Brand new ATI HD3870 or Used ATI HD4850

[bobbe23]

Hey,

I wanted to know what the best option for me would be. I've currently got a ATI HD3850 in my pc. I've got a budget of R1000 (South-African currency) to upgrade my gfx.

My option are a brand new ATI 3870 (512mb/256bit) for R1000

or

A used ATI 4850 (512mb/256bit) for R900

In regard to performance versus price (and longevity) would it best to get the 4850?

My current specs:

Windows 7 64-bit
AMD X2 4000+ (Overclocked to 2.7ghz)
4gb DDR800 Ram
ATI HD3850 (256mb/256bit)
320gb SATA HDD (Internal)
500gb HDD (External)
450watt PSU (Not at my pc at the moment so I can't give the amps)
26inch LG HDTV connected via DVI to HDMI converter

Thanks

 

[erdinger]

I think that the 3870 wouldn't really be a worthy upgrade.

Take the 4850 it performs much better.

I have to admit that it is difficult cause you don't know what the previous owner of the 4850 did to it (overclocking...) still I would take the 4850 or don't buy any of the two

 

[shubham1401]

I would suggest you to get that HD 4850.

That's the better card.
Just make sure the card is in good condition before buying.


And get a Quality 450W PSU...

 

[bobbe23]

I would suggest you to get that HD 4850.

That's the better card.
Just make sure the card is in good condition before buying.


And get a Quality 450W PSU...

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How would I be able to check the condition of the card, except for the person to load up a game and play for 5 minutes?

What if it only starts to show artifacts after half an hour of playing and I'm screwed

I'm leaning towards the 4850, is there any other way to check if the card is in a good condition?

 

[EXT64]

No, unfortunately not really. You can inspect the cooler for dust (and if it is clean it probably ran at ok temps for most of its life, but that is pretty weak evidence) but any other physical damage you see would probably cause the card to not work at all. The 4850 is riskier, but if it works, the payoff would be huge.

 

[bobbe23]

Thanks for all the help, I'll go with the 4850. One last question, will my cpu bottleneck the gfx even though It's overclocked to 2.7ghz?

 

[shubham1401]

^Processor will not bottleneck in most of the games.

And Ya...
When you buy the card just check whether the gold pins (That fits in the PCI-E slot ) don't have any scratches on them...