• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Decent GPU for son's PC within budget?

M

memnoch_thedevil

Gawd
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Messages
943
I've got about $140 to spend on a card for my son's PC that I am putting together for him, he will be doing some moderate gaming, and watching movies mainly.

The specs of the PC so far are:

CPU: AMD 9850
PSU: 80+ Certified 500 watt Seasonic
RAM: 2 x 2GB DDR 2 800 OCZ SLI Edition
MOBO: BIOSTAR TA790GX XE (has ATI 3300 on board, maybe an ATI card to x fire with it?)
Case: NZXT Rogue
HD: 500 GB Seagate

DVD burner & a Gemini II heatsink for the CPU...

no monitor yet, will be his TV, so super low res...but I do plan on getting him at least to 1680 x 1050

I was thinking about a 4770 or 4850...both fall in that range...but not sure which is better, or how the crossfire would work with a lower 3300 on board GPU...welcome to thoughts and suggestions!
 
The 4850 is better. Has twice the ram (1gb vs 512) and will perform slightly better in most situations.

The only thing that makes the gts an okay deal is that it comes with call of duty 4 and 5 for free.
 
There have been a lot of deals on GTX 260s at 150-165$ AR and it is a MUCH faster card, ~40%. However, if your really tight on cash, the 4770 isn't a bad option at 100$
 
How does the crossfire work with the onboard ATI 3300 of the motherboard, if I were to get the 4850? If there is little to no advantage over the GTS 250, then it may be the better card.

Also, I thought that the newer 4770 was beating the 4850 and GTS 250 in most situations. If so, I could get the Jetway 790GX, and later on add a second 4770 for crossfire, which would probably be the best performance sub $200 no?
 
The onboard won't crossfire, it's just replaced. It's there if the video card fails.

I wouldn't get the 4770 yet.

If it's mostly movies just get a 4830.
 
memnoch_thedevil said:
How does the crossfire work with the onboard ATI 3300 of the motherboard, if I were to get the 4850? If there is little to no advantage over the GTS 250, then it may be the better card.

Also, I thought that the newer 4770 was beating the 4850 and GTS 250 in most situations. If so, I could get the Jetway 790GX, and later on add a second 4770 for crossfire, which would probably be the best performance sub $200 no?
Click to expand...

You can only use Hybrid Crossfire (onboard GPU + dedicated GPU) with the low end ATI cards (Not the HD4850):
http://ati.amd.com/technology/hybridgraphics/technology.html

The GTS250 actually beats the HD 4770. In addition, the HD4850 beats the GTS250. And Crossfire is really only worth it if you're playing at 1920x1200 resolution and above.
 
singe_101 said:
The onboard won't crossfire, it's just replaced. It's there if the video card fails.

I wouldn't get the 4770 yet.

If it's mostly movies just get a 4830.
Click to expand...

It will, but I am not sure if it will with a better card like the 4770 or 4850, I think it has to be a lower card. And it won't be just movies, it will be mostly games and movies, but he has an XBox 360 and a PS2, and he is young, so I don't expect him to notice a huge difference of running Crysis on med vs ultra high w/ AA and AF turned up lol...As long as it is playable, w/o much lag.

If you guys are wondering about my 2 choices for motherboards, well they are currently the ONLY 2 micro ATX w/ the SB 750, so my options are limited, and it has to be a micro case. I want this PC to last a while, and I can always drop a better CPU in there a year from now, and still have a pretty fast machine.

I am kind of thinking maybe get the Jetway, since it has 2 PCI-E lanes, and the 4770, then down the road, pick up a second one, since the 4770 won't really tax the bandwidth of either lane, even if 16x/8x.

Thoughts on crossfire 4770 (one now one later), or just stick with the Biostar, get a 4850 1GB (or 4770) and then upgrade again down the road, to another single card (can't run xfire on that board only 1 PCI-E).
 
I'd get the GTS 250 or maybe a used 4870 512MB and a Phenom II X3 720 BE instead. Otherwise it looks solid for a budget build.
 
Mr. Bluntman said:
I'd get the GTS 250 or maybe a used 4870 512MB and a Phenom II X3 720 BE instead. Otherwise it looks solid for a budget build.
Click to expand...

I've already got the hard drive, cpu, and memory, I traded my XBox 360 for them, so those aren't gonne be able to changed :p .

The case is a done deal too, just haven't gotten it yet.

The psu, gpu (if any, may just use the onboard for now), and motherboard are really the only components left to get.

I would be fine getting a standard ATX board w/ the SB 750 chipset, but I don't (and probably can't lol) want to have to mod the case, and my son really wants that particular case. So I am stuck w/ micro boards, and I am pretty set on the chipset. So unless something comes out in the next couple of days (week at the most) then those are my choices.

Should I maybe wait on the GPU entirely, just use the ATI 3300 for now, and see what comes out in the next month or 2? I have been wanting to upgrade my own GPU in my pc too, but haven't had the money or a real need to yet. If I do wait, anything great around the $300 price range to replace my GTX 260? If so, then he would get that card when I upgrade.

Also, anyone had any experience w/ the ATI onboard 3300 video? How well will it do for gaming for him for now, if I do hold off?

Thanks for all the replies, great info so far.
 
how old's the kid? what games does he like? you might be able to get away with a 4770 for ~$100 or a 4670 for $85
 
First, check to see if your 260GTX is one that can do Hybrid-SLI and check well because not many can. If it can, pickup an 8200/8300 based Motherboard that can also do Hybrid-SLI and you're all set! (My Asus M3N78-VM has done well for me ) With that setup the video card is turned off unless your gaming and the Motherboards IGP can handle all your movie needs, with 7.1 audio also.
 
Ok well thanks for all of the info, I think I will choose between the 1gb xfx gts 250 or the 1gb xfx ati 4850. I'm kind of leaning on the gts, mainly because of the free games. Seems like either one would perform well enough. Thoughts?

One final thing that has me thinking though. There is a saphire 512mb ati 4850 for $82.50 after the 12% discount and the mir...so my question, is it worth the extra $62 for an extra 512 mb of memory? Although the double lifetime warrant is always attractive, we are talking low end card that would probably be replaced eventually anyway. So really is there that big of a performance increase that justifies the extra $62?
 
memnoch_thedevil said:
Ok well thanks for all of the info, I think I will choose between the 1gb xfx gts 250 or the 1gb xfx ati 4850. I'm kind of leaning on the gts, mainly because of the free games. Seems like either one would perform well enough. Thoughts?

One final thing that has me thinking though. There is a saphire 512mb ati 4850 for $82.50 after the 12% discount and the mir...so my question, is it worth the extra $62 for an extra 512 mb of memory? Although the double lifetime warrant is always attractive, we are talking low end card that would probably be replaced eventually anyway. So really is there that big of a performance increase that justifies the extra $62?
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question. errhemm...NO. The extra VRAM would help if you get any monitor that is 1680x1050 or higher.
 
+1 for the HD4770.

Its priced at the sub $100 mark and preforms nearly as well as the HD4850, GTS250/9800GTX+. It also uses less power, thus puts off less heat and is easily cooled.

If power and heat are not an issue, The HD4850 can be purchase for under $100 too.

The 1GB of memory is definitely not worth spending the extra $62. 512MB of memory is the standard and all near future games will run well with a 512MB video card. The extra memory will usually give you little to no performance increase until you run out. The 512MB will probably only limit you from applying high levels of AA or gaming at 1920x1200. At 1680x1080 you probably wont see any difference with more video card memory.
 
Last edited:
crazyassazian said:
I think you answered your own question. errhemm...NO. The extra VRAM would help if you get any monitor that is 1680x1050 or higher.
Click to expand...

So, that's a +1 for the Saphire 4850 512MB

ClearM4 said:
+1 for the HD4770.

Its priced at the sub $100 mark and preforms nearly as well as the HD4850, GTS250/9800GTX+. It also uses less power, thus puts off less heat and is easily cooled.

If power and heat are not an issue, The HD4850 can be purchase for under $100 too.

The 1GB of memory is definitely not worth spending the extra $62. 512MB of memory is the standard and all near future games will run well with a 512MB video card. The extra memory will usually give you little to no performance increase until you run out. The 512MB will probably only limit you from applying high levels of AA or gaming at 1920x1200. At 1680x1080 you probably wont see any difference with more video card memory.
Click to expand...


I think that's a +1 for the 4770...Most likely I will just get him a 22" monitor and run svideo to the TV for him to watch movies on. No plans on a 1080p flat panel for the 7 year old just yet hehe...so 1680 x 1050 is probably where he will sit for a while.

I do like the idea of less heat and power though, especially in a small form factor case.


randomhero58 said:
There's 3 HD4850's on Newegg that come to $99 after MIR.

$114.99 Sapphire with $15 MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824 *edit* Just noticed the Sapphire card also has a promo code for an extra 12% off. So it would be $86~ after MIR ($101.19 before)

$119.99 Gigabyte with $20 MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125238

$119.99 MSI with $20 MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127414
Click to expand...


Ya that's the Saphire I was talking about earlier, nice price on it too.

So I guess I am still back to which card will be the best over all performer out of all of the ones we listed, I don't mind going up to what I budgeted for the card, as long as I get the best one for the money, providing the best performance for games first, and movies last. (I think all will be fine for basic movie playback)

Let's stick with these 3 and go from there:

Saphire 512MB 4850 for around $86 after rebates and the discount

XFX 1GB GTS 250 for around $145 or

XFX 1GB 4770 for around $139


As for games, I have a heft collection, and he likes most of them, from COD, to Need for Speed, Saints Row 2, etc...I just don't want the games to be super choppy, slow and laggy, the AA and AF and super high details are less important, vs the smoothness of the game play.

Gah, that's a mouthful, sorry, I just got home from work, so I am tired and rambling on lol...

One last edit...Or should I just give in and spend an extra $50 or so on top of the $140 and get a GTX 260 (216) or ATI 4870, or even 2 x 4770's? Would the performance difference be worth it?
 
Last edited:
Danny Bui said:
You can only use Hybrid Crossfire (onboard GPU + dedicated GPU) with the low end ATI cards (Not the HD4850):
http://ati.amd.com/technology/hybridgraphics/technology.html

The GTS250 actually beats the HD 4770. In addition, the HD4850 beats the GTS250. And Crossfire is really only worth it if you're playing at 1920x1200 resolution and above.
Click to expand...

Um, no, the GTS250 beats the HD4850 by a good bit.
The 9800GTX is about on par with the HD4850.
The HD4770 is about that of an 9600GT.
 
I sai the gtx 260, but you will have to get a bit hungrier power supply
 
BrooksyX said:
I would go with a 1gb 4850. They go for about $140 new so right on your maximum budget.
pic1.jpg

Can't beat this deal. XFX 1gb 4850 $140:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351
Click to expand...

There you have it :D
 
GTS 250 = 9800 GTX+ = 8800GTS 512MB. They perform closely to the HD 4850.
 
4850. remember, this is a 4870 with slightly slower core and different memory arrangements. and the biostar mainboard over the jetway. i have always had excellent results with biostar matx boards. altho maybe not so much with the full size intel chipset boards.
 
check out this review of the gts 250 1gb card. The 4850 beats it as much as the gts 250 beats the 4850 @ your resolution. So, with that being said the 4850 is $50 less after mir, 4850 wins!
 
Red Falcon said:
Um, no, the GTS250 beats the HD4850 by a good bit.
The 9800GTX is about on par with the HD4850.
The HD4770 is about that of an 9600GT.
Click to expand...

hmm NO,

The GTS250 = 9800GTX+ with slightly different clocks. But since many 9800GTX+ sell with stock overclocks they really are the same video cards.

And the 9600GT is not equal to the HD4770. The 9600GT < 9800GT <= HD4830 < HD4770.

I can't believe someone posted yes below you.

Anyways, hard to beat a HD4850 512MB at $101 shipped - $15 Rebate = $86.
 
singe_101 said:
The onboard won't crossfire, it's just replaced. It's there if the video card fails.

I wouldn't get the 4770 yet.

If it's mostly movies just get a 4830.
Click to expand...

IT WILL CORSSFIRE. lol mine does :) Technically I have 2.8GB of Video RAM ATM lol.....

4870+ the HD3300.

Yay.

the 4770 is a better version of the 4830 and uses max of about 90watts.... good and if he ever wants to game with the big boys he can grab another 4770 and do better than a 285
 
ClearM4 said:
hmm NO,

The GTS250 = 9800GTX+ with slightly different clocks. But since many 9800GTX+ sell with stock overclocks they really are the same video cards.

And the 9600GT is not equal to the HD4770. The 9600GT < 9800GT <= HD4830 < HD4770.

I can't believe someone posted yes below you.

Anyways, hard to beat a HD4850 512MB at $101 shipped - $15 Rebate = $86.
Click to expand...

Are you for real?

The GTS250 has the EXACT SAME clocks as a 9800GTX+. Do some research.
The only differences between them are that the GTS250 has OpenGL 3.0 instead of 2.1, it has a shorter PCB (about 9"), uses 150watts instead of 160watts, and only requires one PCI-E auxiliary power connector instead of two.

I agree on the 9600GT being equal to the HD4830 though.
 
ClearM4 said:
hmm NO,


And the 9600GT is not equal to the HD4770. The 9600GT < 9800GT <= HD4830 < HD4770


Anyways, hard to beat a HD4850 512MB at $101 shipped - $15 Rebate = $86.
Click to expand...

This is right. and to add

9600GT < 8800GT = 9800GT <= HD4830 < HD4770 < 4850 = 9800gtx+ = gts 250 < 4870 512 < 4870 1gb = gtx 260 core 216 < 4890 etc

granted all these can move around depending on the games and settings (ex. 4770 can hang with the gts 250 with high AA) but for the most part is how they stand
 
Kardonxt said:
This is right. and to add

9600GT < 8800GT = 9800GT <= HD4830 < HD4770 < 4850 = 9800gtx+ = gts 250 < 4870 512 < 4870 1gb = gtx 260 core 216 < 4890 etc

granted all these can move around depending on the games and settings (ex. 4770 can hang with the gts 250 with high AA) but for the most part is how they stand
Click to expand...

You are right on everything except for the fact that the HD4850 is equal to the GTS250.

The HD4850 traded blows with the original 9800GTX, but is beaten by a good percentage by the 9800GTX+ and the GTS250.

Oh, and it can't do OpenGL 3.0 either, Doom 4, ftw! j/k :D
 
Rawr12345 said:
IT WILL CORSSFIRE. lol mine does :) Technically I have 2.8GB of Video RAM ATM lol.....

4870+ the HD3300.

Yay.

the 4770 is a better version of the 4830 and uses max of about 90watts.... good and if he ever wants to game with the big boys he can grab another 4770 and do better than a 285
Click to expand...

You'd probably be faster if you just did the 4870 alone.
 
Best value os 4850 for 87 bucks unless he gets a 24 in screen he wont notice a differnce
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top