Card choices?

Zake202 said:
BUilding a new PC after 5years and really not sure which way to go.

My budget is about 150, give or take $25.
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Either go with a GeForce 8800 GT or an ATI 4850.
They are both awsome cards and amazing price\performers.

What are the pro's and cons of ATI and GeForce?
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None that I can think of, execpt maybe that ATI being originally from Canada as a PRO ;)

Serioulsy, the graphics cards market is very competative right now, which means it is a good time to get a good card for the money

The 4850 is faster but more expensive, the 8800 GT is a bargain.

So search around to see what prices you can get for both cards, read up on them and make a decision.

What is Pci Express 2.0?
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It is a new PCIe standard that is faster, but dont worry about it. Right now it is not really important. A PCIe 2.0 card will work fine on a PCIe 1 motherboard and vice versa.

Any info would help, thanks~
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You are welcome.
 
Zake202 said:
BUilding a new PC after 5years and really not sure which way to go.

My budget is about 150, give or take $25.

What are the pro's and cons of ATI and GeForce?

What is Pci Express 2.0?

Thinking of this..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

Any info would help, thanks~
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Don't buy that. HD4850 is faster, costs the same and can overclock to become HD4870.

Prices are great now, with ATI being competetive again; Nvidia is forced to price down too. If you have the extra money, I would suggest spending $225 on GTX 260.

As far as PCI-E 2.0 goes; don't even worry about it. It has way more bandwidth than PCE-E 1 slot; but no card out now comes close to maxing out PCI-E 1.0 bus.
 
SpeedyVV said:
Either go with a GeForce 8800 GT or an ATI 4850.
They are both awsome cards and amazing price\performers.


None that I can think of, execpt maybe that ATI being originally from Canada as a PRO ;)

Serioulsy, the graphics cards market is very competative right now, which means it is a good time to get a good card for the money

The 4850 is faster but more expensive, the 8800 GT is a bargain.

So search around to see what prices you can get for both cards, read up on them and make a decision.

It is a new PCIe standard that is faster, but dont worry about it. Right now it is not really important. A PCIe 2.0 card will work fine on a PCIe 1 motherboard and vice versa.


You are welcome.
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One thing I don't want to do is install a new heatsink/fan for the GPU.

The card I have atm is an ICeQ and works great.

Wondering if the MSI one I linked is worth the money? Would I need to replace the heatsink?

Also, is BFG a good manufacturer? I'm not too sure what the trusted ones are, I've heard some negative stuff about EVGA, but it seems to also be a good manufacturer.

I should make sure the mobo I choose supports 2.0 right?

Really trying to keep my video card $160 or under. Have a budget of about 800 for the whole PC.
 
Get a 4850 , and overclock it to 4870 speeds if you dont have that much to spend, the 4800 series is an excellent and wise choice. My 4870 totally demolishes my old 8800 gts (640).
 
Krenum said:
Get a 4850 , and overclock it to 4870 speeds if you dont have that much to spend, the 4800 series is an excellent and wise choice. My 4870 totally demolishes my old 8800 gts (640).
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I'm not much of an OCer.

What is the speed os 4850 and what are the speed you are OCing it to? Or, what is the 4870 speed?

Also, does this one look ok?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127370

I like the stock heatsink/fan on MSI cards. Not sure if there is a better deal/4850?
 
Zake202 said:
I'm not much of an OCer.

What is the speed os 4850 and what are the speed you are OCing it to? Or, what is the 4870 speed?

Also, does this one look ok?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127370

I like the stock heatsink/fan on MSI cards. Not sure if there is a better deal/4850?
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Don't worry about OCing anything right now.

This ASUS 4850 goes for $182.99 less $30.00MIR = $152.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

If you want to save money on the video card for a better monitor or something else then go with of this 8800GT:

ASUS for $129.99 less $30.00 MIR = $99.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121263

I did not pick ASUS for any reason than they were the cheapest and they are a reputable brand.

On the geForce side, evga, bfg, xfx, asus are all good brands. Dont know about the ATI side.

good luck
 
The HD4850 is a good choice. But what size monitor do you have? Depending on your size monitor, the HD4850 might be a bit overkill.

Oh and on the ATI side, the only decent OEMs I've heard of is MSI, Asus, and Visiontek. Avoid Sapphire at all costs since they have pretty crappy support from what I've been told.
 
Visiontek is a great brand for ATI cards since they have good customer service and lifetime warranties on all their cards. They tend to run a little more expensive than the other brands though.
 
Danny Bui said:
The HD4850 is a good choice. But what size monitor do you have? Depending on your size monitor, the HD4850 might be a bit overkill.

Oh and on the ATI side, the only decent OEMs I've heard of is MSI, Asus, and Visiontek. Avoid Sapphire at all costs since they have pretty crappy support from what I've been told.
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19" Hyundai LCD.

1280x1024 native =/

Though, this might be something I'm upgrading.

Thinking of a samsung or acer Widescreen.

Is the MSI card I linked good? its 190, but down to 160 after rebates.

I hate tinkering with my own GPU cooling on cards, I broke my 9500Pro like that. (unless it's as easy as installing a CPU one)

Total I should have around 1k-1.1k, but I hadn't planned on spending it all if I didn't have to.
 
Danny Bui said:
The HD4850 is a good choice. But what size monitor do you have? Depending on your size monitor, the HD4850 might be a bit overkill.
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Good point. Does the $800 have to cover for a monitor too or do you already have one?

If you don't have a monitor yet, then for an $800.00 I would save on the Video Card, ie buy the 8800GT for $99.99 and spend on a better monitor.

Again let us know about your resolution and we can give u better advise like Danny says.
 
Zake202 said:
I'm not much of an OCer.

What is the speed os 4850 and what are the speed you are OCing it to? Or, what is the 4870 speed?

Also, does this one look ok?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127370

I like the stock heatsink/fan on MSI cards. Not sure if there is a better deal/4850?
Click to expand...


The 4850 has a much better price to performance ratio, its a way better deal also the 8800 would be a step backward, you always want to try to futureproof yourself as much as possible when it comes to buying computer parts,

My Visiontek 4870 came stock at 700-900 (1800) . Right now I have it overclocked to 775-1050 (2100).




From what I hear though that MSI card you have linked is a pretty good deal, if you have the money you should go with that one.
 
At 1280x1024, either the 8800GT (which can be had for $110) or the HD4850 (Which can be had for $185) are good choices.
 
Danny Bui said:
At 1280x1024, either the 8800GT (which can be had for $110) or the HD4850 (Which can be had for $185) are good choices.
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IS the MSI one I linked ok then?

If I have money leftover after all of this I plan to upgrade my monitor. Not sure what to yet, any recommendations on that?
 
Zake202 said:
IS the MSI one I linked ok then?
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Yes the MSI one you linked to is OK. As for monitors, you'll need at least $170 to $200 for a noticeable improvement over your current 19" monitor.
 
Danny Bui said:
Yes the MSI one you linked to is OK. As for monitors, you'll need at least $170 to $200 for a noticeable improvement over your current 19" monitor.
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Aye, I have 2 in mind off of newegg.

Both 22 inches.

The samsung is 1000contrast ration at 260$, the Acer is 700ratio at $200.

Do you recommend a different manufacturer? Are separate HSF a better choice than something like the MSI one?
 
Dunno too much about monitors so can't help you there.

Zake202 said:
Do you recommend a different manufacturer? Are separate HSF a better choice than something like the MSI one?
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Nah, the MSI HSF is pretty decent for the price. Just get it.
 
Krenum said:
This card is NOT better. Please do some research.


Yes get the MSI card, it is the best price performance card around. I think you will be happy with it.
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Since when was a 260 not better than a 4850?
 
Proteos said:
Since when was a 260 not better than a 4850?
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The price to performance is way better. Also it has GDDR5, and is capable of DX10.1 and has 800 stream processors (or so they advertise).
 
Krenum said:
The price to performance is way better. Also it has GDDR5, and is capable of DX10.1 and has 800 stream processors (or so they advertise).
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The 4850 uses GDDR3, not GDDR5, and its memory bandwidth does not even approach the 260's. Also, the way ATI and nVidia handle their stream processors is completely different. Best case, the 4850 has 800 SPs, but worst case, it only has effectively 160. The 260 is undoubtedly a better card.

That said, for this budget a 4850 is still the best option. As for the 4850's stock cooler, it's fairly poor when left with the stock fan profile, but if you ramp up the fan speed it'll do a good job of cooling the GPU.
 
Zero82z said:
The 4850 uses GDDR3, not GDDR5, and its memory bandwidth does not even approach the 260's. Also, the way ATI and nVidia handle their stream processors is completely different. Best case, the 4850 has 800 SPs, but worst case, it only has effectively 160. The 260 is undoubtedly a better card.

That said, for this budget a 4850 is still the best option. As for the 4850's stock cooler, it's fairly poor when left with the stock fan profile, but if you ramp up the fan speed it'll do a good job of cooling the GPU.
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What about the MSI 4850 I linked? will that cooling do the trick?
 
Zake202 said:
What about the MSI 4850 I linked? will that cooling do the trick?
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We ordered one of those for my boss about two weeks ago (last time they were in stock), and it's a great card. The cooling isn't going to do a lot more in terms of how much heat is dumped back into the case (which hasn't been a big problem for any of the 4850s), but the GPU temps are definitely a big improvement.

One other suggestion I would toss into this discussion is this Asus "9800 GT", which is actually not a 9800 GT at all:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121266

What it really seems to be is a modded 8800 GTS, with clocks that put it pretty damn near a 9800 GTX+. For $170 ($145 after MIR) it looks like a pretty sweet deal, IMO.
 
if I were to get the MSI one, should I get any exhaust attachment? I forgot the exact name of it. Whatever makes the air go out the back of the case.
 
Zake202 said:
if I were to get the MSI one, should I get any exhaust attachment? I forgot the exact name of it. Whatever makes the air go out the back of the case.
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No, that wouldn't really be necessary unless your case has poor air flow. You're better off just making sure your case fans are taking care of business. BTW, I know what the pics on Newegg show, but that MSI card does actually take two slots; the second slot has the typical exhaust area, but the HS/Fan doesn't actually exhaust air out that direction, so I'm not really sure why they built it like that.

Edit: Here's a good review of some 9800 GTs in action, including the Asus card I mentioned, against the 4850 and 4870:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...9800-gt-roundup-evga-asus-gigabyte-palit.html

As you can see, the price/performance of the Asus 9800 GT Ultimate and the 4850 are simply fantastic. IMO it's really the NVIDIA card to consider against the 4850.
 
just curious, but, about the MSI card-

how quiet is that cooler? Anyone have any dB numbers?
 
I'd like visiontek for the simple warranty, but at the same time I don't plan to put on 3rd party cooling and void that.

So the MSI for 195 - 30MIR I think is what I will do.

Ends up at $165, and I don't have to mess with the Heatsink.
 
The stock cooler on the Visiontek would be sufficient for stock operation, but if you like the cooler on the MSI, there's no real reason not to go for it. Great cards either way.
 
Krenum said:
Get a 4850 , and overclock it to 4870 speeds if you dont have that much to spend, the 4800 series is an excellent and wise choice. My 4870 totally demolishes my old 8800 gts (640).
Click to expand...

Hell, the 4850 is faster than a 9800GTX+. This is a no brainer. Get the 4850 with a Zalman VF1000 and OC.
 
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