Performance wise: GTX 460 + SSD or GTX 470 + HDD

Question

I know this may sound a little bit too specific, but I'm going to buy my new rig this weekend and this is the only thing that is keeping me from finishing the specs.

Right know I'm going to get a:

• Core i7 930 Box 2.8Ghz
• 3x2GB 1333Mhz Corsair
• Asus P6TD Deluxe SLI (Intel X58)

For storage and video card combo, I have two options:

• Option 1:
  • 460GTX 1GB
  • Intel X25-M G2 80GB + 1TB HDD (7200 RPM)
• Option 2:
  • 470GTX 1GB
  • 1.5TB HDD (7200 RPM)

I'll be using this computer for gaming (L4D2, Starcraft II, Warcraft III, COD4:MW2, etc) and casual programming (VS2010 WPF/Silverlight/Asp.net, Eclipe, some Android IDE maybe). I will plug it to my 24' 1920x1200 monitor.

Which one do you guys think is going to give me a better performance? They will cost pretty much the same, maybe the HDD setup will be a little cheapier.

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can see the benchmark differences between a GTX 470 and GTX 460 here. That said, if you want to boost performance, getting a better GPU will do far more for you than getting an 80GB SSD. If you want to get an SSD that's too small to be used as a primary drive, you're best off getting the smallest possible one (I believe there's a 30gb variant that Intel sells) because at that size the only noticeable performance improvement will be in your boot time.

Go for the extra storage and better graphics rather than the way faster boot speed and minor increase in general performance.

Answer 2

If you go for raw gaming performance, a faster GPU is the better choice.

However, an SSD will speed up everything. An SSD will make the machine boot faster, start huge programs in no time, deliver a fast and responsive feel even when under high load, no more Windows getting slower over time, no more defragging. In short, it will just make the whole computing experience a lot more snappy.

I would definitely go for the SSD. Think about what you do with your computer. You state yourself that you do more than just gaming. Graphics hardware will be outdated in a few months anyway. But an SSD will make everything else way more enjoyable.

Well, I guess this answer comes too late anyway.