Need help purchasing gfx card >> help

vanbroeK

Junior Member
Dec 18, 2009
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Okay, a friend and I are undecided on what graphics card to get. We are building practically the same build and need help on choosing a decent graphics card for $150 downwards. Our main interests were in the Sapphire HD4850 512mb and the Inno3d 250GTS 512mb. It does not have to be a GTS or HD4850, we just want the best possible card available for $150 downwards.

Our Build specs:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AMD770/SB700 chipset/DDR3 1600
CPU: AMD Phenom II 550 DualCore 3.1GHz 7MB CACHE 80W BLACK ED (planning to unlock into a QUAD CORE)
RAM: I have 2GB of DDR3 while my friend has 4GB of DDR3.'
PSU not a problem

What we want to know is what is the best graphics card for us with reasonable explanation. (e.g performance in games) DOES ATI WORK BETTER WITH AMD?
Please we need help … really confused over the debate between HD4850 and GTS 250

NOTE: CURRENTLY IN AUSTRALIA SO WE ARE TALKING AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS (AUD)
 

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,300
23
81
Welcome to the forums!

Pretty much a wash at that level of GPU - just read some reviews, consider the specific games you plan to play and see which has better frame rates in those cases.

Two things to note - GTS 250 generally runs cooler/quieter than 4850 (unless you get one with an aftermarket hsf installed) and GTS 250 are better for F@H if that's any interest to you at all.
 

v8envy

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2002
2,720
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While ATI video cards seem to have fewer (minor and isolated) performance anomalies on Intel CPUs they're perfectly fine on AMD platforms. To make it clearer, Intel is a slightly better platform for AMD GPUs but it's not a big deal. NV works the same on both. For the price (and lack of 4850 availability) it's no contest - GTS250 or the 9800GTX+ (same card, different sticker) for ~ $100 AR is your card. When the 4850 was $70-85 it was just the opposite.

If you can cough up a *few* more dollars and can deal with bing and rebates, TigerDirect has a 4890 for $174 AR - $23 Bing (and possibly -$10 paypal), which would put it very very close to your $150 maximum. A 4890 would make you happy.
 

blanketyblank

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,149
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I'd suggest 5750 or 5770 as well though I have no idea how much it costs to get stuff in Australia. Currently 140 US for 5750 and 153 US for 5770 from newegg. Those will be faster cards, have lower power consumption, and have support for dx11.
Other thing to consider might be audio out over hdmi. I find the ATI cards at least the 4850 can do that better than the nvidia cards. Not important unless you're going to use it as part of an htpc setup or something though.
 

TemjinGold

Diamond Member
Dec 16, 2006
3,050
65
91
I'd like to add from personal experience that ATi's audio out over HDMI beats the heck out of onboard sound if that helps. If you can swing a 5770, that's a MUCH better card than either of the two you are considering.
 

vanbroeK

Junior Member
Dec 18, 2009
8
0
0
Thanks for the replies, I have posted this on a few other forums to get a wider range of responses and atm it seems that the GTS250 is a little unconsistent and the HD4850 would be the better choice. I am a very very tight budget and even something around the 150 mark would be pushing it over the line. More thoughts on this would be great,
 

Vipersfate

Junior Member
Nov 21, 2009
23
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I just picked up a 5750 today and I've been super satisfied with it. My raptor is louder than this thing at full load, and I have yet to get some benchmarks out of it. I paid 159 for it, with 2 day shipping, but you can get free 3 day shipping (comes out to about 145).
 

betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
2,677
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NOTE: CURRENTLY IN AUSTRALIA SO WE ARE TALKING AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS (AUD)

It's difficult to recommend anything outside your listed GTS250 and 4850...
unless the above posters have a knowledge of Australian vendors and their prices for graphics cards (AUS$).
 

TemjinGold

Diamond Member
Dec 16, 2006
3,050
65
91
Since your budget is so tight, have you considered getting something used? You can probably get a much better deal if you do.