Help in deciding GPU

[erjohnz]

Hi there, I'm about to buy a video card this week and I'm tied between these two cards:

EVGA GTX 550 Ti FBP and PowerColor HD 6850

Okay, I know the 6850 is way more powerful than the 550.
I've read a lot of reviews on these cards, but I'm quite confused what to choose.
My first concern is card length. (This is because of my crappy case)
Second is the card's load temperature.
Third is the GPU's driver (Nvidia vs AMD)
Lastly, the brand, mostly becuase of its lifetime.

The reviews I've read for the 550 is very good and the only con is its temps on load, which can be solved by using EVGA Precision tool.
While the 6850, being a PowerColor brand but more powerful than the 550, has a lot of cons like temps, length, drivers, etc.

Tight budget here,
EVGA GTX 550 Ti FBP = $146
PowerColor HD 6850 = $170

I'm only playing at 720p by the way.
So there, hope you guys can help me....

[GT7R]

Try looking for used 560Ti/non Ti, depends on your budget.

[Bond007]

What case/ power supply/ CPU/ and GPU do you have now?

You can get better deals than what you have listed. on those graphics cards.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 550 Ti Windforce 970MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI VGA PCI-E Video Card - Gigabyte - GV-N550WF2-1GI


Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 Windforce 820MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E Video Card - Gigabyte - GV-R685OC-1GD


Gigabyte Radeon HD6770 775MHZ 1GB 4.0GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E DIRECTX11 Video Card - Gigabyte - GV-R677D5-1GD


XFX Radeon HD 6850 Fansink 775MHZ 1GB 4.0GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI Display Port HDMI PCI-E Video Card - XFX - HD685XZCFC

There are a few. A used card could also be considered as they can save a decent amount of money.

[LegendMask]

is used card an option? and what is the maximum length your case can handle?

[Adzsask]

Used card at that price range, or save a little more for a 560Ti.

[erjohnz]

Originally Posted by LegendMask

is used card an option? and what is the maximum length your case can handle?

Not quite sure but I think it's around 7.5 in., it can go a bit further I think.

I'm looking now at a second hand MSI GTX 460 Hawk, any comments?

[yycraven]

I do not know your budget, but two used GTX 460's for $200
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...-shipping.html

[erjohnz]

My tight budget is $245.

[Adzsask]

Originally Posted by erjohnz

My tight budget is $245.

Those 460's are nice(used to run SLI 460's), I would look for a used 480, loving mine(traded 460's for the 480)

[Ravenor]

here is a good one for you, and nice (and within your budget) 560.

Canada Computers | Video Cards | Zotac (ZT-50702-10M) AMP! GeForce GTX 560 1GB nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Chipset (950Mhz) 1GB GDDR5 (4400Mhz) Dual Display DVI/HDMI PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card