So far as I understand it no it really isn't a huge advantage. The bandwidth effects the throughput of a cards memory. That is to say you will only see a real difference when the memory of the card is saturated.

Ideally that doesn't happen and in practice it very rarely happens. The only time I have ever seen a major benefit is at the extremes. I know that in very high resolution/multi-monitor gaming the GTX 680 can begin to suffer in comparison because of less bandwidth.

At the regular resolutions and settings you will be playing with on a 7850 or a 650 TI bandwidth is pretty much irrelevent.

 

I am almost sold on the idea of buying an ATI HD 7850 card. I just need to figure out which manufacturer is the best. Any recs?

 

As far as tech specs, those numbers don't mean much to me. Checking out reviews of graphics cards and looking at in game performance will give a much better idea of how the card performs. From the reviews I've seen, the 7850 beats the 650 TI in every test, but it depends on the game you want to play. And it looks like the difference will usually be noticeable at 1080p. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_650_Ti_SSC/1.html

 

Should I buy a factory oc card or should I just buy a normal one and oc it myself?

 

If you have no OC experience (which I assume, since you're asking), then I would suggest the factory OC card, since you won't have any risks and you don't need to test if the clock speeds are stable - and the cooler would most likely be optimized for the factory OC.

If you wan't to experiment, and learn how to OC yourself, then go for the normal card (you can most likely find many stable clock speeds via google) - but be aware that if you decide to do it yourself, then your warranty will be void.

 

Since I am going from a nvidia card to an Ati card are there any particular steps I have follow?

 

Apart from installing the new drivers, no.

 

So, I went to a local store to check if the prices were lower than the online prices and the guy there told me that a 2gb ddr5 gtx 650 ti would cost only Rs. 9000( less than $ 200) while the 2gb version of the 7850 would cost about Rs. 15000. I am not sure if want to spend that much more money.

 

It really is up to you. I mean I can't speak as an Indian I don't your taxes or how your currency compares to the ones I am familiar with (£ & $) so it is hard to say what deals are good and what are bad and what things are overpriced. Supply differences between countries can mean that some brand or specific computer components are bad or good deals in differing places.

What I can say is that if you are planning on playing at 1080p or using any sort of anti aliasing then the 7850 is a lot better card than the 650 TI. Resolutions below that you'd be ok with a 650 TI.

It really is up to you though, what are you willing to spend and what performance level do you desire. You probably won't get the same percentage performance increase as you do price increase between those 650 TI and 7850 prices you gave but that is pretty much an iron rule of PC performance. All cost increases produce diminishing returns for performance increases.

 

My monitor resolution is 1280×1024.

 

Well then, if you are not planning on going up to 1920x1080 anytime soon go for the 650 TI. That will have ample performance to drive games at that resolution.

 

I just checked my rig and it turns out that I only have a 450 watt psu. Can a hd 7850 function with this power supply, or do I need to change my PSU as well?

 

450W should be more than enough for your system, so there shouldn't be any problems.

 

How much will my cpu bottleneck a 7850?

 

The problem of bottlenecking is overstated. You'll see a huge performance gain if you get the 7850 or the 650 TI for that matter. Sure you'd see some increased frames from using a faster processor and it's definitely a new CPU + Motherboad is what I'd recommend as your next upgrade. But the vast majority of games aren't particularly CPU intensive and often poorly threaded.

As an example, Bioshock Infinite's minimum spec processor is a Core Duo 2 running at 2.5 ghz.

 

I just read some reviews on the 650 Ti boost gpu and in almost every game they tested it on the card managed to stay on par with the hd 7850. What do you guys think? Should I wait for the 650 ti boost to go on sale or should I stick with the 7850?

 

It isn't worth the hassle or the bother. Unless you have a strong preference for the Green Team the 650 TI Boost is only going to be about 10 bucks cheaper. And it is a few percent slower than the 7850. The bundle is better also, you get Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite with the 7850 instead of 75 bucks worth of credit for Hawken, Planetside 2 and World of Tanks. It will also mean waiting longer as well.

 

I thought the bundle was for those who bought the card from newegg. Will I get these even if I buy the card from a local store?

 

No, the bundle isn't exclusive to any store, it is run by AMD. There are often variations in bundles between countries and I can't say when it comes to India but I don't see why the bundle shouldn't be going on there.