Which should I choose 3870/9600?

[Herradura]

I am looking to purchase a new card but I cannot make up my mind on which of the two. The 3870 with GDDR4. Or the 9600 gt? I know both will play CoD4 smoothly on my current 17" but I will be getting a 20" soon after the card. Which one plays more smooth.

I noticed that the 3870 comes in two versions. One with GDDR3 and one with GDDR4, Does it really make a difference in speed when playing games?

Thanks,Kenneth

 

[BFG10K]

http://www.firingsquad.com/har...performance/page12.asp

The 9600 GT is consistently ahead of the 3870, and I doubt the RAM type will make much difference to the 3870.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: Herradura
I am looking to purchase a new card but I cannot make up my mind on which of the two. The 3870 with GDDR4. Or the 9600 gt? I know both will play CoD4 smoothly on my current 17" but I will be getting a 20" soon after the card. Which one plays more smooth.

I noticed that the 3870 comes in two versions. One with GDDR3 and one with GDDR4, Does it really make a difference in speed when playing games?

Thanks,Kenneth

Both will be fine for CoD4 at 1680x1050, the 9600GT is faster in that particular game though.

The 3870 vs 9600GT is a pretty even battle, the 9600GT wins a few and the 3870 wins a few.

The GDDR4 version of the 3870 should provide slightly more performance, but not much.

 

[evolucion8]

Both tends to trade blows, but if you want to buy a card for resolutions like 1600x1200 and more futureproof, the HD 3870 will be the best choice, the 9600GT is not a bad card by any means, but is just some kind of stop gap that offers nice performance now, but later will age much faster.

 

[evolucion8]

OOps double post :shocked:

 

[v8envy]

Buying a slower budget card hoping for better performance months or years in the future is... not an optimal solution, IMO. On a 20 inch monitor you won't notice much of a difference (I'm assuming 1280x1024 19" lcd, not 1600x1200) in performance between the two. Buy whichever one is cheaper today to play games today.

 

[manimal]

I vote for just get cheaper. There will be a new 9600pro or a TI4200 card for the next revolutionary card from ati and nv in six months or sooner so getting a 109AR9600 is the way to go since the next midrange card will probably be faster than todays top of the line. Even if it doesnt there arent alot of PC games- Alan Wake and crysis 2 not withstanding- that are gonna push a 9600gt to its knees anyway so......

 

[Lithan]

If ya want AA in COD4 choose the cheaper card. If ya dont want AA, go 3870. 3870 wins with AA off by a decent margin. But turn AA on and the 9600gt takes a little bit of a lead. Not really enough to justify spending more on it though... at least at the res you'll run.