Now I have my system running I really think it's time to upgrade my graphics, realistically I do want a multi-graphics set-up, as i would like to take advantage of eye-infinity or NV surround vision. idealistically I want to spend either £300-500 on 2 graphics card £250-300 on 1 graphics card My motherboard supports both SLI and Crossfire. My first thoughts were with the HD 5870, it is a fantastic card and performs well but I also want value for money and lets be honest 2 HD 5870's are going to set me back around £650. My next thought was the the GTX 4XX range. However I have been put off after reading countless amounts of articles and stories of people being disappointed. However since the release of the GTX 460 I have considered a SLI set-up up with 2 1GB cards. Each card costs around £170. My next option was the GTX 465 which is £200 in a SLI set-up, however im still unsure of which will perform better the 2 GTX 460s or 2 GTX 465's. Specification: i5 760 4GB DDR3 1600mhz 650w XFX PSU Cooler Master CMI 690 II -------------------
The 460's are a better card then the 465's Less heat and noise and perform just well. You can pickup 470's at the moment for less then £500 btw And 5870's can be had for around £275 also, but that puts you at £550 if you budget can go that far. The 5850's are also something to consider. Edit: you will most likely have to upgrade your power supply also if you go CF or SLI.
the GTX 460 is more appealing like you say - less heat and noise and most importantly less power draw, which like you said, could possibility be a problem, (If I got 2x5870's it would be). But I'm more than sure it could handle 2x460's. I have to admit, I am more fond of Nvidia as a company, but obviously I will pick the best for performance over price.
2 5870s would run of a 650 watt psu and would out perform the 460s by a country mile word of warning the 460s are not a quiet card so if noise is your primary issue run away 465 is a peace of **** stay way to 470s isnt too bad depends on your budget i guess
yeah, noise isn't really a problem, i'll be looking at water cooling blocks for them if i was to get them anyway. the 5870's are pretty pricey. all in all the GTX 460's looks like the best option (price to performance wise).
I'd go with the 460's also. Less power draw as you've mentioned. And SLI really scales well. You'll have some spare cash to go down the pub, or upgrade something else in your system.
I would say go with 2 GTX 460's 768mb. They're one of the best bang for buck mid-range graphics cards at the moment, and they scale really well in SLI. They also overclock really well, better than the 1gb versions. Oh, and about the noise, according to guru3d the GTX 460 768mb is pretty silent, and so are the GTX 460's 768mb in SLI, they're less noisy than a 5870. http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/16 Here's a link to the GTX 460 1024mb SLI review if you're thinking about getting them. http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=25498&page=1
The 460's look like great cards from the reviews I've read. I'd be interested to see some reviews with a couple of them in SLI. Will give that hexus one a read through.
The op is considering a multi monitor setup, in this case I would suggest the 768mb is not advisable, 768mb frame buffer for large resolution multi monitor setups is a no no. In fact for multi monitor setups there are 2GB versions of the 460 available which may be more advantageous in such a setup than the 1GB version. section at the end of this link may be relevant:- http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/07/12/nvidia_geforce_gtx_460_sli_performance_followup/
Yes, I am wanting large resolutions and multi mointor set-ups (3 in HD) I might even consider the 2GB versions, so in SLI i'll total 4GB Graphics memory, but will this deduct memory from my ram?
oh no worries then! :3 so do you think 2x 768mb cards could handle 3 ways monitors or would you advise 2 x 1GB / 2 x 2GB cards. Its the difference of £70 per card (768mb or 2GB)
Lets put it like this, what if you got the 768MB cards and it lagged badly in games, how badly would you regret not spending the extra for that bit more grunt?
Yeah but you could say that about everything in a PC, and then say it again once you'd decided on a higher spec, and then say it again and again. That said, £500 easilly covers two 1gb 460s so it's all good. I'm not trying to be awkward, just saying that we all have our price points.
well graphics card will have the biggest effect on a gaming system, doubly so on a multimonitor system, so spend as much as your budget will allow, as I'm sure you wont want to upgrade in the next few years...
SWAT team gonna get you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QkyfGJgcwQ&feature=player_embedded I do quite like the look of the 1gb MSI 460 cards with the custom cooler though.
