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Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 19:17
by Jools
I was wondering if anyone could recommend a new GPU for me with these parameters:
- I prefer nvidia over ati
- I prefer silence over performance (with about 75% to 25% weights)

I'm looking at some Geforce GTX 460 and 560 cards. Maybe even the GTX 550 would be enough in performance. Currently I play with 1280*1024 but I might get a new screen that's 1920*1080 in the future.

I looked at some reviews of the reference card for Geforce GTX 460 and 560, they are conflicting with regard to the sound output: toms hardware reported the 560 as relatively quiet (both when idle and when under load), whereas http://www.gpureview.com reports the 460 card as quiet and the 560 one as moderate.

I don't mind that much if the card gets louder when under load, it's still most important that it's quiet when working in windows, but it shouldn't sound as a tractor when under load either. Besides, quieter cards often produce less heat too, which is always good.

But I think that a fanless card is not a possible equation: those won't support 1920*1080 modes I think.

Anyway: the price should be about those levels, that's about 150 euros. I don't wanna pay as much for a graphics card as for a brand new golf set :)

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 19:26
by Otherside
I would get a 560 Ti but wait a 2-3 weeks till the new ATI cards come out as it will force the prices of the Nvidia cards down.

Something like this; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... ubcat=1341

The MSI twin frozr cooler is renowned for great cooling and silence.

Infact its one of the main reasons I got my 580 GTX which has a twin frozr cooler.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 19:33
by Jools
So ATI chooses to get out new cards after the holidays? That's not so smart if you ask me (yet another reason to go with nvidia)

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 19:37
by smoth
it might be smart, kids get christmas money and that money burns holes in pockets.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 19:51
by rattle
get a cheap no name one... these kind of things die way too frequently
But I think that a fanless card is not a possible equation: those won't support 1920*1080 modes I think.
what makes you think so? I'm pretty sure about all recent nvidia cards support up to 2560x1600 (DVI)

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 20:01
by Jools
What do you mean with a no-name, not nvidia/ati?

My current card is a fanless Geforce 7300GT. I bought it because I mostly use my computer for 2D things. However, nowadays even those things are moving towards 3D. I'm talking about programs such as windows 7 aero, autocad, carrara, playing hd movies on a large resolution (I tried to play a blueray version of the dark knight on vlc player: my card couldn't handle it properly, it's a 11 Gb hd1080 file). Maybe even photoshop etc...

I don't really play other games from spring. Occasionally civilization 5. But I think to be future-proof I need to go beyond fanless. Besides, my current fanless one operated at 60 degrees idle and probably 80 degrees under load.

One more thing: I think also that speech recognition benefits from a fast GPU, albeit with 2D capabilities. The problem with windows 7 and SR is that it slows down mozilla products to a large extent. I heard the reason is that the SR engine must constantly scan the browser window for things that can be executed with a voice command. So as you scroll down a page it must update all links etc. That slowdown was so huge that I never botherred to activate SR except when really needed.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 20:06
by Otherside
I would rather get a quality brand with a better cooler/performance + warranty than a noname card.

The price differences within a type of card per brand are not that big apart from the expensive EVGA and mega pre OC'd card + the ones made for water cooling.

MSI is always a safe bet.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 20:25
by rattle
Aero is overrated IMO and may cause bugs so I wouldn't put it in the calculation. As far as 3D goes, a simple no name 9800GT (with 1GB memory) will do the job too and costs jack shit. You can even run Aero as long as you have enough system memory.

by no name I meant get a cheap no name nvidia card (I don't trust ATI)

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 21:16
by Forboding Angel
This is a very nice card (it's what I have) and can run anything spring at over 100 fps even when the shit hits the fan. I have yet to put it up against a game that it can't handle on high/ultra settings.

It's also very affordable: http://goo.gl/DfNF0 << newegg

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 21:58
by Jools
You mean the GeForce GTS 450? Is it quiet then?

And yeah, newegg is a nice thing, but it doesn't ship to the old world. Any similar places within the EU?

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 23:54
by Otherside
your better off investing in slightly newer tech when the 7series nvidia cards hit.

The card will last you longer and if you want to branch out to other games other than Spring you will see the difference.

560ti all the way imo if not one of the mid range ati cards once the 7 series hits.

Also www.overclockers.co.uk ship to europe with pretty quick delivery, check prices without VAT as you won't be charged for it, you might get import tax though at your own countries rate.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 09 Dec 2011, 18:16
by Super Mario
smoth wrote:it might be smart, kids get christmas money and that money burns holes in pockets.
Exactly, only I'm not a kid.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 09 Dec 2011, 21:30
by Forboding Angel
Well it's a good thing no one was addressing you then.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 12 Dec 2011, 17:52
by Jools
Forboding Angel wrote:This is a very nice card (it's what I have) and can run anything spring at over 100 fps even when the shit hits the fan.
Nice. But is it quiet? Even with shit in the fan?

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 16 Dec 2011, 21:09
by Jools
So now I've almost decided to get one of these cards:
- MSI Geforce GTX 460 (N460GTX Hawk)
- eVGA Geforce GTX 460 (EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FPB)
- Gigabyte Geforce GTX 460 (GV-N460OC-1GI

Only thing is that I can't find anyplace that has these cards and ships to europe. Well, overclockers has one EVGA card, and that's one option, but I would kind of like the MSI one too.

Imagine that it can be hard to buy something, usually when you dont want to buy you get spammed a lot for it.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 16 Dec 2011, 21:25
by KaiserJ
Forboding Angel wrote:This is a very nice card (it's what I have) and can run anything spring at over 100 fps even when the shit hits the fan. I have yet to put it up against a game that it can't handle on high/ultra settings.

It's also very affordable: http://goo.gl/DfNF0 << newegg
how does it do on stuff like skyrim / saints row 3 / battlefield 3? medium settings?

edit: jools i don't think you'd be wrong to pick any of those cards, they all have positive reviews

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 02:19
by Forboding Angel
Jools wrote:
Forboding Angel wrote:This is a very nice card (it's what I have) and can run anything spring at over 100 fps even when the shit hits the fan.
Nice. But is it quiet? Even with shit in the fan?
Yeah, as far as I can tell. Prolly says on the specs how noisy it is. My case has 9 120mm fans in it, so I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 14:48
by Jools
Why so many fans? You try to join a fan club? :lol:

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 18:24
by Coresair
Stop worrying about noise. My 460s are the least noisy things in my case (and my pc is very quiet, liquid cooled). As long as you have proper airflow so they do not have to spin up they will be quiet. They are very loud at 100% fan, but mine never even get passed 50% while gaming. This is relevant because they have a very similar HSF as those you are looking at.

Re: Recommendations for a graphics card

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 18:37
by KaiserJ
Jools wrote:Why so many fans? You try to join a fan club? :lol:

seriously his pc probably hovers in the air at max load :-)