ATI vs Nvidia- Which one to buy?

[Daffy321]

I have been doing some research on video cards lately and i found out that the best card for me would be a 9800 GT or 8800 GT. However, I don't know enough about ATI cards and their power and prices to go out and buy only Nvidia. I don't want to be paying extra for Nvidia when ATI offers a card just as good for cheaper price.

So my question is... What ATI cards have the same specs as 9800 GT or 8800 GT and what are their prices?

your help is appreciated thanks

 

[Sulaco]

The most helpful thing to know is what your budget is. How much can you spend?

With that as a guideline, we'll be able to point you towards the very best card you can get right now for the money, regardless of whether it's ATI or Nividia.

 

[Cookie Monster]

You should know by now that the 9800GT is same as the 8800GT. Both have the same specification. The only difference is that the majority of the 9800GTs are made using the 55nm G92b cores i.e can be overclocked higher and have relatively lower power consumption.

The closest ATi card that competes is the HD4830. This card is a crippled HD4850, but enough to perform competitively with the 9800GT.

 

[nitromullet]

So my question is... What ATI cards have the same specs as 9800 GT or 8800 GT and what are their prices?

Comparable ATI card to these NVIDIA cards in terms of both price/performance would be the Radeon HD 4830. For a little less/lower performance, consider the HD 3870. For a little more/higher performance, consider the HD 4850.

 

[Daffy321]

thanks for all the help... My price range btw is below $120. I saw some great deals at tigerdirect. You guys know any other sites that i can go to to look for deals on radeon 4830 or 9800

Also i noticed that all the ATI cards nitromullet posted are more expensive than the 9800GT. So ATI is infact more expensive than nvidia? I didn't expect that from the underdog in the video cards market

 

[Daffy321]

The prices i saw were all at tigerdirect btw

 

[qbfx]

The best card you can get sort of within your budget would be this Saphire HD4850 for $130 AR with free shipping and it's a quite capable card compared to 9800GT/HD4830.

Your second choice would be this ASUS HD4830 for $100 AR with free shipping or this MSI 9800GT OC for $95 AR with free shipping.

You can't go wrong with any of these, but if I were you I'd lean towards the first one. Happy buying!

 

[Daffy321]

Thank you... so you buy from newegg.com and not tigerdirect? Well im already noticing that the prices are better at newegg and everything tigerdirect has is ridiculously high but also with high rebate. I really hate rebate because it can become a pain in the ass sometimes.

I think i will go for the 9800 GT

 

[qbfx]

Unfortunately I can't buy from either Newegg or TigerDirect as I live in France

 

[FalseChristian]

Originally posted by: qbfx
Unfortunately I can't buy from either Newegg or TigerDirect as I live in France

Well considering Newegg just set up shop up here in Canada at www.newegg.ca I can't believe they won't soon set up shop in France which has a much bigger population and economy compared to Canada's.

 

[Daffy321]

They offer a lot of free shipping so it can get kind of expensive to ship items to france from the US

 

[Qbah]

We got plenty of "local neweggs" here in Europe. Some international ones like pixmania, mostly local though. Most countries have at least one, with many having quite a few more And even though it would show up on this side of the world, prices would still be European (obviously!).

As for the OP's question, as the others have said, HD4830 is the equivalent of 9800GT. If you can cough up a few more bucks, that HD4850 at 130$ is a very good deal.

 

[qbfx]

Yeah, we have online retailers here but as Qbah has pointed out the prices are still european ...

 

[Leyawiin]

The direct competitor for the 9800 GT is the HD 4830. Depending on the reviews they are more or less equal in performance and cost is pretty much the same as well.