card buying recomendation?

[xSauronx]

ok, I built a new rig...and Im gonna wanna game on it before too much longer.

Phenom 2 810 (2.6ghz, hopefully I can OC it again when my mobo comes back from the RMA)
6gb ddr3
asus m4a78t-e: supports crossfire, has 3300 onboard...which isnt worth jack for gaming, of course
23" 1080p LCD

so i was kinda gonna hold off on buying something, but the deals seem decent right now, AND i have a 10% off coupon for newegg.

Ive been looking at 4870's since some come with a rebate...but Im not a hardcore gamer, could i get by on a 4850 to save some cash, or is it not worth what Ill save?

For instance, this Powercolor 512 4870 is $160, - 10%, - $20 Rebate, so its about $124 all said and done.

for 4850's, theres this for 129, - 10%, - $30 rebate, so itd be less than $90.

coupon expires on the 21st, so if i do it...ill do it soon. Or is there some impending price drop worth waiting on? Id like to run 1080 when I game, but honestly, It wont kill me to drop down if things will still look decent....ive just been out of the PC gaming loop for years so I dont know what Ill want to play or really how good it would look at a lower resolution.

Any advice or tips? The AT reviews of both cards make it look like the 4870 can do 1080 pretty well, but will it look a lot better than if i played things at a lower rest with high settings on a 4850?

Thanks

 

[happy medium]

The 4870 sounds like the best bet for you @ your resolution.At that price its a steal. You might want to look into a 1gb version though.

 

[xSauronx]

yeah i was kinda thinkin itd be worth it, i cant spare the cash for the 1gb version, the 512 4870 is alread pushing it.

how big of an improvement does crossfire make, and does it require matching cards? say i get the 512 4870 now, if i want to bump things up in 6 months or a year (remember, im not a huge gamer, so who knows what ill want to do), do i just snag another 4870 or something on the cheap and get a nice bump, or snag another, better card for a decent price and get some real improvement? is that how it works or is it not much of a jump to use crossfire?

 

[Face2Face]

Can you strecth for a GTX 260 core 216?? If not the 4870 512 would be fine and even the 4850 or 9800 GTX + will do pretty well. I have a 9800 GTX it does pretty good @ 1080 (Cysis and FC2 being a problem at high settings). If you are not a huge gamer don't worry about crossfire----DX 11 is around the corner don't waste your money on another DX10 card.

 

[lopri]

If you're getting a 4870, get a 1GB model. (That card shouldn't have been out with 512MB to begin with)

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: lopri
If you're getting a 4870, get a 1GB model. (That card shouldn't have been out with 512MB to begin with)

yeah i know the 1gb is better, and id like to have it....butt im kinda pushin what i can spend to get the 512 model to start with.

i dont require 1080 for gaming, i just got the lcd because i wanted to watch hd video on it and have a big desktop. if i can run high settings and a lower res and itll look good, ill be happy, or run 1080 with good settings then im ok.

 

[Face2Face]

Then get a 4850 or a 9800 GTX + or GTS 250. You will be fine. Save your money.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: lopri
If you're getting a 4870, get a 1GB model. (That card shouldn't have been out with 512MB to begin with)

TRUE!
I did the switch from the 512mb version to 1 GB and it's a very BIG difference, in some particular titles! I never thought I would see such a large improvement with the extra 512mb of vram.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: lopri
If you're getting a 4870, get a 1GB model. (That card shouldn't have been out with 512MB to begin with)

yeah i know the 1gb is better, and id like to have it....butt im kinda pushin what i can spend to get the 512 model to start with.

i dont require 1080 for gaming, i just got the lcd because i wanted to watch hd video on it and have a big desktop. if i can run high settings and a lower res and itll look good, ill be happy, or run 1080 with good settings then im ok.

well theres no point in getting a card that is strong enough to run good settings at 1080 but cant because of lack of memory. thats also a silly reason to run at a crappy non native res and again not get the good visuals. saving a few bucks now already hampers you from the get go so why get something that cant even currently get the job done in every game just due to low vram? save up and spend a little more and do it right and you will be much happier and save money in the long run because the card will be more useful for a longer period.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: lopri
If you're getting a 4870, get a 1GB model. (That card shouldn't have been out with 512MB to begin with)

yeah i know the 1gb is better, and id like to have it....butt im kinda pushin what i can spend to get the 512 model to start with.

i dont require 1080 for gaming, i just got the lcd because i wanted to watch hd video on it and have a big desktop. if i can run high settings and a lower res and itll look good, ill be happy, or run 1080 with good settings then im ok.

well theres no point in getting a card that is strong enough to run good settings at 1080 but cant because of lack of memory. thats also a silly reason to run at a crappy non native res and again not get the good visuals. saving a few bucks now already hampers you from the get go so why get something that cant even currently get the job done in every game just due to low vram? save up and spend a little more and do it right and you will be much happier and save money in the long run because the card will be more useful for a longer period.

yeah i get that....i just kinda cant afford to get the 1gb

unless one of you kind souls wants to buy may laptop this week

 

[AstroManLuca]

Just wait one more paycheck and THEN get the vid card. You'll have more money and who knows? Prices may fall just a little bit too.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Just wait one more paycheck and THEN get the vid card. You'll have more money and who knows? Prices may fall just a little bit too.

yeah i started to think that, maybe ill get one before the code goes out, then i may snag the 1gb

 

[SunnyD]

If you can't spring for the $183 MSI 4890, then judging by what you're looking at just get a 4830 and overclock the shit out of it.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
If you can't spring for the $183 MSI 4890, then judging by what you're looking at just get a 4830 and overclock the shit out of it.

overclocking the shit out of it doesnt make up for lack of vram. at this time there is no point in going for less than a 4870 1gb or gtx260 for gaming at 1920.

 

[MrK6]

I agree with others here - wait for that extra paycheck and get a GTX 260, 4870 1GB or a 4890. That way you have a great card that will serve you for awhile, and is probably cheaper in the long run then buying a slower card and having to upgrade later. I personally would go for a 4890 over a 4870 1GB, due to its overclocking capabilities. If you don't want to spend that much, look for a sale on a GTX 260 for $150.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: MrK6
I agree with others here - wait for that extra paycheck and get a GTX 260, 4870 1GB or a 4890. That way you have a great card that will serve you for awhile, and is probably cheaper in the long run then buying a slower card and having to upgrade later. I personally would go for a 4890 over a 4870 1GB, due to its overclocking capabilities. If you don't want to spend that much, look for a sale on a GTX 260 for $150.

well i mean, i have th money and can buy the 1gb...i just didnt really want (or need) to spend that much. newegg has a gigabyte 1gb 4870 thats 169 after rebate, then i have the 10% off so itd be 150. thats not too much more then i was gonna spend on the 512....just more than i wanted to spend, but if itll make that much of a difference it might be worth it

maybe ill mull over it a couple of days and see if i can make myself spend the dough

edit: turns out i can also get 1% cash back through my BoA account...

you guys are tempting me

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: MrK6
I agree with others here - wait for that extra paycheck and get a GTX 260, 4870 1GB or a 4890. That way you have a great card that will serve you for awhile, and is probably cheaper in the long run then buying a slower card and having to upgrade later. I personally would go for a 4890 over a 4870 1GB, due to its overclocking capabilities. If you don't want to spend that much, look for a sale on a GTX 260 for $150.

well i mean, i have th money and can buy the 1gb...i just didnt really want (or need) to spend that much. newegg has a gigabyte 1gb 4870 thats 169 after rebate, then i have the 10% off so itd be 150. thats not too much more then i was gonna spend on the 512....just more than i wanted to spend, but if itll make that much of a difference it might be worth it

maybe ill mull over it a couple of days and see if i can make myself spend the dough

edit: turns out i can also get 1% cash back through my BoA account...

you guys are tempting me

games are not going to get less demanding and there are already a few current games that need more than 512mb to run highest settings at 1920 especially with AA. there is no point in trying to save a few bucks and be gimped now not to mention over the next 6-9 months.

 

[kmmatney]

My god - you guys make it sound like getting a 512MB card is like throwing money down the toilet. Anand's latest video article shows plenty of benchmarks with the HD4870 at 512MB and 1GB of RAM.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3539

The difference isn't that huge. For example Fallout, at 1920 x 1200, ultra settings, and 4X AA, you get:

HD4870 512MB: 49.3 fps
HD4870 1 GB: 52.1 fps


In Far cry 2 (1920 X 1200, ultra high DX10 4XAA) is there is more of a difference:

HD4870 512MB: 29.2 fps
HD4870 1 GB: 35.5 fps

But all you have to do is lower the settings from Ultra or very high and you are fine (or go to 2X AA, or no AA at all). I don't know that I'd call 35.5 fps that much more playable than 29.2 fps.

If you can get the HD4879 1GB for $150, then that's a great deal and is well worth it. If all you can get is a 512MB card, you'll still have a nice card.

 

[xSauronx]

well i sold my laptop and ordered a 4870 1gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814131148

gonna run me just under 160 when its all said and done. i figured...i may not *need* the extra performance from the extra memory just now, but itll come in handy down the road, as itll probably be quite a while before i bother to upgrade this and since i sold my laptop i could afford it.

there was a 4890 and a killer price in hot deals...but im pushing myself to spend this much on a card to start with, and ill be damn happy with it anyway

thanks everyone!