3850 vs X1900GT?

The 3850 would be a great upgrade up to a DX10 card, especially at "lower resolutions". They have lots of overclocking headroom, they are much quieter and cooler. It is almost double the FPS performance of an 8600GTS, which if I remember correctly is about equal to your X1900GT in performance.

I game at 1280x1024 when I can since that is the native resolution of my monitor (19" flat) but in some games I have to go down to 1024x768 like in FEAR for better performance.

Compared to all the cards coming out like the 8800GT 256mb and 3870 I just don't know.

I want a card that is going to give me quite a bit of time before the next upgrade and I'm not sure the 3850 can do it. Wish I could see some benchmarks of the two against one another like in the VGA Charts.

Well the HD3850 easily beats the X1950Pro which beat the X1950GT, however the difference isn't huge, and the HD3870 would be preferable. the nice thing about the HD3850 is you should be able to OC it a bit.

Yeah, think I am canceling my order and waiting a bit. Just doesn't seem like it will be a significant upgrade to justify the money.

When you consider nVidia will be releasing the new chips in a month according to some sources and the 256mb 8800GT it might be a good idea to wait. Plus the 3850 may come down a bit in a month too.

Sounds like a good idea to wait a bit. The right card will come along soon...

If you can afford it and can find one I would think that the price and performance of the 3870 is easily a justifiable upgrade...hell, Im gettin one over my X1900XTX, which has been good to me for almost 2 years now!

Best,

3Ball

No new chips, if anything a potential variant of the G92, but nothing else that would pique your fancy (65nm GF8400 interest you?).

Also I wouldn't count on a GF8800GTS-256 anytime soon if they can't meet 512 demand.

Main thing is what game you're interested in playing? The GT will give you playable features on most current an near term titles, so waiting's not a bad idea, but the target of that wait would need to be something more compelling because a GF8800GT-256 is no different than the HD3870 for an upgrade.
Only if you could get a refreshed GTS or better for a good price ratio would it be worth consiering any differently than the current options.

I say go for it. For $179 you get a card that competes with the X1950XTX. Compare it to the X1950 pro which like Grape said is above your card. In some games it's a 100% boost over the X1950 pro. http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_rv670_performan...

Go for the 3850. I would of myself if the 8800GT wasn't a single-slot (my system's limitation, only 1 slot).
These were the only 2 possibilities for me.

I canceled the 3850 order and will wait a bit. If I do get an upgrade it will be after Thanksgiving and either a 3870 or an 8800GT.

Unfortunately for the 3870 I will have to remove my firewire card but that is OK.

3850 is probably the best choice

3850 beats x1950xtx and GF7950GT according to anandtech review