Upgrading from 6850

[us11csalyer]

Okay I have a budget of 350 dollars. I'm not sure if I will get rid of my asus 6850. I am not looking to crossfire my 6850. I'd like to go Nvidia for the first time as I want 3D in the future and from what I hear Nvidia does a better job at encoding media and 3dsmax. Primary use is gaming.

Here is my PSU...

Kingwin MK-650w

456W (38A) on the two 12v rails. 21A 1st rail 22A 2nd rail.

What GPU can I get and only use 80% (364.8W) of the 12v rails at max?

 

[us11csalyer]

I forgot to mention my pc specs...

i5-3500k stock
8gigs of ddr3 1333 ram
60GB vortex 3 agility SSD
500GB western digital sata 2 HDD
DVD-RW+- sata drive
120mm, 80mm fan

 

[seumasbeathan]

What is the budget?

 

[SavageCupcake]

im in the same boat upgrading from a 6850. id go for a 7850/70 or a gtx 660. not much point upgrading to anything below those really

 

[us11csalyer]

around 300...

 

[us11csalyer]

I keep hearing that Nvidia does a better job at textures and AA. 7950 is in my budget but I don't think my PSU will handle it.

 

[seumasbeathan]

Well a 670 should technically work with that psu but not sure if it would be worth risking it

 

[jamesriley94]

I'd put aside £60 for a CX600 power supply, then save up more for a 670.

 

[us11csalyer]

I'd put aside £60 for a CX600 power supply, then save up more for a 670.

I don't understand how a CX600 is better than my current psu.

 

[us11csalyer]

Well a 670 should technically work with that psu but not sure if it would be worth risking it

Is there a noticeable difference in game quality with a Nvidia card verse that of a amd card in the same class?

 

[seumasbeathan]

^I don't really get what you mean? The game quality is down to the settings you choose in game. If you have two similar cards performance wise then it doesn't matter if they are amd or nvidia

 

[us11csalyer]

I read somewhere that Nvidia gave better AA and texture detail quality over amd. The most demanding game I play right now is XCOM: Enemy Unknown. My 22" lcd widescreen only does 720p.

I just want to enjoy all the eye candy of current games. Is there any difference in physx between Nvidia and amd? I see a lot of games that says Nvidia physx and I don't want to miss out.

 

[seumasbeathan]

You only play 720p? :O Forget the card, you need a new monitor :L

 

[us11csalyer]

You only play 720p? :O Forget the card, you need a new monitor :L

Really?

 

[SavageCupcake]

yes. i can nearly max most games at 1080p on my 6850 so iv'e no idea why you'd want to upgrade if your playing at 720p 0.o

 

[us11csalyer]

Metro 2033 back when I tried it would lag my system during heavy gun fights and I wasn't even playing on 720p... But I do need AA turned up because I hate jagged edges.

 

[SavageCupcake]

Metro 2033 is still hard to max today so i wouldn't worry about that.

 

[us11csalyer]

Does AMD cards do physics or is it just Nvidia that does it?

 

[Master&Puppet]

Just Nvidia - but I have 7950s and have no complaints about image quality

 

[PetrolHead247]

Nvidia has PhysX but if you don't have an Nvidia card you can just offload PhysX to your CPU instead