Any Good Ones?

[Ph?bus]

Man you're so full of yourself. Have fun being wrong.

Now to be on topic:
Here are some good power supplies that will most likely fit your needs.

Corsair CX430 - Yes, it's only a 430W unit, but it will probably be all you need for a single GPU set up. I would only recommend that if you don't plan on doing some major upgrades with that build.
Antec True Power New TP-650 - I would have gone with the 550W, but it was a little more expensive (they're both at discounted prices)
Antec VP-450- Again, it's not quite 500W, but it is plenty if you plan on using a single GPU and don't plan on major hardware upgrades. Also, I haven't looked into reviews for this unit, but it should be good.
Antec EarthWatts EA-500D - This is a good budget PSU, but it's still good. It's kinda ugly, though, so if that means anything to you, don't get it lol
Corsair TX-650 - It's a good unit. A tad on the pricey side.
Rosewill Green Series RG630 - A 630W unit, and it's a good budget PSU. A few of the PSUs I mentioned earlier are better, though.
Seasonic S12II 520 - Seasonic makes the best OEM power supplies, and this one is pretty much the basis of all the last generation good PSUs. Reflex may have recommended this one in this thread, though. Or a S12II based unit.
Seasonic SS-560KM - 560W 80+ GOLD certified, this thing is absolutely sexy. I would recommend saving up for this one. I have the X-650 (which is the same foundation, just a higher end version), and it's the best PSU I've owned hands down.

I think that's enough PSU recommendations.

As for graphics cards, I will break your 'rule' that you set in the OP because I don't think you should restrict yourself to one manufacturer when the other will have a better product at a different price point.

$115:
GTS 450 - This is a great budget card. Don't expect too much DX11 performance, though.
HD 5770 - This is a tad better, but again, don't expect amazing DX11 performance. Don't spend more than $130 for either of these cards, and the 5770 should be your first pick.

$150:
HD 6790 - More powerful than the 5770 and 450.
GTX 460 768MB - Really good price to performance card. Don't spend more than $165 in this price point.

$175:
HD 6850 - Arguably the best card in terms of what you get compared to what you pay.
GTX 460 1GB - Not SE. SE is a cut down version of the normal 460. It's not as good. Don't spend more than $200 on either of these cards.

$215:
HD 6870 - A great performer. And it's gone down in price since the last time I checked.
Nvidia doesn't have anything current in this price point. Don't spend more than $240 for that card.

$250:
GTX 560 Ti - The best price to performance ratio card, sans the 6850. It has massive overclocking potential with minimal heat draw. It's not unheard of to get 1GHz on the core with ~60-70C with this card (the one I linked)
HD 6950 1GB - Pretty good card. As to which is better, they're about the same if I remember correctly. Don't pay more than $280 for either card.

I think I'll stop at that price point, unless you want me to go on.

 

[crackdaddy]

Well done, I'm sure the OP appreciates your on topic post even more than I do.

And I don't disagree with any of your suggestions.

Just wondering how I can be wrong though if you state this..

GTX 560 Ti - The best price to performance ratio card, sans the 6850. It has massive overclocking potential with minimal heat draw. It's not unheard of to get 1GHz on the core with ~60-70C with this card (the one I linked)

I thought I made it clear, I really liked this card?
Ok, its a different brand, but its $50 more, now the real question that a buyer has to ask themselves.

If it is 20% more than the brand I suggested, doesn't that mean it should perform at least 20% better to be a better choice?

I think people in this day and age confuse preferences with facts.
Because someone prefers something other than what I do or you do, does not mean they are wrong, they are just exercising their freedom of choice.

I no longer own a Nvidia card in any of my machines. It seems like every time I'm in the market for one, without fail, it seems the best bang for the buck is often the ATI.

Now clearly this is not the case..
This 560 ti is one card I'm considering trading in my 4890 for and in my mind, right in the sweet spot for bang for buck, especially considering features.

 

[Ph?bus]

Errr. What? You don't articulate your posts that well. It's $50 more than... what? 560's have to stay at ~$250 else they're not competitive at all. It's very tight this time around. Unless you're referring to some other card without actually mentioning it?

 

[crackdaddy]

Pho,
Sorry for the lack of clarity, Perhaps if you'd read my original post where I suggested a card and followed the links, it would have been a bit clearer. Sorry for that.

The card I suggested at newegg was a 560 ti that was $199 after rebate. that is the $50 difference. which is a 20% difference in price from the one you suggested of the same model.

So my point was, if it does not deliver 20% improvement over the one I suggested, then its not a better card.

Right?

 

[Cigarjohn]

The 560's are nice. I've seen many benchmarks with 560's in SLI vs 580's in SLI and the 560's did very well in keeping up with the 580's.

Peace.

 

[Ph?bus]

Pho,
Sorry for the lack of clarity, Perhaps if you'd read my original post where I suggested a card and followed the links, it would have been a bit clearer. Sorry for that.

The card I suggested at newegg was a 560 ti that was $199 after rebate. that is the $50 difference. which is a 20% difference in price from the one you suggested of the same model.

So my point was, if it does not deliver 20% improvement over the one I suggested, then its not a better card.

Right?

Oh you mean this card? It's a Galaxy card. From what I've heard, there CS isn't all that great. Have fun if you need to RMA it. Plus it's $230 up front, which is the amount you will pay. MIR's aren't too terribly reliable unless you do them immediately after receiving them. They should never be put towards the price because you still have to pay more up front.

Now it's just 8% less expensive. With overclocking, which I know you can do on both, the TFII will more than likely win. And it's a better cooler. It's worth the extra 8%.

 

[Cigarjohn]

Oh you mean this card? It's a Galaxy card. From what I've heard, there CS isn't all that great. Have fun if you need to RMA it. Plus it's $230 up front, which is the amount you will pay. MIR's aren't too terribly reliable unless you do them immediately after receiving them. They should never be put towards the price because you still have to pay more up front.

Now it's just 8% less expensive. With overclocking, which I know you can do on both, the TFII will more than likely win. And it's a better cooler. It's worth the extra 8%.

Right!


Unfortunately, not all cards are the same and none are better than the other competitors cards. Each card behaves differently in different game scenarios. I prefer the Nvidia over AMD but I'm not bashing AMD at all. Many of the games that I play produce better frame rates with AMD cards than Nvidia. But its pretty marginal. I just like that Nvidia is very progressive in producing more video card options than AMD. Of course Nvidia has more capital than AMD so that makes a difference too. Plus I like the Nvidia drivers progression also.

There both are incredible gaming platform manufacturers.

It would nice to see a totally different video and processor platform (PC Based) come into the mix to stir things up and cheapen the prices of Intel.

Peace.

 

[Mr.Game]

Oh you mean this card? It's a Galaxy card. From what I've heard, there CS isn't all that great. Have fun if you need to RMA it. Plus it's $230 up front, which is the amount you will pay. MIR's aren't too terribly reliable unless you do them immediately after receiving them. They should never be put towards the price because you still have to pay more up front.

Now it's just 8% less expensive. With overclocking, which I know you can do on both, the TFII will more than likely win. And it's a better cooler. It's worth the extra 8%.

I've never had a good chat with Galaxy; (for instance) about 2 years ago I
got a 9800-GT, the drivers that came with it failed and I called them to try
and get the problem resolved.

They didn't help me and I was forced to completely re-install Windows, after
that I used the drivers from Nvidia's website...


The card itself works to this day, but their support/service was terrible.

 

[Cigarjohn]

I've never had a good chat with Galaxy; (for instance) about 2 years ago I
got a 9800-GT, the drivers that came with it failed and I called them to try
and get the problem resolved.

They didn't help me and I was forced to completely re-install Windows, after
that I used the drivers from Nvidia's website...


The card itself works to this day, but their support/service was terrible.

I've read many bad reviews against Galaxy. I prefer EVGA with their lifetime guarantee and they even warranty the card if you take it apart to liquid cool it. MSI, Asus, XFX and even Zotac is coming in the arena strong for a new vid card manufacturer.

Peace.

 

[Ph?bus]

I've never had a good chat with Galaxy; (for instance) about 2 years ago I
got a 9800-GT, the drivers that came with it failed and I called them to try
and get the problem resolved.

They didn't help me and I was forced to completely re-install Windows, after
that I used the drivers from Nvidia's website...


The card itself works to this day, but their support/service was terrible.

Let that be a lesson to you. lol. Never never never use the driver CDs that come with any parts, unless you got it on day 0. Else, they're just Frisbees.

 

[Cigarjohn]

Let that be a lesson to you. lol. Never never never use the driver CDs that come with any parts, unless you got it on day 0. Else, they're just Frisbees.

Yeah! Frisbees and I hate the way they taste when I bite down on them while playing catch in the park. :chair:

http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html


Peace.