What card is better ?

[DarthRevan]

Hey guys. I'm buying a card soon and i don't know what card is better:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130086 - 8600gts 256mb 720/2100MHz

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16814130291- 8600gts 512mb 706/2000MHz.

People told me that the 512mb versions is worse than the 256mb because it has highter latencys. the 256mb also has faster clocks, but only a little faster.

as my PC is going to have 4gb of RAM in dual channel the video card could acess them for extra memory, making the 256mb version better, also it is cheaper !

thanks guys.

 

[NaughtyGeek]

Buy one of THESE. They will spank the crap outta the 8600s you're looking at for an extra $10.

 

[DarthRevan]

thanks, that's what i jsut asked in another forum. Are the HD 3850 better than the 86GTS ?

But about those 86GTS, which one is better ?

 

[Syntax Error]

HD3850s KILL 8600GTSs. Don't even consider them if you're willing to pay a bit more for the HD3850 for like twice the performance.

If you MUST get an 8600 (which you shouldn't, unless you're a diehard Nvidia fanboy, in which case you should be ripped off to the greatest possible extent), get the 256MB GDDR3 version. 512MB of VRAM is irrelevant on the 8600 series, it's severely bottlenecked by it's small 128-bit memory bandwidth. In other words, even if you were to have 512MB of VRAM, you wouldn't be able to game on higher resolutions due to the 128-bit bandwidth.

That said, the GDDR3 256MB version is capable of higher memory clocks due to the power savings that come along with GDDR3. Therefore, you can have higher clocks with greater temperature tolerances, which means a faster product.

But all this irrelevant because the HD3850s are much better choices over the 8600GTSs anyways.

 

[DarthRevan]

thanks... ill get a hd 3850. maybe a corssfire in the future. but is the 3870 MUCH better than the 3850 ?

 

[Sheninat0r]

Not really; if you're on a budget, the 3850 = WIN.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I am pretty much an Nvidia fanboy, and even I would take an HD3850 over an 8600GTS.

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[taltamir]

3850, 3870, 8800GT are the only cards worth buying right now. Period. Everything else is either less then half the performance. Or same performance for twice the price. (or SLIGHTLY faster for 3 times the price)

Also... check dell.com and look around here for deals. If you are willing to wait a week or two for the item to ship you can get a 3870 or 8800GT for 220$ shipped

 

[DarthRevan]

http://search.dell.com/results...=en&cs=&k=3870&cat=all

the prices got high some time ago.... like 2 weeks.

do you have any graphics comparing the 3870 and the 3850 ?

 

[Syntax Error]

If you're willing to pay $270 for a 3870, why not get an 8800GT instead?

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
I am pretty much an Nvidia fanboy, and even I would take an HD3850 over an 8600GTS.

Text

Lol, same here, i've always liked their drivers better.......but if i had to buy a card today on my budget, it would be the ATI 3850. No denying it's the best card out for under $200 today.

 

[bryanW1995]

uh, I'm having difficulty deciding which reply to QFT. BUY 3850 seems to be the consensus. the only cards to buy between $150 and $500 right now are 38x0 and 8800gt. period.

 

[DarthRevan]

i'll get the 3850, cus i live in Brazil and my father's friend will bring it here from the USA. As i'm buying a AMD X2 6400+ i can't buy an expensive card or i'll have to pay taxes ( more than U$ 500 ) so i'll have an AMD system : AMD x2 6400 + ATI HD 3850 + 4GB RAM Dual Channel DDR2 800mhz. Good system ?

 

[JPB]

The HD 3850 is a nice card. And yes, that is a nice system your building.

What power supply do you have ?

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: DarthRevan
thanks... ill get a hd 3850. maybe a corssfire in the future. but is the 3870 MUCH better than the 3850 ?

The answer is a big resounding YES!

 

[Denithor]

I wouldn't call it resounding.

HD3850 HD3870 HD2900XT all together on one chart.

Actually, just read that whole dang article then make up your mind once you have the facts.

And to tell the truth, you would be a lot better off with an Intel system these days instead of AMD. More performance at about the same price just makes sense.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: Denithor
I wouldn't call it resounding..

Big Ooops from my part. I had read to fast and thought he was asking about 3850 vs 8600GTS