I have £205 to spend today on GPU and PSU - Which is best for me right now?

[Leeky]

As per title, today is the day I get to replace my GPU, and my PSU.

I have a maximum budget of £205, (UK Pounds), but would like some change left if possible - If something is worth spending my entire budget I'll do so though.

So for PSU, one of these:

OCZ 700w ModXStream Pro £69.93 from ebuyer.com
OR
Corsair 650w TX series PSU £69.41

GPU:
Gigabyte GTX460 768mb OC Edition £126.32

Or I was thinking this:

HIS HD5830 1GB for £146.86 from overclockers.co.uk
and
Corsair CX-500 500w PSU for just under £50 from the same place - But not sure 500w is enough?!?

Or...

Palit GTX460 Sonic 1GB for £152.93 from ebuyer.com and
Corsair CX 500 PSU for £46.71 from ebuyer.com

What you all think? From what I've read my best option is the last one, if 500w is meaty enough for my current setup with that gpu.

To be clear, I plan to move to AMD3/i5/i7 next year, and I my CPU is also 25% overclocked from stock speed as well.

Is the GTX460 best if I end up going the AMD 1090T route? All I can find is CF motherboards. For my budget, is the GTX460 the best bet, or would something else be better since things have moved along? e.g. is the Radeon 6850 worth considering?

I'll be ordering them today hopefully, for delivery on monday. I'll use any reputable retailer, but must be UK based and payment must be in UK Pounds. I'm happy to consider all options, as I basically want the best PSU/GPU combo for my budget.

As always, I'd appreciate the expert advice of those considerably more in the know on this forum.

 

[Relic]

Hey Leeky, personally in a very similar bind as yourself regarding a GPU upgrade so here are my current suggestions for ya.

First regarding the PSU upgrade, the Corsair CX 500 is a solid power supply but only has 34A on 12V. That should be enough for your CPU with an OC and a GTX 460, but personally I'd recommend going better since you do want to upgrade next year and I always prefer more headroom. So I'd say the Corsair 650W TX would be an excellent power supply especially since its 52A on 12V which is more then enough.

Now to your main issue, which GPU to get . This is a tough one imo especially with what AMD just brought to the table last week. First I'd recommend to forget about the 5830, the card was a bit underwhelming when it was first released and right now is completely pointless to buy. I'd say you should focus on the GTX 460 1GB or Radeon 6850 (this is where I'm stuck personally too ), both are pretty close overall in the benchmarks, very efficient cards and have OC potential depending on the vendor you choose. I'd say take a look at the 6870 as well, but it appears you guys across the pond are already paying $50 bucks more . Check out as many reviews as you can and see what you like the most but personally I'm leaning towards the 6850 at the moment.

Regarding your future CPU/Mobo upgrade, I'd say just wait it out and see what happens next year, no need to worry now.

Sorry if I wasn't much help in giving a straight answer, I see good & bad in both as a fan and can't make up my mind . It might just come down to what features (PhysX, Eyefinity, etc) you want over the other as price wise at least in the UK they seem pretty even, but I am unfamiliar with UK online retailers so there might be better deals.

 

[Leeky]

I'm swaying towards the 6850 as well, but the cost of it (£150 ish) leaves me very little headroom for a PSU. The same is true of the 1GB GTX460 versions which are costing me around the same money - In comparison both are near enough identical in cost, and thus leave me stranded with a decent PSU in my price range.

I dunno if I'm actually better off getting a decent PSU now, and then leaving the GPU for a few more weeks and then purchasing a 6850/1GB GTX460.

The more I look the more I'm thinking I should just wait a few more weeks and maybe I can get a offer on one of them over Christmas.

The 768mb version of the GTX460 is available from scan.co.uk for a seriously cheap £116, but I really can't but help thinking I'll seriously regret not spending a few quid more on a decent 6850 or even 6870!

Looking ahead in terms of PSU, would a Corsair TX650 be enough to power two GTX460/6850/6870? If I'm going to wait a few more weeks I'll order the best PSU I can with reasonable money now, and then wait to purchase one of the above cards - Whatever card I purchase I plan to add another one as soon as I move away from my current Q8300 setup, so the idea I had in mind originally was to purchase one GPU, and one PSU (to power both) and then just add another one later on.

I was all set and smiley faced ready to throw money at a new GPU as well. lol.

 

[Relic]

Ya, I say the 768mb GTX 460 while still a great card isn't the best option compared to what is now available for a little more. This is what keeps pulling me towards the 6870, only drawback I have against it though is that it has little OC room and all the cards are reference design. But given time vendors will surely be coming out with there own versions which will be interesting.

According to Guru3D you should be fine in Crossfire/SLI with the exception of the 6870 where they recommend at least a 700W PSU. I haven't found the exact Amps recommended on the 12V rail, so I couldn't tell ya to be honest. But the Corsair 650W TX only has 2 x 6+2 PCIe Pins meaning you'd need two Molex to PCIe adapters anyway, and chancing all that hardware doesn't seem worth it to me especially since you wont have any room to maneuver. Your best bet if you want to crossfire 6870's is at least a Corsair 850W TX, but I have no experience regarding this so maybe someone else has better suggestions.

 

[Relic]

On another note make sure your case has room if you're interested in the 6870. While compared to the current 5870 it's an improvement, I find that since the card is supposed to be the more gamer/mid-range its decently long at 25cm. Thankfully the power connectors are plugged in the side rather then the back which wasn't present on all the 58xx cards. I might be biased here though since I have Storm Scout mid-sized case . Here is a side by side of the 6850/70.

 

[Leeky]

God, thats huuuge! lol. I can imagine my current 4670 looking rather tiny beside those two. lol!

I went for the Corsair HX750 in the end. A 7 year warranty, modular connectors (essential in my NZXT Beta case) and a 62A rail should be enough. It was also considerably cheaper than other places I found online as well, which helps loads.

It should hopefully be OK for powering 2 in CF/SLI, fingers crossed > I won't be adding another GPU until I upgrade my motherboard and change to a newer chipset anyway, so its fine for the next 12 months or so.

Thanks for your advice Relic.

 

[Relic]

Ya, the more elaborate heat sinks and fans make for some rather large cards but they are stylish :grinthumb .

Completely forgot about the Corsair 750W HX good find Leeky, that should serve you well. I'm guessing you plan on getting a 6870 then and another one in the future to Crossfire?

 

[Leeky]

Ya, the more elaborate heat sinks and fans make for some rather large cards but they are stylish :grinthumb .

Completely forgot about the Corsair 750W HX good find Leeky, that should serve you well. I'm guessing you plan on getting a 6870 then and another one in the future to Crossfire?

Thanks.

Some are butt ugly though... Look at this Gigabyte GTX460 version... My first thought was tie every cable miles from it! :haha:

Yeah, though maybe not a 6870, but the idea was to purchase one now, along with the psu and then it would see me through to upgrade time when I'd go with a CF/SLI mobo, and get another one - hence wanting a psu capable of powering any new setup, as well as a second GPU when the time comes.

My Intel Q8300 is absolutely fine for everything thats thrown at it for now anyway, its just the 4670 that was starting to show its age and I want to be ready for Crysis2 when released. A new psu and gpu and jobs a goodun for a bit longer. I'll probably be looking at a new motherboard/DDR3/CPU come summer anyway.

I might even be able to overclock the CPU (2.5GHz stock, mines at 3.16GHz) a bit more once I can trust my power supply not to kill it. :haha:

 

[Leeky]

All done, my PSU arrived from ebuyer.com earlier this morning. Was all fitted and running 20 mins later.

The PSU just oozes quality everywhere, even the cables, the box it comes in, everything. I can't believe they send them out in a cloth bag, and a storage pouch for all the cables. I'm very impressed, and very glad I went for modular as I'd have had massive problems fitting such a large amount of these long cables in my case.

All in all I'm very happy, I've added some pictures to the members gallery if anyone wants to see it - Next task is to get a HD6870 now I've decided on getting that over the GTX460.

 

[Relic]

Nice! Ya I wish my PSU was modular, such a hassle when you have so many extra cables especially in a mid-size tower case =/ . I made a false bottom though to shield most of the unwanted cables which works out nicely and improves my airflow.

You should check out this OC article by HardwareCanucks, even though you made up your mind for a 6870 this article does a great breakdown job of an overclocked 460/6850/6870. It'll be even more interesting once we start seeing some custom designs by AMD's board partners. Sadly I'm still up in the air myself lol.

 

[Leeky]

The false floor idea sounds like a really good idea - You definitely had a moment of inspiration when you thought of that, thats for sure.

I was shocked at the sheer number of cables. Besides a splittable ATX/EPS 12v (4/8pin) connector, the 20(4)pin connector, it has 12 SATA connectors, 6 6(8) pin PCI-E connectors, 2 floppy adaptors, and 12 molex connectors. That would be an incredible amount to try and fit in all but super tower cases. :haha:

I still can't get over how quiet it is too! I can't even hear my PC running now!

That article was a good read, it definitely confirms to me that the 6870's are a good choice. But those GTX460's aren't making it easy for AMD thats for sure. Now all I need is the 6870 and then I'm saving for a Lian Li ATi crossfire red super tower case to fit all my hardware inside.

 

[Relic]

The false floor idea sounds like a really good idea - You definitely had a moment of inspiration when you thought of that, thats for sure.

Heh, definitely improves the look of the case too. I'll find some pics I have and post them.

That article was a good read, it definitely confirms to me that the 6870's are a good choice. But those GTX460's aren't making it easy for AMD thats for sure. Now all I need is the 6870 and then I'm saving for a Lian Li ATi crossfire red super tower case to fit all my hardware inside.

Indeed and personally I like it, their really isn't a bad choice to be made if you pick up one over the other.