Need a cheap replacement for my X800

[teddyv]

Hi Folks,

When I first bought my MSI Radeon x800 a few years ago when building this system the first I bought melted down with artifacts then just died. Newegg replaced it and the replacement worked fine on my 19" dell CRT until yesterday when I hooked up my brand new Acer 22" LCD. It worked for about an hour then artifacts and system freeze. I figure it is now time for the old card to go and am looking for a replacement that will be at least as good. Some I have been looking at:

EVGA 01G-P3-N959-TR GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - $60 with free shipping, $50 after rebate - the one I am leaning towards.

MSI R4670-2D512 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - $80, $65 after rebate, free shipping.

SAPPHIRE 100226L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - $70, $55 ar, free shipping.

XFX PVT84JYAJG GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 - $77 with shipping, $67 ar.

I am not really banking on rebates anymore so I figure the eVGA is a pretty fair deal. Any of the above really head and shoulders above the others? I will be playing WoW and UO and doing some video editing along with just regular web and office stuff. I do plan on upgrading my system to a newer Intel sometime soon as well.

I appreciate any thoughts -

Ted

 

[teddyv]

Forgot to include this one:

EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 - $80, $40AR, free shipping

 

[AzN]

4670 is the best card out of all of them. You might want to keep an eye in the hotdeals section.

They have 9600gso 768mb version for $42 after rebate.

 

[Denithor]

There's a lot of questions as to whether that 9600GSO is a valid deal or not.

Just go for the 4670, that's the most powerful of what you've got listed and at the same time has about the lowest power requirements so you won't have to worry about your PSU.

And BTW the 9500GT is about equal to the 8600GT and both suck compared to the 3850 and 4670.

EDIT: Benchmark - 4670 vs 9500GT

 

[teddyv]

Thanks for the excellent advice. I think I am down to these two:

SAPPHIRE 100226L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 @ $70

and

MSI R4670-2D512 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 @ $80

I am leaning towards the Sapphire not only because it is $10 cheaper but because I really had a lot of problems with the MSI card I have now (and which is now dead...) That said, the $10 difference is not really an issue so if the 4670 is that much better than the 3850 I'd go that way. I did notice the 3850 requires the 6-pin power connection where the 4670 does not.

Would appreciate any final thoughts before I order - thanks.

PS - current system is a 939 AMD 3000 with 1gig RAM, plan on finally bumping up to an LGA775 Quad Core sometime this spring. And aside from the occasional WoW, the only really gpu-hog tasks I do is edit the occasional video.

 

[OCGuy]

4670.

 

[a123456]

If the MSI brand is holding you back, there's always the Gigabyte 4670 for 56$ AR right now.

 

[Phynaz]

I replaced an X800 with a 4670.

Best $80 I've spent in a long time.

 

[OCNewbie]

Definitely the 4670 if it's that or the 3850.

 

[BenSkywalker]

$84.99- $64.99 After rebate free shipping. Considerably faster then anything you have listed.

 

[Indyboy2]

3850 ftw

 

[Tempered81]

IMO i'd go with a 9800 / 4830 for about $89

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127394

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814162028


edit:

$180 HD4830 Crossfire smashing a GTX280 @ cod4 2560 x 1500 4xAA 16xAF Max Detail:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=16300&page=6

 

[teddyv]

Hi Folks,

Well I have ordered the MSI R4670-2D512 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3, but of course things have changed a bit. I got an unexpected check for $500 and decided, of course, to upgrade my now 4-year old AMD-939 system to a new Intel LGA-775/E8400 system and am wondering if there is a better card out there for $100 or less (before rebates). From the posts above I was thinking this one might be a better buy:
MSI N9600GT 512M OC GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3

Trying to stick with the biggies (MSI, Sapphire, ASUS, XFX, eVGA)-

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[Qbah]

Under 100$ the HD4830/9800GT are the best ones, no contest. They smack the 9600GT silly, especially in shader intensive games. However asking which one of the two is better will most likely start another flame war So just toss a coin, both are equal imo, just get what is cheaper.

If you can wait a few more days, the XFX models for ATi will hit retail

EDIT: Like this HIS for 108$, 98$ AMIR

 

[OCNewbie]

For the ~$100 price range an ATI HD 4830 is definitely your best bet, especially if you are willing to overclock it a bit. An overclocked HD 4830 whoops up on an OC'd 8800/9800GT (and even moreso on a 9600GT, avoid it). I've seen HD 4850's for sale for $120 after rebate too recently, so may consider that for just $20 more.

 

[teddyv]

Thanks for the quick advice, how about something like this:
SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 - it is $109 but the shipping is free so I am still in the $100 range. All of the 4850 cards start around $150 so it seems like a good breakpoint.

Thanks!

 

[OCNewbie]

The price isn't spectacular (was $89.99 just recently), but still "decent". The Powercolor and Asus versions of this card seem to overclock better from what I've read. The cooler on the Asus unit is supposed to be made my Arctic Cooling too, so it should be very quiet, and probably fairly efficient too. The memory on the Asus unit is clocked higher by default too.

They'll all be pretty close though. If the Sapphire is the best deal currently, you could go for that one and be fine I'm sure.

 

[teddyv]

I ended up snapping up a Sapphire 3850 from NewEgg for $39 shipped - was on sale for $65 with free shipping and got a $25 off coupon code on slickdeals. Seems to be a nice card with the same 512mb 256-bit GDR3 and plenty for what I need it for.

Thanks for help and advice, I've sure learned quite a bit in the last month or two!