Which is the better buy for $100

[dccompute]

Which is the better value in video cards for around $100, ddr3, or gdr5

 

[kiren]

GDDR5 is better than DDR3, however thats only if the chipset is identical. What graphics chip the card is based on will have a much bigger effect on performance. What cards were you looking at specifically?

 

[shadow187]

The HD4850 is a good buy, though the HD5670 is better technology-wise. I'd see if you could save up for the HD5770, though.

 

[dccompute]

Best answer selected by dccompute.

 

[dccompute]

Thank you for your perspective. It is in-line with the conclusions that I finally came to after a few hours of research and comparison. I do like the directX 11 capabilities of the latter two cards you mentioned. I finally dug deeper into my wallet (with the encouragement of a nice tax refund) and bought the Radeon 1GB HD5770. It appeared to be far superior to even the other radeon cards, and the geforce 9000 series. I bought the HD5770 from Newegg.com, on-sale for $139.00 (with rebate). My next question: with a limited budget, what would be the best Intel CPU to handle this card so that it reaches it's full potential? Right now I am running a Dual Core Duo E4500 (800mhz).

 

[kiren]

The 5770 is a solid card. I'm assuming that you want to replace only the CPU, so we'll need to know what board you have to tell what it supports. All the core2's newegg still sells run on 1066 or 1333 FSB, so you'll need to know if you can support that.

 

[dccompute]

The 5770 is a solid card. I'm assuming that you want to replace only the CPU, so we'll need to know what board you have to tell what it supports. All the core2's newegg still sells run on 1066 or 1333 FSB, so you'll need to know if you can support that.

I am running an ASRock P43DE3. I runs any LGA 775 intel CPU's, up through the most advanced quad core. The FSB is 1600. For video and gaming, I don't think I need a quad core cpu, but am considering an E7000 series or E8000 series. I don't want to buy more than I need for the HD5770 video card. I have already put in 4gb of 1600mhz Ram.

 

[shadow187]

Your E4500 can't be running at 800mhz. That must be without a full 10x multiplier.

I recommend a C2DE6300. That overclocks to 2.8ghz on Air/with no voltage change. Especially because it's only $60!

 

[kiren]

I think he was referring to the 800MHz FSB. Anyway, I don't see how the 6300 would be an upgrade from the 4500, it has a slower stock clock, though it does have a faster FSB. I'd look at maybe the E7500 at ~$115, alternatively there is the Q8300 at ~$150, the quad will probably not be better at most current games, but will be an improvement in threaded aps (a common example being many video encoders) And will be better if and when games become better threaded. going to a 6MB dual seems to increase the price by much more than the performance would justify. all IMO of course.

 

[shadow187]

The E6300 is the E8400 minus the L2 cache and the stock clocks. Newegg sells them stock 2.8ghz, and ebay-ers sell them 1.8ghz. Your choice.

 

[jyjjy]

Anyway, I don't see how the 6300 would be an upgrade from the 4500, it has a slower stock clock, though it does have a faster FSB.

???
The e4500 has a stock speed of 2.2ghz with an allendale core while the e6300 is 2.8ghz with a wolfdale core. It's a nice upgrade. It should easily reach 3.5ghz OC with just the stock cooler, close to 4ghz with a good aftermarket fan/heatsink. I would recommend the e5200 instead however as it has the same core and cache but is cheaper. Basically if you can OC an e5200 the only reason you should spend more is if you want a quadcore. The extra cache of the e7000 and e8000 chips just isn't worth it imo as they are considerably more expensive.

 

[kiren]

???
The e4500 has a stock speed of 2.2ghz with an allendale core while the e6300 is 2.8ghz with a wolfdale core. It's a nice upgrade. It should easily reach 3.5ghz OC with just the stock cooler, close to 4ghz with a good aftermarket fan/heatsink. I would recommend the e5200 instead however as it has the same core and cache but is cheaper. Basically if you can OC an e5200 the only reason you should spend more is if you want a quadcore. The extra cache of the e7000 and e8000 chips just isn't worth it imo as they are considerably more expensive.

Ah, I see where the confusion is, apparently you're referring to the pentium dual e6300, what I looked up was the core2 e6300, which runs at 1.86GHz.