AMD 6850 weaker than GTX 460 768 mb with StarCraft 2?

Hey guys, just wanted to inquire about these video cards. Following this review:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/37286-amd-radeon-hd-6870-hd-6850-review-21.html

It seems like the 768mb GTX 460 is stronger/equal to the 6850 while playing at 1920x1080 resolution (which is what I play at) or below. Can anyone explain why this is? All the other games reviewed have the 6850 having stronger FPS than the 460 except SC2, which is and will be one of my most heavily played games.

I have the option of getting the EVGA GTX 460 768mb at $165 Canadian, vs an XFX 6850 at $200, which is a pretty significant price difference.

Could it be that the drivers haven't been optimized or something? I'd really like to get the 6850, but when the 460 is $35 cheaper and plays SC2 at the same performance, I'm confused at what to do.

It really depends on the review. Here is one from Anandtech.

Get either one. 6850 beats a gtx 460 768mb at ref to ref but they even up if you get a gtx 460 sc edition or overclock (gtx 460 has more ability on the overclock front then the new AMD cards). GTX 460 768mb is also cheaper. As everyone has said, there is no real winners in this area. Just choose whichever card you want or get it base on price to performance. On a sidenote, you would really want a AMD 6870 or a 1 gig gtx 460 since your gaming at 1080p.

As a member stated, things can change alot depending on reviewer. Here is Legitreview (they use superclock versions of cards on nvidia that you can buy).

Source: Legitreview of 6850 and 6870

Why not get the 1GB GTX 460 if you have $200?

Ah, thanks for the other reviews guys. Appreciate all the replies :)

And as for the 1gb 460, isn't it basically on-par with the 6850 (and same price at newegg).

I think your answer is GTX 460 1GB. You can get them for $199 before rebate now.

Sorry, just in case my last post edit wasn't seen:

Doesn't the 1gb 460 and the 6850 basically trade blows depending on the game, and by a couple FPS at most? From Newegg.ca/Ncix.ca (the two cheapest Canadian sites I have access to), the xfx 6850 is $200 whereas the evga 1gb 460 is $212.

Powercolor 6850 for $183 at Direct Canada

6850's match to gtx 460 768mb superclock editions... 6870 matches to 1gb 460 superclock edition cards. 6850 is faster then a gtx 460 768mb at stock speed. 6870 is faster then a gtx 460 1gb at stock speeds. Prices will fluctuate if you compare stocks or super clock editions. The few reviews i've seen shows that the super clock nvidia gtx 460's are faster then the amd 6000 series. In the end, just call them even and everything will be ok lol.

Gonna use Newegg.ca for you...

EVGAGTX 460 768mb superclock edition 186.99 free shipping (there is also a 25 dollar rebate

PNY GTX 460 1gb Super clock edition 202.49 10.74 shipping

Sorry, just in case my last post edit wasn't seen:

Doesn't the 1gb 460 and the 6850 basically trade blows depending on the game, and by a couple FPS at most? From Newegg.ca/Ncix.ca (the two cheapest Canadian sites I have access to), the xfx 6850 is $200 whereas the evga 1gb 460 is $212.

RuutuTootoo

You are right to say that both the GTX 460 1GB and the 6850 trade blows between games. Based on what I've seen between the two, it would come to price whenever you're looking for the right card. The beauty of NCIX.com is that they do price-matching, so technically the cheapest price you can find for an eVGA GTX 460 1GB is 202.02. However, since the XFX version does come with a double lifetime warranty vs. the eVGA's 2 year warranty, I would personally recommend you take the XFX 6850.

Thanks everyone for their help. Glad I checked in with you guys, going to go grab an EVGA GTX 460 1gb Superclocked at $212 - $10 rebate. :)

It really depends on the review. wklzip

And which 6850 they reviewed :).

http://fudzilla.com/home/item/20604-hd-6850-with-1120-shaders-went-to-reviewers

Thanks everyone for their help. Glad I checked in with you guys, going to go grab an EVGA GTX 460 1gb Superclocked at $212 - $10 rebate. :)

RuutuTootoo

That's one thing that is pretty much a given at this point. Almost all GTX 460's can overclock to well over 800mhz, and the 1GB's can often reach GTX 470 levels of performance without much trouble. I'm not sure how great the 6800 series is at overclocking. Frankly, I'm impressed with the fact that a 1st-gen DX11 Fermi card can hang with a 2nd-gen HD6800 series card, considering that they're all within about $20 of each other at each level.

That's one thing that is pretty much a given at this point. Almost all GTX 460's can overclock to well over 800mhz, and the 1GB's can often reach GTX 470 levels of performance without much trouble. I'm not sure how great the 6800 series is at overclocking. Frankly, I'm impressed with the fact that a 1st-gen DX11 Fermi card can hang with a 2nd-gen HD6800 series card, considering that they're all within about $20 of each other at each level.

hartsickdiscipl

Judging from the fact that they tweaked it's power/performance ratio, couldn't you say that the GTX 460 is a second-gen Fermi card?

That's one thing that is pretty much a given at this point. Almost all GTX 460's can overclock to well over 800mhz, and the 1GB's can often reach GTX 470 levels of performance without much trouble. I'm not sure how great the 6800 series is at overclocking. Frankly, I'm impressed with the fact that a 1st-gen DX11 Fermi card can hang with a 2nd-gen HD6800 series card, considering that they're all within about $20 of each other at each level.

hartsickdiscipl

whats a GTX 470 level and a GTX 460 OC to a 470 level?

whats a GTX 470 level and a GTX 460 OC to a 470 level?

acsam12304

It's basically running the same core clock and memory to match a stock 470.

I won't call it a second generation fermi card in any sense of the word. jedikevin2

Forgive me if I'm being tenacious, but may I ask your reasoning behind this? The GTX 460 consumes less power for every "unit" of performance it outputs, is considerably cheaper to produce, leaves a smaller physical footprint, and is arguably more functional than previous Fermi cards. IMO, when considering the amount and extent of the changes made in this revision of the Fermi architecture, the GF104 chip has just as much a right to be called a new generation as AMD's Northern Islands lineup.

[QUOTE="jedikevin2"]I won't call it a second generation fermi card in any sense of the word. MaoTheChimp

Forgive me if I'm being tenacious, but may I ask your reasoning behind this? The GTX 460 consumes less power for every "unit" of performance it outputs, is considerably cheaper to produce, leaves a smaller physical footprint, and is arguably more functional than previous Fermi cards. IMO, when considering the amount and extent of the changes made in this revision of the Fermi architecture, the GF104 chip has just as much a right to be called a new generation as AMD's Northern Islands lineup.

GTX 460 can't be considered a 2nd generation Fermi part because it only fleshes out the lower part of the high-end/upper midrange portion of the market. It was released on a few months after the GTX 480 and 470. Just because it uses a slightly different core based on the 40nm Fermi architecture doesn't make it a new generation by any means. Remember G94 vs. G92? They were both accepted as 9-series parts, despite the fact that G92 was out months earlier than G94. We'll see Nvidia's answer to ATI's 2nd gen DX11 parts (6800 and 6900 series) within the next 4-5 months.