AMD vs Nvidia help me pick my card

[sono]

Could a mod plz close this

[Rennadrel]

XFX cards are generally more expensive then the other brands, however my experience with HIS has not been positive and if you were going down either the AMD or Nvidia route, go with an XFX Double D or a MSI Twin Frozr card. My first GPU that I ever bought was made by them, a 5770 and the fan made a lot of squeaking and whirring noises, it was pretty much an overpriced reference model to be perfectly honest.

The 6770 is reasonably smaller then the 6870, though the 6870 isn't a huge card, however you should be considering the fact that the EVGA 560 happens to be Superclocked, so it comes stock at higher speeds, however regardless it's still more powerful then the 6870. I have a MSI Twin Frozr 6870 and really like it, in the right case it's not super loud with the fans cranked up.

Go for something with dual fans, it's going to last longer and cool better, don't skimp out on single fan GPU's these days.

[sono]

sorry i didnt mention it in my OP, but because I'll HAVE to upgrade my PSU and case as well the 6870 or 560 are the most I can spend. Of those two which is better?

[Rennadrel]

If you can stretch it into your budget, the 560 is a better card hands down, however the 6870 is a great value card. Depends on when you are buying though, AMD is getting set to launch the 7850 and 7870's soon, so that might drop the price on the 6870 down a bit further. I have been very happy with my MSI Twin Frozr 6870, it will run most games on medium or high settings pretty well depending on your monitor resolution settings. Very few games really strain it, and I hardly noticed any frame drops when I was playing WoW and running it at High. Something to take into consideration for your budget is that AMD cards use less power, so you don't have to drop a ton on a big power supply unless you are doing Crossfire or SLI.

[sono]

If you can stretch it into your budget, the 560 is a better card hands down, however the 6870 is a great value card. Depends on when you are buying though, AMD is getting set to launch the 7850 and 7870's soon, so that might drop the price on the 6870 down a bit further. I have been very happy with my MSI Twin Frozr 6870, it will run most games on medium or high settings pretty well depending on your monitor resolution settings. Very few games really strain it, and I hardly noticed any frame drops when I was playing WoW and running it at High. Something to take into consideration for your budget is that AMD cards use less power, so you don't have to drop a ton on a big power supply unless you are doing Crossfire or SLI.

any word on when they're going to release the 7850 and 7870? will totally wait for possible discount

[Fetzie]

From what I have heard, they should be out by the end of this week.

[Rennadrel]

From what I have read the 7850 and 7850 should be out in March, however since we are nearing March anyway, it wouldn't surprise me if it is the end of this week.