30fps @ 1920x1200 on Battlefield Bad Company 2 on High with 4xAA and 8xAniso - that means it's likely to run anything you throw at it admirably, especially at lower res. It also uses 39% less power (and thus will likely be quieter and cooler) than the GTX460.

I'd personally get the HD5770.

[nibbler]

My GTX460 sometimes has trouble with BC2 at the highest settings and it's a heavily overclocked 1GB version. By trouble, I mean 30 fps rather than 60. I'd recommend a GTX460

[Consfearacy]

I am running the HD 5770 @ the moment and I would like to say I am very happy with everything I have thrown at it.
Not bad bang for buck.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You can get an HD6850 1GB for around £130 delivered:

http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Componen...-6850-----6870

[MSIC]

My personal experience of an ASUS CU 6850 is that it is very quiet indeed - it replaced my passively cooled previous card, and i cant hear any difference (my PC is also in our family living room).
It cost me £140, and my 430W PSU is happy to power that plus my overclocked Q6600 with no stability issues.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...2x-dvi-hdmi-dp

[cptwhite_uk]

6850 all the way.

[Ultima2876]

The 6850 is incredible value if you can pay the extra bit! Definitely go with that if you can

[j.col]

i have seen used HD5850's going for sale for around £100 on other forums.
if not interested in buying used then also recommend hd5850

ps. this forum also has a classifieds section, but i think you need more than 100 posts to access it

[MSIC]

i have seen used HD5850's going for sale for around £100 on other forums.
if not interested in buying used then also recommend hd5850

That's not a great suggestion, given the original requests around power consumption and heat.
I stand by my specific model & suggestion.

[barry2811]

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I think I'm going to go with the HD6850. Is there any easy way to tell which cards will vent the hot air outside the case?

[Cheapy]

Just look at the cooler is easiest way. If the shroud encloses all the card so air carnt escape pretty much all the hot air will exit out the back. So designs like this do that, (referance card like designs)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-s...vi-hdmi-2x-mdp

Where as somthing like this will let heat out in the case, (non referance coolers)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...2x-dvi-hdmi-dp

So basically the more the shroud covers the card the more air will flow out the back than being dumped in the case. Also depends how good the airflow in your case is.

EDIT: You have the same internal layout as my case where airflow is alright. Can always look at putting a slow moving 92mm fan on the side panel to help with GPU cooling if needed.

[MSIC]

Edit: Sorry cheapy, i originally posted that I disagreed with you .. however on re-reading your post you are quite correct.

Regarding the original request, my Asus 6850 doesnt vent the heat out of the back, however my case is pretty effective at doing that so i'm happy in my situation.

[Pob255]

The sapphire toxic is the only 6850 that I know of that does vent all the air out of the back.

[Cheapy]

Edit: Sorry cheapy, i originally posted that I disagreed with you .. however on re-reading your post you are quite correct.

I didnt make it the easiest post to understand having re-read it.

Were gonna have a HD 6850 club soon it seems at hexus

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The HD6850 1GB Toxic is £152 on Ebuyer and Amazon:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/247666

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-HD6...9205587&sr=8-1

However,you can get a reference HD6870 1GB for around £160 to £170 which also has a rear venting cooling and this is the card I hopefully will get for my SFF PC.

The 1GB EVGA GTX 460 SC Super can be had for around £137:

http://www.scan.co.uk/shopoffers/index.aspx

It has a rear venting cooler and can be had for around £131 sometimes from Scan. There is also a version which is not overclocked.

OTH,the HD6870 1GB still seems to have better power consumption at peak than a GTX460 1GB:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/a...ange-market/20