# 550 Ti or 5770



## ArjunKiller (Aug 7, 2011)

I need to decide between the 550 Ti and 5770. I would mostly be gaming at 720p or 1080p at mid settings. Suggest me which GPU has the best bang for buck and also please tell me their prices because I can't actually find the actual price as my dealer has not seen the 550 Ti ever.


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## coderunknown (Aug 7, 2011)

order sapphire/gigabyte HD6850 from smc international.


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## Cilus (Aug 7, 2011)

Get the MSI HD 6850 Cyclone Power Edition from SMC, priced at 9.5K. It has a custom cooler for better cooling and it is highly factory overclocked, clocked at 840 MHz, compared to the standard 775 MHz.


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## Skud (Aug 7, 2011)

@OP: quote your budget.


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## Tenida (Aug 7, 2011)

Under 7k- *Get MSI/Sapphire HD 6770 1GB DDR5*
Over 7K-*Get  MSI HD 6850 Cyclone Power Edition*


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## d6bmg (Aug 7, 2011)

Well, here OP is talking about 5770 about which no-one give any info.
Or am I missing something?

On the question, definitely 550ti is better, performance wise and benchmarking wise. So, if your option is between 550ti & 5770, its better to go with 550ti.


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## Jaskanwar Singh (Aug 7, 2011)

For 1080p u *NEED* 6850.


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## ArjunKiller (Aug 7, 2011)

My budget is strictly 7k-7.5k. Can't increase budget since this will increase my overall budget.


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## Skud (Aug 7, 2011)

He's gonna game at medium settings. So even a 5770/6770 should suffice.

*@OP:*
Post your full system config for better suggestions.


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## a2mn2002 (Aug 7, 2011)

can msi 6850 pe handle latest games @ 1080p with ease? 
How much frames needed for smooth gameplay?


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## Skud (Aug 7, 2011)

Depends on the game. For most games it can run at highest settings @ 1080p.


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## topgear (Aug 8, 2011)

@ OP - just to be sure - what PSU and cpu do you have ??


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## ArjunKiller (Aug 8, 2011)

Since I would be gaming at medium to high settings and resolution can vary from 1024 x 768 to 1920 x 1080 depending on the graphics and frame rates, I'm willing to adjust. So let me tell you my config that I would be going for probably 1 month from now. 


AMD Phenom II x4 840 - 4800/-
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H - 4100/-
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB - 2875/-
FSP Saga II 500W - 2300/-
Logitech MX518 Mouse - 850/-
CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB RAM - 2300/-
CPU Case - 700/-

Total: 18575/-

Since my budget is 25k - 30k which also includes a monitor and I was thinking of buying a G2220. I also have my present system that I am willing to sell so that my budget can be adjusted. Please advice the price I would get for this old config:

ASUS P5QPL - AM Motherboard
Intel E5200 CPU running @ 3.4GHz
iBall Case
17" CRT Monitor
HCL Speakers (2)
nVidia GeForce 8400GS GPU
250 GB Seagate Hard Disk
Moserbaer 22x DVD Writer
2 GB RAM Running @ 667MHz


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## hector (Aug 8, 2011)

ArjunKiller said:


> My budget is strictly 7k-7.5k. Can't increase budget since this will increase my overall budget.



Try HD 6790. much better than 5770 and 550ti. I've got one just 20 days old, I want to sell it ( Going for 6950 ). PM me if you are interested.

here are some HD 6790 benchmarks from tom's Hardware


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## topgear (Aug 9, 2011)

ArjunKiller said:


> Since I would be gaming at medium to high settings and resolution can vary from 1024 x 768 to 1920 x 1080 depending on the graphics and frame rates, I'm willing to adjust. So let me tell you my config that I would be going for probably 1 month from now.
> 
> 
> AMD Phenom II x4 840 - 4800/-
> ...



it's better to go with Phenom II X4 955BE cpu @ 5.6k
Corsair Vengeance is now around ~1.8k for 4GB stick 
Where did you find Logitech MX-518 for so cheap ( it's around 1.3k ) - care to share ??

Don't go for a 700 bucks cabby - at-least get a NZXT Gamma @2k - it has much better ventilation in it's price range and try to increase the budget a bit more


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## Skud (Aug 9, 2011)

My vote too goes to NZXT Gamma. Total VFM cabinet.


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## sukesh1090 (Aug 9, 2011)

my vote for 6850 and gamma.


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## ArjunKiller (Aug 9, 2011)

Thanks for you info guys. BTW The MX-518 is available for 999, not 850..sorry.


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## topgear (Aug 10, 2011)

^^ can you tell us - where MX-518 is available for so cheap


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## Tenida (Aug 10, 2011)

Yes where MX518 is available @1K?? I got at 1.2K a month ago.


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## ArjunKiller (Aug 10, 2011)

The dealer says that the stock is of 2009 or 2010 so he is selling old stock. New ones are priced at 1899/-


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## saswat23 (Aug 11, 2011)

So, you are getting MX518 for almost half the price!!


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## topgear (Aug 11, 2011)

ArjunKiller said:


> The dealer says that the stock is of 2009 or 2010 so he is selling old stock. New ones are priced at 1899/-



that might be a cause but still I feel something is strange there - MX-518 normally costs around ~1.25k everywhere.


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## ArjunKiller (Aug 11, 2011)

So, will I be able to play all games at mid resolution and mid settings with this configuration and how long will this config last me?


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## d6bmg (Aug 11, 2011)

ArjunKiller said:


> So, will I be able to play all games at mid resolution and mid settings with this configuration and how long will this config last me?



again that depends on the game.


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## Cilus (Aug 11, 2011)

ArjunKiller, I think you can reduce the price of your would be configuration by a little and can accomodate a HD 6790 or HD 6850 for better playability in 1080P resolution for the current generation as well as the upcoming titles.

For example get a single 4 GB 1600 MHz Corsair XMS3 module, available @ 1.65K in Deltapage.com. The Memory controller of Phenom II/Athlon II processors are not as good as their Intel Counter parts and the performance improvement of Vengeance Ram over a XMS3 module is practically zero with a AMD Processor.
Similarly, you can go for a Athlon II X4 640 3 GHz processor, priced around 4K to 4.2K. The performance difference between a Phenom II 840 3.2 GHz(which is just a rebranded Athlon II X4 as it does not have L3 cache) is again negligible and you can always overclock the 640 by 0.2 GHz to reach P II 840's performance.
By going for the above mentioned items you can save around 1K which can be used to get either of HD 6790 or HD 6850.


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## topgear (Aug 12, 2011)

^^ I heard xms3 1600Mhz 4GB kit has some sort of issue - can't do over 1333 Mhz without over voltage - so it's better to stick with corsair vengeance and they only cost Rs. 1800 for 4GB anyway


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## Cilus (Aug 12, 2011)

No man, XMS3 does not have any issue with AMD mobos. Some people reported that they has had some problems because of XMS3 are 1.65V ram whereas Sandybridge operates at 1.5V for DIMM ports. 
I am using the XMS3 1600 MHz with my rig without a single issue. It is running @ multiplier setting X4 which is needed to be done as all AM3 mobo does support 1333 MHz max by default and the timing is 9-9-9-24 2T which I have set from BIOS.


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## Skud (Aug 12, 2011)

Yeah, I have done the same with my parents' 880gma-ud2h. It's rock solid without any issue.


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## topgear (Aug 13, 2011)

^^ Ok - thanks for the info guys


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 16, 2011)

XMS3 - no issues with AMD or Intel mobos that I could see.

As for the OP's question, 550 Ti is better than 5770/6770 and arguably 6790. If you can, however, grab a GTX 460 (not 460 SE) or HD 6850, that would be a much better buy.


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## hector (Aug 16, 2011)

AcceleratorX said:


> XMS3 - no issues with AMD or Intel mobos that I could see.
> 
> As for the OP's question, 550 Ti is better than 5770/6770 and arguably 6790. If you can, however, grab a GTX 460 (not 460 SE) or HD 6850, that would be a much better buy.



Can you post some bnchmarks for proof?


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 18, 2011)

hector said:


> Can you post some bnchmarks for proof?



Tom's Graphics Card Guide: 32 Mid-Range Cards Benchmarked : Picking The Right Graphics Card
Benchmark Results: Highest Quality, FXAA : Duke Nukem Forever: Performance Analysis

It's the latest review I could find that directly compares the two. Other, older reviews basically say 550 Ti = 5770/6770. Here it's more like 550 Ti = 6790 (almost) for the most part.

Either way, given NVIDIA's advantage in some games like Metro 2033 and HAWX 2, I'd say the 550 Ti is definitely better than 5770 and arguably better than 6790 (arguably because this is debatable, it depends on the game, drivers, whether you love PhysX/CUDA, etc.).

BTW please don't ask for proof of GTX 460 SE's performance, even theoretically calculating it's performance specifications should tell you it's almost the same performance as a 550 Ti 

Personal experience counts too: my 550 Ti has higher minimum FPS in a number of games compared to my old 5770 (Serious Sam HD, Duke Nukem Forever, Mass Effect 2, for example). In other games like AVP, performance is roughly the same.


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## macho84 (Aug 18, 2011)

So its all due to games which are specifically designed for the card manufactures to take advantage. You cant say 5770 is slow. I cant agree that. it rocks in most games. Also most reviews the base system also accounts while talking about benchmark. Make a not buyer the benchmark is just a mere info to decide. If there is 3-8 fps difference you get between 2 cards it merly doesnt make any difference as these are not constant. As most high texture calculation the drop will be less in some card which is giving lower fps than the higher fps card. Its upto you to decide. If you want to invest on best buy get a HD 6870. If the budget not suits then go for HD 6770. Best buy card. Amd is always solid performer . I never had any issues in any games. I am recently running cal of duty ops at full HD with 8x aa @40fps average. Means its stays most case but gone even 60 at most scenario. So as far as crysis the bench mark game for cards this cards gives awesome 20-32 fps in most case still playable at full hd with no lag at all. Only you will feel lag if it goes down to 12  and less.


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## hector (Aug 18, 2011)

AcceleratorX said:


> Tom's Graphics Card Guide: 32 Mid-Range Cards Benchmarked : Picking The Right Graphics Card
> Benchmark Results: Highest Quality, FXAA : Duke Nukem Forever: Performance Analysis
> 
> It's the latest review I could find that directly compares the two. Other, older reviews basically say 550 Ti = 5770/6770. Here it's more like 550 Ti = 6790 (almost) for the most part.
> ...





Read this  and this too. Things will be more clearer


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## Skud (Aug 18, 2011)

Lemme add some fuel.  When 550Ti first comes out, it was dubbed Ti=Total Idiot by users. Search online, and you will find numerous reference of this.


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 18, 2011)

hector said:


> Read this  and this too. Things will be more clearer



I understand, and indeed I have read those articles, but they are not the latest reviews. The Tom's Hardware review is the latest with newest available drivers. Both GPUs receive performance upgrades with new drivers.

Sometime around the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, the HD 5770/6770 got a relatively significant boost in performance due to the release of new Catalyst drivers with some new optimizations. There's no reason why the same cannot apply to the GTX 550 Ti.

If you just want benchmark after benchmark after benchmark, the 3 cards (6770, 6790 and 550 Ti) will keep trading blows with each other depending on which site tested it and when it was tested. For example in the same Tom's Hardware Review mentioned in your post:

Anti-Aliasing Benchmarks : AMD Radeon HD 6790 Review: More Mid-Range Might

Also note the results for AVP without AA:

*www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6790-barts-gpu-geforce-gtx-460,2917-9.html

(I don't want anybody saying stuff like how AVP is ATI optimized and all - such things simply don't count for benchmarking purposes!)

We can see that the 550 Ti is clearly better at AA performance than the 5770, but not so much the 6790. The same site has a newer review which says that the 550 Ti is pretty much on par with 6790. Like I said, 6790 vs. 550 Ti is arguable, but 5770/6770 vs. 550 Ti pretty much goes to the 550 Ti, especially when AA is enabled.

Now I'm not against the 6770, but I think the 550 Ti was overpriced at launch, but with its current prices is not a bad card at all. I am simply saying a very credible thing - if its 5770 vs. 550 Ti, one should go for the 550 Ti, if not for an improvement in performance then for the PhysX and CUDA goodies.

Now 6790 vs. 550 Ti is another fight entirely and depends on so many factors.


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## Skud (Aug 18, 2011)

*@AcceleratorX:*

Regarding your link of Toms Hardware of the 32 cards tested, I couldn't find the drivers they were using. Can you please point me where do you get they are using latest and newest drivers?


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 18, 2011)

Another interesting analysis from X-bit labs (Also one of the more recent reviews):

AMD Radeon HD 6790 Graphics Card Review - X-bit labs



> The diagram makes it clear that the Radeon HD 6790 is inferior to the GeForce GTX 550 Ti in but a few tests, namely Far Cry 2, Lost Planet 2, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.K. 2 and in the high-quality mode of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. The two cards are equals in Resident Evil 5 and Borderlands. The rest of the tests are won by the new card from AMD which enjoys an *advantage of up to 30%*. *The Radeon HD 6790 is an average 13.3% ahead of the GeForce GTX 550 Ti across all the tests in the FSAA-less mode and 4.8% ahead in the FSAA mode.*



I think the price difference between the two is also only around 5-10%, i.e. more or less the same. The review shows clearly that the 550 Ti is a better AA performer than the 5770 at least.

Like I said, one can go on and on with reviews saying which one is better. 6790 vs. 550 Ti may be a win for 6790 or a tie, but 550 Ti vs. 5770 is not a tie in any sense of the word.

It's also clear that newer drivers seem to have made the difference for the 550 Ti here...



Skud said:


> *@AcceleratorX:*
> 
> Regarding your link of Toms Hardware of the 32 cards tested, I couldn't find the drivers they were using. Can you please point me where do you get they are using latest and newest drivers?



They have not mentioned it, and I know it's a potential fault of the test, but they maintain that the drivers were the latest available at the time of the review.

Also note that both the 6790 and 550 Ti are relatively new cards and only 4-5 driver versions support them so far. Since we already know that earlier reviews of the 550 Ti were not good, they obviously used the 275.33 drivers. And AMD has not had major performance improvements between 11.4 and 11.6 (when this testing most likely took place, and also only 11.5 and above support 6790). Therefore, the results are at least somewhat reliable.......(well, it should be).

To be honest, I think in the end it just depends on what games you're playing and how they respond to your graphics card 
Considering that 6790 may also have had improvements (because it's a new product), we just need to infer that the 550 Ti is better than 6770 but maybe not 6790 (Note: 6770 is a mature product now, huge performance increases are unlikely and neither are any improvements mentioned in the driver changelogs for 11.5 to 11.7 for the 5000 series/6770).

I think I have provided sufficient proof and we can all see that benchmarks vary a bit from site to site. Make what you will of it, but as someone who has used both cards on the same PC, I can tell where the 5770 is better and where the 550 Ti is better, and the 550 Ti wins more often than not.

(In favour of 5770: F1 2010, Battleforge, FEAR 3 seemed to run better on the 5770 compared to the 550 Ti. Just saying some examples).

The thing is that the 6770 is a great card, but to call the 550 Ti as crap is doing it grave injustice. It offers good competition to both the 6770 and 6790, and that is good for everyone in the end.


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## Skud (Aug 18, 2011)

Whatever you say above, lets see the current market condition in India. The cheapest 550Ti I found online is close to 8k, the Sapphire 6790 can be had for some 150-200 bucks less, and arguably performs better than 550Ti. In comparison, the 6770 can be found within 7k in most of the places, sometimes as low as 6.5k.

At these price point, whatever performance advantages the 550Ti has over its competitors, if any, simply vaporize. In simple terms, you have 7k, get a 6770, you have 1k more, get a 6790. The 550Ti is just not priced properly as far as Indian market is concerned.


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 19, 2011)

Skud said:


> Whatever you say above, lets see the current market condition in India. The cheapest 550Ti I found online is close to 8k, the Sapphire 6790 can be had for some 150-200 bucks less, and arguably performs better than 550Ti. In comparison, the 6770 can be found within 7k in most of the places, sometimes as low as 6.5k.
> 
> At these price point, whatever performance advantages the 550Ti has over its competitors, if any, simply vaporize. In simple terms, you have 7k, get a 6770, you have 1k more, get a 6790. The 550Ti is just not priced properly as far as Indian market is concerned.



Well, I agree, but when I bought my 550 Ti, 6790 was costing more, maybe because it was just released at that point. Of course market conditions keep changing. Considering current prices, the 6790 is probably better, and the 6770 is an old classic in any case. In any case, Sapphire's Radeon cards are among the cheapest, and given my experience with my 5770, I would probably not recommend this brand again. Better to pay a little more and go for an Asus or MSI.

I just wanted to clear the air a little because everyone was saying that the 550 Ti was crap, well, it may be a little displaced but it's certainly not crap. The reason for it's initial low performance was that it utilized a new memory controller that is not there in any other GeForce 5xx product. I think NVIDIA is still putting in optimizations for this and we will probably see more implementations of this new design in the GeForce 600 series.

A potentially big problem with the 6790 (and the GeForce GTX 460) is that most cards require two 6-pin power connectors (AFAIK so far only PowerColor's 6790 cards do not require two 6-pin connectors). Many people buying these mid-range cards will probably not have two 6-pin connectors to spare, having to resort to using converters and the like instead (this is not optimal). On the other hand, the HD 6850 does not need this and thus presents an excellent mid-range option for the price given the type of PC it will be put on.

These are just additional things to consider apart from purely performance and/or features, but it does seem to me that each card below the 6850 has its own unique drawbacks


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## Skud (Aug 19, 2011)

Agree with your reasoning of two PCI-e connectors. And MSI 6770 is actually the cheapest one @6.5k at Golcha.

Although I am yet to face any problem with my Sapphire card, what happened with yours?


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## Cilus (Aug 19, 2011)

*Re: 550 Ti or 5770o*

Despite the two PCI E 6 pin connector, still HD 6790 requires 104W power in full load, compared to the 140W load power consumption of GTS 550 Ti 
and also performs better than it.
And I didn't get it why using a converter to get another 6 pin connector for the PSUs, not having 2 6 pin connectors is inconvenient. The converter is bundled with the card and if the PSU is capable enough to deliver the required power, it does not matter whether it has 2 six connectors or using converter to power the card.


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 19, 2011)

*@Skud:*

My Sapphire HD 5770 developed the D4000 LED issue, i.e. thermal diode going crazy even though there is no overheating happening. From what I could see on the internet, only Sapphire (the exact same one I had) and HIS models have this problem. There are a variety of fixes, from applying more thermal conducting paste to using a better aftermarket cooler, but in some cases the card was just plain bugged - mine was one such case. The display would go black after 15-30 minutes and the D4000 LED light would come on.

I gave it for RMA and have collected the repaired/replaced unit (I don't know whether Aditya infotech repairs or replaces). In the meantime, however, I got myself a 550 Ti and the system is running fine, so I'm in no mood to check the 5770 at this time. Will however keep the card for possible use in building a PC from spare parts I got.

But given the frequency of this issue, it seems that many Sapphire cards of that particular PCB revision has this problem. It was a non-reference PCB design, should have known better.

I used to think Sapphire was the gold standard for ATI graphics cards, but when a card develops an issue like that in 1.5 years, you don't get a good impression. My old GeCube HD 3870 (reference design) still works without any issues whatsoever and it's pushing 3.5 years now.......Same with some old Asus cards.

The last cards I remember developing issues within two years were XFX ones. Since this is a common issue with that particular model, I'd say Sapphire (and HIS, since it seems they also have the issue) cheaped out. Not to mention Teapo capacitors on the PCB of the sapphire card, which are known to be lower grade components. Now even lower grade components will last long enough that you will never see a problem (electronic components are generally designed for heavy duty use), but it is an indication that the company cuts corners.

At the time I got the card, I didn't know better. Now that I had a good look, I'd say Sapphire should not be the no.1 brand to consider for ATI - they still make good cards but I think most people will be better off with an Asus or MSI.

Take my Palit GTX 550 Ti, for example: Compared to the Sapphire card, Palit skimps heavily on the bundle and cables. But the card has good OS-CON capacitors. It at least gives a good impression. What I can say is that Palit's fan blades are thin - if something gets stuck there or you pull the wrong way while cleaning, you could break them. Other than that the build quality is solid and I can say a bit better than the Sapphire. Let's see how long it lasts.

With graphics cards, you get what you pay for - the extra for the MSI, Gigabyte or Asus is well worth it in most cases (unless you know to take good care of your cards and really want to save some cash).

_For what it's worth: I've not seen anything about this issue happening with 6770 models, and my issue may have been bad luck as I bought a specific model that had this bug, but the Teapo capacitors, PCB flexing, heatsink assembly (again this depends on model I guess), etc. - this is what made me think it wasn't the best in terms of quality. An Asus 5770 feels like a solid brick in your hand _

*@Cilus:*

GTX 550 Ti has 116W TDP. Converter cable wouldn't matter if you had 600W SMPS but most mid-range GPU buyers don't have high end SMPS units. Adding the converter cable is not optimal for electrical reasons: it adds resistive load and contributes to power loss. In borderline cases with a 450W or 500W SMPS, it is possible that not enough current can reach the graphics card, or it can be inconsistent, leading to instability and crashes.

One should *always* avoid the converter cables if possible, there's a good reason why the wires aren't all just connected one way and attached with converters to give you 4-pin, 6-pin, etc. (logically speaking, doing it this way would make the SMPS cheaper to produce) - the wire type is adapted to the kind of current passing through it. Changing it causes an effect which may be good or bad, but this effect is regardless one that you don't want.


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## comp@ddict (Aug 19, 2011)

Bah, I say grab the HD6850 and get done with it. Best VFM, 2k higher budget, same power requirements.

It's a win win..


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## topgear (Aug 20, 2011)

^^ +1 for the suggestion - put away all the debate and get the most VFM deal - Look for MSI Cyclone Power Edition


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## Cilus (Aug 20, 2011)

Topgear,ya I know HD 6850 is best VFM, but I really didn't understand why people put their personal thoughts, not even thoughtful opinion here. I am not doing any debates regarding power consumption, just put some facts and figures from a reputated review site where the test has been conducted properly.



> GTX 550 Ti has 116W TDP. Converter cable wouldn't matter if you had 600W SMPS but most mid-range GPU buyers don't have high end SMPS units. Adding the converter cable is not optimal for electrical reasons: it adds resistive load and contributes to power loss. In borderline cases with a 450W or 500W SMPS, it is possible that not enough current can reach the graphics card, or it can be inconsistent, leading to instability and crashes.
> 
> One should *always* avoid the converter cables if possible, there's a good reason why the wires aren't all just connected one way and attached with converters to give you 4-pin, 6-pin, etc. (logically speaking, doing it this way would make the SMPS cheaper to produce) - the wire type is adapted to the kind of current passing through it. Changing it causes an effect which may be good or bad, but this effect is regardless one that you don't want.



Now look at this.....Simply putting their own misleading ideas over here...no clarification, no review link...nothing. Even some models of FSP SAGA II 500 has 1 PCI-E 6 pin connector, it does not mean that it isn't sufficient to power a HD 6790. It is like if the PSU is capable enough to deliver the required power then it does not matter whether you are using 2 PCI-E connector or using converter. Also here we are talking about some quality 450PSU or 500W psu, not some cheap local brands which may have their build qiality issues.


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 20, 2011)

Cilus said:
			
		

> Now look at this.....Simply putting their own misleading ideas over here...no clarification, no review link...nothing. Even some models of FSP SAGA II 500 has 1 PCI-E 6 pin connector, it does not mean that it isn't sufficient to power a HD 6790.



I said *borderline cases*, does that mean an FSP Saga II? One cannot just assume everyone has a great SMPS. This thread does not serve the purpose of just the original poster, so many people read it. Can you guarantee all of them have a *good* 500W or 450W SMPS?

As for your first sentence, do you really think that this is a court of law where everything needs to be proved? How many reviews do you know of that take up a multimeter and measure how these cards are holding up with 50 SMPS units?

Anyone who works in electrical engineering field knows that additional loading (which is what happens when you add a wire to a system of wires) causes power loss (go take up a textbook and give it a skim if you're not sure  ). If you have a weaker/local SMPS, this will be a cause for concern. On a good SMPS, this power loss will be small enough not to cause concern. There are various parasitic elements, the kind of technical stuff that will be mentioned only in super specialized books (of course not in BE syllabus though). Good/decent designs always avoid/eliminate such concerns, but what about joe average made in China SMPS?

Now I do not appreciate disrespect, and your post sure seemed to contain a good amount of it.


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## Cilus (Aug 20, 2011)

Buddy, don't get me worng...but if you check differnt threads where people are asing about new Gfx card...the 1st question you will see is *"What SMPS/PSU do you have?" *Our forum members make sure that that the OP has enough setup to run the extra hardware he is adding. So if anyone reading threads as reference he/she will clearly get the idea of the requirement of a good PSU.



> As for your first sentence, do you really think that this is a court of law where everything needs to be proved? How many reviews do you know of that take up a multimeter and measure how these cards are holding up?



I know lot of them. It is you who is only taliking about TDP value, I am talikng about the total power consumption measured by multimeter from a running system. So if there is a loss, it will be counted in it as total power consumption measured from a system also takes account of the power lost due to resistance. 
For knowing the power loss due to resistance, I don't need to be an electrical engineer, I have pretty good idea about it...that's why GTS 550 Ti ended up with 140W load power consumption where its TDP is 115W. Don't try to teach me your so called great knowledge about power loss. 

What the hell about local SMPS... no matter wheteher it is 450 or 600W, it simply not recommended for a good Gfx card, if somebody is not having one he has to buy a standrad PSU from a good manufacturer. Even with a 600W local SMPS, GTS 550 won't be borderline case, it will be dangerous case.


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 20, 2011)

^The fact is that you cannot stop people from buying crap PSUs, they will be doing it regardless of what people here write. People often buy first and read about things later. And many are not in a financial position to go and get a new one immediately. It's best that they at least know precautions to follow whenever they can.



			
				Cilus said:
			
		

> .that's why GTS 550 Ti ended up with 140W load power consumption where its TDP is 115W



No, that's not it. Fermi's power consumption is loss due to a different reason, not wire loss. It's due to parasitic impedance elements within the silicon die (also higher number of transistors but forget about that). Loss due to wire and loss due to internal design are different things, though not entirely unrelated.

For that matter, a lot of 6790 cards also reach 125W-130W load power consumption. But it needs two power connectors. The big question is why?

You have HD 6850 and 550 Ti, they don't need it. Neither does HD 5770/6770. The bottom line is simple, if you are confident with your PSU, go ahead, get the 6790 or GTX 460. Else, don't. Simple as that.

BTW, those load power tests are done on really good PSUs which generally have all the PCIe connectors required. Those reviewers generally do not need to use these converter cables. It's a moot point on a good PSU (such as the Saga II), on a bad PSU and a bad cable, a lot of bad stuff happens (I've had experience).

Also, please note that many people here do not post but keep reading threads on a regular basis. This is true for any forum. As users, it is our responsibility to deliver general information as well as specific information.



			
				Cilus said:
			
		

> Don't try to teach me your so called great knowledge about power loss.



I could come back with some kind of angry retort, but I really don't want to. I would appreciate it if you could pull back some of your anger, I haven't been attacking you in any way so far. But this is the second time you have attacked me (Or maybe I think you've attacked me when you haven't, in which case I'd have to say sorry.....)

The knowledge I shared was all accurate and real. I also said that the effects can be good or bad, which is also correct. Now whether that information is useful or not is your opinion, but you really shouldn't be calling it crap.

_For others: From this discussion, at least one thing is clear: get a good PSU, and a good PSU with even 450W will not have a problem powering either of these cards. Otherwise, it would be wise to be careful. _


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## Cilus (Aug 20, 2011)

AcceleratorX, sorry for using that line... I didn't mean it and I am totally agree with you regarding the Crap PSU thing, your point makes very good sense. 

But I'm not agree with you regarding the Power consumption of HD 6790.  I checked the reviews from Tomshardware, guru3d, anandtech, hardwares Heven and found out that *not only HD 6790 has lesser power consumption than GTX 550 Ti but also runs lot cooler than GTS 550 TI in full load.* And no where it reached 130W as you mentioned.

So anybody, not having a good PSU, simply can't jump to a GTS 550 Ti also as you suggested. AMD has given two PCI E power connector to HD 6790 for being on the safer side.

Bottom line is* if you have HD 6850, HD 6770 you can take your chance, but not with GTS 550 Ti*. How can a PSU able to power a GTS 550 Ti can't power a HD 6790....it has far less power consumption in load.


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## asingh (Aug 20, 2011)

When OEM's see that the power draw of the GPU board is nearing the 140W-150W mark range they immediately start to recommend 3x power connectors. One is the PCI.E dock and two power connectors. Each giving roughly 75W of power. To be safe they recommend three.


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## topgear (Aug 21, 2011)

Just read this about HD6790 



> "Though the reference boards we sent out to you may resemble the 6870, the AIB designs will vary greatly from what you’re seeing on our sample boards, including PCB, power connectors, cooler design etc. This means the AIBs have the choice to, for example, include one or two power connectors on the PCB."



Source

And here checkout the PowerColor HD6790 1GB GDDD5 which has only One 6-Pin PCI Express Power connector 
PowerColor Official Website - Graphics, Cases, Power Supply -- PowerColor HD6790 1GB GDDD5


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## AcceleratorX (Aug 22, 2011)

@topgear: I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts that PowerColor HD 6790s have only one PCIe power connector.

@Cilus: Check out techpowerup's review of the 6790, one does go up to 125W (though that's still appreciably lower than the 142W of the 550 Ti).

The biggest problem with having two PCIe connectors even with a relatively good PSU is that sometimes you may run into a problem, i.e. if you have 4 HDDs, a motherboard with an 8-pin power connector, and/or two optical drives with lots of case fans, you may find yourself without an additional 6-pin to spare, or in the worst case, without even a spare connector to attach the converter to.

(In my case, I found myself in this situation, which is why I had to avoid the GTX 460 which was what I was initially looking it).

Anyway, I am aware most people won't have 4 HDDs but if you intend to upgrade like that then it's something you should keep in mind.

That's all then.

Also, I apologize for any heated comments I may have made.


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## topgear (Aug 22, 2011)

^^ I must have overlooked it then 

BTW, even if some good PSU only has a single 6-Pin PCI Express Power connector and you have 4HDDs, 2 ODDs and lots of case fan then nothing to worry as long as the PSU is capable enough to power all the components including the gfx cards 

For 4 HDDs , 2 ODDs - ( most of them uses SATA power connectors now ) and for lots of case fans ( 2-3 case fans can be attached with the mobo itself / or can be attached with a fan controller ) you can always use a Molex Y cable which divides a single molex connector into two so that you can power two devices using a single molex connector and they are damn cheap - Rs. 15-25 each 

Now if you can manage the cables properly inside of the cabby then you must have two spare molex connectors ( coming out from the PSU ) so that the 6-Pin PCI Express Power connector converter that comes with the gfx card package can be used with the good psu.


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## comp@ddict (Aug 22, 2011)

Clius chillax buddy it's okay.

Here's some suggestion:

FSP Saga 500W, stick to something within HD6770 if you're using a quad.
Corsair VX450W and higher, go for GTX550Ti, GTX560Ti, HD6850/HD6870


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## topgear (Aug 23, 2011)

^^ corsair has discontinued VX450 so it's better to get GS600


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## comp@ddict (Aug 23, 2011)

yeah AFAIK GS600W is 4k now, good VFM I say


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