Suggest graphics card - budget 15k

Get this:-

MSI AMD R7850 Power Edition 2GD5/OC 2 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card | Graphics Card | Flipkart.com

GTX 660 !!!
Alternative - hd 7850.
cheers.

Gtx 660.

Where are you getting a 660 at 15k?

OK, found one:-

*mdcomputers.in/index.php?route=product/product&path=74_86&product_id=1861

And the 7850 is even cheaper here:-

*mdcomputers.in/index.php?route=product/product&path=74_86&product_id=1865

Get the gigabyte gtx660 for 14k from smc. Or the gigabyte 7850 for 13k.

Thanks guys! Think I like the MSI 7850 from the lot you suggested.
Any cheaper rate I can get it from? SMC quoted 14.7k. I guess with shipping, it would turn to be the same as Flipkart says.

Better get it from Flipkart.

Are you going to overclock the gpu ??
I ve always read that you should choose a 7850 over a 660 only if you re going to OC coz its OCing cap is very high. If not, then one should stick with the 660 as it is faster at stock (comparing stereotype models).
Correct me if I am wrong.

Completely wrong. You can use the 7850 at stock settings also and get very good performance.

Also that MSI PE is an overclocked version with a superb custom cooler and a nice price.

OP should get the 7850 if its OCd close to 1ghz.

Coming back to what I said ---

Skud said:

Completely wrong. You can use the 7850 at stock settings also and get very good performance.

Click to expand...

So basically, Leaving OCing behind u mean - even at stock, 7850 > 660 ???

heres one of the many contradictory threads where i read that if not OCing - 660 is better - *forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2272002

Sorry if I was wrong.
EDIT - After reading further comments especially the one by cilius, it seems I wasn't.

generally GTX 660 performs better than HD7850 but once you crank gfx settings to the max ( sans physx ) the short comings of 192 bit memory bus creeps up and HD7850 performs better.

If anybody wants to game at lesser settings, no point spending so much on a graphics card.

Of these two, which has the better cooler?

7850 hands down....try to get ur hands on Direct CU II model if you can

I say GTX 660.....or one of those 900MHz clocked 560 Ti cards (Zotac and EVGA).

560Ti? Seriously???

Arent the Direct CU II models always more expensive ? Better, but costlier
At 15k, the 7850 is the best buy. With the new catalyst 12.11, its a great buy.

Although 12.11 Beta driver has brought some serious performance improvement to the HD 7000 series, GTX 660 still performs better than a HD 7850 stock. Only certain games like Metro 2033 or Crysis 2 which need very high memory bandwidth, shows better performance in 7800 series, thanks to its 26 bit Bus. Also if you're using high MSAA, 7800 series is better performer some times compared to their respective Nvidia counter parts (GTX 660 and GTX 660 Ti).
But most of the new games are coming with FXAA and the future TXAA, the new AA techniques are known to reduce the huge memory bandwidth requirement compared to classic AA techniques and because of that, IMO, GTX 660 does have an advantage in the new games.
Since the price diff between 7850 and 660 is very less in India, for just gaming GTX 660 is little better option IMO.

Skud said:

560Ti? Seriously???

Click to expand...

Yes, some of the factory OC 560 Ti cards with 900-950MHz core clock are quite close to the 7850. In compute heavy applications and games they are also an alternative to the GTX 660 (e.g. Dirt Showdown, Civilization V), since the GTX 660 is crippled in terms of compute power as well as memory bandwidth due to the 192-bit bus.

It's an option; but the power requirements are higher (175W for these cards TDP if I remember correctly).

BTW: NVIDIA also providing 15-30% performance improvement with release 310 drivers. So that's not just a one way street.

EDIT 2: *www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/547?vs=549

You can see, on an average a stock GTX 560 Ti is ~82% of HD 7850. In general that corresponds with the price you pay. An OCed 560 Ti with clock speed of 900-950MHz will be very much on par with the 7850.

Overall however GTX 660 is still the winner.

Performance wise gtx660 is better than hd7850.
Even when more AA is applied or even at resolutions like 2560*1600,gtx660 is still generally faster than hd7850 in most of the titles.

HD7850 2GB can be found for around 13.5-15k.GigaByte GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7850-13.5k

If you can find gtx660 around 14-15k then get that or else get the hd7850 2GB.GIGABYTE GTX 660 2GB DDR5 OC-14.6k

Cilus said:

Although 12.11 Beta driver has brought some serious performance improvement to the HD 7000 series, GTX 660 still performs better than a HD 7850 stock. Only certain games like Metro 2033 or Crysis 2 which need very high memory bandwidth, shows better performance in 7800 series, thanks to its 26 bit Bus. Also if you're using high MSAA, 7800 series is better performer some times compared to their respective Nvidia counter parts (GTX 660 and GTX 660 Ti).
But most of the new games are coming with FXAA and the future TXAA, the new AA techniques are known to reduce the huge memory bandwidth requirement compared to classic AA techniques and because of that, IMO, GTX 660 does have an advantage in the new games.
Since the price diff between 7850 and 660 is very less in India, for just gaming GTX 660 is little better option IMO.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for this informative post - now I can get a clear picture

Thanks a lot guys... 660 it shall be!!