Upgrading

Setzer777

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
418
I've been thinking about upgrading my eVGA 8800GTS 640mb but I'm not sure if I should hold off and wait for the price of the 280's to come down or make the switch to ATI and get a 4870 1gb card. I thought about getting a 9800GTX card but wondered if it really be that much of an upgrade over what I currently have. I have about $200 to spend, which is not nearly enough to get a 260 or even a 280.....so, do you guys think I should just hold for a little while or pick up something like this....

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB

current specs:

CPU: Intel E8600 C2D
PSU: Corsair 550w
Monitor: 24" LCD(1920x1200)
 
First and foremost: what PSU do you have? Kind of a bad idea to get a new GPU if your PSU isn't up to task.

And second: What's the max resolution on your monitor?

And third: the performance between the HD4870 1GB and GTX260 are almost the same. So the HD4870 1GB is a good alternative.
 
people should get a 3 day ban for asking for video card advice and not providing all there specs. lol. :D

a video card is just one piece of the puzzle so how do you expect people to give you sound advice without knowing what the rest of your pc is? :confused:
 
I'd wait. I run an 8800 GTS 640 on my other computer. And it's fine. However, if you're really wanting more frags, then it really depends on where you want to put your bux at.

Nvidia is usually more expensive, but their driver support is a lot better than AMD's. (Sorry AMD peeps, but it's true.)
AMD is great when it comes to bang for the buck. But see previous statement. I personally cannot stand AMD, and do my very best to avoid them. I actually hate them more than Vista, and I hate Vista more than shooting myself in the eye with a bb gun.

Now, if all things were equal (like if AMD had great driver support), I'd say go with AMD, because it is much cheaper.

However, all of this is qualified that your system can run it.. If you have a 500W power supply, come back when you've upgraded to something like 750.
 
current specs:

CPU: Intel E8600 C2D
PSU: Corsair 550w
Monitor: 24" LCD(1920x1200)
 
current specs:

CPU: Intel E8600 C2D
PSU: Corsair 550w
Monitor: 24" LCD(1920x1200)
yeah the 4870 1gb or gtx260 216sp would be your best bets for your budget and res. just get which ever one you can get the best deal on. your psu is plenty strong for either of those cards. my sig rig idles at 81 watts and rarely gets to 200 watts while gaming.
 
GTX 260/216 or HD 4870 1Gb is not going to push crysis on your 24" op. Just wait until Ati releases their RV 770 refresh in March so then you can pick up something more powerfull and worthy of 24" but cheaper.
 
yeah the 4870 1gb or gtx260 216sp would be your best bets for your budget and res. just get which ever one you can get the best deal on. your psu is plenty strong for either of those cards. my sig rig idles at 81 watts and rarely gets to 200 watts while gaming.

Thanks. I've only used ATI one time before and that was about 10yrs ago. I had issues with their drivers and running certain games....hopefully things are much better now? Also, does it matter which particular brand(Asus, Saphire, HIS, MSI, XFX, etc.) of 4870 1gb I go with?

I think if I can get an eVGA 260 for relatively cheap, I might just go with it because of their great CS.
 
GTX 260/216 or HD 4870 1Gb is not going to push crysis on your 24" op. Just wait until Ati releases their RV 770 refresh in March so then you can pick up something more powerfull and worthy of 24" but cheaper.

Well, about the only gaming I'm currently doing on my PC is playing MMO's, like WoW and Lord of the Rings. I'm basically trying to get a good enough card to play Dragon Age.
 
Think I'm going to spend the extra $50 and get the eVGA GTX 260 216 card. eVGA has been good to me over the past 6 years so I think I'll stick with them. Thanks for all your input guys, really appreciate it! :)
 
Back
Top