$100 GPU

I'm looking for something along the bang for the buck line. I'm thinking about an 4850 or maybe 4870 after the 5000's come out... But i was just looking at some 9800gt's and I was told that most games are designed for nvida. So that leaves me in a bind...

What would your suggestions be for a graphics card on the cheap?

Yeah, definitely an HD4850 over a 9800gt.

thanks a bunch! that helped alot

4770 performs similarly to the 4850 (a bit weaker actually) but it costs more. Get the 4850.

^^^

The HD 4770 is basically the same "tech" as the HD 4850. The only real twist is that it is built on a smaller die (40nm vs 55mn).

The HD 4770 uses about 55w of power compared to about 110w of power for the HD 4850 which is no small feat. However, the HD 4770 is about 6% - 8% slower than the HD 4850. No too shabby considering the lower power draw.

Basically it comes down to:

Performance above all else = HD 4850
Low Power Consumption = HD 4770

Not everyone overclocks and at least from the charts I remembered, an OC'ed HD 4850 can still out pace an OC'ed HD 4770.

+1 for PsychosaysDie
I actually agree with him ^^
just an example of a game, but it beats the 4850 at stock, and overclocked
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect3

Your only example of the 4770 beating the 4850 is Quake Wars, on page 7 section 3. You've ignored the fact that on the same page, (page 7) sections 1 & 2 with Call of Duty 4 and Crysis shows the 4850 beating the 4770.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect1
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect2


On the next page, page 8, sections 1, 2 & 3 shows the ATI 4850 beating the 4770 in Far Cry 2, Fear 2, and Left 4 Dead.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect1

Considering the fact that the 4850 beats the 4770 in most benchmarks, is cheaper, and is easier to find in stock, the 4850 pretty much wins hands down.