Graphics Card Help (8800 vs 4850)

Hi,

My current system specs are

Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-Ds3l
Processor: Intel e8400 @ 3.6ghz
RAM: 4gb OCZ PC 6400
Hard drive: 320gb 7200 rpm
GPU: Diamond ATI RADEON HD 3850 (256mb)
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium x64
Games I primarily play: TF2, Quake Wars, Unreal Tournament, Crysis, most new stuff

So anyway, I've decided that i want to get a new graphics card as my 3850 does not cut it anymore, i've overclocked and it's just not giving me the results i've wanted. I purchased a Zotac 8800gt AMP! edition last week and it's overclocked to 700mhz/2000mhz (fyi). I'm on vacation currently so the card has yet to be opened. The card cost me $145 from Newegg. I just learned that the 4850 will be coming out on the 25th and i'm wondering if it makes sense to buy that card. When i got my 3850 it had heat issues and the drivers were buggy for 2 months, but if the performance will be significantly better than an 8800gt (overclocked) then i'll get that card.

What do you think? I can return the card to Newegg for full price and my budget was $200 so a 4850 is nothing extreme. I just remember that my 3850's fan speed doesn't go over 25% and the drivers were poor and glitchy for months. I don't want to use rivatuner.



Thanks for any help,
Mersonix

hard to tell havent seen benchmark for the ati cards but the 4850 will be faster then the 8800gt dont no how much maybe 15-20% just guessing.

thanks for your input, i was looking at a french preview and data showed the 4850 to be betwen -10/+20 in FPS difference, i don't honestly think that that is worth $50 and the Zotac card is overclocked 100 mhz so i guess my card is the way to go, plus i can just slide it in instead of more waiting since it's at my house.

anyone else have other thoughts?

even if you agree please post,

Yes, that's true. But the problem is, 9800gtx = g92 8800gts, and is only around 10% faster than 8800gt at stock. 10% is not worth a $200 upgrade.
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/03 [...] review/12/

Not sure about hot and buggy, but otherwise correct.

Don't you already have a 8800gt?

And you can download driver in advance. Don't install it until you put the card in, of course. Use the latest non-beta driver. Use Rivatuner, it's easier and more stable than ntune.

hey mersonix,
I've been reading your post and if I were you I would go with the 4850! It's Direct X 10.1 compare to Nvida Direct X 10! It's a newer generation card! And lately, ATI has been fixing their drivers better than ever. Im currently looking to spend about $200 and im targeting the 4850! Two 4850 Ati cards beat the GTX280 by 30% in performance and cost a lot less and use less power! Due your research and you will find out! You can purchase a 4850 for $189 and heres the link http://fxvideocards.com/Sapphire-H [...] 16386.html

The 4850 is already performing better than the 9800GTX on the french website you were talking about. Anyways, its up to you. This is just my 2cent!

Thanks guys, i'll stick with the 8800gt (4850 may be better). Both cards are great, and after talking with some smart people and having them help me look at benchmakrs, it looks like both cards will run anything you throw at them so it doesn't matter which you have. Also paying to ship the card back to Newegg and the 15% restocking fee is a factor.

Well, i'll install the cards saturday after work, and i'll give you my verdict then.

thanks for all the help folks,
Mersonix

P.S.

Where can I sell my 3850?

Get the 4850 $200 or the 4870 $310 Alfrido.
I just bought a 8800gtx along with a Accellero Extreme 8800.before ATI's new cards came out.S***!,got areal good deal though

It's close but the 4850 does beat an 8800GT.

how about the 4850 oced? with decent cooling.

He was talking about an oced 8800gt vs stock 4850. And yes, it's true, just completely unfair comparison. You ought to oc both to be fair. Although 4850 don't oc nearly as much, it'll definitely stay ahead with both oced to their respective limits.

Yeah, and the 320 stream processor 3850 also outperform 112 stream processor 8800gt. You have to realize, those gpus run on different architectures. 1 does not equal 1. Apples to oranges. Although with both at stock 4850 will definitely outperform 8800gt, just not by nearly as much as the 800 to 112 ratio would suggest.