Overclock.net › Forums › Graphics Cards › Graphics Cards - General › Upgrade From GTX460 SLI
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Upgrade From GTX460 SLI

post #1 of 5
7/21/12 at 1:32pm
Thread Starter 
At the time that I built this PC in Q4 of 2011, I landed a good deal on a pair of MSI GTX460 for $210. However, I graduated a few months ago, come into steady income and am now looking to get a SINGLE card upgrade to my current configuration. Not a fan of the heat and some bottleneck with only 1 GB of VRAM.

What's a logical card I can possibly get for under $450 that performance is good for the price? I've seen the Visiontek 7970 + Games for right at $375. And the EVGA/ASUS 670 is around at $400.

I play at 1920x1080 but I do like to try my best to max out the eye candy.
Edited by roninmedia - 7/21/12 at 1:35pm
roninmedia
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2500K ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z 1 x 3GB MSI R7950 Twin Frozr 3GD5/OC 2 x 4GB G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
1 x 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 ASUS 24X DVD Burner CORSAIR Hydro Series H60 Windows 7 Ultimate 
PowerCase
Seasonic X750 Gold CM Storm Sniper Black 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
roninmedia
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2500K ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z 1 x 3GB MSI R7950 Twin Frozr 3GD5/OC 2 x 4GB G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
1 x 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 ASUS 24X DVD Burner CORSAIR Hydro Series H60 Windows 7 Ultimate 
PowerCase
Seasonic X750 Gold CM Storm Sniper Black 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #2 of 5
7/21/12 at 3:24pm
I'd say go for the 670, you'll get a little better performance out of that compared to your SLI 460s with a lot less heat and noise.

If you're going to water cool in the future there are a few 670s that use 680 PCBs


GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670

EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW

ASUS GTX670-DC2T-2GD5 GeForce GTX 670

If you plan to stick to air I'd say stick with MSI and get a Twin Frozr:

MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670


Unless you like to play with crazy textures, 2GB is more than enough to max out things with eye candy.
Main
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
1090T Asus Crosshair V Formula MSI GTX 470 Twin Frozr II MSI GTX 465 Twin Frozr II GE (Unlocked to 470) 
RAMCoolingCoolingCooling
Kingston HyperX Black Ice GTX420 Black Ice GTX280 Swiftech 655 
CoolingCoolingOSKeyboard
Swiftech MCres Micro Swiftech Apogee HD Windows 7 Professional x64 Steel Series 7G 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ ZX 1000W Modular NZXT Switch 810 Logitech MX Performance 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Main
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
1090T Asus Crosshair V Formula MSI GTX 470 Twin Frozr II MSI GTX 465 Twin Frozr II GE (Unlocked to 470) 
RAMCoolingCoolingCooling
Kingston HyperX Black Ice GTX420 Black Ice GTX280 Swiftech 655 
CoolingCoolingOSKeyboard
Swiftech MCres Micro Swiftech Apogee HD Windows 7 Professional x64 Steel Series 7G 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ ZX 1000W Modular NZXT Switch 810 Logitech MX Performance 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #3 of 5
7/22/12 at 12:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by roninmedia View Post

At the time that I built this PC in Q4 of 2011, I landed a good deal on a pair of MSI GTX460 for $210. However, I graduated a few months ago, come into steady income and am now looking to get a SINGLE card upgrade to my current configuration. Not a fan of the heat and some bottleneck with only 1 GB of VRAM.
What's a logical card I can possibly get for under $450 that performance is good for the price? I've seen the Visiontek 7970 + Games for right at $375. And the EVGA/ASUS 670 is around at $400.
I play at 1920x1080 but I do like to try my best to max out the eye candy.

You don't need any more than a HD 7950 OC card. these cards overclock to 1 - 1.05 Ghz at stock voltage and 1.1 - 1.15 Ghz with voltage tweaking. clock for clock HD 7950 is close to HD 7970 , maybe 5% slower.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/01/xfx_radeon_hd_7950_black_edition_video_card_review/8

The best HD 7950 OC options are

MSI HD 7950 OC - USD 310 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667

Gigabyte HD 7950 Windforce - USD 340
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Mini-Displayport-PCI-Express-Graphic-GV-R795WF3-3GD/dp/B007581QHG/

Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition - USD 350
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102991

Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition and MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr are using a HD 7970 PCB. Generally a better PCB means better stability while overclocking although the cooler and chip will determine whats the max overclocks possible. here are the cards with pics of the PCB. newegg user reviews of both these cards confirm the HD 7970 PCB.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1704168
http://www.overclock.net/t/1281711/hd7950-revised-with-reference-hd7970-pcb-club

IMO Gigabyte has the best cooler. So if you like lower temps this card is more attractive.

Finally here is a user who has MSI HD 7950 at 1050 Mhz core clocks and 1575 Mhz memory and getting 70+ fps in BF3 at max settings iin 1080p.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1284812/are-these-high-temps-for-tf3-7950-1150-1700-1-149#post_17759950

Here is a HD 7950 OC review with HD 7950 OC card overclocked to 1025 Mhz at stock voltage
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_7950_Flex/31.html

BF3 1920 X 1200 4x AA

Sapphire HD 7950 (1025 Mhz) - 69.7
GTX 680 (1006/ 1058) - 71.8

think about it. thumb.gif
Edited by raghu78 - 7/22/12 at 12:47am
Fragbox
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel Core i5 2400 DH67BL AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series XFX HD 6950 2GB 
RAMRAMHard DriveOptical Drive
Corsair Corsair DDR3 1333 Mhz 2 GB Corsair DDR3 1333 Mhz 2 GB Western Digital Caviar Green SONY DVD-RW AD-7260S 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Professional 32 bit BENQ G2420HD Logitech K200 Seasonic VX550 psu 
CaseMouse
ANTEC 200 V2 Logitech mouse 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Fragbox
(14 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel Core i5 2400 DH67BL AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series XFX HD 6950 2GB 
RAMRAMHard DriveOptical Drive
Corsair Corsair DDR3 1333 Mhz 2 GB Corsair DDR3 1333 Mhz 2 GB Western Digital Caviar Green SONY DVD-RW AD-7260S 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Professional 32 bit BENQ G2420HD Logitech K200 Seasonic VX550 psu 
CaseMouse
ANTEC 200 V2 Logitech mouse 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #4 of 5
7/22/12 at 12:36am
I would say either the GTX 670 or the HD7970 are both good choices to be honest. If you get a 7970 though, don't get a reference card, try to get the Sapphire Dual X.
Dumpster Diving FTW
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core 2 Duo e6320 @ 1.86GHz, 1.35v Gigabyte 965p-DS3 (broken) MSI Nvidia GeForce 7300LE 2x1GB GSkill DDR2-800 @ 800, 5-5-5-15 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Western Digital Blue 250GB Pioneer DVDRW Stock Windows 7 Ultimate 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Compaq 17" 1366x768 Dell Corsair VX550 Apevia X-Plorer 
Mouse
Logitech MX310 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Dumpster Diving FTW
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core 2 Duo e6320 @ 1.86GHz, 1.35v Gigabyte 965p-DS3 (broken) MSI Nvidia GeForce 7300LE 2x1GB GSkill DDR2-800 @ 800, 5-5-5-15 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Western Digital Blue 250GB Pioneer DVDRW Stock Windows 7 Ultimate 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Compaq 17" 1366x768 Dell Corsair VX550 Apevia X-Plorer 
Mouse
Logitech MX310 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #5 of 5
7/23/12 at 7:15pm
I actually upgraded from a GTX 460 SLI configuration to a GTX 670 and it was an amazing upgrade. I would recommend aiming for an EVGA GTX 670 FTW, or a Gigabyte GTX 670 card.
Hydrogen Comp
(16 items)
 
El Cheapo Computero
(9 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.8 Ghz AsRock Z77 Professional EVGA GTX 670 FTW 8 Gb G.Skill ARES DDR3 2133Mhz  
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveCooling
Crucial M4 64 Crucial M4 256 Gb Western Digital Caviar Black 500 Gb Noctua NH-D14 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Acer 27" LCD Monitor (60Hz) Logitech G-110 Corsair TX-750 
CaseMouseAudioAudio
NZXT Phantom (White) Logitech MX-518 Klipsch Promedia 2.1 Speakers Asus Xonar D1 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz LGA 115... Foxconn H61MXV LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Int... HIS H667FN1G Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 P... G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1... 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Seagate SV35 Series ST3500411SV 500GB 7200 RPM ... LITE-ON DVD Burner LOGISYS Computer IC211HTPC 80mm Hydro Bearing C... Windows 7 Home Premium 
Case
Rosewill R379-M Black/ Silver 0.8mm SGCC Steel ... 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Hydrogen Comp
(16 items)
 
El Cheapo Computero
(9 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.8 Ghz AsRock Z77 Professional EVGA GTX 670 FTW 8 Gb G.Skill ARES DDR3 2133Mhz  
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveCooling
Crucial M4 64 Crucial M4 256 Gb Western Digital Caviar Black 500 Gb Noctua NH-D14 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Windows 7 Acer 27" LCD Monitor (60Hz) Logitech G-110 Corsair TX-750 
CaseMouseAudioAudio
NZXT Phantom (White) Logitech MX-518 Klipsch Promedia 2.1 Speakers Asus Xonar D1 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz LGA 115... Foxconn H61MXV LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Int... HIS H667FN1G Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 P... G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1... 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Seagate SV35 Series ST3500411SV 500GB 7200 RPM ... LITE-ON DVD Burner LOGISYS Computer IC211HTPC 80mm Hydro Bearing C... Windows 7 Home Premium 
Case
Rosewill R379-M Black/ Silver 0.8mm SGCC Steel ... 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Graphics Cards - General
Overclock.net › Forums › Graphics Cards › Graphics Cards - General › Upgrade From GTX460 SLI