Fastest graphics cards in 500$

[dj-electric]

Ok guys sooo im looking to but the fastest and most overclockable GPU solution in 500$, not for me, but for my friend. he has a strong system with a 750W PSU. looking for the best solution in the USA. 10x guys

 

[n-ster]

2x 6870 in CFX... no question about it

 

[wolf]

A GTX480 as the best single GPU solution, you should be able to get a nice pre-overclocked one for that price, maybe even with a better cooler.

top performance will however come from buying two cards, if he has a board that supports SLi or Crossfire.

if so you then have a few tempting options, GTX460 SLi, which stock beat out a GTX480, but there are some insanely pre-overclocked ones availiable too (like EVGA FTW or TGT Beast) and they would be incredible performers.

then we have two new options from AMD although availiability may be scarce, either 2x6850 or 2x6870, both will run you under 500 USD and offer great performance too.

 

[cadaveca]

Single card, 480 is absolute fastest.

but for $500, you could get 2xGTX470, brand new. That would be my own choice. EVGA SC is $269 @ the egg..can find others cheaper.

 

[Lionheart]

Hmm is the HD5970 in the $500 in the USA, if not I would go with 2 HD6870's or tell your friend to wait for the GTX 580 & HD69xx series to release

 

[Ev1LrYu]

^ agree with posts above. Choices:

If Board.multicard = "SLI" then
vga = 2 * GTX470 (newegg)
else If Board.multicard = "XFIRE" then
vga = 2 * HD6870 (newegg)
else
vga = 1 * GTX480 (newegg)
end if

 

[the54thvoid]

I'd wait one month.

But i'm quite itchy on the gfx front. If review of this are favourable I might 'downgrade' my set up (though it might be an upgrade performance dependant).

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=27253

 

[KainXS]

avoid the HD5970 I had 2 of them and moved to SLI GTX480's and haven't looked back, I love ATI but they were a waste mainly because they scaled terribly.

I would also say wait for the HD69XX to be released

 

[wolf]

avoid the HD5970 I had 2 of them and moved to SLI GTX480's and haven't looked back

how do they compare? I'd assume as a general gaming experience goes the 480's would perhaps not give a better max FPS but a smoother experience in general (better min FPS and better scaling), being only two gpu's and each one being beefier than a cypress GPU.

 

[dj-electric]

overclock-ability is important, compere to GTX470, the HD6870 OC like crap. so i guess GTX470 SLI will be the smartest choice, do you guys think that the palit version is the best one?
Palit NE5TX470F10DA GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB...

 

[wolf]

I'm not sure about the PCB but that's a nice non reference cooler that will keep the cards at better temps than stock almost definitely, but in my experience with a Gainward GTX260 with the same style cooler (gainward and palit are the same company) it was a bit noisy.

still I'd easily take two of those over 6870's, the gains to be had from overclocking them will put them in a completely different league than 6870's, and they have 256mb extra memory to help as time presses on.

Most of the people I know with 470's manage to get them to, or just above stock GTX480 performance, that in SLi is simply a shitload of FPS.

definitely not the best GTX470's money can buy, but looking to be some of the best value ones.

 

[overclocking101]

those palit cards are great cards. and hell fermi needs faster fans so bring on the noise. in a case with the side shut you will barely hear them unless you use your pc in complete silence. good choice with the 470's the new ati cards are a cop out and are rebranded hd5XXX cards ati is just looking for some suckers

 

[n-ster]

the 67XX are rebranded... not 68XX....

2 x 470 OCed with, say a PII x6 or i7 920 OCed on a 750W PSU might be pushing it.... I hope the 750W PSU is a good one? and I hope he has good cooling? does he care about noise at all? 2x 470 OCed WILL make a rucus.

I still think that overall, 6870 in CFX offers best performance/$ plus MLAA and much lower power consumption and less heat and less noise.... and it will keep its value much better than a 470...

 

[KainXS]

how do they compare? I'd assume as a general gaming experience goes the 480's would perhaps not give a better max FPS but a smoother experience in general (better min FPS and better scaling), being only two gpu's and each one being beefier than a cypress GPU.

exactly, the one thing I struggled with the 5970 as the scaling, and because they scale so bad sometimes the 480's would be faster but on most occasions they are smoother, and I saved money selling the 5970's and going to 480's

 

[dj-electric]

the 67XX are rebranded... not 68XX....

2 x 470 OCed with, say a PII x6 or i7 920 OCed on a 750W PSU might be pushing it.... I hope the 750W PSU is a good one? and I hope he has good cooling? does he care about noise at all? 2x 470 OCed WILL make a rucus.

I still think that overall, 6870 in CFX offers best performance/$ plus MLAA and much lower power consumption and less heat and less noise.... and it will keep its value much better than a 470...

Corsair TX750, I7 950 @ 3800-4000MHZ

 

[n-ster]

should be OK... how about cooling, power usage, heat and noise? does he care about any of those?

 

[MxPhenom 216]

look at a normal EVGA one they seem to have really really low VID. which will help in overclocking a lot

 

[REDDLINE]

To me i would get 2x6870's, but i guess thats just because im an ATI guy : /

 

[n-ster]

I still think 6870 in CFX is the best option too...

 

[Achilles1600]

I would say, the two GTX 470's in SLI would be the best choice, two PNY GTX 470's at newegg.com come's up to $479.98. or i would just wait for the HD 6970 or GTX 580.

 

[Peter1986C]

^ agree with posts above. Choices:

If Board.multicard = "SLI" then
vga = 2 * GTX470 (newegg)
else If Board.multicard = "XFIRE" then
vga = 2 * HD6870 (newegg)
else
vga = 1 * GTX480 (newegg)
end if

Nice script.

 

[Frizz]

If you're going SLI I would say 470x2 since apparently SLI scales better also since they are almost the same price range as 2x 6870's.

 

[n-ster]

6870's scaling in Crossfire is nothing short of impressive and amazing

 

[Helli]

overclock-ability is important, compere to GTX470, the HD6870 OC like crap. so i guess GTX470 SLI will be the smartest choice, do you guys think that the palit version is the best one?
Palit NE5TX470F10DA GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB...

I use a GTX465 SLI from Palit. These one:

Palit GeForce GTX465

About Power Consume: In 3DMark Vantage with a i7 920 oc to 3.4GHz and these
two GTX465 oc to 825/1650/1880 this Rig needs 730 Watt. With FurMark in Xtreme
Burning Mode the Kill-A-Watt jumps to 795 Watt.

A GTX470 SLI would consume even more. Your 750 Watt PSU is maybe somewhat weak.

Helli

 

[n-ster]

ahh then GTX 470 seems out of the question unless you dont OC anything