A late call, but I also second the motion to go with an nVidia card. I have a ATI, but I freely admit the nVidia’s are better at rendering. I dunno what programs you use, but I use Bunkspeed Shot and Autodesk Showcase, and both have advantages when using a CUDA gpu
I hate to revive the rotting dead (well it hasn’t really been that long, 8 months?), but it seems that you, Siggs, is right. A render program, Octane Render, would really speed things up with my projects but requires a CUDA card. Right now I’m hoping that I can install a new GTX 260 card with my existing HD6850, and have the program run on that. Would this work? Refer to my last list of components (last post on first page); if anyone has experience with Octane, feel free to interject. It seems like a really good program, photorealistic, gorgeous, and really fast.
I’m not sure if it’d work on not, but surely a GTX460 would be better value than a 260?
I’ve got a 460 myself and it’s a brilliant card, however you’d probably need to check the current pricing (looking at here in the UK, the 460 is about £120 whereas the 260 is between £100 to £155 somehow haha).
Also, depending on the benchmark test and the rest of your system, the 460 may beat the 6850 for gameplay. Then again, I’ve always preferred nVidia so I’m slightly biased 
Yes, you can definitely go wrong there.
There are a confusing number of options for memory. The vast majority are quite diverse in what they package and sell as being “their memory”. In reality, there is only ONE supplier in the U.S. that actually manufacturers their own memory and that is Micron. Everyone else is simply a re-distributor or assembler and that includes Corsair and Kingston. I’ve seen crap chips from BOTH of them. Unless you’ve been in the memory distribution and assembly industry you never really know what it is you’re getting.
The SAFEST bet for typical end users is to turn to Crucial Memory. Crucial is a division of Micron and has the highest percentage of quality chips used in their retail distribution. That doesn’t mean you’re always going to get Micron chips, but it does mean that their testing process is superior to the vast majority of other makes.
Alright - I’ve decided I’ll go with a 460 or 560, but don’t know which one. Here are the candidates:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121446
Would either of these run well paired with an HD 6850? Any problems you might see, in terms of heat generation or power demands? Thanks, this really helps.
You’re going to pair an nvidia gpu… with an AMD gpu? And for ten bucks more, you want the 560. It draws less power and runs cooler and quieter.
Are there problems involved with pairing AMD and nvidia GPUs?
I don’t think it’s possible for one .
I can’t think of any reasons why they wouldn’t both run in the same case. The software/drivers may or may not have some conflicts, but I doubt the hardware will.
The real question is, how will Windows take it? I have no idea.