$300 for a video card

Ok.. just like the title says. I have lost touch with video card tech and now I am hunting for the best card for 300 dollars. Can you guys suggest the best current deal? Thanks! :bounce:

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http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2323.html

toms monthly best cards for the money article

read it, learn it, live it,....love it!

Reply to ct1615

id suggest either a GTX 280 OR preferably a 4850x2

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Reply to rambo117

Ok.. I read it. The 4850 x2 looks like the winner. Only problem is Frys dont carry that one. I am using frys card for it thats why. Thanks for the suggestion guys. Ohh... the 280 is almost the same price. Actually a bit more like 10 dollars more and the FPS are lower. So its a clear winner.. 4850 x2.

Reply to exil3d

tiger direct has it in stock and it comes with a free copy of storm rise

i use tiger alot and would recommend it to anyone their shipping is very fast and only $3 for anything under 20 lbs and over $100

Reply to baldybob

Just realized Fry s carries the 4850 512mg card. Crossfire. So if I buy two wont it give me better performance than the 4850 X2? Its about the same price too. Anyone know about this? 2 4850 is better than 1 4850X2?

Message edited by exil3d on 07-02-2009 at 07:21:17 AM

Reply to exil3d

uh if you can spare 50 extra, newegg has the 4780 x2 for 349.

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------------------------------ E8500,GA-EP45-UD3R, 8 GIG MUSHKIN, XFX 4890 , ASUS 22", WD 640 X 2, CM 532, CM 650TX
Reply to royalcrown

1. your motherboard needs to be crossfire model, not an SLI model.
2. the 4850 x 2 pulls away at higher resolutions from the crossfire alternative when games lack crossfire support
http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] _sli/5.htm

Message edited by ct1615 on 07-02-2009 at 07:58:15 AM

Reply to ct1615

Nope 2 cards vs 1 is almost exactly the same speed for crossfire. the extra ram on an X@ modelwill help IF your running some stupid high res, barring that, the other advantage is saving a slot.

Message edited by royalcrown on 07-02-2009 at 07:57:36 AM

------------------------------ E8500,GA-EP45-UD3R, 8 GIG MUSHKIN, XFX 4890 , ASUS 22", WD 640 X 2, CM 532, CM 650TX
Reply to royalcrown

royalcrown wrote :

uh if you can spare 50 extra, newegg has the 4780 x2 for 349.

4780? you mean 4870 right? I am dumb.. please just answer if 2 cards of 4850 is better than 1 card of 4850 X2.

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Reply to exil3d

exil3d wrote :

4780? you mean 4870 right? I am dumb.. please just answer if 2 cards of 4850 is better than 1 card of 4850 X2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102768
well, it was 349 yesterday, bummer...

A 4850 X2 is better than 2 4850's for 2 reasons, the x2 sometimes comes with 2 gigs of ram, and it leaves a slot free. IF and ONLY if and in SPECIFIC games and RESOLUTIONS is a 4850 x2 faster than 2 4850's. Most of the time they are within a couple of FPS of each other.

IF you have a monitor with a high resolution and or use a lot of aa, the extra memory on the 4850x2 will help. it depends on the game and what driver version you are using and whether or not the game can take advantage of crossfire or not. Most of the time, they are pretty identical in real life. you just need to look at as many reviews as you can find and look at prices.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect0

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ E8500,GA-EP45-UD3R, 8 GIG MUSHKIN, XFX 4890 , ASUS 22", WD 640 X 2, CM 532, CM 650TX
Reply to royalcrown

royalcrown wrote :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102768
well, it was 349 yesterday, bummer...

A 4850 X2 is better than 2 4850's for 2 reasons, the x2 sometimes comes with 2 gigs of ram, and it leaves a slot free. IF and ONLY if and in SPECIFIC games and RESOLUTIONS is a 4850 x2 faster than 2 4850's. Most of the time they are within a couple of FPS of each other.

IF you have a monitor with a high resolution and or use a lot of aa, the extra memory on the 4850x2 will help. it depends on the game and what driver version you are using and whether or not the game can take advantage of crossfire or not. Most of the time, they are pretty identical in real life. you just need to look at as many reviews as you can find and look at prices.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect0

Ahh I see. I have read a few reviews and i came across several op saying 2 cards are better than 1 x2 card. Seens u guys are the gurus.. i asked u guys. thxs. if anyone wants to put in their thoughts on this 1 vs. 2 cards deal.. feel free.

Reply to exil3d

Forget the 4850 X2, it is a buggy disaster. It is not a true ATI card and the driver support will fail in the comming months/years. Just stay away from that one.

As for a $300 a Sapphire 4890 Toxic/Atomic and enjoy the fastest single card on the market.

...No seriously forget the 4850 X2...

Reply to The_Blood_Raven

I have one or two thoughts on this that may be a little out of date so please add your input on this one :

I had read some time back that, 2 4850 (whichever model 4870 etc) cards in CrossFire will be great in many games, but in some the 2nd card does not always kick in and you get performance of only one of your cards !?!?

+ there is still the microstuttering possible issue in CrossFire mode...?

for me, I'd rather go with aformentioned Sapphire 4890 Toxic/Atomic single card solution which will probably use les power too.

Reply to Pailin

@ Exil3d: Which motherboard do you have? It's fine talking about CF/SLI but only the new X58 intel motherboards support both so yours must support one or the other, so which is it?
Large, powerful graphics cards need powerful power supplies, which one do you have? We need to know brand and model number, not just its wattage.

@ Pailin: First point; Correct but most of the games that do not support CF/SLI will run perfectly well on a HD4850 class of card, or even less if the game is older.

second point: Do not mention the 'M' word! But yes, the framerates vary more with CF/SLI than a single card and read the SLI/CF FAQ at the top of the page, you naughty boy

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------------------------------ Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding: Eienstien
Reply to coozie7

Right, thanks for tips on my 1st point

2nd Point... The M word is not mentioned in the FAQ or 1st page of thread and are a Lot of pages...., so:

A helpful page I found:
Microstuttering

Basically to rid yourself of M word related issues:

Update driver or patch game in some cases
switch on VSync
set graphical options to allow for FPS above screens refresh rate

All in all is basically considered a non issue and only rears its head in rare games these days ^^

Reply to Pailin

You could also realize that it is a myth...

Reply to The_Blood_Raven

coozie7 wrote :

@ Exil3d: Which motherboard do you have? It's fine talking about CF/SLI but only the new X58 intel motherboards support both so yours must support one or the other, so which is it?
Large, powerful graphics cards need powerful power supplies, which one do you have? We need to know brand and model number, not just its wattage.

@ Pailin: First point; Correct but most of the games that do not support CF/SLI will run perfectly well on a HD4850 class of card, or even less if the game is older.

second point: Do not mention the 'M' word! But yes, the framerates vary more with CF/SLI than a single card and read the SLI/CF FAQ at the top of the page, you naughty boy

Mobo=EP45-UD3P (duel pci express) supports crossfire
PSU= V-Series 600watts crossfire ready

I ended up buying 2 4850 1gb for 300$. Both total price. (150 each) I think I paid too much but i have the 30 day money back guarantee from Fyrs.

I noticed a 4890 is only 199.99. Makes me wonder if I should get 1 of those and maybe later get another. Anyone know if 1 4890 is better than 2 4850 1gb in crossfire mode?

Reply to exil3d

The HD4890 would only beat CF 4850s' in games that do not support CF, and most of those are fairly old and would run perfectly on a single HD4850 anyway.
Stick with what you have, I think you will be surprised at how powerful that configuration is

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding: Eienstien
Reply to coozie7

coozie7 wrote :

The HD4890 would only beat CF 4850s' in games that do not support CF, and most of those are fairly old and would run perfectly on a single HD4850 anyway.
Stick with what you have, I think you will be surprised at how powerful that configuration is

Oh... so just in games without Cs. The 4890 is only a few bucks more.... almost tempting to get one then get another later to get CS.

Reply to exil3d

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