midrange graphics for new build

[drmyk]

Howdy,
I had a couple of loose parts I was going to build another hack out of, but have been gradually replacing them with better bits, escalating the cost and power of what I'd planned. I had a 550ti I was going to use as the video card, but ended up giving it to my father so I need to get a nice mid-range card to replace it.
My current setup is an older I7 (870) with a 5870, so fairly decent.

I'm going with a GA-Z77-DS3H/I52500 mb/cpu. Going to use a Sandisk SSD.

Was trying to decide between a 560 (448 core)/570 or a 6870. Don't want to go over $200, so I figure this is the neighborhood I'm in. Any comments on options between these?

 

[knouroozi]

Howdy,
I had a couple of loose parts I was going to build another hack out of, but have been gradually replacing them with better bits, escalating the cost and power of what I'd planned. I had a 550ti I was going to use as the video card, but ended up giving it to my father so I need to get a nice mid-range card to replace it.
My current setup is an older I7 (870) with a 5870, so fairly decent.

I'm going with a GA-Z77-DS3H/I52500 mb/cpu. Going to use a Sandisk SSD.

Was trying to decide between a 560 (448 core)/570 or a 6870. Don't want to go over $200, so I figure this is the neighborhood I'm in. Any comments on options between these?

The Nvidia GPUs you specified are in a different league compared to the 6870, but if you want something that "just works" go with the 6870.

Just a question, but why not get a 3570 or a 3570K?

 

[drmyk]

They do spec faster on the windows side, wasn't sure how it would shake out on the mac half. Drivers seem to be a big factor with graphics cards. Just hate to get something slower than the 5870 I already have.

I got the I5 2500 for cheap. Figured not much of a performance difference for the price. I think it was around $125 or so.

 

[knouroozi]

They do spec faster on the windows side, wasn't sure how it would shake out on the mac half. Drivers seem to be a big factor with graphics cards. Just hate to get something slower than the 5870 I already have.

I got the I5 2500 for cheap. Figured not much of a performance difference for the price. I think it was around $125 or so.

The 5870 was a very good card.
Might I suggest waiting for the GTX 660 or the 660 Ti? Full support in Mountain Lion without drivers, and equal to or more powerful than your HD 5870.

 

[drmyk]

Interesting that we have very similar builds...

How confirmed is it that the 660/660ti will be oob compatible with the mountain? Within what anyone can say on the board.

Any ideas on pricing on them? Really would like to be under 200. Heck, would like to be under 100, but I'm not that cheap of a cheap bastard.

Mike

 

[knouroozi]

Interesting that we have very similar builds...

How confirmed is it that the 660/660ti will be oob compatible with the mountain? Within what anyone can say on the board.

Any ideas on pricing on them? Really would like to be under 200. Heck, would like to be under 100, but I'm not that cheap of a cheap bastard.

Mike

I see you've done your homework. After that post, I've changed a few things (namely planning on getting a 5XX instead of a 6XX because of the lower prices and the fact that they don't have gimped computing performance).

Apple sticks to one GPU manufacturer per product cycle. As far as I remember, Apple had two refreshes with Nvidia GPUs (the 9XXX series and the 3XX), then two with AMD GPUs (5XXX and 6XXX) and now they've picked Nvidia again.

When Apple supports one GPU of a particular series, all GPUs of that series are supported, as long as they use the same architecture (i.e. GT620/630/640 are rebranded 5XX series cards, but since the 5XX series was already supported they too were supported, whereas the GTX 680/670 are the new Kepler, which Apple supports thanks to the GPU in the new Macbook Pros).

The 660 is supposed to be priced between $200 and $260. If you want cheaper, you'll have to get the 650 Ti which is supposed to be priced between $120 and $160, and it is essentially a 660 with some units disabled. I believe the GTX 660 Ti was around the $320 mark.