Which video card??

Hello everybody, i just sold my paintball gun and wanted to buy myself a birthday present a little early. I need a new video card and i've found a few deals on newegg, but i just can't decide.

I want it to be able to play crysis on medium at least, and with AA. i've got about $130.

First one i found is a 9800 GTX+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130420

I've heard good and bad things about this card. Good being it can play almost any game on high, and bad being it draws A LOT of power

Next up is Radeon HD 4850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102770

The only thing i've heard about these is that it's almost as good as a 4870, and a lot less power draw than the 9800 GTX+.

Any input would be great, and if you can find a better deal/ card in that price range, then please post it.

Thanks.

well that is a tough choice especially with the cards you have chosen from. i also bought the sapphire 4850 but i could not overclock it without getting a zalman aftermarket GPU heatsink. its a great card, but if you plan on overclocking you might need to spend more money. the 9800gtx however looks like it comes with a sweet heatsink. i would usually say 4850, but between those i would go 9800gtx.

Crysis, Rainbow 6 Vegas 2, Far Cry 2, Unreal Tournament 3 mostly...

i don't plan on overclocking if i can run my games without doing so.

I've heard the 9800 draws 20+amps and the PSU im getting for my bday has 20a on 12v1 and 17a on 12v2.

And i normally prefer Nvidia, but right now i would much rather have great performance than brand names.

if memory serves me correct the 4850 comes ahead in many cases. however, seeing as how the 9800gtx is a 'superclocked' edition and you do not plan to overclock the 4850 - i would still go 9800gtx. 4850 would spank it overclocked tho.

What do you mean "drain more power"? would my PSU not be sufficient? or would it just raise the electric bill a little bit? i'm a little unclear with what you're getting at.

Also, would having a PCIE 1.0 inhibit performance? i plan on getting a PCIE 2.0 mobo before christmas, but right now i just wanna get the games running more than 25-30 fps.

Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for all your help

EDIT: also, when it says "Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp", does that mean across both rails or just 1? cause if it's just one rail then my psu is 4 amps short...[12v1 @ 20a, 12v2@ 17a]

Got it. Thanks for clearing that up.

So i'm going with the 9800 then.

Thanks a bunch for all your guys' help and advice this sure is a wonderful forum.

9800GTX+. but I'm going for one, also from EVGA, that's just a little less overclocked, but also has HDMI via adapter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130376

okay, hold on for about a week or so. the 4870/50 are dropping in prices so i would really consider

4870 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 9800gtx

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=14433

4870 (512mb) will be 149$
4850 129$

Yep this is what I would do. But if you must buy TODAY the powercolor 4870 is only $169 ($155 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814131140


If not then I would wait visiontek, asus or HIS card to drop in the next couple of weeks

Yes, it definitely crossed my mind, but it's a bit out of my price range. If the prices on that drop, which i think is unlikely, then i'll go with it, but right now the cheapest i could find after rebates was like $170.

GTS250 is same as the 9800GTX+. nVidia renamed it as as though it is the predecessor of GTX260.