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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphics & Displays > Graphics Cards > Nvidia 8600GT, 9400GT or radeon 4650

Nvidia 8600GT, 9400GT or radeon 4650

Forum Graphics & Displays : Graphics Cards Nvidia 8600GT, 9400GT or radeon 4650

Hi guys,

I am from Mumbai, India and i am a casual gamer.

My current system is:

Intel Pentium D 3 Ghz
Gigabyte 945gzm s2 chipset
1 GB DDR2 RAM
128 MB Integrated Intel Graphics Accelerator
400W PSU

I am upgraging my graphics card.

I have a budget of INR 4500.

I was thinking of the following cards:
1 - nvidia 8600 GT DDR2 1 GB
2 - nivdia 9400 GT DDR2 1 GB
3 - ati radeon 4650 1 GB PCI-E

Please suggest which of these will be best for me.

Also, will increasing my RAM to 2 GB be benificial?

Thanks in advance.

Reply to Shivanandan

Get the 8600 or 9400...the 4650 isn't a good option. More RAM is a good option too.

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Reply to saint19

Hey thanks saint19 !!

But i saw gpureview.com

and compared these three..... and it indicated that 4650 in better.

Also in some forums claim that 9400 is a piece of crap

though the 8600 is better..

I'm really confused, i want to buy in 2-3 weeks.

Reply to Shivanandan

In this forum, in the article best GPU fo the money, in the last page http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 387-7.html

the 4650 is under the 8600 and 9400...so in this case the 4650 isn't a good option, or maybe for the price..

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Reply to saint19

Sorry men, i'm wrong. The 4650 is better that the 8600GT and the 9400GT....I don't read very well in the original post, I thought that you refer to the 8800GTX....get the 4650, is a very good election.

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Reply to saint19

if you want to get HD4650 its better to go with model equipped with GDDR3. however the price will be a bit higher than 4650 with GDDR2.

anyway maybe you can consider to save a bit more money and get 4670.but if you really need the card right now then go with 4650

Reply to renz496

Thanks guys,..

I think i'll go for the 4650 !!

but i'm not sure if it'll work with my system, mean will DDR3 be supported with my system or shuld i go for DDR2?

my motherboard has 1 PCI-E x16 slot,
is that the only requirement, or is there something else i'm missing out?

Also, how much more is 4670 cost?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Shivanandan

Man you will be fine with the 4650. I'd recommend at least the 4670 if you can grab that. They can be had on newegg for about 65 bucks in the US.

Here's one for 60 after mail in rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125244

Message edited by ohiou_grad_06 on 09-09-2009 at 06:43:54 AM

Reply to ohiou_grad_06

Shivanandan wrote :

it will work. your motherboard need DDR2 RAM to work but its nothing to do with graphic card VRAM.

about 4670, as i stated before it will be more expensive than 4650. by how much i can't say though because it depends on where you live

Reply to renz496

I'm not an expert on PSU's, but I know enough to ask about them when upgrading the video card.

To the OP, what PSU are you using? You may want to think about upgrading that as well since your new video card is going to draw significantly more power than your integrated accelerator.

------------------------------ * Disclaimer - The above poster is not an expert on any subject relating to computers and does not pretend to be. The above poster cannot and will not be held liable for any advice taken by the reader.
Reply to vertigo_2000

I have a Zebronics 400W PSU. I'm pretty sure that it will be sufficient, but i'll make sure to consult my dealer before purchasing the GPU.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Shivanandan

Shivanandan wrote :

I have a Zebronics 400W PSU. I'm pretty sure that it will be sufficient, but i'll make sure to consult my dealer before purchasing the GPU.

Only better if it is Platinum series... all other Zebronics PSU are crap.. Also what sort of games are you planning on?

Reply to meodowla

I'm not sure abt the series of my PSU.

One more thing,
I saw on ati radeon official site that an HD capable monitor is required for Radeon 4000 series :
http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/DES [...] eries.aspx

I have a 17' CRT Monitor, so will it work?

I'm planning on titles like Prince of Persia 4, GTA 4, Prototype and similar games with medium to high graphic settings at 1024*768 with decent frame rates.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Shivanandan

it will. what they mention is what you need to play HD thing like movies in blu-ray disc. don't be bothered by it.
1024*768 is considered as small resolution these day. i think you will be able to play on high setting with 4850 except GTA 4. (i think)

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to renz496

renz496 wrote :

ok..

but i'm going for 4670 or 4650
not 4850

Reply to Shivanandan

oh sorry.

if you choose 4670 you should be able to play those games with medium setting. but maybe you can push it to high setting since you play small resolution

Reply to renz496

Shivanandan wrote :

One more thing,
I saw on ati radeon official site that an HD capable monitor is required for Radeon 4000 series :
http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/DES [...] eries.aspx

I have a 17' CRT Monitor, so will it work?

I'm planning on titles like Prince of Persia 4, GTA 4, Prototype and similar games with medium to high graphic settings at 1024*768 with decent frame rates.

Read it carefully.. its written as, for playing Blue-ray movies, HD capable monitor and Blue-ray player is required... Also ATi HD series cards and nVidia 8,9 and other new series all support HD playing.. Only the Ati cards could output sound through HDMI port.. thats not much significant if using SPDIF port..

You could play with HD4650 in high settings on 1024x768 .... HD4650 DDR3 is a good option.. GTA4 is a CPU/core intensive game.. it likes Quadra cores.. Also don't think of playing Crysis and games like that with Ultra high settings.. ..Game discretion required...he....he..

Reply to meodowla

renz496 wrote :

As 'renz496' said, ATi HD4850/nVidia 9800GTX+ required for playing in maxxed/Ultra high setting at 1024x768..

Reply to meodowla

Definitely get the HD4650 out of those options. I don't know what saint19 was talking about but it's much better than the other 2 cards.
You say the HD4650 is 1 gig and that almost always means it is DDR2 which you want to avoid. Look for a DDR3 version or better yet see if you can afford an HD4670. They are both low power so your PSU should be fine with either. The HD4650 would do well at that resolution but an HD4670 would be great. Some games might not do well with your processor however.
Also, yes, you should add another gig of ram to your computer. In this case DDR2 as you can't use DDR3.

Reply to jyjjy

if you can, it would really be a good upgrade to get the 4670,
also, you wont be needing that much video memory
just go for the 512mb version, it will be cheaper.
definitely add some ram if you can
and...I don't think GTA 4 will work on medium setting with decent framerates, especially with the cpu you have.

Reply to Ehsan w

i m also a fan of nfs series.

so will nfs undercover and the upcoming nfs shift run decently on my machine?

Reply to Shivanandan

This games maybe could run without problems in lower or medium details, but IMO the last two delivery of NFS was really disappointment for me. In this moment i'm playing GRID...is too much better that NFS.

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Reply to saint19

Yeah... Try GRID and Burnout Paradise...

Reply to meodowla

i bought lgW1953T LCD 18.5" monitor and my system configuration is intel dual core 2.6, intel dg31pr mainboard, 2gb ram ddr2, 250 gb hdd sata, lg dvd rw with operating system windows xp professional.
i installed the drivers and fortemanager, when i am selecting the preferred resolution i.e. 1360*768 then forte manager displays a message "your video card does not support this resolution".
so please help me to get rid of this resolution problem and tell which graphics card will support 1360*768 resolution.Please suggest the graphics card that comes under 3000 INR.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to thezafk

thezafk wrote :

so please help me to get rid of this resolution problem and tell which graphics card will support 1360*768 resolution.Please suggest the graphics card that comes under 3000 INR.

nVidia 9500GT 1GB version available in INDIA for 3000INR & 9600GT 512MB for 4200INR.
9500GT=8600GT
Or else get HD4650 for that price range.

The resolution problem may be due to faulty display driver.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to meodowla

meodowla wrote :

xfx hd 4650 512mb ddr2 i m gettin for 2400 INR.
am i able 2 play crysis, call of duty 4, nfs shift, gta4?

my system config:

intel E5300 dual core 2.6GHZ
intel DG31PR mainbord
2GB ram ddr2 667fsb
250gb HDD sata
+
ati hd 4650?

thanks in advance

Reply to thezafk

xfx 8400gs with 128bit memory interface OR xfx hd 4650, which one is better?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to thezafk

thezafk wrote :

xfx 8400gs with 128bit memory interface OR xfx hd 4650, which one is better?

O.k From synthetic tests by Toms, HD4650 DDR2 = 9500GT DDR3
Also, nVidia cards are good at AntiAliasing and Ati cards good at AnisotropicFiltering..
Both have there own features..

Message edited by meodowla on 10-12-2009 at 10:00:44 PM

Reply to meodowla

I'm getting the ASUS HD4650 1GB for 3800 INR, where did you get the 4650 for 2400 INR? I can't seem to find teh DDR3 versions, as nobody seems to have it . Should i go with this card, basically for GTA4 low/med settings?

Reply to systck