Best value for $200 @ 1920x1200 gaming?

[Looney]

Like the title says, what's the best value for 1920x1200 gaming? I'm looking for around $200 at the most.

I've been looking at the 4870 1GB, but just wanted a second or third opinion before i buy it.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I don't know if this is the absolute best value for the money, but it's in your budget and kills just about any reason to get a 4870 I'd think. It's also a good performer at the resolution you use.

4890 for $185.

There may be some better performing combos that fit your budget if you go multicard (pretty sure there are 4850's for $99 floating around) but not sure if mult-card is something you're interested in.

 

[masteryoda34]

Nvidia - GTX 260 or GTX 275
ATI - 4870 1GB or 4890

EDIT: Most 4980's and 275's appear > $200

 

[OCGuy]

For ATi, what Slowspyder said is dead on. For the nV route, this sale at Newegg right now brings a Core 216 to ~$157 + free ship after rebate and codes.

At that resolution, you would never see a real world difference between anything 260 and above, or anything 4870 and above for single GPU solutions.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16814150329&

 

[soccerballtux]

4890 > 260 Core 216

 

[Tempered81]

yah 4890 for 185 and core216 for 157 are both the best deals right now. theres also 4850 crossfire for $178 if you have the motherboard for it.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
4890 > 260 Core 216

Agreed. Pretty sure the 4890 is a little better on power usage as well. Of course it's also more money though.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
yah 4890 for 185 and core216 for 157 are both the best deals right now. theres also 4850 crossfire for $178 if you have the motherboard for it.

At 1920x1200, wouldn't 1GB of usable RAM be better than a ton of processing power and being limited to 512?

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Originally posted by: jaredpace
yah 4890 for 185 and core216 for 157 are both the best deals right now. theres also 4850 crossfire for $178 if you have the motherboard for it.

At 1920x1200, wouldn't 1GB of usable RAM be better than a ton of processing power and being limited to 512?

I would go with the 4890 myself. Just saying the options. There are many times when 4850 512 xfire is faster, even with 4xAA at 30" resolutions, like here:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=16300&page=6
(and that is only hd 4830 crossfire at stock)

 

[Looney]

I thought about the 4890, but that's out of my price range. $200 is the max i'm looking at, without messing with rebates or PM or any other complications. $200USD works out to be about $250CDN, but i would much rather go cheaper it possible.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Ah, $200 CAD. The nv 260 then.

 

[Rick James]

4770's in Crossfire

 

[Looney]

Well no, $200USD works out to be about $250CDN. This is what i'm looking at Text

I can't find an 260 for anything cheaper than $350.

If i could go cheaper than $200 i definitely will. How does the 4850 1GB compare to the 4870?

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Rick James
4770's in Crossfire

Hm the 4770 sounds like a pretty good card actually. I won't Crossfire. This isn't a huge gaming machine i'm making here, i mostly only play MMOs like EQ2, AoC, and eventually the new Star Wars, and those games are more CPU limited.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

The 4870 1GB is tied with the 260 anyway so go ahead and get it, if you really cant afford the 4890

I think at that resolution it will be way better than the 4850 specially because of the 1GB, so stick with it

 

[Rifter]

I would get this http://www.ncix.com/products/i...MicroStar&promoid=1005

or this and go CF
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...MicroStar&promoid=1005

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: Rick James
4770's in Crossfire

Hm the 4770 sounds like a pretty good card actually. I won't Crossfire. This isn't a huge gaming machine i'm making here, i mostly only play MMOs like EQ2, AoC, and eventually the new Star Wars, and those games are more CPU limited.

For whatever it's worth I play AoC @ 1920x1200 on my 4870 512MB card. All settings are maxed completely, and I'm using 2xAA. I'm in 'DX10 Test' mode... so I don't know what it's running, DX9 or DX10, I don't see any real difference when I select between the two.

Anyway, it runs suprisingly well on my 512MB card, though if I were buying today for this resolution I'd certainly get a 1GB card. In Old Tartiana my FPS dips into the low 20's. Everywhere else is 30+FPS to 200+FPS.

Anyway, just wanted to share my experiences with a game you mentioned on the card I have. Good luck with whatever you choose. :thumbsup:

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
I don't know if this is the absolute best value for the money, but it's in your budget and kills just about any reason to get a 4870 I'd think. It's also a good performer at the resolution you use.

4890 for $185.

There may be some better performing combos that fit your budget if you go multicard (pretty sure there are 4850's for $99 floating around) but not sure if mult-card is something you're interested in.

Thanks for posting this. I was trying to decide on a new card to purchase and this deal pretty much decided it for me.

 

[Tempered81]

Definitely get the 4890. It is an incredible deal in slowspyder's post.

check out how it owns All Nvidia in crossfire:

http://i1.techpowerup.com/revi...s/crysis_1680_1050.gif

-Based on this image from Techpowerups review of HD4890 crossfire, the second 4890 is adding a 67% performance boost in Crysis when crossfire is enabled (25.6FPS -> 42.7FPS).

...and its performance when overclocked:

http://images.anandtech.com/gr...042209122109/18835.png

-If you figure 67% performance boost from running two cards in crossfire, then based on this anandtech graph, OC'ed 4890 crossfire would score 62FPS (37.2FPS x 1.67). 62FPS is more than twice as fast as a stock GTX280 in this benchmark (30.9 FPS). You'd get twice the speed of a GTX280 and have completely fluid 60FPS 1920 x 1200 Crysis for $370 ($185 x 2). You're basically buying HD4890X2 OC performance for ~ $368.00. (just remember you would want that preferably to be on X58, P55, X48, or maybe P45 at the least)

 

[kmmatney]

I bought my HD4890 for $199 shipped ($179 after rebate). There will probably be deals coming around the corner. The NV GTX 260 is also a nice card. I ahev the exact same HD4890 as the deal posted above. Its pre-overclocked and can go a lot higher (at the expense of more fan noise, though).