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GTX 660 VS 7850 or... something else?

TrionicusTrionicus Member UncommonPosts: 498

I was about to blindly go ATI again but I paused and thought about it. I then found the GTX 660 @ around 200 ish on Amazon. Is this the smart choice at around $200? I remember ATI used to be basically the only option I would consider if I was floating around this price. The GTX 660 looks pretty nice though and as a bonus PhysX would be available. It's going into a Sandy Bridge i5 and on a 24" monitor. I guess I'm just trying to confirm the choice, GTX 660 or Equivalent or something considerably cheaper like a 7770 or GTX 650 and or TI.

 

Thanks for the advice.

Comments

  • shamus252shamus252 Member UncommonPosts: 226
    Why, not save some extra cash for a few weeks or something, and go with a ATI 7950 or a 660 TI

    Sic semper tyrannis "Democracy broke down, not when the Union
    ceased to be agreeable to all its constituent States, but when it was upheld, like any other Empire, by force of arms."

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,559

    The basic hierarchy goes:

    Radeon HD 7770 < GeForce GTX 650 Ti < Radeon HD 7790 < GeForce GTX 650 Ti with Boost < Radeon HD 7850 < GeForce GTX 660 < Radeon HD 7870.

    Yes, there is both a GeForce GTX 650 Ti and also a GeForce GTX 650 Ti with Boost, and they're two different cards--and both a different GPU chip entirely from the GeForce GTX 650.  Nvidia is trying to confuse you.  For a GeForce GTX 650 Ti with Boost, you want a 2 GB version, not a 1 GB version.

    The "2 GB" versions of the GeForce GTX 650 Ti with Boost, GeForce GTX 660, and GeForce GTX 660 Ti mismatch the memory channels, so you can only use 1.5 GB of video memory at full bandwidth, and lose memory bandwidth if you go above that.  On that basis, I'd basically consider them to be 1.5 GB video cards.  Now, 1.5 GB is still quite a bit, but could be problematic if you're a huge fan of high resolution textures.

    The reason I say not to get the "1 GB" version of a GeForce GTX 650 Ti with Boost is that the same mismatched memory channels means you only get 768 MB of video memory at full bandwidth.  And that's not very much video memory these days.  That might be acceptable on a $50 extreme budget card, but not $170.

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