New Graphics Card - Cant Decide???

[Murdo]

Hi folks.

I am looking at upgrading from 7800gtx SLI setup.

Would it be a good step up to a 512mb 8800gt. Or should i go to someting a bit bigger.

i will be mainly watching dvd's and playing games. i.e gears of ward, COD4, World in conflict, and would like it to run Crysis .

Thanks
A

 

[jonesthewine]

Your budget is a very important factor in the decision...how much do you want to spend? And at what resolution do you game?

The 8800GT is a solid card, not cutting edge but certainly capable of playing Crysis and the other games that you mention. How long do you plan on keeping the card?

You can grab a GTX 260 for $240 after rebates. Check out this thread http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2222910&enterthread=y for some other ideas. Good luck.

 

[Sylvanas]

For 1680x1050= 4850. For 1920x1200= 4870.

 

[Murdo]

was looking at the 8800gt 512mb alpha dog. Reviews looked ok on this one.

However after reading around the forums, would it be a huge jump in performance to go for gtx260 896mb. budget was about £100 - 130. But if worthit, would go more to get the gtx260

Basicly, the story is. Just had our second kid, and i dont want to waste the cash on a top end card if i'm not gonna get to use it as much as intended. but when i do use it i want to be able to play current games until end of the year without the juddering.

Screen res on my nonitor is 1680x1050.

Thanks
A

 

[Bateluer]

I'd go with the Radeon 4850 then. It'll offer more performance than the 8800GT plus a better feature set, and it won't break the bank.

 

[Keysplayr]

9800GTX+ for 1680x1050 (@160.00 US) (£90)
GTX260 for above (@$245.00 US) (£137.5)

 

[MarcVenice]

Keys, link me to a 9800gtx+ for $160?

A 9800gtx+ is prolly going to run him £140 vs £117.5 for a HD4850. I'm afraid nvidia doesn't compete with ATI in europe. In Holland I can buy a HD4850 for 130 euro's, a 9800gtx+ costs 160 euro's.

A GTX260 will run him £175. A HD4870 costs £182, so there the GTX260 is probably the better buy. In Holland this is 190 euro's for a HD4870, and 235 euro's for a gtx260.

If you ship me a gtx260 for 175 euro's, I'll buy one from you keys That's roughly $250+

I suggest you buy a HD4850, it will be fine for 1680*1050, and in the UK you can't buy a better bang for buck videocard. Going with nvidia means you're a betrayer to your own wallet

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
9800GTX+ for 1680x1050 (@160.00 US) (£90)
GTX260 for above (@$245.00 US) (£137.5)

Just to give you an idea of relative UK prices:
9800GT £95
HD4850 £110
9800GTX £135
HD4870 £170
GTX260 £180.

IMO the HD4850 is the best option.

 

[Keysplayr]

Agreed. Wow, expensive in U.K.

 

[wbynum]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Keys, link me to a 9800gtx+ for $160?

A 9800gtx+ is prolly going to run him £140 vs £117.5 for a HD4850. I'm afraid nvidia doesn't compete with ATI in europe. In Holland I can buy a HD4850 for 130 euro's, a 9800gtx+ costs 160 euro's.

A GTX260 will run him £175. A HD4870 costs £182, so there the GTX260 is probably the better buy. In Holland this is 190 euro's for a HD4870, and 235 euro's for a gtx260.

If you ship me a gtx260 for 175 euro's, I'll buy one from you keys That's roughly $250+

I suggest you buy a HD4850, it will be fine for 1680*1050, and in the UK you can't buy a better bang for buck videocard. Going with nvidia means you're a betrayer to your own wallet

I can't speak to non-US prices, but you did ask for a link to a 9800gtx+ for $160 so here goes.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/s...d.php?sduid=0&t=898262

 

[bonecrusher]

the best cards are
1 8800gt
2 9800gtx+ and not 4850
3 4870

imho get 9800gtx+ worth every penny

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
9800GTX+ for 1680x1050 (@160.00 US) (£90)
GTX260 for above (@$245.00 US) (£137.5)

Yeah the GTX260's extra memory is important for resolutions above 16x10

It's good that ATI is finally bringing out cards with more memory they just need to bring the price in line with the 260.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
It's good that ATI is finally bringing out cards with more memory they just need to bring the price in line with the 260.

It seems ATI are priced in line (or cheaper) in Europe. Why are the Nvidia cards more expensive there, but competitive with ATI in US?

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: betasub

Originally posted by: Wreckage
It's good that ATI is finally bringing out cards with more memory they just need to bring the price in line with the 260.

It seems ATI are priced in line (or cheaper) in Europe. Why are the Nvidia cards more expensive there, but competitive with ATI in US?

Yeah not sure what the issue is in Europe. The cards are priced pretty close here, it's just the new 1GB cards that are taking a premium. However, those just came out so maybe that will drop at least by the time the 55nm GTXs show up.

 

[MarcVenice]

Betasub, it has long been one of those things that annoyed me, and baffled me, but some products in europe are in line with US pricing, like many harddrives from samsung for example. But more often then not our prices are equal to yours, but then in euro's, which are worth an easy $1.45, and not long ago even $1.65. I did notice a 'smallish' drop, but all in all most products are still more expensive then in the US. And you guys also have rebates, we don't.

BTW, ati's cards are still 130 euro's for a HD4850, that's $190. That's the official retail prices of a HD4850. You guys pay only 100 euro's, so still 25% or so less. I guess margins are higher in europe, and they can get away with it. I mean, we have a global economy, don't we?

 

[bonecrusher]

Its not only in europe but also in india the 280 costs over $1000.
I accept certain amount of tax but this is twice the cost in US

 

[Ares202]

As already said 4850 is a fair amount cheaper than the 9800gtx+ here in europe so if your looking into those two buy the 4850. If your deciding between the 4870 and gtx 260 take your pick on either both are great cards and are very similar in price

BTW sell your GTX's on ebay you likely get £50-£60 if you sell them as two seperate auctions

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice

BTW, ati's cards are still 130 euro's for a HD4850, that's $190. That's the official retail prices of a HD4850. You guys pay only 100 euro's, so still 25% or so less. I guess margins are higher in europe, and they can get away with it. I mean, we have a global economy, don't we?

There are 2 sides to the price comparison argument. I'll introduce the 2nd side:

It's somewhat misleading to compare prices for products without taking into account the purchasing power parity. For example, a 3 pounds starbucks coffee in UK is more expensive than a $3 US starbucks coffee in US if a US consumer travelling to UK would convert what it costs to buy the same cup of coffee in UK using US dollars.

However, if you consider 2 individuals making similar income working similar jobs for similar companies (i.e. one earns 50,000 pounds in salary while the other earns $50,000 US in salary), you wouldn't complain that SBUX coffee in UK was more expensive than it was in US using the Pound/US exchange rate if you lived in UK would you?

Obviously there is a lag between exchange rate fluctuations and prices, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to draw a direct price comparison this way. For example, I live in Canada, where the compensation for similar jobs in my field is lower in Canada than it is in US. Therefore, I can conclude almost immediately that it costs me more to buy goods in Canada relative to US peers if same goods cost less in US (i.e. cars, books).

I suppose otherwise you are just stating the obvious - of course it would be cheaper to buy food in New Delhi than in US in absolute terms and a lot more expensive to buy food in London relative to US in absolute terms for a US earning individual, for example.

I guess you guys buy luggages of hardware when you come for a visit hehe

OP, based on your budget I'd pick up a 4850. 9800GTX+ isnt' worth the price premium. Otherwise I'd get the 4870/GTX260 for $170+.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
9800GTX+ for 1680x1050 (@160.00 US) (£90)
GTX260 for above (@$245.00 US) (£137.5)

Yeah the GTX260's extra memory is important for resolutions above 16x10

Actually, 512MB is more than sufficient at 16x10. It really isn't until you get to 25x16 that you start to consistently run into slowdowns. So far, there are only a couple of titles at 19x12 that experience performance issues with 512MB of video memory. The vast majority of games run fine on 512MB at 19x12.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Creig

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
9800GTX+ for 1680x1050 (@160.00 US) (£90)
GTX260 for above (@$245.00 US) (£137.5)

Yeah the GTX260's extra memory is important for resolutions above 16x10

Actually, 512MB is more than sufficient at 16x10. It really isn't until you get to 25x16 that you start to consistently run into slowdowns. So far, there are only a couple of titles at 19x12 that experience performance issues with 512MB of video memory. The vast majority of games run fine on 512MB at 19x12.

Actually guys, I was just talking horsepower here. Memory requirements vary from game to game. 512 is usually enough for most of them at above 1680x1050, but the horsepower to push those pixels is more important.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: Creig

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
9800GTX+ for 1680x1050 (@160.00 US) (£90)
GTX260 for above (@$245.00 US) (£137.5)

Yeah the GTX260's extra memory is important for resolutions above 16x10

Actually, 512MB is more than sufficient at 16x10. It really isn't until you get to 25x16 that you start to consistently run into slowdowns. So far, there are only a couple of titles at 19x12 that experience performance issues with 512MB of video memory. The vast majority of games run fine on 512MB at 19x12.

Actually guys, I was just talking horsepower here. Memory requirements vary from game to game. 512 is usually enough for most of them at above 1680x1050, but the horsepower to push those pixels is more important.

Aye, also it does depend on the games in question. What will be the main titles played? If someone said they would be playing Crysis 24/7 then I'd say they would want to invest in a GTX280 or look into SLI/CF solutions. However, for someone playing WoW, maybe the upcoming Spore and older titles then what was mentioned would be fine. What the OP stated was CoD4, Crysis possibly, and WiC. All of these titles perform great on my HD4870. Crysis specifically would likely benefit more from a faster card than any other game available today. That is, if you are willing to spend $250+

Don't also forget that these cards use a certain amount of power from your PSU, be certain you won't need to upgrade that as the weak link.

 

[suklee]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
Don't also forget that these cards use a certain amount of power from your PSU, be certain you won't need to upgrade that as the weak link.

Out of curiosity (not thinking of upgrading now, only for future reference)... will a power supply like my VX550W be able to handle a 4870?

 

[Ares202]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Actually guys, I was just talking horsepower here. Memory requirements vary from game to game. 512 is usually enough for most of them at above 1680x1050, but the horsepower to push those pixels is more important

Im not sure what your trying to say, the 4870 is the faster card on average and has higher bandwith than a GTX 260

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: Creig


Actually, 512MB is more than sufficient at 16x10.

That's why I said above 16x10.

Although some games like Crysis can be a bit memory hungry even at that level.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Ares202

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Actually guys, I was just talking horsepower here. Memory requirements vary from game to game. 512 is usually enough for most of them at above 1680x1050, but the horsepower to push those pixels is more important

Im not sure what your trying to say, the 4870 is the faster card on average and has higher bandwith than a GTX 260

Erm. what?

Extreme example: Put 2GB of 4GHz GDDR6 on a GeForce 5200.