Buying low/mid-level card, need advice

und3rscor3

Junior Member
Mar 20, 2011
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A while back, my XFX GeForce 8600 GT died. It lasted a couple years before dying, so I'm not sure why it died, but that's beside the point.

I'm looking into buying a new card now. I was pretty much decided on buying a Galaxy GeForce GT 430 until I stumbled upon what seems to be a very similar card: a Sapphire Radeon HD 4670. Both are the same price, both have 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 memory, both have the same effective memory clock speed and very similar core clock speed. There's a big difference in number of stream processors, but it is my understanding that stream processors differ between brands, and so larger quantity does not always indicate better performance.

So basically, I want to know how I should decide between these two cards. I've never had an ATI card before. I don't have a preference towards nVidia or ATI; I would be willing to buy either brand. But these two cards seem so similar. I noticed the Galaxy card has a much lower PSU wattage requirement, and I wonder why that is. Help would be appreciated.
 

hawtdawg

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2005
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Id go with the 430. It supports directx 11, and the reason it draws less power is due to it being made with a 40nm process as opposed to 55nm with the 4670. I'd assume it's probably faster too.

edit: actually, you should compare the 430 to the 5570. They are the same price, and the 5570 is definitely better than the 4670 in every way possible. I don't really know which is faster out of the 430 or 5570 though. I'd imagine that they're very similar in performance. Personally, I'd get the 5570 I think.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-875-_-Product
 
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hawtdawg

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2005
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I dont know what the comparison between the 430 and 5570 is either but there is a decent deal on the 5570 at newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-546-_-Product

$35 after $10 coupon code VGACZD546 and $20 MIR and free shipping.

My only concern with that particular 5570 is that it uses DDR2 instead of DDR3. I personally find it hard to recommend a DDR2 graphics card if you plan to play any games at all with it.
 
Apr 20, 2008
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My only concern with that particular 5570 is that it uses DDR2 instead of DDR3. I personally find it hard to recommend a DDR2 graphics card if you plan to play any games at all with it.

At $35, that's a lot of performance. Unless he is at 1680x1050 or higher or running AA, it shouldn't matter much at all. 400SP's? Way better than anything else in its price range.
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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If you play at or less than 1680x1050 res then get the GT440 512MB GDDR-5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-076-_-Product

Or this HD5670 512MB GDDR-5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-870-_-Product

GT440 is about equivalent to a GT240, and is therefore overpriced. The GT240 is a better deal at about $50AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125304

The 5670 is also a good deal.

Review of GT440 vs. 5670: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GT_440/

Review of GT240 vs. 4670 vs. 5670: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Axle/Radeon_HD_5670/7.html

By the way, the 5570 is not particularly fast, and while a good deal at $35, is definitely not faster than a 4670.
 
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und3rscor3

Junior Member
Mar 20, 2011
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I play at 1280 x 1024. I want to try to stay under $70. My entire computer is getting pretty out-of-date, so I don't want to invest a whole lot in a brand new, high-end card. A lot of these cards you are all posting look very interesting though, so thanks! :thumbsup: I will definitely check them all out when I get a chance.

If you look up the GeForce 8600 GT and see all its stats, I think you'll all agree that any of the cards posted here would kick the crap out of it. If I remember correctly, I spent about $100 on that 8600. And now, there are tons of better cards for $60-$70. I was happy with the performance of my 8600, so I think I'll be pretty happy with one of these newer cards.
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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I'm guessing your budget is in the $50-60ish range?

I would not touch the GT430/440 cards. They have been watered down and the Gt240 with DDR5 performs better.

GT240 for $52 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125304

5670 for $65 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150504

5770 for $80 AR and Coupon
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127476

That 5770 is an insane deal, although more than the OP needs most likely. Marlin - I'll post that on hot deals unless you want to.
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
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That 5770 is an insane deal, although more than the OP needs most likely. Marlin - I'll post that on hot deals unless you want to.


You can go ahead if ya like.

Seems like the heatsink has some issues on it, but so did my GTS450 until I cleaned and re-installed it. Other than that I be all over it if I did not already have my 450.
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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AtenRa

Lifer
Feb 2, 2009
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GT440 with GDDR-5 is faster than GT240 GDDR-5 and has DX-11 for $15 more

HD5670 GDDR-5 at the same price is faster
 
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AtenRa

Lifer
Feb 2, 2009
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What are you basing that off of?

Correction,

GT440 GDDR-5 is EQUAL in performance with GT240 GDDR-5

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_5670_IceQ/28.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GT_440/26.html

Relative performance chart (all resolutions) shows HD5670 10-11% faster than GT240 and GT440

GT440 has 65W Maximum Graphics card power vs 69W for the GT240
GT440 is DX 11 compatible, GT240 is 10.1
GT440 has HDMI 1.4a (3D BluRay) vs HDMI 1.3 for the GT240 and HD5670
 

nwo

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2005
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According to Anandtech, it's 60w: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4221/nvidias-gtx-550-ti-coming-up-short-at-150/16. It's true that it has no rebate, but it's a refurb, and those cards were known to run hot, so YMMV on the reliability.

Again, for the OP, a GT240 or 5670 is probably the best option.
So what if they run hot and use a lot of power? It's not the only card that does that... Think of GTX 470/480 and GTX 570/580, there are still millions of people out there that use these cards.

The OP never stated what PSU he had, so unless he is specifically looking for a low power card, I would have to say that a 4870 is the hands down the most performance you are going to get from a card under $100.