Please recommend video card...

[toyota]

Originally posted by: LoStZ
BTW, these 2 Gigabytes 4670 have different memory but they're at the same price?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125244
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125277

yeah it happens sometimes but the 1gb version has free shipping so go with it since it will be cheaper. the 1gb uses slightly slower ddr3 while the 512mb uses slightly faster and more expensive gddr3. thats probably why they can easily be priced the same.

 

[LoStZ]

I checked specs and one is

Memory Clock 2000MHz
Memory Size 512MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

the other is

Memory Clock 1600MHz
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type DDR3


Is that a big difference in performance?

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: LoStZ
I checked specs and one is

Memory Clock 2000MHz
Memory Size 512MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

the other is

Memory Clock 1600MHz
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type DDR3


Is that a big difference in performance?

I just replied right before you did. just go with the 1gb version since its the same price but has free shipping . the slightly slower memory will never be noticed. again you are coming from a card that cant even play many modern games so dont worry about such a small detail.

 

[LoStZ]

Heh, sorry for the questions. Since I haven't been up to date with all these hardware stuff for so long its somewhat confusing heh.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: LoStZ
Heh, sorry for the questions. Since I haven't been up to date with all these hardware stuff for so long its somewhat confusing heh.

well yeah stuff can be quite confusing. I would just go ahead and pull the trigger on that 4670 with free shipping.

 

[Qbah]

Here are a lot of games showing the performance of a single HD4670 vs a 9800GTX+ (GTS250), HD4850 and HD4870. The main article was done to show Crossfire HD4670 results vs the other three, but single card results are also there. Also, performance at 1280x1024 is shown. Take note that you won't be running AAx4 probably so your results will be quite a bit higher than those presented here. But you can see that even at 1280x1024 the card isn't really ripping through games.

Here you can see the HD4670 vs a 9600GT and some lower cards - there's no 1280x1024 resolution though - the card will run a bit slower on that res than on 1360x768.

Remember that both tests are running on a Core i7 at 3GHz+. So don't be surprised if you'll be getting lower results on your X2 4800+ if you use the exact same settings

So, if you can find the HD4670 and a 9600GT at around the same price, I'd go with the 9600GT. It's overall noticeably faster, uses little power too but it requires an external PCI-e plug. I saw several 9600GTs at newegg for $65 AR and also some HD4670s at $55 AR. With those prices I'd go with the 9600GT. Also, looks like you've been happy with your 7600GS, no reason to go red this time

 

[s44]

this 4670

 

[bunnyfubbles]

considering his processor, he really shouldn't spend more than $75

 

[Rezist]

I'd recommend the cheapest 4850 you can find personally.
But we'd need to know your power supply and if you have a single 6 pin PCI-e connector available.

Not much point in looking at the 9800GT or GTS250 from the egg since there all more then the 4850's. That being said if you want used definately look into them.

 

[LoStZ]

I have an Antec EA-650 power supply

 

[Rezist]

Well that power supply is lot's good enough, I guess I don't know the performance of your CPU. But when there selling 4850's for ~$90 that's a hell of alot more card then a ~$60 4670.

I'm personally not sure about the 5750/5770 yet, I anticipate when the 48xx series are gone there going to drop there prices like a rock. There high right now so people buy the better value/performance 4800 series.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Rezist
Well that power supply is lot's good enough, I guess I don't know the performance of your CPU. But when there selling 4850's for ~$90 that's a hell of alot more card then a ~$60 4670.

I'm personally not sure about the 5750/5770 yet, I anticipate when the 48xx series are gone there going to drop there prices like a rock. There high right now so people buy the better value/performance 4800 series.

well I do know the performance of his cpu and at his low res a 4670 or 9600gt is the much better choice. the 4850 is not worth 50% more than a 4670 for someone in his scenario.

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: Rezist
Well that power supply is lot's good enough, I guess I don't know the performance of your CPU. But when there selling 4850's for ~$90 that's a hell of alot more card then a ~$60 4670.

Except he could get a $40 (AR, but free ship) 4670.

His CPU is fine for a 4850, but it's still sort of overkill at 19".

 

[GaiaHunter]

I would go with the 4850 too.

You play at low resolutions so eye candy for the win.

Yes, you processor isn't that great and blah di blah, but why the hell are you going with a graphics card that can barely play at that resolution and without AA?

I could understand if the cards we were talking about were like $200 to $400, but when the double the price means paying $40 more, what the hell, give yourself a treat.

Unless something else is competing for those $40, I think improving your game performance and quality of image is well spent money.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: s44

Originally posted by: Rezist
Well that power supply is lot's good enough, I guess I don't know the performance of your CPU. But when there selling 4850's for ~$90 that's a hell of alot more card then a ~$60 4670.

Except he could get a $40 (AR, but free ship) 4670.

His CPU is fine for a 4850, but it's still sort of overkill at 19".

his cpu is not really fine for a 4850 especially at that low res. in games like Far Cry 2 literally half its performance would go down the drain at his res. if you doubt me, when I put my 4670 in my E8500 system performance went up by 30% at 1280 on high settings compared to what i was getting with the 5000 X2. now just imagine how much of the much faster 4850 would be wasted with is even slower cpu.

OP, I think am the only person in this thread that has actually used and compared several cards with a midrange X2 and I can tell you the real world expectations not some theories. anything beyond a 9600gt level card will mostly go down the drain at your res with your cpu. your max framerates may go up but your minimums will not move in 95% cases with anything faster than a 9600gt level of card. hell in Crysis and UT3 I got the same minimums with an 8600gt as I did with 4670 or 9600gt while using my 5000 X2.

 

[GaiaHunter]

I have a 4850 on a X2 6000. Play perfectly fine at 12*10 with 4AA.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: GaiaHunter
I have a 4850 on a X2 6000. Play perfectly fine at 12*10 with 4AA.

plays perfectly? its not like you will get a message saying "hey you could be getting better fps". lol. okay first off your cpu is about 20% faster than his and with a 4850 at that res that 20% will basically translate into almost 20% more performance in most games. so would you still be as happy if you lost another 20%?? next just because your games play "perfectly" fine doesnt meant that a chunk of your performance isnt going right down the crapper. with his slower 4800 X2 cpu a 9600gt or 4670 is a much better choice. either of those will be a massive jump over his current 7600gs.

 

[GaiaHunter]

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: GaiaHunter
I have a 4850 on a X2 6000. Play perfectly fine at 12*10 with 4AA.

plays perfectly? its not like you will get a message saying "hey you could be getting better fps". lol. okay first off your cpu is about 20% faster than his and with a 4850 at that res that 20% will basically translate into almost 20% more performance in most games. so would you still be as happy if you lost another 20%?? next just because your games play "perfectly" fine doesnt meant that a chunk of your performance isnt going right down the crapper. with his slower 4800 X2 cpu a 9600gt or 4670 is a much better choice. either of those will be a massive jump over his current 7600gs.

Yeah, it can probably not have much difference in average and minimum frame rates, but what about AA?

At this low resolutions jagged edges are crap to see.

I understand your point of view, but it isn't like he is saying that he wants a i7 975 over a i7 920.

A 4850 will give it a slightly better raw performance but with Higher Quality settings.

If you think that higher IQ isn't worth $30-40 extra, well I disagree.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

I could understand having him wait for the $109 5750s to become available because at least that card would have some life to carry over into an upgraded rig. But his CPU really is pretty old and slow per modern standards. Unless someone could provide test results proving otherwise, I really don't think it would be wise to spend on more than a 4670, which would be significantly faster than his current card.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: GaiaHunter

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: GaiaHunter
I have a 4850 on a X2 6000. Play perfectly fine at 12*10 with 4AA.

plays perfectly? its not like you will get a message saying "hey you could be getting better fps". lol. okay first off your cpu is about 20% faster than his and with a 4850 at that res that 20% will basically translate into almost 20% more performance in most games. so would you still be as happy if you lost another 20%?? next just because your games play "perfectly" fine doesnt meant that a chunk of your performance isnt going right down the crapper. with his slower 4800 X2 cpu a 9600gt or 4670 is a much better choice. either of those will be a massive jump over his current 7600gs.

Yeah, it can probably not have much difference in average and minimum frame rates, but what about AA?

At this low resolutions jagged edges are crap to see.

I understand your point of view, but it isn't like he is saying that he wants a i7 975 over a i7 920.

A 4850 will give it a slightly better raw performance but with Higher Quality settings.

If you think that higher IQ isn't worth $30-40 extra, well I disagree.

so you really think its worth paying 50% more for a chance to turn up AA because his cpu isnt strong enough to come close to pushing that card in the first place? I guess thats where we differ because I dont. considering he already going to hold a 4670 back by 25-30% in games like Far Cry 2 I just dont see the point in going with anything any faster than a 4670 or 9600gt at most with his cpu at that low res.

 

[GaiaHunter]

Originally posted by: toyota

so you really think its worth paying 50% more for a chance to turn up AA because his cpu isnt strong enough to come close to pushing that card in the first place? I guess thats where we differ because I dont. considering he already going to hold a 4670 back by 25-30% in games like Far Cry 2 I just dont see the point in going with anything any faster than a 4670 or 9600gt at most with his cpu at that low res.

50% is a big relative number, but lets not forget that the absolute numbers is like $30-40, so not that big.

Also, his motherboard seems to support stuff like phenom II and the athlon ii x4. For ~$180, an Athlon II x4 + 4850 (or a bit more for a phenom II x3) should be a solid upgrade.

Well, up to the OP.

4670 will give him more speed.

4850 will give him more speed and higher IQ.

CPU+4850 or even CPU+4670 now and some GPU later would be a better preposition, albeit over the OP budget.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: GaiaHunter

Originally posted by: toyota

so you really think its worth paying 50% more for a chance to turn up AA because his cpu isnt strong enough to come close to pushing that card in the first place? I guess thats where we differ because I dont. considering he already going to hold a 4670 back by 25-30% in games like Far Cry 2 I just dont see the point in going with anything any faster than a 4670 or 9600gt at most with his cpu at that low res.

50% is a big relative number, but lets not forget that the absolute numbers is like $30-40, so not that big.

Also, his motherboard seems to support stuff like phenom II and the athlon ii x4. For ~$180, an Athlon II x4 + 4850 (or a bit more for a phenom II x3) should be a solid upgrade.

Well, up to the OP.

4670 will give him more speed.

4850 will give him more speed and higher IQ.

CPU+4850 or even CPU+4670 now and some GPU later would be a better preposition, albeit over the OP budget.

well when you are only talking about 60 bucks to begin with then yes 30-40 bucks more is quite significant. coming from a 7600gs, a 4670 or 9600gt would be a massive increase in performance. and again not even those cards will be more than 70-80% utilized in modern games with his cpu at his res. I see your point but he will already need to be turning up the settings to fully justify the 4670 or 9600gt cards as it is.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The HD4850 would be worth the extra cash. Well, worth it if you like to turn up AA (which I do), and AA makes a huge difference at 1280x1024.

Originally posted by: toyota
OP, I think am the only person in this thread that has actually used and compared several cards with a midrange X2 and I can tell you the real world expectations not some theories. anything beyond a 9600gt level card will mostly go down the drain at your res with your cpu. your max framerates may go up but your minimums will not move in 95% cases with anything faster than a 9600gt level of card. hell in Crysis and UT3 I got the same minimums with an 8600gt as I did with 4670 or 9600gt while using my 5000 X2.

Uh, LOL? You obviously did something wrong (or something wrong happened), and this is skewing your perception. In Crysis, I can definitely tell you that the performance difference between the 8600GT and HD4670 when paired with a 5000+ X2 is noticeable, in minimum, avg, and maximum framerates.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
The HD4850 would be worth the extra cash. Well, worth it if you like to turn up AA (which I do), and AA makes a huge difference at 1280x1024.

Originally posted by: toyota
OP, I think am the only person in this thread that has actually used and compared several cards with a midrange X2 and I can tell you the real world expectations not some theories. anything beyond a 9600gt level card will mostly go down the drain at your res with your cpu. your max framerates may go up but your minimums will not move in 95% cases with anything faster than a 9600gt level of card. hell in Crysis and UT3 I got the same minimums with an 8600gt as I did with 4670 or 9600gt while using my 5000 X2.

Uh, LOL? You obviously did something wrong (or something wrong happened), and this is skewing your perception. In Crysis, I can definitely tell you that the performance difference between the 8600GT and HD4670 when paired with a 5000+ X2 is noticeable, in minimum, avg, and maximum framerates.

minimums went up by 1-2fps only when using 4670 over the 8600gt. max framerate was much higher and of course I could play with higher settings. not only did I use the built in benchmark, I tested with fraps in the same multiple areas on both cards. every place that dipped way down with 8600gt also dipped the same with a 4670. putting that 4670 in the core 2 system raised the minimums by 4-5 though. thats pretty big when you are talking about a slow card being used between two different cpus.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

I would have to run my own tests (which will take some time, as the 8600GT and HD3850 I have are installed in two separate locations) to verify.