+/- $200 what will this get me?

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no_control

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 6, 2006
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What the best bang for the buck at this price point?

Looking at 4890, 4870 1gb, 260, 4870 512 xfire, 275

the xfire and 275 are really pushing the budget though. I would rather stay under 2 bills.
 
Well at around $200 it would be between the HD4890 and GTX 275 if you can get in on a good deal of course. I've seen 4890s below $200 AR but the lowest I've seen the 275 at is $240 but I haven't been looking all that hard and they are the newest of the two cards. What resolution do you game at and what motherboard are you pairing this card with? If you're at 1680x1050 or higher I'd recommend at least going with the gtx 260 or 4870 1gb, the lower vram/memory bandwidth on the 512mb 4870 will really bottleneck you if you decide to xfire 2 of them.
 
Sorry specs are in sig.

X38 & 1920x1080

But CPU & mobo upgrade are scheduled for late this year.
 
Nvidia cards have left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth lately, but I still tend to prefer them slightly. I've had 3 out of arrive 4 defective in the last couple months for myself and other builds. 2 GTX 260 core 216's and one GTX 275. However, having said that, I think I like the GTX 260 Core 216 a bit over the 4870 1GB and at the $150 I have seen them for sale for lately, they really are a good deal. I just picked up a Gigabyte HD 4890 for $200 AR last week and so far it is a great card providing a decent bump in performance over my 260.

I'd say that at your resolution it is a toss up. Having owned each card I might suggest just save some money and pick up a GTX260. It should have plenty of power, they run fairly cool and are quiet, plus once overclocked they will perform on par with or better than a stock GTX 275 while running $75 cheaper. Otherwise go for the HD 4890 if you can find it for around $200 or less.
 
could easily locate 4770x2 but they lack frame buffer and suffer at anything above 1680x1050.

i'd go with gtx260 or 4870 depending on whichever brand you prefer.
 
not looking at a 4770x2 I already have a 4850x2 2gb looking to either move up or stay at equal performance from a single GPU solution.
 
Best bang for the buck is easily the GTX 260 at $165-ish... There's an XFX GTX 260 on Newegg that's going for exactly that after MIR and comes with two bundled games to boot (FC2 & CoD5), I think 4870 1GB prices have come down and they're within $5-10 bucks of the GTX 260 again though. The 4870 is physically smaller if that matters to ya, the GTX 260 will overclock much better and it's easier to find one with a good warranty (BFG, XFX, EVGA... of those only XFX makes ATI cards atm).

If you spend $50-70 more on a 4890 or GTX 275 you'll get a bit more AA on some of the more demanding games at 1920x1200, but that's about it really. On less demanding games you gain absolutely nothing, personally I don't think it's worth it unless you're quire flush. From the looks of your sig it seems you game at 1920x1080 on the HDTV, I dunno how much of a step up any of these will be to your CF setup though... If what you're craving is extra AA on those games that struggle with your 4850's smaller frame buffer then maybe you should consider the 4890.
 
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MSI 260gtx 216core OC v3 insanly overclocked card for 150 bucks after rebate and free shipping @ newegg the review on this website shows this card trading blows with the 4890 @ 1900x1200 and beating the crap out of the 4870 1gb
 
well technically, upon further investigation, my current card beats the crap out of a 1gb 4870 and the 260GTX you mentioned.

I'm looking to upgrade or maintain from my current card. so far 4890 and 275 seem to be it.
 
Loud isn't exactly problematic. This card has been flawless in every way. Looking at an upgrade path for my i7 build later this year I would rather have something else.
 
Well the 4890 will be slower than your current card, but it will still be enough to handle all of todays games. However, that being said, the 4890 isn't THAT much faster than a 4870.
 
Hmm, I thought I'd read that you had 2 4850s in CF, but you actually have a 4850x2... Sorry, misread. 'Least going from 4850s in CF you'd gain a larger frame buffer (hence my earlier comment) but a 2GB 4850x2 is a different story, I'm not sure how effectively it can use that 2GB but you're not gaming at super high res anyway. Not sure why you'd wanna upgrade either way, neither the 4890 nor the 4870 are gonna prove to be a big step up, why not just wait for the next gen of cards? You'd have to run 4870's in CF to see a major improvement over what you have... And it'd be pointless at 1920x1080.
 
id say a 4890 for under $200 is the best bet, especially because of overclocks.

4850x2 with 2GB frame buffer means each of the video cards will have 1gb of ram each, however the card's usability is questionable ever since the gtx275/4890 came out, as they put out almost the same kind of performance while being cheaper (and more consistent)
 
He already has the 4850x2 though, getting a 4890 wouldn't be much of an upgrade... More of a lateral move, it might play some newer games better (where the CF drivers for the 4850x2 aren't up to par) but it's not gonna be a huge improvement, waste of money to spend $200 on a new card at this point, for him.
 
if he already has it, then it can hold him over untill the new years, and new cards come out.
 
this is what I'm trying to determine. If it's a total waste then I'll look into liquid cooling solution to shut this thing up. But otherwise its a really bitchen card. Overkill really since I run everything maxed. Only other option I see is to downgrade to a 260 and sell the card.
 
Ah, so it's the noise factor that's bothering you and/or making you itch for an upgrade? I'm just guessing but there's probably not an abundance of blocks for a (relatively) rare card like that, good luck though. As you said though, you can always move to a GTX 260 and not lose a whole lot after you sell the 4850x2... Have you tried fiddling with the fan speed at all though?
 
fan speed is useless. I ziptied a few 90mm fans on there, it works but if I really load it the temps start to go up. I can't overclock this way. XSPC makes a full cover block for it. I also have a pair of old swiftech MCW55 that look like they will fit. It's been nice sitting on air. But it looks like my choices are limited.

In all fairness....The card is loud, but for everyday gaming most of the reviews out there are too harsh on this thing. It may not wow your e-peen buddies but it definately gets the job done.

Thanks for the help guys
 
no_control said:
not looking at a 4770x2 I already have a 4850x2 2gb looking to either move up or stay at equal performance from a single GPU solution.
Click to expand...

for 200 that is going to be hard. a 4890 would be your best bet. I am not sure you need to upgrade (unless just for the fun of it). I would save just for a newer quad and a pair of 4890 if your looking at just gaming improvements.
 
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