At 1680x1050 res, how much faster would you say is...

[Marty502]

Yup, sadly I had to sell back my 3870 and my x1950 Pro. Money woes meant they had to go.

I'll be back on track soon for a new video card, but the thing is, it's gotta be cheap and as silent as possible. And for what I've seen the 9600GT is just an incredible value. Plus it would be easier to tame on the temperatures than a 8800GT or a 3870 I think with an aftermarket cooler if I needed to. So, more silent. I love quiet PCs. Mine is.

So, just for curiosity... do any of you feel like giving an approximation of how much faster is the 4850 than the 9600GT in percentage? Because frankly, I know the 4850 will spank any older generation cards, but I don't think it's worth it buck by buck. Plus, I'm not really on the bleeding edge of gaming; I just want something good that won't choke at 1680x1050 in most games. GRID, Oblivion, Stalker... I don't need 8xAA too, 4xAA is good enough. Do you think a 9600GT will cut it?

Any other good alternatives to the 9600GT than I'm missing?

Stuff like Crysis, I don't care for; that game is tons of eyecandy but average substance in my humble opinion. So a 4850 might be overkill, really. Even more so If I consider the new cooler I'll have to toss on it because 4850 are a bit loud stock I've read. Too expensive. And yeah, my budget is tight.

What do you guys think about my case? Thanks for your help, opinions and suggestions.

 

[Piuc2020]

Well it's not like the 9600GT won't cut it but for some more demanding games (and especially considering you need the 4xAA) a 4850 will make the experience all the more enjoyable.

If you don't plan on upgrading for a while longer then go with the 4850, you'll end up appreciating the extra firepower and who knows, maybe some developer will bring a game on CryEngine2 that you'll just love.

It's always wise to get as much firepower as you can if you are not going to be upgrading for a while (say 1-2 years).

 

[KBTuning]

i have two 9600GT's in SLi and even when i forget to enable SLi it does decent with my system... but Crysis the still the only game ive noticed any noticeblly bad framerates in once SLi was enabled and everything cranked iwde open...

Get the 9600GT's they run WAAAYYYYY quiet and the fans only kick one when your convinced that the core is actually hotter than the core of the earth but they seem completely stable...

i have yet to figure out how to overclock and increase performance, its something to do with the PCIe reference clock or something, all ive ever managed to do is get it back to stock performance and super unstable...

but if you dont plan on OC'ing it then its GREAT

 

[Marty502]

Hmm...

Any companies have released any 4850 with a good, quiet HSF? A few stores here in my town (Santiago, Chile) retail the same MSI, Sapphire and Palit 4850 since they were released. Is there a Toxic version by Sapphire? My old Toxic 3870 was impressively quiet.

I might consider stretching the budget a bit... I'd have to buy it in 2 months though.

 

[TC91]

Originally posted by: Marty502
Hmm...

Any companies have released any 4850 with a good, quiet HSF? A few stores here in my town (Santiago, Chile) retail the same MSI, Sapphire and Palit 4850 since they were released. Is there a Toxic version by Sapphire? My old Toxic 3870 was impressively quiet.

I might consider stretching the budget a bit... I'd have to buy it in 2 months though.

theres the HIS iceq4 version, not sure if you can find it

 

[Qbah]

I would say the IceQ4 model from HIS is just about the best you can get. Extremely quiet and awesome cooling performance plus dumping the air outside the case is pure win. However, that is based on the previous models, as I have yet to see or read about the 4850 from HIS in action.

 

[Sylvanas]

The IceQ4 would be a good option but there are also other options like this or this .

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Using AT's reviews, I once determined the Radeon HD4850 is rougly 33% faster, on average across all reviewed games, than a Geforce 8800GT. Considering the 9600GT is slower than the 8800GT, I can safely assume and proclaim the Radeon HD4850 is at least 33% faster, on average, than it.

In fact, I'll give you the best estimate right now. I know in an older article, the HD3870 and 9600GT practically tied. Using the HD4870 and HD4850 premier article here,
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=20, at 16x10 the 4850 is about 39% faster than an HD3870, meaning it's also about 39% faster than a 9600GT.

Of course, percentages will go down if you're pairing it with a slower processor.

 

[SolMiester]

I dont have any issues with GRID on my 96GT, however I do have a better proc, not sure if the x2 could fee the 4850 quick enough to be better than the 96GT anyway??

 

[Ichigo]

Originally posted by: SolMiester
I dont have any issues with GRID on my 96GT, however I do have a better proc, not sure if the x2 could fee the 4850 quick enough to be better than the 96GT anyway??

Of course. CPU <<<<<<<GPU in importance in most games (SupCom comes to mind as a notable exception).

 

[Marty502]

I think it could be good enough. Right now I have my CPU on stock, but it can hit 2.8 Ghz with no problems.

I'll have to give all of this a lot of thought. Thanks everyone!

 

[Denithor]

EVGA 8800GS $80AR

Techpowerup review says it's the quietest actively cooled card they've ever experienced.

And I can vouch for the veracity of this statement, I've got two of em (F@H boxes) and they're dead silent, even overclocked & fan speed increased. And they OC like a dream, I'm running both of mine at 650/900 with fan boosted slightly and they're completely stable.