what graphics card would match my system? (VOTE!)

[hhahaahyea]

i'm in the process of building a new system. i have an idea about the graphics card i want but have decided to only state my specs and needs and see where you guys take me. i'm looking to spend at most around 350 on a gpu setup and have no preference ati vs. nvidia.


AMD 6000X2 @ 3.0 GHz (currently no OC)
4 GB DDR2 (6400; 800 MHz)
750 W PSU
crappy motherboard atm, will buy a new one soon.
Acer 22" widescreen, 1680x1050

i would like to be able to play COD4 completely maxed out with 70+ fps. i don't like it when my fps ever drop below 60 in that game.
i would like to be able to play crysis w/ the very high xp tweak with ~32-35+ fps.
assassin's creed, bioshock, oblivion, fallout3, farcry2 are other games i will be playing.


enlighten me!
Thanks!

 

[DanLar75]

The ATI 4850 is THE budget/middle end choice for almost everyone looking for cheap, fast new technology.

Given that I am kind of a ATI fanboy but still think the 4850 is a better purchase than any nVidia cards today.

If you want to 'cheap it' a 8800GT/GTS could be a good choice but you won't play COD4 'maxed out'.

 

[hhahaahyea]

do you think i should go with the 4850 and then crossfire it after a few months?

should i wait for the 4850x2?

also does newegg participate in the black friday sale where everythign after thanksgiving is really cheap? becuase i may wait until then if so...

 

[MaoTheChimp]

Well, he's willing to spend around $350 for a video card, which is about twice the price of the 4850.

My choice would be either a 8800 ultra, a GTX 260 (core 216) or HD 4870. If your willing to spend a bit more, you could invest in a GTX 280 or 4870 x2 for around $50-$100 more.
You could check out newegg.com, they have some reasonable prices.

 

[anarchy4sale]

at that price, I would go with the gtx 260 or 4870.

 

[hhahaahyea]

yeah i love newegg. i'm a system builder as a sidejob but i keep going back and forth on what card i should buy myself for my new build.

the 4870x2 is out since its $500+
the 280 is also probably out because it is overpriced.

is the price difference really worth the jump from the 4850 to the 4870 (~$50) and from the 4870 to the 260 (~$75)?

the 4850 seems to be the best price/performance card by far...imo.
VOTE!

 

[rangers]

the question was (a good fit for my PC) and i would say 4850. but if your willing to spend that much i would go with the 4870 it just has so much going for it, compared to the 260

 

[hhahaahyea]

thank you rangers for answering my specific question. i would obviously not like to spend more money when i will hardly get better performance and start pushing bottlenecks and so i have been leaning towards the 4850 all along. however more feedback is always good

 

[NewLCD123]

I had to do a "null" vote as your current cpu is way too slow for the choices presented. It's comparable to a core duo at 2GHz to 2.2GHz. You are getting a new motherboard? Also get a core duo e5200 for under $100 and overclock it over 3GHz(50% chance itll hit 3.5GHz) throw in a single hd4850 in that core duo system and all games will rock, your min fps will own!

 

[dagger]

Here's are some benchmarks:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=13
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=15
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=16
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=17
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=18
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=19

The highest performing card for your budget of $350 or below is 9800gx2. $280 without rebates, or $220 if you don't mind the big mir.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162010

4870x2, at $520, performs above 9800gx2 but is over budget. gtx280, at $430, is both over budget and perform below 9800gx2. All others perform far below 9800gx2.

 

[SirCrono]

9800 GX2 FTW, it's THE REAL price/perf champ.

Don't get drawn in the ati hypevortex.

 

[L1qu1d]

or wait for the 4850 X2 and see how prices shift

 

[Anewbie]

4850 or the 4870 should easily play any of the games you want. I have a 9800 and now i really want a 4850 ><... Such a cruel world.

 

[hhahaahyea]

I had to do a "null" vote as your current cpu is way too slow for the choices presented. It's comparable to a core duo at 2GHz to 2.2GHz. You are getting a new motherboard? Also get a core duo e5200 for under $100 and overclock it over 3GHz(50% chance itll hit 3.5GHz) throw in a single hd4850 in that core duo system and all games will rock, your min fps will own!

how is a 6000X2@3.0 Ghz comparable to a core duo at 2 - 2.2GHz?
my roommate has a core2duo at 2.66 GHz and with my old 5600X2@2.9GHz i had a better 3dmark06 cpu score, loaded games faster etc. so in what way is mine comparable to a 2-2.2 Ghz from intel?
and i got my CPU/motherboard for free through combo deals etc so its not a real big deal imo.

9800 GX2 FTW, it's THE REAL price/perf champ.

Don't get drawn in the ati hypevortex.

i was originally considering a GX2 although i decided not to go with it because i heard far too many complaints about microstuttering. the GX2 is a very good performance/value card but i would rather not chance any issues. i would rather not go multigpu until later; probably 4850x2 or CF unless nvidia or ati come out w/ a real baller card real soon.

 

[rangers]

dont go with the gtx2 its not got dx10.1 (there is a lot of games coming out that supports it) and you would need a lot faster CPU to get the best out of it, stick with a 4850 it will do AA better and its a good fit for the amd 6000x2 and although intel is faster its still a good processor

 

[FrozenGpu]

how is a 6000X2@3.0 Ghz comparable to a core duo at 2 - 2.2GHz?
my roommate has a core2duo at 2.66 GHz and with my old 5600X2@2.9GHz i had a better 3dmark06 cpu score, loaded games faster etc. so in what way is mine comparable to a 2-2.2 Ghz from intel?
and i got my CPU/motherboard for free through combo deals etc so its not a real big deal imo.



i was originally considering a GX2 although i decided not to go with it because i heard far too many complaints about microstuttering. the GX2 is a very good performance/value card but i would rather not chance any issues. i would rather not go multigpu until later; probably 4850x2 or CF unless nvidia or ati come out w/ a real baller card real soon.

u know seriously, just grab a 4850 w/ a decent cooler maybe something dual slot, and you will be fine until you can upgrade the rest of you parts. 9800gx2 just doesn't seem like such a good idea [old tech, still hotter than a 4850, power requirements are still much higher, etc etc etc...]. Especially when you would be able to upgrade to a better platform...

More than likely those won't be a problem but still, why buy something that had to be sli'd just to get similar results with much less complexity... who cares if it's a little bit better, simpler solutions are usually the best...

edit: after reviewing ur thread, I'd have to say seeing as you could grab that 4870 Gigabyte [well-known motherboard company, not a thousand and 24 MB] (on newegg) and after 40 MIR, it's $210 and it's dual slot get that!!!

P.S. not to mention free S&H, dude where's ur gpu? where's ur gpu, dude? :lol:

 

[hhahaahyea]

u know seriously, just grab a 4850 w/ a decent cooler maybe something dual slot, and you will be fine until you can upgrade the rest of you parts. 9800gx2 just doesn't seem like such a good idea [old tech, still hotter than a 4850, power requirements are still much higher, etc etc etc...]. Especially when you would be able to upgrade to a better platform...

More than likely those won't be a problem but still, why buy something that had to be sli'd just to get similar results with much less complexity... who cares if it's a little bit better, simpler solutions are usually the best...

edit: after reviewing ur thread, I'd have to say seeing as you could grab that 4870 Gigabyte [well-known motherboard company, not a thousand and 24 MB] (on newegg) and after 40 MIR, it's $210 and it's dual slot get that!!!

P.S. not to mention free S&H, dude where's ur gpu? where's ur gpu, dude? :lol:

my feelings exactly. i really like this 4870 for 210 and i did just get my paycheck

the only thing stopping me...does anyone know if newegg participates in the black friday (or cyber monday, the online version according to wiki) sale the day after thanksgiving where everythign is really cheap? because the 4850x2 should be out soon and should cause some price shifts and the sale is in a month...should i just wait to see the price changes?

 

[FrozenGpu]

I mean yeah, sure why not.

I honestly do not remember if newegg.com participates in those sales or not. The MIR for those Gigabyte 4870's are $40 off on each GPU, so maximum is 2 you can buy. SO I would say seeing as S&H is free you could always drop $420 and get 2 4870's but here's the thing, now you are complexifying [I can make up new words too, dubya, ya freakin @$$hole] your set-up and not too mention as great as that K8 cpu u got there, I would say that it is way too excessive.

Unless of course you are preparing for an overhaul of those other parts as well, which you did mention a new mobo, so why not drop some extra dough on a better cpu? ,maybe something with 2 more shiny new cores? Perhaps a Q6600, by this point all of them should be a G0 stepping anyways so if you like to O/C well then enjoy.

The way I see it grab a Pretty decent P45 chipset mobo for like $100-ish or even less. Grab a Q6600 for like < $200, w/ a good aftermarket cooler so think lots of copper, heatpipes, mass is your friend here [usually]. $30-50 should put you in a great range for cpu coolers. Then grab a single Gigabyte 4870 while they still have that BTW the promo ends oct. 26th, so you have to purchase by that date, for $210, after MIR.

That would be a great set-up and at $560 you can probably go a year or probably even longer w/o upgrading much if anything at all.

But you know, A good rig has some strong qualities, a great rig is just amazing at just about anything you want it to do, so try and keep that in mind.

 

[L1qu1d]

u could go with the 4870 and just grab another 1 later or just get the 4870 X2 and tri em.

 

[NewLCD123]

<img src=http://xtreview.com/images/Athlon-64-X2-5000+-review/half-life-2.PNG>

(core duo owns!)

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3112&p=11

(Other reviewers show core duo much more ahead, let me look. But still even in this review, 3GHz a64 is comparable to 2.2GHz to 2.4GHz core duo.)

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/dualcore-shootout_4.html#sect0

In professional apps, the e4600 2.4GHz performs like a 6400+ 3.2GHz a64. In gaming, it appears to perform close to the 3GHz 6000+ amd. But the new wolfdale core duos are miles ahead!

Do a search on Google for more cpu reviews and cpu roundups. Core duo outperforms a64s anywhere from 25% to 50%

Anyway does your motherboard have a pci-e slot? Does it accept Phenom cpus? If yes, you could try the hd4850 and if your games still lag, upgrade to a phenom and overclock it to at least 3GHz!

 

[ozwald56]

Your 6000+ will be a pretty good match for the 4850. Anything bigger than that and your processor would hold it back. I also don't think you would see much of an improvement running 2 4850s in CrossFire.

My 6400+ runs at 70-80% while my 4850 runs at 85-100% in games.

 

[hhahaahyea]

cool, all good to know.
i will probably wait for prices to drop since i have to fix something on my car now. and get a 4870 in a month or so unless something awesome happens in the market...however my friend is in the same situation as i am and is getting the 9800GTX+ over the HD4850. he's also been a long time system builder but is somewhat of an nvidia fanboy...but what about the 9800GTX+? it seems to be slightly more expensive and not any better...correct?


and
@newLCD
E4600 = $120 and doesn't perform as well as the 6000X2 which is $92
E8200/E8400 = ~$160 and performs somewhat better than the 6400X2/6000X2.
i'm all about getting performance for a good price since i'm a poor college student right now. and considering that i got my cpu for FREE i'm pretty satisfied with the price/performance...

 

[NewLCD123]

Oh, free is great! I can't argue there. In my case, ive gone core duo. Those overclock 50%+ and will outperform any a64s, in fact any amd cpus.

See if you can get a cheap or free video card. I got my hd2600xt very cheap, itll be a great match for a core duo under 3GHz. Ill upgrade to hd4670 when prices drop a few bucks. Maybe get the hd4670?

 

[hhahaahyea]

i thought of that but since i played crysis on very high w/ the xp tweak before w/ a 5600X2, 2GB RAM and a 4850 i am led to believe that i'll be able to do it again and would rather not get a midrange card. the system i just mentioned was one i built for a friend and now i'm trying to figure mine out...any thoughts on the 9800GTX+?

 

[imgonnalolu]

Go for the 4870 it's so cool hug graphs card XD

ATi fan boy 4 life FU NIVIDA!