Recommend me a GFX card, with emphasis on power draw please

[MSIC]

Am slowing coming to the idea that my current Radeon 3870 is a little out of date, given the games that I am increasingly playing.
My 2 main games of choice right now are Civ 5 and Battlefield BC2.

I'm also aware that my PSU, which works well, is a 430W unit and i'm not keen to replace it quickly.
My Radeon seems to draw around 80W maximum according to this site:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...t_5.html#sect0
And this one suggests that i'm already probably on the limits of what I should be doing:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-at...-3870-review/8

With that in mind, i'd like a new card that is going to give me an appreciable benefit in frame rate, yet consumes no more power (preferably less).

I'm considering the Radeon 6850 at £144, although may possibly need to replace the cooler with something quieter. It's also a little more expensive than i'd usually buy.

The other card i'm thinking of is a 768MB nVidia 460, and this one at £107 is much more in my budget.

This site suggests that both cards are within my power envelope.
Also Bit-tech, whilst the lovely Hexus suggests that the 6850 under load is the better one for me.

Should I however think about something smaller, like a 5770?? Would that still give an appreciable improvement over my 3870? I dont want to spend money for the sake of it.
Many thanks for opinions.

[dfour]

The 5770 will destroy the 3870 you have but the 6850 is still way faster than the 5770. If you can stretch to the 6850 buy one.

[Domestic_Ginger]

If you are playing at larger resolutions I believe the 768mb 460 may hold you back. I don't think it is a huge step up from a gtx 260 tbh.

The 6850 is the ideal perf/power card in its range. Skip the 5770 if you can; imo opinion its not going to be able to do any tesselation and was only as good as the 4870 512mb at launch.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I have an SD37P2 SFF PC so I tend to go with more energy efficient graphics cards myself.

I had an HD3870 before and this was replaced with an HD4830.

The HD5770 will consume less power than an HD6850 but the improved tessalation and better overall performance of the latter means I prefer the HD6850 1GB and this will be what I get to replace the HD4830.

The HD6850 1GB and the GTX460 1GB have similar performance but the HD6850 1GB has lower power consumption at load than even a GTX460 768MB:

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

However,the Green Edition version of the GTX460 768MB only uses a single PCI-E power connector:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/242221...edium=products

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254130...edium=products

However,you can get an HD6850 1GB for around £135:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/248746

It seems to use the same cooler as the card in this review:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/P...CS_Plus/1.html

[MSIC]

After much consideration, and plenty of scouring of review websites, I reckon that the Radeon 6850 is the one i want.
Looks like a significant improvement over my 3870 (and by that i mean that i would not view a simple 50% increase as enough).
Power draw looks marginally higher than present, however many websites also give examples of even 400W PSU being adequate.
Additonally, SPCR here reviewed both the reference card and a good-looking ASUS, which can be undervolted if need be (and I may well do this).

Scan sells the very same ASUS model for £144, so just going to think about my pennies now

[Domestic_Ginger]

If you are counting the pennies slowly enough; 28nm cards may be available by the time you have enough!

[Antagram]

After similar advice along the same lines as I would like to replace a 4870 512MB (power guzzler), but also after a quiet card.

I was set on getting a 5770 MSI Hawk or Sapphire Vapor-X, with the MSI Hawk edging ahead as it produced lower noise at TechPowerUp review than the Sapphire.

The Only reasons I haven't bought one already:

• Price, as not going to recover the difference in electricity bill to offset the £105+ price unless keep for years. And selling 4870 might not generate much money.
• Wondering if the 6770 will be released as retail and be more than just a rebranded 5770.
• Or wait for 28nm models later in year.

But with the 6850 being recommended over 5770 I'm now uncertain. Especially as some reviews put the 6850 as a more power consuming card, e.g. TechPowerUp again. While others like Anadtech compare doesn't show much difference for system power draw (blue 5770, black 6850). But I'm certain I won't find as quiet a 6850 as the 5770 MSI Hawk.

[badass]

After similar advice along the same lines as I would like to replace a 4870 512MB (power guzzler), but also after a quiet card.

I was set on getting a 5770 MSI Hawk or Sapphire Vapor-X, with the MSI Hawk edging ahead as it produced lower noise at TechPowerUp review than the Sapphire.

The Only reasons I haven't bought one already:

• Price, as not going to recover the difference in electricity bill to offset the £105+ price unless keep for years. And selling 4870 might not generate much money.
• Wondering if the 6770 will be released as retail and be more than just a rebranded 5770.
• Or wait for 28nm models later in year.

But with the 6850 being recommended over 5770 I'm now uncertain. Especially as some reviews put the 6850 as a more power consuming card, e.g. TechPowerUp again. While others like Anadtech compare doesn't show much difference for system power draw (blue 5770, black 6850). But I'm certain I won't find as quiet a 6850 as the 5770 MSI Hawk.

Ignore the power draw for now unless your PC is on 24/7
If it's noise due to the heat being expelled, then go for another card but if it's just power you're concerned about, you'll not recover the extra cost before the 28nm cards come out.
When the 28nm cards come out, they will be cheaper for the same performance and use less power. I will consider replacing my 4870 1GB with one of those provided I can find one for around £120 that's twice as powerful and uses vastly less peak power (less idle power's pretty much guarenteed)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The HD6850 1GB has much better performance than an HD5770 1GB so is actually more efficient.

[cptwhite_uk]

Look at the benchmarks for Civ 5 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 at the anandtech review:

At Civ 5 the GTX460 768Mb beats the 6850 by about 4 fps (mid 30's compared to high 30's)
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/a...ange-market/13

But in Bad Company 2 it's the other way around with the 6850 winning out by about 6fps
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/a...ange-market/14

I'd generally agree the 6850 is the way to go, but it is £30 more (£145 vs £115) so there is that to consider as well. You might also be able to pick up a 768Mb 460 on the cheap second hand I expect for about £90ish.

[Behemoth]

Just avoid the MSI 6850, I had one and it was an awful awful card !

[Antagram]

Any idea of AMD's 28 nm release date? All I found was second half of 2011, which could mean nearly a year before release.