Best value card for casual gaming

[jvroig]

Wrong, that's the old 9800GT. Most of the current ones (all the 550mhz) are low-power versions.

4770 = 81W, needs power connector
9800GT = <75W, no power connector

I had no idea there were lowe-power versions of the 9800GT. You're probably right about them using less power.

Add in the $20 price advantage and the 9800GT is the better buy for this application.

Why even bother with a 9800GT or a 4770 when the resolution is just going to be 1280x720? At that low of a resolution, and the person being a very very casual gamer, a cheap 4670 fits perfectly.


Thanks for the correction about the new 9800GT. When they lowered the power, did performance remain the same? I'd like to get one if that's the case, since my PSU isn't up to the task of running the "classic" 8800/9800GT.

 

[MrK6]

It's pretty hard to recommend anything over the 4670 for a "best value" casual gaming card. For ~$50, you get tremendous, versatile performance with low power consumption and a decent feature set.

 

[BenSkywalker]

For ~$60 or less the 4670 is about the fastest you are going to get.

For ~$70 the 9600GT is the clear winner.

For ~$90 the 9800GT is the choice.

For ~$110 the GTS250 easily wins.

If you want super cheap, the ATi solution is the way to go. Anything between $70 and $120 nV has a rather decisive edge atm(just avoid their newer offerings). Both the 9800GT and 9600GT now have low power variants that have their power consumption at levels that should be easily within your PSUs capabilities.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=709&type=expert&pid=10

That link shows power useage numbers, the 9600GT and 4670 are very close to each other for power draw, but if you look over the benches the 9600GT has a rather clearly defined edge. The 9800GT will be faster still and the low power version of those don't require an additional power connector either. The GTS250 probably would be close to the upper limit for power with that PSU, it is certainly faster then the 4770 and overal easily so, and the price is the same, but the load power use is a decent amount higher then the 4770.

 

[jvroig]

Both the 9800GT and 9600GT now have low power variants that have their power consumption at levels that should be easily within your PSUs capabilities.

I'm really curious about this. How would I know from the box that I'm getting the low power variant? I assume it is really a matter of just seeing if the card doesn't have a 6-pin power connector?

 

[BenSkywalker]

I'm really curious about this. How would I know from the box that I'm getting the low power variant? I assume it is really a matter of just seeing if the card doesn't have a 6-pin power connector?

Clockspeeds will work. The 9800GTs are 550MHZ for LP version, 9600GT are 600MHZ for LP versions(versus 576MHZ and 650MHZ for 'normal' cards).

 

[jvroig]

Clockspeeds will work. The 9800GTs are 550MHZ for LP version, 9600GT are 600MHZ for LP versions(versus 576MHZ and 650MHZ for 'normal' cards).

Thank you. How did they get the power consumption down so low when the clockspeeds seem to have only been diminished by very little?

 

[Hyperlite]

anyone have any insight into how the 1GB 4670 compares to the 512mb variant and the 9600GT? They are priced pretty much equally on newegg now...

And it's probably safe to say a full power 9600GT outright squashes a 4670...

does anyone know of a bench that compares the 512mb and 1gb 4670's and the 512mb and 1GB 9600GT's?

 

[Hyperlite]

Thank you. How did they get the power consumption down so low when the clockspeeds seem to have only been diminished by very little?

Well that alone is pretty significant for power consumption. They may have also fitted it with a slower fan.

 

[toyota]

anyone have any insight into how the 1GB 4670 compares to the 512mb variant and the 9600GT? They are priced pretty much equally on newegg now...

And it's probably safe to say a full power 9600GT outright squashes a 4670...

does anyone know of a bench that compares the 512mb and 1gb 4670's and the 512mb and 1GB 9600GT's?

no reason to pay extra a for a 4670 1gb model. 1gb on a 4670 isnt going to matter because the card isnt strong enough to play at settings that would utilize more than 512mb. also the 4670 1gb actually has slightly slower memory than the 512mb model. a 9600gt is easily the much better card.

 

[Hyperlite]

no reason to pay extra a for a 4670 1gb model. 1gb on a 4670 isnt going to matter because the card isnt strong enough to play at settings that would utilize more than 512mb. also the 4670 1gb actually has slightly slower memory than the 512mb model. a 9600gt is easily the much better card.

Interesting. Would a memory overclock make up for that? Or is that just grasping at straws? Also, what about the 512mb vs 1GB variants of the 9600GT?

i ask because i just RMA'd a defective XFX 4670 1GB and i'm asking for a refund, looking at other options.

 

[jvroig]

no reason to pay extra a for a 4670 1gb model. 1gb on a 4670 isnt going to matter because the card isnt strong enough to play at settings that would utilize more than 512mb. also the 4670 1gb actually has slightly slower memory than the 512mb model. a 9600gt is easily the much better card.

Thank you for this, pretty helpful.

 

[toyota]

Interesting. Would a memory overclock make up for that? Or is that just grasping at straws? Also, what about the 512mb vs 1GB variants of the 9600GT?

i ask because i just RMA'd a defective XFX 4670 1GB and i'm asking for a refund, looking at other options.

yes you could oc the memory but the main point was that a 4670 1gb is not going to do anything more for gaming over the 512mb model. a 9600gt is also too slow to really utilize more than 512mb. gta 4 would probably be the only game that a 9600gt would ever go over 512mb at playable settings.

 

[dflynchimp]

Thank you. How did they get the power consumption down so low when the clockspeeds seem to have only been diminished by very little?

well the over-simplified version of power vs clock is Voltage^2 X clockspeed.

These LP chips are specially binned to run at a lower voltage.

http://mark.zoomcities.com/images/gfx/GFXpowerchartby3d.png

if the 9800GT uses 81W under typical 3D usage.

75W is 92.6&#37; of 81W. divide that by 550/576, then square root the result and you'd need to drop voltage down to 98.5% from default. that doesn't sound too bad.

chances are there's also some aggressive clock throttling or load control keeping wattage under 75W.

 

[jvroig]

well the over-simplified version of power vs clock is Voltage^2 X clockspeed.

I can't say I knew that before. It does make sense given that. Thank you.

 

[s44]

Thank you. How did they get the power consumption down so low when the clockspeeds seem to have only been diminished by very little?

Die shrink.

 

[Hyperlite]

Die shrink.

There was not a die shrink involved in this.

 

[s44]

There was not a die shrink involved in this.

The original 9800GT was 65nm, identical to the 105W 8800GT. The die shrink to 55nm reduced the power some, a bit of downclocking and board redesign the rest.

 

[toyota]

There was not a die shrink involved in this.

well the 9600gt and 9800gt are likely all 55nm now so that probably is partly responsible for the lower power consumption.

 

[Marty502]

I constantly play the following with a 512 MB 4670:

Street Fighter 4
Crysis Warhead
Dragon Age (4xAA)
GRID (4xAA)
FallOut 3 (2xAA I think, can't remember)

If anything, I usually fall short on my CPU, with the exception of Crysis. And that's at 1680x1050. Mine is a damn good overclocker though.

Your ex will be more than happy with a 4670, even more so if she plays at 1280x720.

And don't listen to Wreckage. Never ever ever. He's a waste of time.

 

[garritynet]

I ran Dragon Age Origin @ 16*10 on that $45 4670, a X2 6000+ and 4gig DDR2 ram. I was able to play without AA on medium settings just fine.

 

[v8envy]

I'd just like to remind people that in reviews where the 240 is beating a 4670 it's doing so with factory overclocked DDR5 versions vs. reference clocked (or slower) 4670s. The DDR3 512M version of the 240 (which is all that's available under $100) should be a very even match.

NV thinks this level of performance is sufficient for the mainstream. If you agree just pick up the 4670 for $40ish and call it a day.

That EA380 is a very decent, modern PSU that'll have absolutely no problems powering any of the G92 rebadges. Including the 9800GTX+. Plenty of juice on the 12 volt rail and it should have two six pin PCIe connectors. You could drive a 5750 off of that without breaking a sweat.

 

[Winterpool]

Many thanks to all the contributors to this thread. I'm rather surprised, actually, by the amount of interest this topic attracted. So we're not all fixed on high-end cards eg the Radeon HD 5850, heh.

I suspect the ASUS EAH4670 would have been sufficient, but at the current price ($55 AR -- it keeps rising!), it no longer seems as compelling a value compared to the GeForce 9600 GT (several on Newegg for $70) or even 9800 GT (a few for $80-90). I was particularly interested to learn that newer GeForce 9s use less power. Is there any way to determine which cards are lower power? The Newegg specs don't seem to indicate that sort of information. Is it safe to conclude most samples currently on sale are more efficient?

If the GT 240 or Radeon HD 4770 would drop in price, I'd give them serious consideration. The HD 4770 is a 40nm chip -- has production concluded? Is all 40nm manufacturing dedicated to HD 5000 cards now?

I'd rather not spend more than $100... if one gets close to $150, one is back in 'serious graphics' territory (HD 5000s, the HD 4890 on sale for $160 last week, etc).

Edited: okay I see the suggestion above that the 550 MHz 9800 GTs and 600 MHz 9600 GTs are low-power. I expect they suffer in performance? Comparative benchmarks anywhere?

 

[Winterpool]

My Google wushu is sorely lacking. I was only able to find a review of the 550 MHz 9800 GTs from a third-tier geek site. Synthetic benchmarks suggest about 4 to 10 per cent less performance. I think this may be the card.

PNY 9800 GT available on Newegg for $80 AR, free shipping. But I rather think of PNY as synonymous with 'no name brand'. One punter commented that a capacitor had fallen off the card in its box! Supposedly lifetime limited warranty.

 

[BenSkywalker]

PNY 9800 GT available on Newegg for $80 AR, free shipping. But I rather think of PNY as synonymous with 'no name brand'.

PNY is the main supplier for Quadro parts. I have never had any of their consumer offerings, but their workstation cards are certainly very well made.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ce%209800%20GT

Hopefully that link works, if it does then you can easily tell which parts are low power by their clockspeed, 5500MHZ parts are all LP, 576MHZ and higher are the standard power offerings. The PNY you are looking at is LP btw.

 

[bryanW1995]

IMO, these are the only relevant graphics cards at the moment:

HD 4350 - not really for games, but a full-featured and very low power htpc card - ~$35
HD 4670 - can handle some games at lower resolutions - ~$65
HD 4770 - handles older games at high resolutions, newer games at low res - ~$110
HD 5750 - handles all but the most demanding games at high res - $145

Nvidia's not really putting out anything competitive at the moment, considering the three simultaneous criteria of heat/noise, cost, and performance

LMFAO @ 5750 comments. have you actually seen a 4770 compared to a 5750? even better, what about a 4870 1 gb or gtx 260????? gts ~ $100 recently, and that is within a few % of 5750 performance.

why are they above mentioned graphics cards not "relevant"?