4850 choices--plz help a noob.

I'm looking to buy a 4850 w/ 1gb DDR3. NewEgg currently has 7 different cards that fit this bill. Of all these cards, the specs look to be identical (except length of warranty). My top two priorities would be 1) performance and 2) noise level. Can someone tell me what is the difference (aside from price) and if any are better or quieter than the others?

For your priorities the HIS card would be my recommendation also. They run noticeably cooler and quieter than other cards in my experience while they are usually clocked higher than a standard card. I have never owned a standard IQEQ card, all mine have been ICEQ TURBO editions and as such were already pretty much overclocked as far as they would go. You may get more from a standard card but remember nothing is a gimme.

Mactronix

don't get the iceq, cooling potential is pathetic compared to price[you can get a 4870/gtx 260 at that price and get a boost in performance as well]

before i give you a recommendation, any specific reason you want 1gb over 512mb? what resolution are you gaming at?

If you can afford a 30" monitor I guess you can afford a HD 4870X2 as well. It will do better than HD 4850 Crossfire, just as good as HD 4870 1GB Crossfire, and it doesn't even need an expensive x48 motherboard to work at its best. Yes, 1 GB makes a lot of sense at those resolutions.

512mb VRAM is good for up to around 1680x1050, really depends on the game though. When you get to like 1900x1200 then you really need that 1GB and/or Crossfire/SLi.

It exists for the same reason Factory overclocked cards do, quite a lot of people and at a guess i would say about 90% if not higher dont really fancy taking these things apart or overclocking them.

The ICEQ + ICEQ TURBO cards do every thing that is needed and you get a waranty. Cooler,Quieter and faster. Yes there comes a price point where all things dont really make sense but you have PSU issues that may come in to play when going from a 4850 to a 4870.

Mactronix