Hi, I'm putting together a system for someone, and I'm not sure which card to advise them to get.

Main aspect is the're leaning towards a 22" wide screen, as far as I know the resolution of these is about 1600x1200 or something quite high. I think HD3850 will make the cut, 'cos I don't think the person is really worried about Maxing all the graphics options or anything. Plus another friend has a 7900gt or 7950gt can't remember, with that size screen and he says it's totally fine, and as far as I know 3850 is much better.

So do you think HD3850 is good enough? We might go for HD3870 or 8800gt anyway, I know the're better, but I want to get him what he requires without spending too much.

It depends on how he is gonna use it.
Gaming: 8800GT or 3870
Movies/TV 3850

The HD3850 is an excellent video card, well worth your money. If you want to get it, make sure you get the 512MB instead of the 256MB.

They are essentially the same chip. Just different clock speeds. They are both capable cards for 22" monitors. Like Evilonigiri said you should get 512 meg version of 3850 if you were going to get that.

3870 is obviously clocked higher with gddr4 while 3850 is clocked lower with GDDR3. You can easily match the 3850 to 3870 core speeds however.

It'll probably be 512mb version I'm sure. He'll use it for reasonable amount of games, but he's not exactly a "Hard Core" gamer or Enthusiast, also a bit of CAD, music, movies, DVD's and other general stuff.

The more reviews I read, the more it looks like HD3850 is ample, but I'll definately recommend a better card if budget permits.

If he has the funds for 3870 why not get 8800gt? It is faster card at same price.