Evga 550 Ti

[ronbo191]

I would like to upgrade just a little with my present system.

intel E8400

PC power and Cooling 610 watt ps

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB DDR2 800

EVGA GTX260

 

Everything is running great right now. Skyrim is set to high and most of the other new games are too.

I was thing of upping the graphics card just a little to the EVGA GTX550Ti. The price is really low right now on the Egg. I am not to sure about the 400 or 600 series because of the power draw. I only have a 600 watt power supply. Will I see any difference with the GTX550Ti over the GTX260? I know it will boost me up to Direct X 11. Here is the card I am thinking about. Thank you all for any feedback.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

[Stonerboy779]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127576

 

Here is a much better option to consider than getting a 550ti

 

The MSI 6850 Cyclone edition, it's very cold and quiet it's going for $160 ($130 after the MIR) with free shipping and two free games (Dirt 3 and NBA 2K12)

[Stonerboy779]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127592

 

Just noticed a better deal. You can get a GTX 560 for $140

 

Just gotta pay $190 use this promo code (HARDOCPX5X9C) by the end of the 15th of May and you will get 5% off which is roughly $10 and then there is the $40 MIR.

After percent discount and MIR you can get to $140 with free shipping and NBA2K11.

[VaporX]

A 550ti will give you about a 20% performance bump over a GTX260, so yes you will get a boost. As Stoner pointed out a little more money can get you a more powerful card. As a gamer today however it is hard for me to suggest an AMD card. For a real gamer the video card is not just about the FPS, it is about how the game looks, stability and other intangables that cannot be measured in benchmarks. AMD has talked alot about helping the gamer but nVidia has done a lot to help the gamer with features, driver support, and outside the box ideas like the optization articles and material on Geforce.com as well as the upcoming GeForce Experience.

[wevsspot]

The GTX 560Ti is a sweet card. I don't think that you would be disappointed.

 

I"m not a fanboy of either AMD or nVidia, I always choose video card(s) based on price, performance, cooling, quietness, driver support and stability. For all of those reasons I'd recommend the 560Ti over a comparable AMD solution right now. Especially if your main use will be gaming. I run both AMD and nVidia, but my nVidia cards are in my gaming machine, and AMD is in my HTPC, laptop and a spare PC upstairs.

[Locutus]

A 550ti will give you about a 20% performance bump over a GTX260, so yes you will get a boost. As Stoner pointed out a little more money can get you a more powerful card. As a gamer today however it is hard for me to suggest an AMD card. For a real gamer the video card is not just about the FPS, it is about how the game looks, stability and other intangables that cannot be measured in benchmarks. AMD has talked alot about helping the gamer but nVidia has done a lot to help the gamer with features, driver support, and outside the box ideas like the optization articles and material on Geforce.com as well as the upcoming GeForce Experience.

So you're saying that if you had two nearly-identical systems, one with AMD the other nVidia, that the nVidia system would look better?

 

Do you have proof to back this up?

 

I understand that the 560 is indeed superior to the 6850 but I don't see how "looks" become a factor.

[wevsspot]

I don't know how objective someone can be when it comes to the PQ during gaming when you compare the cards, but I can honestly say that back in the day when I was running cards like the ATi 9800 Pro or ATi 4870 I perceived that the PQ was better than comparable nVidia cards. And in fact, I can say the same thing for the HD 5770 that's in my HTPC right now. I think the PQ is better in video and multimedia that a previous nVidia card that were in there.

 

At least that's my perception. But I don't pretend that I'm offering objective evidence.

[ronbo191]

Thank you all for your input. The GTX560Ti does look more interesting then the GTX550TI. It is more expensive if I go with EVGA,which I will, because EVGA cards have never failed me in the past. I was looking at the specs for both the 550 and 560 and they look the same to me? Why over $100 more for the 560? If I will get a 20%bump with the 550 will I get more with the 560? The computer age is moving much to fast for an old bugger like me. I remember spending over $200 for my Voodoo 3000. I thought I was so cool because I had one...lol

 

[VaporX]

Locutus, I am saying that nVidia has better support for features to make the games look better.

 

Ronbo, we are talking about three different cards here, the 550ti, 560 and 560ti. The move to each is a step up in performance. The 560 will take you about 15 to 18% above the 550ti and the 560ti will be about 10 to 12% above the 560.

Edited May 15, 2012 by ComputerEd

[wevsspot]

Ron, the primary design differences in the two cards are;

 

Cuda Cores

GTX 550Ti 192

GTX 560Ti 384

 

Texture Fill Rate

GTX 550Ti 28.8 billion/sec

GTX 560Ti 52.5 billion/sec

 

Memory Interface Width

GTX 550Ti 192-bit

GTX 560Ti 256 bit

Memory Bandwidth

GTX 550Ti 98.4 GB/sec

GTX 560Ti 128 GB/sec

Edited May 15, 2012 by wevsspot

[ronbo191]

Thank you so much wevsspot and all others that helped. The wife gave me the extra $100 so I will go with the Evga GTX560ti. Thank you to all the other members that recommended the ATI cards too. I appreciate your time and effort.

[wevsspot]

Like I mentioned earlier, I don't think you'll be disappointed with the 560Ti. It's a great card for the price. And congrats on the wife forking over the extra Benjamin for the better card