Choosing a graphics card

B

BoWzA

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 28, 2007
Messages
148
Hey everyone
I'm contemplating getting a better graphics card. At the moment I'm gaming at 1280x1024 but I intend to get a 22" LCD probably around xmas time. I'm just wondering which card to go for. I was considering a single 4850 but my friend told me that it'd run a bit slower on my motherboard because of the Nvidia chipset. Would this really be the case?

So plan B was a single 9600GT for now and pick up another one when I get a bigger LCD. Either that or a single 8800GT now and maybe another one later if it can't handle the resolution of the 22". I mainly play COD4, GRiD and a little crysis as well as BF2.

What do you think?

Thanks
 
An ATI HD4850 video card should have no problem running on an Nvidia based chipset mobo. Just because you have an Nvidia chip motherboard does not mean you need an Nvidia chip video card to go along with it. However, if your mobo is SLI, then that's a different story where you can't run 2 x ATI cards in SLI. But, as a single video card, it should be fine. For a 22" LCD, an HD 4850 is perfect for that resolution. I'd skip the 9600GT for an HD 4850.
 
Hmm he said that if I use an ATi card it'll need more cpu resources (about 5%) because of the way the two gpus are designed or something. Yeah I figured if I throw a 4850 at it and an AMD 6000X2 cpu I won't have to touch it for a while. It's only used for casual gaming I just wanted things to look a bit better.
 
It should be fine. A faster CPU will benefit in gaming, but as long as you have a Dual Core CPU it should be ok. It's not like you are running 2 x HD4850 in Crossfire mode. Also, for a 22" monitor, I would not bother with pairing 2 x 9600Gt or 2 x 8800GT in SLI. At 1680 x 1050 res, it's not really benefitting.
 
HardwareGuru said:
It should be fine. A faster CPU will benefit in gaming, but as long as you have a Dual Core CPU it should be ok. It's not like you are running 2 x HD4850 in Crossfire mode. Also, for a 22" monitor, I would not bother with pairing 2 x 9600Gt or 2 x 8800GT in SLI. At 1680 x 1050 res, it's not really benefitting.
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Thanks, that's sorted it for me. Yeah I thought SLI was more for 32" sorta application. I'll take a look around for 4850's around here in NZ then. Thanks everyone that was quick as! :)
 
SLI is more for a 24" lcd with 1920 x 1200 resolution. But, 22" with 1680 x 1050 res, a single video card will drive that resolution with ease with the video cards they offer nowdays.
 
BoWzA, don't listen to your friend, he's totaly wrong.
You should do very well with a HD 4850 and if you also get an AMD 6000 you should do great.
Just make sure your PSU is good enough.
 
Wolfkin said:
BoWzA, don't listen to your friend, he's totaly wrong.
You should do very well with a HD 4850 and if you also get an AMD 6000 you should do great.
Just make sure your PSU is good enough.
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Very happy to hear that hehe. Umm I have an Enermax Liberty 500W (ELT500AWT) think it has 22A on both 12V rails. Should be ok?

I think he said something along the lines of..
nVidia using a high -> low bit ordering for processing and that ATi go from low -> high so if I run an ATi in the nVidia chipset the cpu has to reverse all the bits or something so that it ends up that the CPU has processed every byte about 1.5 times. Maybe it's true maybe it's not I don't think it'd make much difference if it is true.

Thanks for the help
 
I'm betting that 500W enermax liberty can handle 2 HD4850s. It's a good unit. I have the 400W flavour. Seasonic built.
 
Definitely. You're Enermax 500 has 2 x +12V rails. Each with 22A on each rail . The total combined output on those 2 x +12v rails is 32A. This is definitely enough to run an HD4850 video card.
 
Wicked, glad I bought one good component lol if I want to resell the 8600GT or 4000 x2 cpu I'm not looking at much of a return. Thanks!
 
There may be minor differences with an Nvidia chipset, but so minor you'll see no real world gameplay impact, even if it's as high as 5% cpu usage, it wont matter if you have a good dual or quad core.
 
Frostex said:
There may be minor differences with an Nvidia chipset, but so minor you'll see no real world gameplay impact, even if it's as high as 5% cpu usage, it wont matter if you have a good dual or quad core.
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That's all that matters then. Thanks!
 
BoWzA said:
That's all that matters then. Thanks!
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yeah exactly. Nforce 4 might not have HD 7 channel realtek 888 Sound, or low CPU overhead raid support, or amazing power conservation options, but it will function with any modern graphics card just fine.
 
So does the brand on ATi cards really matter? Like, Pailt vs Sapphire vs ATi vs Gigabyte etc. As far as I can see these all have the same clock speeds but the price differs by as much as 50$NZ at the same retailer.
 
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