Graphics Card Quandary.. Please give your 2 cents!!!

Forum Graphics & Displays : Graphics Cards Graphics Card Quandary.. Please give your 2 cents!!!

Just dropped cash on new organs for my case.

Stats include an intel quad 9400

Decent PSU (650W)

Asus P5Q Deluxe 775 P45 Mobo

4 Gigs of OCZ DDR1066 RAM

Samsung Spinpoint F1 750gb HD

and a VGA XFX PVT98GYDLU 9800GT 512M RT Video Card

So.. here's my quandary... If I scored the above video card for $100 with rebates applied.. is it worth spending an extra $50 or $60 for an ATI HD 4850 with 1GBM instead of the nvidia above? One reason is that I might want to go with Crossfire - which is compatible with my mobo (whereas SLI is not). Or, if I only stick with 1 video card.. is the ATI going to result in noticeable differences? Are we talking about a 2-3fps improvement or 20-30fps?

Please offer suggestions regarding my video card choices. If I made a grave error regarding any of the other choices please let me know. I have yet to open any of the boxes.

Thanks,

Scott

Reply to act4earth

That 4850 is definitely better than the 9800GT.

My 8800GTS (512MB G92 version) outperforms the 9800GT. All the 9800GT is, is a relabeled 8800GT. It's the same chipset, same performance. My card outperforms the 9800GT, and the 4850 outperforms my 8800GTS.

Plus, if you want to go Crossfire, all you need is a second card later.

If you go nVidia now, you'll have to buy 2 cards later to go Crossfire.

Make darn sure your "Decent" PSU is a good brand. Also make sure it has the appropriate amps on the 12V rails to support the 4850 (let alone dual cards).

------------------------------ i5-750 4Ghz @ 1.32V / Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P / Xigmatek HDT-S1283
GTX 470 SLI / 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 @1.5v
2 x WD Caviar Black 1TB / Thermaltake Armor BWS8003
Win 7 64bit / Antec TPQ-850 / Vantage P31806 / 3dMark06 25351 / 3dMark11 P7597
Reply to jerreece

IMO, get the HD 4850 512MB, unless you're running some exotic 30" 2560x1600 screen, it's really not worth your money. (judging by your choice of video cards, you're probably shopping in the 1440x900 - 1680x1050 resolution range)

------------------------------ Anxiously awaiting the Hydra 100 and the Hydra Engine...
www.lucidlogix.com
Reply to emp

Pick up the 4850, you'll be happy with it.

Reply to chedrz

Things seem to be getting increasingly more difficult. Someone on another forum suggests that I get an Intel Core Duo E8400 combined with a better video card as opposed to my Q9400 with lower quality video.

How does this sound? E8400 with HD4850 512MB?

or... Intel Core 2Quad Q6600 with HD4850?

lastly Intel Core Duo E8400 with GTX 260?

I'm not sure where the bottleneck will be in my system.. please help ;(

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to act4earth

Yes, HD4850. If you go with the 1Gb model expect to pay closer to $80.00 more. HD4850 512 can be had for @ $135.00- $150.00

Reply to knotknut

+1 for getting a HD 4850. It makes no sense to combine a Crossfire MB with an nVidia card.

Reply to aevm

act4earth wrote :

If you play FSX get the Q6600. If not, get the E8400.

The GTX 260 beats the HD 4850, but won't allow you to add a second card with that MB and PSU. Two HD 4850 cards humiliate a single GTX 260.

I suggest you cut the MB costs with a P5Q Pro and use the savings to get two HD 4850 cards. The P5Q Deluxe is expensive and also has some pipes that interfere with large coolers. Be careful with that if you use it.

Reply to aevm

I can't be bothered doing it, but pls compare the 512 vs 1gb benchmarks before you choose. The 1gb's advantage is, after all, a texture memory advantage. It may be useful in the future, but it's not like that thing is going to be magically cranking higher resolutions.

Reply to swankenstein

+1 Hd 4850 dx10.1 sound through hdmi free AA hell yeah

Reply to cyber_jockey

Going from 512mb to 1gig isn't much improvement someones worse http://www.overclock.net/ati/40734 [...] s-1gb.html

Reply to cyber_jockey

+1 HD4850

Great card. Just make sure your case has good airflow, though.

Reply to kingtz

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