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A good card to play at 1680x1050 resolution?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - A good card to play at 1680x1050 resolution?

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dexter98   10-09-2008 at 09:25:36 PM

Hey guys I am looking for a new card and there are a few questions I have before making the purchase decision.

My system spec is as follows:

1. AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200+ Brisbane running at 2.7 GHz
2. Asus M2NE-SLI motherboard(AM2 CPU Socket/2x PCI-E x16/DDR2 DIMM)
3. 2x 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 800(PC2-6400), soon to be 4GB(2x 2GB)
4. Geforce 8600 GT with 512 MB of GDDR2 memory

I am currently running Windows XP 32-bit at 1680x1050 resolution and I play only few games, mainly World of Warcraft and couple console-ported games like Devil May Cry. I find my Geforce 8600 GT to be very disappointing, it can't play any of the ported games at 1680x1050 resolution smoothly and it becomes unplayable if I turn AA on. I usually get 15-20 FPS in World of Warcraft, which is more disappointing because World of Warcraft isn't a game that requires good hardware.

So I am looking for a new video card that allows me to run Windows Vista and play games at 1680x1050 smoothly, it will be even better if I can finally get to use AA features of some games and see what it looks like with AA on. Based on the current opinions around here, it seems like ATI Radeon HD 4850 is the card for me but I have few concerns about this card.

As you can see, my motherboard supports PCI-E x16 and DDR2 memory, and 4850 cards are PCI-E 2.0 with GDDR3 memory. It means I can use PCI-E 2.0 cards but it will run at PCI-E x16 speed right? Also the GDDR3 memory that comes with the card, will it run at its full speed or will it be watered down to DDR2 speed?

Lastly, I'm sure that if I buy the 4850 it will be bottlenecked by my current computer, but by how much? Is it a significant bottleneck?

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Nica Guy   10-09-2008 at 09:31:04 PM
- 0 +

man the video card's type of memory doesnt have anything to do with ur RAM, the 4870 is GDDR5 and theres no ddr5...
4850 would be great for what u need and more, i own one and it performs
very good.

Reply to Nica Guy
Shadow703793   10-09-2008 at 09:39:01 PM
- 0 +

^+1.

@OP: What is your PSU?

+1 for a 4850/4870.

------------------------------ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3815217176_0a5be7955d_o.gif
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3818083596_1a772f7162_o.gif
 Reply to Shadow703793
IH8U   10-09-2008 at 09:43:04 PM
- 0 +

4GB of RAM, and the 4850, or even a 9600GT will out perform that 8600 suckage. (Your board supports SLI, so you can pick up another 8600 if you want, and SLI them)

Reply to IH8U
dirtmountain   10-09-2008 at 09:55:32 PM
- 0 +

Because of your motherboard supporting SLI if i were you i'd go with a 9800GT graphic card, just one would fit what you wanted, and if you added another one later in SLI it would spank the 4850. They're available now for $100 after rebate to $130 after rebate.
EVGA 9800GTdual slot cooler $105 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130397


Reply to dirtmountain
dexter98   10-09-2008 at 10:37:15 PM
- 0 +

Thank for the replies guys I appreciate it.

To answer Shadow703793's question, my power supply is 450w and I am not sure if it can support dual cards lol.

Anyway, my real concern remains. Will 4850 be bottlenecked by my current pc spec? If so, how much?

Reply to dexter98
lambofgode3x   10-09-2008 at 10:38:12 PM
- 0 +

dont listen to dirtmountain. get yourself a 4850. you can find them online for as little as 160 without any rebates

------------------------------ Q6600 @ 3.6GHz|2GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer|DFI P965-S Dark|8800GT 512MB|Raptor Main Drive|Audigy X-Fi (Modded)|Rocketfish Case with H2O|

AMD Athlon X2 4800+ @ 2.7GHz|OCZ Golden Gamer @ 450MHz 2.5-3-2-5, 1T|250GB Main Drive|2900XT|NZXT Zero w/ h2o
 Reply to lambofgode3x
lambofgode3x   10-09-2008 at 10:40:39 PM
- 0 +

it shouldnt really bottleneck your card much, if at all. you could always just clock it up even higher if you're still paranoid that you're getting bottlenecked

------------------------------ Q6600 @ 3.6GHz|2GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer|DFI P965-S Dark|8800GT 512MB|Raptor Main Drive|Audigy X-Fi (Modded)|Rocketfish Case with H2O|

AMD Athlon X2 4800+ @ 2.7GHz|OCZ Golden Gamer @ 450MHz 2.5-3-2-5, 1T|250GB Main Drive|2900XT|NZXT Zero w/ h2o
 Reply to lambofgode3x
rambo117   10-09-2008 at 10:55:49 PM
- 0 +

dont buy a second 8600gt for sli, you will be thoruoghly dissapointed
4850 is a great card.

btw, the 4850 has dedicated video memory(gddr3) it will not be bothered or influenced by your drr2. totally differant things m8

Reply to rambo117
cyber_jockey   10-09-2008 at 10:56:32 PM
- 0 +

Games is 90 percent graphics card dependent. The HD 4850 is a great card for that resolution so you can clock your pc abit higher if you see a dramatic increase then consider upgrading your pc if you not happy.

Reply to cyber_jockey
themyrmidon   10-09-2008 at 10:57:15 PM
- 0 +

No, if you have SLI definitely go nVidia, the performance difference is minimal. Get a 9800GTX+ if you can.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to themyrmidon
rambo117   10-09-2008 at 10:59:35 PM
- 0 +

themyrmidon wrote :

No, if you have SLI definitely go nVidia, the performance difference is minimal. Get a 9800GTX+ if you can.




good point. he does have an SLI based mobo so it would be best if he stuck to his platform.

go with a 9800GTX+ if possible.... BUT, just remember, the 4850 does beat the 9800GTX+

Reply to rambo117
Stevemeister   10-09-2008 at 11:52:23 PM
- 0 +

eVGA 8800 GT 512MB - runs 90-120 fps on Counterstrike Source at 1900x1200 - best value for money in Toms latest review. Don't get and overclocked version that costs more - standard versions can be overclocked easily using Riva Tuner

Reply to Stevemeister
dirtmountain   10-10-2008 at 12:16:29 AM
- 0 +

Check out these benchmarks from Anantech, google for more benchmarks from other sources. You can see straight out comparisons and benchmarks of the 8800GT (9800GT), HD4850, HD4870 and the 8800GT in SLI. I stand by my recommendation for a single 9800GT and a future possibility of SLIed 9800GT with your SLI motherboard.

Reply to dirtmountain
jthorn   10-10-2008 at 12:34:19 AM
- 0 +

A 450W PSU is about minimum if you decide to go for 1 X 4850. It will work but . . . A 450W PSU will lose 10 percent after a few years and becomes trouble for most any SLI/crossfire plan.

Reply to jthorn
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