Ok, Ok, don't roast me too badly.

Pulsar

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2003
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The last computer I built was in 2001. Athlon XP 2.4ghz with 9700pro. At the time it was absolutely top of the line, and that venerable old ATI9700 Pro is a friggen monster - it can still play most any game I throw at it (at low detail levels of course).

Today, I was offered a Coreduo 2 1.8 ghz, which is close to twice the speed of my old Athlon. The hitch is that it comes from Dell with an incredibly crappy 7300LE card, that can't even compete with my 9700 Pro =P.

So - the obvious question is what card is decent for this computer, without being significantly CPU limited etc. - what is the right price point / performance?

I'm looking at possibly a 7900GS, which performs reasonably well for a price of around $90.

Any suggestions for a better performance-per-dollar card for this computer?
 

A5

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2000
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AGP or PCI-e?

If PCI-e, then the 7900GS is not a good option for $90. You can get a Radeon HD 4830 or 4850 for that, or a 9800GT if you only want nVidia.

On AGP, then I don't know what to tell you :p
 

Pulsar

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2003
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No - that's why I'm happy about getting this computer for free - it has a pcie x16 slot whereas my old 2.4ghz only had AGP. Talk about limiting!

Radeon 4850 - $103
9800GT overclocked - $115

Ok - any of those substantially better than the other?
 

Eureka

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
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You can get a 4850 for $75 AR. Go into the hot deals and look for that. It is an amazing price right now.
 

Pulsar

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2003
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Just checked hot deals - 4850 can be gotten for $52!!!!!

SOLD!

Thanks a ton guys. To those who say Anandtech Video is worthless now-a-days because of the trolls, ah heck OFF!
 

bobsmith1492

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2004
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I have a C2D 1.83GHz (6300) and run with a 4850. It works great for the games I've played (Oblivion with all the texture mods, SupCommander though huge maps bog down 'cause the CPU is too slow).
 

AzN

Banned
Nov 26, 2001
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You might have to check your power supply for that 4850. You need no less than 400watt power supply.
 

Eureka

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Sep 6, 2005
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Originally posted by: Azn
You might have to check your power supply for that 4850. You need no less than 400watt power supply.

That might be a bit of an exaggeration. My 4890 rig is estimated to use less than 400w on load. So I would think a 4850 isn't that high of a draw either.
 

Pulsar

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2003
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Thanks AZN. According to published web lore, an HD4850 uses 20-22.5 amps.

The Dell power supply, even though rated at only 375 watts, can output a continous 31.25 amps on the 12 volts rails (combined).

The processor is a 65 Watt model - so I should be ok. Plus, the power supply has a tiny bit of wiggle room.

The only thing I'm worried about is the required 75 watts out of the pcie x16 slot - I haven't found any specifications regarding that yet.

Plus, other people are successfully running this card on 400 watts, according to the other webpages.
 

Scali

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Dec 3, 2004
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Originally posted by: Pulsar
The only thing I'm worried about is the required 75 watts out of the pcie x16 slot - I haven't found any specifications regarding that yet.

75W is just standard specification for a PCI-e slot. Assuming the board meets or exceeds the PCI-e specs, it shouldn't be a problem.
Cards that require more than 75W will have a separate power connector on the card anyway, so they don't need to rely on the PCI-e slot for all power.
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
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Originally posted by: Azn
You might have to check your power supply for that 4850. You need no less than 400watt power supply.

I have an HD4850 with a 400w PSU and could get by with less, although I would agree that something in the 350~400w range would be best, lower than that is potentially pushing it, especially if you might want to upgrade elsewhere.
 

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
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yeah that 375w PSU you got has plenty of power. Do check if it has a pci-e connector though, or two free molex connectors.

And the 4850 uses a LOT less than 20A. The theoretical max the 4850 could pull would be 150w (75w from pci-e slot, 75 from 6 pin connector). 150w / 12v = 12.5A. And that's the absolute MAX theoretical power. The number you'd more likely pull while gaming would be nearer to 9-10A. Maybe even less
 

brblx

Diamond Member
Mar 23, 2009
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tdp is 110w which is a little over nine amps. shouldn't ever pull more power than that (although some cards can exceed tdp by a little under heavy load).

i say he'll be fine.
 

AzN

Banned
Nov 26, 2001
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Originally posted by: Pulsar
Thanks AZN. According to published web lore, an HD4850 uses 20-22.5 amps.

The Dell power supply, even though rated at only 375 watts, can output a continous 31.25 amps on the 12 volts rails (combined).

The processor is a 65 Watt model - so I should be ok. Plus, the power supply has a tiny bit of wiggle room.

The only thing I'm worried about is the required 75 watts out of the pcie x16 slot - I haven't found any specifications regarding that yet.

Plus, other people are successfully running this card on 400 watts, according to the other webpages.

31.25amps should be plenty for a 4850. All PCI-E slots have 75watts out of the slot. You shouldn't worry about that.



Originally posted by: Lonyo
Originally posted by: Azn
You might have to check your power supply for that 4850. You need no less than 400watt power supply.

I have an HD4850 with a 400w PSU and could get by with less, although I would agree that something in the 350~400w range would be best, lower than that is potentially pushing it, especially if you might want to upgrade elsewhere.

I have a 450watt power supply and running a GTX 260 216 and it runs for the most part but sometimes when I have my CPU overvolted to 1.4volts my computer restart when I'm playing a game every so often. I do have a full system with 2 hard drives and 2 PCI cards though. For long term use I would need to upgrade the power supply. A good 400 watt should be good for a 4850. Anything lower I think you are pushing it unless you aren't overclocking and have a kill A watt meter.


Originally posted by: Eureka
Originally posted by: Azn
You might have to check your power supply for that 4850. You need no less than 400watt power supply.

That might be a bit of an exaggeration. My 4890 rig is estimated to use less than 400w on load. So I would think a 4850 isn't that high of a draw either.

Not all power supplies are created equal. Your typical mainstream quality 400watt Antec power supply can peak at 400watts at 29C. But in case you are wondering most power supplies run at 50-60C temperature. At higher temperature you might get less output wattage like 320 watts. not to mention 1 or 2 year old power supply capacitors would also hinder peak wattage. So 400 watts isn't an exaggeration. ATI recommends 450watt power supply with their 4850.