New graphics card...

So early this year, my graphics card took a big poop and is now a paperweight in my "computer junk pile" (waiting to get off my lazy bum to take it all in for recycling). For the interim, I got myself an HD6450. Well, it's been over six months now, and the low-quality "interim" graphics (City has to be set to minimum to go above 15 fps) are getting really really old. I'm in the market for a new graphics card, but don't really have a whole lot to spend (recent hospital visit and surgery, Christmas, rent, bills, etc. etc. etc.) - so for less than $150, I'm hoping to get something high-end from a generation or two ago.

However, I did see this from Amazon, which seems like it's too good to be true...$125 for almost-new (just a year-ish old) high-end card? What am I missing? The specs don't look odd but it's been a few years since I was really into computer upgrades and things have skyrocketed out of my expertise in that short time.

I have plenty of space in my case, I have two power cables available, my power supply is an 800W modular beast with ridiculous numbers on the voltage rails. So is there a better card out there than the one linked above for a better price? Mind, $150 is pretty much my absolute maximum (keeping in mind S&H/tax charges which reduces what I can pay for the card) right now.

Halp!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

Wow that does look good. I'm not gonna be of any help because I've been a mac user for a long time, but just wanna say my iMac has one of these, but the mobile version (6970M, 1gb) which afaik is worse than the one you linked to and even then I can run CoX almost at max ultra and Skyrim at almost max all. I can max all the settings on CoX if I don't run at the Mac's native resolution (which is 2560 x 1440 so higher than average, but I like these games better with this res than at 1080p and max settings).

The HD 6790 is an odd duck. It's a significantly cut down HD 6870/6850 that is only minimally faster (~10-15%) than the HD 6770 but was significantly more expensive (+$30) and uses significantly more power (+40 watts). The up side is while the HD 6770 is simply a renamed HD 5770, the HD 6790 is actually a 6000 series GPU.

The price difference between the HD 6790 and the HD 6850 was small enough so people simply dug through the couch cushions and visited a Coinstar machine and bought the HD 6850.

Looking at NewEgg, they have some post rebate HD 6850s for around $130.

Hye I know this is not the right spot but I cant find where to post my own throead can anny 1 give me a link?

Well you were asking "what you were missing?" about this card. If I was in a more jovial spirit I would have said 1/2 the ROP units and 1/6th of the shader cores but that's rather meaningless to the average Joe.

It's a fine card, faster than the GTX 550Ti, helluva lot faster than the HD 6450 and is better than 1/2 the speed of the top end HD 6970 for much less than 1/3 the price (sidenote, it annoys me that major review sites have $300 cards listed as "mainstream" and below $200 as "low end", this card more "mainstream" in my eyes).

the 6790 is a reject 6850. Pricewise, its better to go for a 6850, just have to be patient for a good sale.

I ended up getting the 6790 from Amazon and can now have the entire game cranked up to Ultra Mode Maximum. However, I don't play that way because it starts heading toward almost cartoonish looking, so reflections and shadows are one step down. Bloom and Depth of Field are both off, but those were the first things I turned off in 2005 when I started playing and have never turned back on.

I can even play the game in a galaxy far, far away with all the settings at maximum, which I am pleased about. I couldn't even walk forward without stuttering, at about 2-10 fps.

But City looks beautiful again, as it should do. And I even had $20 leftover that can go to food and bills.

Thanks for the details, FXmas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

Ok, so the 6790 works *really* good, even when turned to 11. Got it.

So according to this chart:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2...ndex,2674.html

For an NVidia nut like myself, that's about a 550 Ti or a 460, in the 55ish range or better?

/not tryin' to threadjack, but I feel it's relevant, and it may help me to know for sure...
//Too dang many choices out there... sheesh.
///No, I can't do ATI. Too many horror stories with drivers. Sorry about that, but it's THEIR fault.