GeForce 880 vs. Radeon 3870 vs. ????

[spicymonkey13]

My place of work recently purged all their old desktops and I was able to nab a HP dc7900 (the Convertible Mini-Tower). The pertinent system specs are listed at the end of my post (thanks to Speccy; sorry for any TMI).

I want to upgrade this machine and get as much bang for my buck as possible. I figure that this should be the graphics card since I like to do some casual gaming (TF2, LFD2, Champions Online, Quake, etc.; no WOW, Crysis or Diablo III) as well as graphic design/video editing in my spare time and I'd like to be running as high as possible with both. I'm pretty OCD when it comes to researching "investment" products like this, but I've been out of the loop in regards to PC hardware for several years now and am at a loss as to where I should look.

I'm willing to spend up to $150 (possibly more) for a new card that will carry me through a few years of continued upgrades. (I milked my 2001 Dell Dimension 8200 for as long as possible until it became utterly unusable. Now I plan on re-purposing it into a XBMC Home Theater PC.) I also don't mind springing for a new PSU if necessary.

Systemrequirementslab.com recommended the GeForce 8800 (didn't specify GT, GTS or GTX) or higher, the AMD Radeon HD 3870 or higher and a link pointing to this list.

So...what do you think? Links to bench-marking or comparison tests would be MOST appreciated.


Summary
Operating System: MS Windows Vista Business 32-bit SP2
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz 43 °C; Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM: 4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 399MHz (6-6-6-18)
Motherboard: Hewlett-Packard 3032h (XU1 PROCESSOR) 46 °C
Graphics: DELL S2409W (1920x1080@60Hz) on ATI Radeon HD 3650 (ATI) 55 °C
Hard Drives: 156GB Seagate ST3160815AS ATA Device (SATA) 36 °C

Motherboard
Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
Model 3032h (XU1 PROCESSOR)
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Q45/Q43
Chipset Revision 03
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model 82801JB (ICH10)
Southbridge Revision 02
System Temperature 46 °C
BIOS
Brand Hewlett-Packard
Version 786G1 v01.08
Date 08/25/2008

Graphics
Monitor
Name DELL S2409W on ATI Radeon HD 3650
Current Resolution 1920x1080 pixels
Work Resolution 1920x1050 pixels
State enabled, primary
Monitor Width 1920
Monitor Height 1080
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
ATI Radeon HD 3650
GPU RV635
Device ID 1002-9598
Subvendor ATI (1002)
Series Radeon HD 3k
Current Performance Level Level 1
Voltage 0.900 V
Technology 55 nm
Die Size 118 nm?
Transistors 378 M
Release Date 2008
DirectX Support 10.1
DirectX Shader Model 4.1
OpenGL Support 3.0
Bios Core Clock 725.00
Bios Mem Clock 500.00
Driver atiumdag.dll
Driver version 7.14.10.0873
Temperature 55 °C
Core Voltage 0.900 V
BIOS Version 113-B38101-102
ROPs 4
Shaders 120 unified
Memory Type DDR2
Bus Width 32x4 (128 bit)
Pixel Fillrate 0.4 GPixels/s
Texture Fillrate 0.9 GTexels/s
Bandwidth 16.0 GB/s
Filtering Modes Bilinear, Trilinear, 2x Anisotropic, 4x Anisotropic, 8x Anisotropic, 16x Anisotropic
Noise Level Moderate
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 1

 

[EliteRetard]

So whats the question? It sounds like you want to upgrade the video card for gaming?
That E8400 and 4GB RAM (even though its DDR2) should be pretty decent for gaming, but that case is low profile and youll probably need a card that doesn't require any power connections. Pretty sure neither the 8800 or 3870 would work for that...besides theyre anchient cards and there are better modern equivalents.

Something like this 6670 I think would work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161397

Unless your question was something else and I misunderstood.

 

[spicymonkey13]

The case is not low-profile. Here are images of what it looks like (including the inside).

The 8800 and 3870 were just base recommendations from www.systemrequirementslab.com. I'm open to more powerful cards that would require additional power and don't mind swapping out the 350w PSU for a 500w+ to get the job done.

A friend recommended the 6850 (1GB DDR5; $150) with at least a new 550w PSU and that is my top pick so far. However, I don't have a brand preference and am open to other suggestions.

 

[EliteRetard]

Actually doing a little browsing, it looks like that 6670 would be the fastest option...that particular model comes with GDDR5 which is basically twice as fast as any other video card memory (DDR2/3 ect). It should be ~20% faster (sometimes more) than an 8800 as well.

I don't know how well it will run games at your 1920x1080, its was designed more for 1600x900...but those are older games so it may do well. Either way, unless you upgrade your case and/or power supply (youd probably need to do both) I don't think youll be able to get a faster card right now.

If you had a full sized case and proper power supply you could get a faster card for the same $100, like the 6770. And for $150 you could get an even faster card like a 6870, which is about twice as fast as that 6670. So you do get allot more bang for your buck with regular sized cards...but youd have to spend more money on a case and power supply. Probably not worth it unless you already have such parts just laying around.

 

[EliteRetard]

Do you have any plans to upgrade that HDD? Im assuming youll wan't something larger but don't know if youve considered that part yet. There are some high speed storage options available that could improve system responsiveness, boot, and application load times.

 

[spicymonkey13]

No plans to upgrade the HDD yet. Though I am well aware of SSD benefits, etc.

Is the 6670 the highest one I can go for in my situation without other major changes? (I'd consider a new PSU a minor change. MoBo or Processor would be major. New RAM, somewhere in the middle.) Also, do you recommend one manufacturer over another? (ASUS, XFX, Diamond, etc.)

 

[Yuriman]

At $150 you're dumping too much into an old system. $50 from For Sale/Trade on an AMD HD48xx or 57xx will leave you CPU limited in nearly everything.

Pretty soon you'll probably be able to buy an AMD APU + mobo + ram for less than $150 total that will give you a better gaming experience than any GPU you pair with the Core.

 

[EliteRetard]

EliteRetard strikes again...I obviously derped on the case, its not low profile like I thought I saw at first.

As I mentioned in another post, the 68xx cards are a pretty decent value (I just didn't think it would fit at first). Since they will fit in the case that may be the way to go. Though if you don't mind getting a used card, as Yuriman said you can get some decent cards for cheap. A 5770 or 6770 at $70-80 wouldn't be bad. But I don't think your system is as bad as he makes it out to be (it is old)...to bad you can't overclock it though (you could get another ~25% performance out of the CPU if it werent in a Dell).

Id say its worth going up to the 68xx cards if your actually running a 1080P monitor. Your PSU may actually be fine too...the 6850 needs one 6pin PCI-E connector, and CAN'T draw more than 150w peak...so your PSU should be fine at 350w. You don't have anything else in there sucking massive power. Getting a decent quality replacement PSU would actually cost a fair bit of money (~40$) and may not be necesary.

FYI this is the connector you need:

You should be able to get a new 6850 near $100 (not $150), and not need a new PSU (as long as it has that connector). Worst case, if it has the connector you need you can just try it and see how it goes. If theres not enough power to the card the system wont run, shouldn't hurt anything.

Actually, I just did a quick look for some of those older cards:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...512-BO&cat=VCD
A new 4850 for ~40$, much faster than an 8800 or 3870. For the performance this card offers its actually a good value. Dowside is this card usually ran hot/loud. Need 1 6pin PCIE but will work with that 350w PSU.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...024-PB&cat=VCD
A new 5750 for ~75$, similar performance to the 4850 but runs cooler/quieter and uses less power, will work even better with that 350w PSU.

Even if you don't have the 6pin connector, I think you can use a molex to 6pin adaptor with these cards and be perfectly safe. For $40 new, that 4850 may be the winner. A 6850 is noticeably faster, but costs three times more. I wasn't expecting to find new versions of these older cards...the low cost does make them great options.

Geeks is a reputable website, theyve been around a long time and Ive personally ordered from them a few times over the years...