Get 4850 or wait for RV870?

Palit aren't closing down, they are just shutting up shop in the US. Right now is a bad time to be buying any graphics card, there are just too many good cards on the near horizon.

Personally im waiting but im going the other way and waiting for the 4750

Mactronix

Isn't RV770 supposed to be faster than RV740?

the 5000 series wont be out before october november. Its more than 6 months probably. Its not worth it to wait for so long, my Suggestion is , get the 4850 or the new 4750 (when its out, early May). you can always upgrade next year if you find need.

Is it the 4770, 4750, or both that are slower than the 4850? I'm considering if I should buy a 4850 now or wait a bit.

Id wait, as there may be a pricing shake up with new cards coming, like this
http://gpucafe.com/2009/03/amd-bri [...] h-forward/

Yes, anything you'd buy now would be a big jump; hard to lose.

PS: RV740 and RV790 are just fillers for the gap between DX 10 and DX 11 generations so I would not even waist my money for that. ATI did that just to respond to NVIDIA's Geforce GTX 285 and Geforce GTX 295.

Cant see the point of waiting for a DX11 card, unless you know of any must have games in the works that are DX11 only ? How mant DX10 only games are there, just to be clear thats games coded specifically for DX10, not DX9 games with DX10 features sprinckled on like Crysis.

The 256bit interface vs 128bit dosent really matter, ATI are giving some of the new cards GDDR5 which more than makes up for the lost bandwidth. Also the existing 4670 (128 bit)has only GDDR3 but is a slightly better performer than the 3850 (256 bit). The differance is made up inthe clock speed i beleive.

Mactronix

There's no such thing as future proofing. The technology changes too quickly.

Ummm... sure... OK...

You could purchase a DX11 card as soon as they come out and yes, it will work in DX11 for it's entire life. However, no card's hardware performance on it's release is going to be on-par with newer, top-performing cards that come 6 months from then, let alone a year later and beyond. Therefore, no video card, nor any computer hardware at all, is ever "future-proof." Eventually, there comes a time where all video cards cannot perform at acceptable speeds, and the length of time seems to be growing shorter and shorter with how quickly computer technology has been advancing over recent years. It was the hardware to which I was referring, not the DirectX version.

Did the elongated version of what I said at first explain it any better?

Well, certainly that we could not future proof ourselves forever but we can still future proof ourselves for certain period of time. I agree that no product can future proof ourselves forever.

I don't think that waiting for DX 11 is silly because it is just a matter of waiting for only about 5 months before DX 11 comes out. I have no problem with waiting. Waiting for only about 5 months in order to get newer tech is definitely not silly. It does not even matter when DX 11 games comes out but is a matter of saving money and choosing a product that can last much longer.

Actually, it is the opposite, it is actually silly not to save money and buy now and not to wait for a newer tech that is about to come out soon. Not to also mention that ATI and NVIDIA are currently rehashing the old tech again and again that I would not certainly buy like the HD 4890 and GTX 275 before they release the newer tech to customers.

Really only 5 months ? Where did you hear that ?

Mactronix

Well someone (dont remember) brought up a great point. How many games even use DX10, forget using it in its entirety, we've got brand new games that are still using DX9! Well, i'm going to get my "cash injection" around early November so i have to wait anyways. Also lets not forget, the new gfx cards then might under perform DX11. that's always a possibility with a new gfx API

From ATI's Roadmap for 2009 and Microsoft's roadmap about DX 11 and Windows 7 might be release in 2009. There is still a high possibility that DX 11 could come by Late June 2009 or perhaps in Q3 2009 and ATI might be the first one to release DX 11 before NVIDIA does with GT300.

But I don't know how legitimate these roadmaps are. That is why I am predicting that DX 11 might come in by as early as mid 2009 but I don't guarantee anyone.

However, this depends also on the Original Poster's decision on whether he will wait or buy now and this is just my opinion and I will still wait until DX 11 video card comes out since I am interested in DX 11 graphics and I don't wanna miss new DX 11 era of graphics. I also would never spend for the current old tech that were rehashed again and again and I will save more money.

It is a possiblilty.

PS:

Not to also mention that Windows 7 beta and DX 11 beta are already released and that Microsoft sent technical preview of DX 11 to ATI and NVIDIA since last November of 2008 so I bet that ATI and NVIDIA already has DX 11 GPU in their hands but except they wanted them to go in mass production much later.

Maybe you are right or maybe I am right but however, it is not a matter of who is right and who is wrong about when DX 11 comes out but it is also a matter of who can wait longer and what kind of video card you are currently using and how much money you wanna burn.

Personally, I still can hold my breath a bit longer because I am currently using Geforce 8400M on my notebook PC so I am fine with my Geforce 8400M which is also a DX 10 video card but some other people might have more money to burn and upgrade their card much faster than I do. Since I already have DX 10 card, I am expecting to upgrade to DX 11 which would make it as bigger upgrade and would make more sense. (Regardless to that, I don't even know what previous video card that the Original Poster was using before he bought HD 4850)

I wish that I am rich so that I can upgrade my video card in every single year or in every 5 months. Lol!

Just wanted the OP to know that 5 months may be a bit premature, i cant even wait the couple of weeks untill the replacement 4830 comes out.

Mactronix

4850

Sorry if this is too late to reply to Aftermath.

Well, I heard the opposite things from you Aftermath.

You are plain wrong, actually DX 11 games could come out in Q3 2009 because many game developers are interested in using the new DX 11 features and they quickly switching from DX 10.1 to DX 11 and I read this from many articles.

Like I said, I already have Geforce 8400M so I don't definitely need a GTX 275 which is just a rehash of old tech. Why getting something that is about to be obsolete? It might be worth for you to get GTX 275 only if you have a very old video card and if you cannot hold your breath but that does not mean that it is worth for everyone. I would rather skip the HD 4000 series and GTX 200 series and get a DX 11 GPU which is about to be release soon. I think that's a better move.

Now, there is no innovation from ATI and NVIDIA but only until newer generation DX 11 video cards comes out and you would see old tech being rehashed again and again during these days. It would be stupid for me to invest for the old tech since the new tech is about to come into play in the market and of course, as I mentioned earlier, I am not definitely rich to upgrade my video card in every 5 months.

Also, driver issues with early hardware isn't a big deal for me because it is just a temporary issue and ATI and NVIDIA will fix them soon and you will still have better performance with newer DX 11 card than with your GTX 275 and you would be able to play DX 11 games for the next 2-3 years. Despite the possible driver issue with early hardware, when new DX 11 cards comes out, I bet that most people would not certainly get GTX 275. GTX 275 might still allow you to play the future games but it would not fully work with DX 11 so it is like you are stuck with DX 10 games and you are just playing another DX 10 game and not really DX 11 game. You won't manage to see full DX 11 graphics from your game either and plus, spending $280. That would be the consequences for getting GTX 275 now and that would be your fate.

I am fine with Geforce 8400M and I will stick with it until DX 11 GPU comes out. It might be wise for you to get GTX 275 but not for everyone. Anyway, thanks for your silly advice...

Good Luck and enjoy your GTX 275!