Gigabyte 9800gtx+ : 1gb any good, vs 4850, good brands?

[Janolifant]

Hello everyone!

I am at a cross point, which direction do I go?

Ok so, Im really looking towards getting a new 9800GTX+, that's all stable and nicely figured out but then looking at the finer details is where it becomes a little more complicated.

1) Now, I see the Gigabyte 900GTX+'s come out with 1GB of memory, and im wondering, is it any good? Is it really a much better improvement over the 512MB general cards and thus worth getting?

2)Which are good brands (keeping small budget in mind!)? Palit, Galaxy, Asus, Gigabyte? Also, I see all the new cards come out in these fancy boxed up things...is this reallt important? Does it help with cooling-whats the story with these things (boxed GPU's) or is it all just silly aesthetics?

3) Ive looked at Tom's comparison sheets, and it appears that the 9800GTX+ is better than the 4850, but on the forums I see some people say the 4850 is better, im confused!?

I think that's the top of my mind, really appreciate the help! And thanks in advance!

 

[ledzeprules]

If you play games at 1920 x 1200 resolution or above, you should get the 1gb version. Otherwise, it won't be worth your money (unless the price difference is $20 or less).
Good brands for nvidia: evga, xfx, bfg, pny. For ati: his, sapphire, visiontek. For either: asus and msi
a 9800 gtx+ will perform almost identically to a 4850, so whatever floats your boat (or costs less). But I would get whatever brand of dual-card support my motherboard supported.

I don't really get what you mean by boxed GPUs. Do you mean the fan casing?

by the way, welcome to the forums!

 

[kelfen]

4850 is about even with the 9800gtx+. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272 if you can find a cheaper price for 9800gtx+ then go for it otherwise save your $$ for christmas presents ect also 1gb is more for higher resolutions

 

[meodowla]

I would recommend for HD4850 1GB.... coz i tested both the cards... If you are getting ATi, get one with dual slot cooler... HD4850 works on load at 40-50C... And it draws less power compared to 9800GTX+...... Also HD4850 is much cheaper... When OverClocked, it could run past GTX260...
9800GTX+ is a good competitor..... It give great fps difference compared to HD4850... Crysis, Fallout3,etc. works perfectly on 9800GTX+..

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

Hello everyone!

I am at a cross point, which direction do I go?

Ok so, Im really looking towards getting a new 9800GTX+, that's all stable and nicely figured out but then looking at the finer details is where it becomes a little more complicated.

1) Now, I see the Gigabyte 900GTX+'s come out with 1GB of memory, and im wondering, is it any good? Is it really a much better improvement over the 512MB general cards and thus worth getting?

2)Which are good brands (keeping small budget in mind!)? Palit, Galaxy, Asus, Gigabyte? Also, I see all the new cards come out in these fancy boxed up things...is this reallt important? Does it help with cooling-whats the story with these things (boxed GPU's) or is it all just silly aesthetics?

3) Ive looked at Tom's comparison sheets, and it appears that the 9800GTX+ is better than the 4850, but on the forums I see some people say the 4850 is better, im confused!?

I think that's the top of my mind, really appreciate the help! And thanks in advance!

First off, don't trust what you see in the recent Tom's Hardware VGA charts as they are quite flawed (used older drivers that didn't even officially support some of the cards tested). You are better off finding your reviews on another site I'm sorry to say.

Unfortunately you are going have some difficulty finding recent comparisons of the 4850 and 9800gtx+using the latest drivers. It is known that both cards are now faster with the newer drivers but most of the new driver reviews have centered on the 4870 and the GTX260. For the most part the general consensus has been that the two cards are close enough in performance that you really can't go wrong either way.

If I were going to buy one of these cards right now it would be the 4850 based on price alone. You can currently get an ASUS 4850 TOP from Newegg for only $120 after the mail in rebate which is an amazing deal. The 9800GTX+ cards seem to be staying around the $150-$160 range which is also where most of the 4850's are priced.

 

[Janolifant]

Hello everyone, and thank you very much for your replies, much appreciated!

Ok, so im running on 1680 x 1050, so I guess then memory isn't such a major factor and probably opt for the 512mb then. With the 4850, does this hold truth as well? ie 4850 1GB vs 4850 512mb?

'don't really get what you mean by boxed GPUs. Do you mean the fan casing?'
Ehm...im thinking that's what its called? It usually has some fancy images and such on it. Is it important?

Now im in the desert (aus) so cooling is really VERY important for me, which would be best? I heard the 9800GTX+ has a very good fan?

So in your haert, which drivers do you all think are best, Nvidia's or Ati's ?

 

[Janolifant]

Im just looking at the 4850's now, and yes quite cheaper!

Now, I have a Asus P5Q MB, and im now looking at either Sapphire or Asus...would the Asus GPU work 'better' because I have an Asus MB compared to the Sapphire? Out of Sapphire and Asus, which is better? Is Palit a good make?

 

[meodowla]

As far concerned with drivers... i go with nVidia Forceware.... ATi catalyst are yet to be improved.... But for performance and value for money, i now go with ATi HD series...
HD4850 512MB & 1GB differs much in performance. But 512MB looks more value for money. 1GB version seem to have faster fill rate compared to 512.
Cooling systems are more important when taking a card. U could buy cards with built-in coolers or even fit some separately. I think 9800GTX+ is more hotter than HD4850. HD4850 is best if you'd like to OverClock.
If you have money to spare and power to spent, then i prefer, you should go for HD4850X2.

 

[meodowla]

Check this:
http://www.techzine.nl/exreviews/11491/MSI-HD4850-at-Overclockersclub.html

 

[Janolifant]

HEllo Meodowla!

Thank you very much my friend! Im surprised, the MSI is actually priced CHEAPER than the others...yet MSI is better than the others (ie asus, sapphire) right???

Now, it says: ' Built-in HDMI with 7.1 surround sound support On-chip HDCP '
Now ehm...what exactly is this? Does this mean it has an onboard sound card?!

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

Im just looking at the 4850's now, and yes quite cheaper!

Now, I have a Asus P5Q MB, and im now looking at either Sapphire or Asus...would the Asus GPU work 'better' because I have an Asus MB compared to the Sapphire? Out of Sapphire and Asus, which is better? Is Palit a good make?

The brand of the card won't make any difference in terms of performance. I'd suggest picking the card that will give you the best balance of price, warranty, and features. Sapphire and Asus are about equivalent in terms of quality. I've owned cards made by both makers and have been happy with both. I've never owned a Palit card as they are relatively new here in the US, but I know that it has been a respected brand in Europe for some time.

 

[rwayne]

I would recommend neither.

You can now get the Sapphire HD4870 with DD5 ram for only $169 after $20 rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810

It is cheaper than some 4850s and 9800GTX+s and is up to 30% faster.

Plus this model runs cool and quiet.

If you are going to get a card get a 4850 or 4870.

The 4850 runs the same speed as the 9800GTX but it is more power efficent. It only takes a single 6 pin power adaptor where as the 9800GTX+ requires two 6pin adaptors.

 

[Proximon]

If your case is well cooled and moves a lot of air, you can get pretty much any 4850. If it's not so well cooled you may want a card that vents it's hot air outside the case.

Cooling may be your biggest consideration.

I'll link a few well cooled cards from down there:
http://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=5
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_675&products_id=8103

 

[Janolifant]

Hello Proximon!

Thanks for the links. Now, I actually looked at umart (they are actually the cheapest!), but im not convinced ts the actual model im after...im after this one:

http://www.techzine.nl/exreviews/11491/MSI-HD4850-at-Overclockersclub.html

Now if you look at umart's image, its not the same as the above?????
I really want to get that one (the link) because of the superior cooling...do you have prior experience with umart?

 

[chaoscreater]

guys, how does the HD4850 run cooler? When it's idle, it runs at 70 degrees on average.....i did some research and it seems the 9800gtx+ runs quieter and cooler than HD 4850, please explain

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

guys, how does the HD4850 run cooler? When it's idle, it runs at 70 degrees on average.....i did some research and it seems the 9800gtx+ runs quieter and cooler than HD 4850, please explain

Most of the 4850 reviews out there were done on the first cards released with the reference cooler. The stock cooler on the 4850 reference cards is quite poor (most stock ATI coolers are) and as a result the cards run hot and can get quite loud. The problem was quickly solved by most vendors by adding an aftermarket cooler to the cards. These days the 4850's with aftermarket cooling are selling for the same price as those with the stock cooler so there is really no reason to buy one with the stock cooler unless you find one at an especially good price.

 

[wh3resmycar]

heres my 4850 1gb @ idle:

runs around 40c @ load, and notice its a little underclocked (factory overclocked @ 685), i brought it down to 650 because i dont see the point in OC'ing the core without oc'ing the memory.

the 1gb matters most on middle resolutions most of the time (1440x900 & 1680x1050) as a 4850 with 512mb versus a 4850 with 1gb performs quite the same @ 1920x1200, as the game engine becomes more gpu-limited (still depends on the games that you're playing).

whats interesting is that its as fast a 4870 512mb with crysis @ mid resolutions.

 

[Shafik]

Good interpretation :
I lastly joined ATi series after long story with Nvidia Geforce sereis
especially MLT Geforce 9800 GT 1GB
I got the Gigabyte ATi HD- 4850 week ago (( 210 $ ))
there is a big difference bettween the two
ATI HD- 4850 is powerfull for 3dMax and its GPU is good for rendering
but Geforce 9800 is better for games
Nvidia buys almost all games and its PhysX program works properly
with Geforce
anyway if your Motherboard is AMD chipset you have to buy ATi

 

[meodowla]