Good Card under 100 bucks>??

[dirtyp]

I'm looking for a gfx card with shader 4.0 in the $70-90 range. I have a x850xt and it plays fallout 3 fine but I'm tired of not being able to play certain games like Pure, NBA 2K9, that require sm3 or 4

So far I have my eyes on 4650/4670, 3850/3870, 9600 gso.

I dont really like the 4670's because of ddr2 and 128 bits..That should make a big difference, right? tell me if im wrong if not I could save a few bucks.

I ruled out some of Nvidias cards because direct x 10.1 and shader 4.1. Might as well stay ahead of it.

So i was leaning towards the 3870s, Once I see them drop below $95 shipped. What do you think?

 

[dagger]

There's factory oced 9800gt with dual slot aftermarket cooler for $95, if you don't mind the mir. Performs much better than 3870.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127381

 

[dirtyp]

after shipping it would be 125..
at that price I might as well shoot for the 4830.. 115 shipped 99 ar.. thats kinda a steal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131129
But I dont like rebates too much. I really cant break the 100 dollar budget, I really shouldnt be buying this at all but you know.. ..

 

[4745454b]

The 4650 has DDR2, the 4670s come with DDR3. (all that I've seen at least, stay away from any that have DDR2.) The 128bit wide memory bus is a downside, but the memory is clocked at nearly 2GHz, so its not a huge problem. The 4670 is nearly as fast as the 3850, and as fast or faster if you enable AA. The 4670 is also as fast as the 9600GSO. There are many different GSOs however, so make sure you get the one with 96SP, and DDR3 memory. Avoid any of the 128/256bit wide GSOs, they all have problems.

If you can, try to find an 8800GT/9800GT for around $100. I wouldn't worry about getting a dual slot cooler. They are nice, but having an 8800/9800GT over a 9600GSO is nicer.

 

[dagger]

The 4650 has DDR2, the 4670s come with DDR3. (all that I've seen at least, stay away from any that have DDR2.) The 128bit wide memory bus is a downside, but the memory is clocked at nearly 2GHz, so its not a huge problem. The 4670 is nearly as fast as the 3850, and as fast or faster if you enable AA. The 4670 is also as fast as the 9600GSO. There are many different GSOs however, so make sure you get the one with 96SP, and DDR3 memory. Avoid any of the 128/256bit wide GSOs, they all have problems.

If you can, try to find an 8800GT/9800GT for around $100. I wouldn't worry about getting a dual slot cooler. They are nice, but having an 8800/9800GT over a 9600GSO is nicer.

4670 is slower than 9600gso, 3850, and 3870. And it overclocks horribly too. Stay away from it.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_4830/26.html

Get 9800gt or 4830 if you can. They perform the same. Although 4830 overclocks better than 9800gt, so get it if prices are similar.

If you can't go above $100 out of pocket, there is 9600gt for $95 before mir, $75 after. It comes with factory overclocking and dual slot aftermarket cooler too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127382

 

[dirtyp]

Yeah the 4670 does have ddr3. In the the cart its $88 stupid shipping.
The 3870 is 95 shipped. At that price isnt it worth it just buying the 3870 and giving it a small oc?

I really do want that 4830 but the wife would kill me and I have $95.43 in my paypal.I been watching the 3870s go on sale the last week. I seen it as low as 89 shipped and 49ar. Some are 24 hour sales and some are shorter. Maybe there doing a sell off and plan on unloading them on black friday?

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Got your answer right here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162007

Overclocked 9600gt, 95 bucks, 20 dollar mail in rebate.

 

[dagger]

Got your answer right here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162007

Overclocked 9600gt, 95 bucks, 20 dollar mail in rebate.

The model I linked is better.

 

[magicbullet]

^-1 because of shipping

 

[rolli59]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130360
MIR and free shipping + lifetime warranty

 

[4745454b]

I'm not going to argue with dagger, I've got better things to do with my time. Play around with his link however and notice things like the 4670 outperforming the 3850 and the 9600GSO at 1680x1050 in games such as Quake Wars, Stalker, and Splinter Cell 3. There were other games I saw that showed the 4670 to be slower by a frame such as Prey. The 9600GSO looks so good because of games such as CoD4 which has the 9600GSO above the 3870, and World in conflict which shows the 9600GSO to perform better then the 4830. Don't let bad drivers or a game which runs better on one hardware influence your decision, unless you LOVE that game. He is right however, it isn't a great overclocker, more so if you compare it to the 9600GSO which has tons of overclocking headroom. (this is all I'm saying on the matter.)

If you can get the 3870 with free shipping, yes, thats a better buy. I'd still look around a bit more and see if you can't find an 8800/9800GT. You might want to consider used/trade forums. Hard usually has on their forum 8800GTs that go for ~$80 shipped, and many people there accept PP.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Dagger, maybe but it's 20 bucks more even with rebate. So if does not want in as much trouble...lol.

 

[dagger]

Dagger, maybe but it's 20 bucks more even with rebate. So if does not want in as much trouble...lol.

What do you mean? It's 9600gt at the same price, but with higher factory overclock, dual slot copper heatsink, and dual slot vent.

 

[dagger]

I'm not going to argue with dagger, I've got better things to do with my time. Play around with his link however and notice things like the 4670 outperforming the 3850 and the 9600GSO at 1680x1050 in games such as Quake Wars, Stalker, and Splinter Cell 3. There were other games I saw that showed the 4670 to be slower by a frame such as Prey. The 9600GSO looks so good because of games such as CoD4 which has the 9600GSO above the 3870, and World in conflict which shows the 9600GSO to perform better then the 4830. Don't let bad drivers or a game which runs better on one hardware influence your decision, unless you LOVE that game. He is right however, it isn't a great overclocker, more so if you compare it to the 9600GSO which has tons of overclocking headroom. (this is all I'm saying on the matter.)

If you can get the 3870 with free shipping, yes, thats a better buy. I'd still look around a bit more and see if you can't find an 8800/9800GT. You might want to consider used/trade forums. Hard usually has on their forum 8800GTs that go for ~$80 shipped, and many people there accept PP.

That one chart is average of all games. Of course some handle better on one card and it varies depending on game. But majority of games handle better 3850/3870/9800gso/9800gt than 4670, that's why when averaged, 4670's overall performance is so much lower. Feel free to check individual charts in that review though. But just because you can cherrypick a single game that 4670 handles well doesn't make it a better card. It's average of all games that matter.