Scratch

MyRedNeptune wrote:

And Harakou, you better post on this. >.>

You know me too well. At your service. 

It looks like you've done your research. I'm going to second the 5770, with one minor change. I'm not sure where you're buying this from (the US?) but as of right now 5770's are fairly scarce, so I'm going to recommend the 6770, which is effectively a rebadge with a BIOS upgrade. However, unless you can find a good 5770 for cheaper, there's no reason really to not get the new card. (Especially if you want to use HDMI; the 6700 series saw some improvements there.)

I'd recommend either the MSI Twin Frozr II 6770 or the Sapphire Vapor-X 6770. Both are high quality factory overclocked cards with a good cooling setup. (The MSI is probably the better choice, as it has a higher clock and a dual-fan setup, but it's also slightly more expensive.) Of course, this kind of goes out the window if you're somewhere other than the US. 

One question though: what do you have for a power supply? I doubt that you'll have something under-powered for the 6770, but it's always a good idea to check.

...And I took your question too seriously like you said not to. What can I say? I like discussing this sort of thing.

fire219 wrote:

I am going to second Harakou's seconding of the 5/6770. 

However, the 6770 looks to be more than a BIOS update: look at this.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com … dfhhbn.jpg

Look at the second and last columns there. The 6770 is close to twice as powerful as the 5770 in almost every row.

I would go with the 6770.

EDIT: And by seconding Harakou's decision, I took the question to seriously too. Oh well, I like talking about this stuff too. 

Are you sure that's right? That chart says the core clock on the 6770 is 900MHz, even though all the 6770's I've seen on Newegg have a clock less than that. Not to mention that the 6770 definitely doesn't use the Barts GPU. (I wish I could link you to the Anandtech article. Stupid comments section ruining things. >_<)

fire219 wrote:

Harakou wrote:

fire219 wrote:

I am going to second Harakou's seconding of the 5/6770. 

However, the 6770 looks to be more than a BIOS update: look at this.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com … dfhhbn.jpg

Look at the second and last columns there. The 6770 is close to twice as powerful as the 5770 in almost every row.

I would go with the 6770.

EDIT: And by seconding Harakou's decision, I took the question to seriously too. Oh well, I like talking about this stuff too. 

Are you sure that's right? That chart says the core clock on the 6770 is 900MHz, even though all the 6770's I've seen on Newegg have a clock less than that. Not to mention that the 6770 definitely doesn't use the Barts GPU. (I wish I could link you to the Anandtech article. Stupid comments section ruining things. >_<)

*facepalm* The article I got that from was a leaked chart from before the 6xxx series was released. >.< 

So yea, the chart isn't correct. 

I just did some more research, and CNET agrees that you need a 5770 or 6770. 

EDIT: For the maximum of $140 you want to spend, you could get a 6790 with a bit more power than the 6770.

  That explains it. You should be careful about the 6790 though, as some cards depending on the distributor will have either 1 or 2 PCI-e connectors, which could cause a problem if your power supply is a lower-powered model.

I'm also not sure how a factory overclocked 6770 would compare to a 6790 with stock clocks. 

fire219 wrote:

And I just got an idea that could get you more performance for that same price: Using Crossfire/SLI with 2 lower-end GPUs. I have seen a test that proves that 2 lower-end GPUs are usually more powerful than a single mid-range GPU (as long as the low and mid-range GPUs are from the same generation).

In that case, you can get 2 ZOTAC GeForce 440s for about $90-$120. IDK what the two of those GPUs in SLI mode can do compared to higher-end GPUs, but I'll research that next.

Eh, Usually SLI/Crossfire is reserved for when you start looking for alternatives to higher-end cards, such as the Radeon HD 6900 series. When you're talking about single cards such as the 6770, it's not really necessary or practical, since you tend to run into a whole new host of problems. Your motherboard has to support it, there can be driver issues, increased heat from two cards running at the same time, etc.

Besides, the Geforce GT 440 doesn't support SLI anyway. 

Harakou wrote:

fire219 wrote:

And I just got an idea that could get you more performance for that same price: Using Crossfire/SLI with 2 lower-end GPUs. I have seen a test that proves that 2 lower-end GPUs are usually more powerful than a single mid-range GPU (as long as the low and mid-range GPUs are from the same generation).

In that case, you can get 2 ZOTAC GeForce 440s for about $90-$120. IDK what the two of those GPUs in SLI mode can do compared to higher-end GPUs, but I'll research that next.

Eh, Usually SLI/Crossfire is reserved for when you start looking for alternatives to higher-end cards, such as the Radeon HD 6900 series. When you're talking about single cards such as the 6770, it's not really necessary or practical, since you tend to run into a whole new host of problems. Your motherboard has to support it, there can be driver issues, increased heat from two cards running at the same time, etc.

Besides, the Geforce GT 440 doesn't support SLI anyway. 

-.-

Ok then, Radeon HD 4350. I am pretty sure it supports Crossfire. 

EDIT: The 4350 is $39 direct from AMD. O.O
       4550 then. It is $50-ish.

Last edited by fire219 (2011-08-21 12:38:32)

The 4550 supports Crossfire. The next level up (4650) is equivalent to 4 4550s though, and only $69. xD

Last edited by fire219 (2011-08-21 12:45:52)

fire219 wrote:

The 4550 supports Crossfire. The next level up (4650) is equivalent to 4 4550s though, and only $69. xD

It seems it does, at least according to the AMD website. I don't see any actual cards for sale that support it though. And still, the 4550 can barely play newer games, even with significantly lowered detail and resolution. Crossfire would help, but it doesn't scale to perfect double performance ratios.

fire219 wrote:

I am back, and have made my stomach shut up. 

I found a card that can compete with the 6770: The Geforce 550 Ti. The two cards are about neck and neck (including price). The 550 runs a little faster in the GPU core (900Mhz vs 850), but has a slower memory clock (2050Mhz vs. 2400) It is much faster at pushing out pixels (close to double the 6770's pixel pushing ability), but a little slower at textures.

Technical comparison

Don't look at technical comparisons; look at benchmarks. In that regard the 6770 and the GTX 550 Ti are almost equal, and the 6770 consumes less power under load. The Ti is admittedly a little better when it comes to idle power, but not by much. 



Edit: Looking at other tests, in general the 550 is slightly better (usually by about 10%).

Last edited by Harakou (2011-08-21 14:01:35)

Yeah, those are both new cards, which is why they have so few ratings. The MSI is the 6770 version of this card. (The Sapphire is fine too though.  )