Which budget beast would you choose?

Which budget card?

  • GTX 275

    Votes: 30 17.1%

  • GTX 260 factory over-clocked version

    Votes: 29 16.6%

  • ATI 4890

    Votes: 108 61.7%

  • Other- Please specify

    Votes: 8 4.6%
  • Total voters
    175
P

paco16

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Messages
498
So I'm upgrading from 2 8800GT's in SLI to a single card solution. I'm planning on pairing up another card with this yet to be named card in a few months. My question is fairly simple. I want to see a noticeable performance increase, with this single card. My budget is $250 and I've narrowed the field down to 3. Suggestions are welcome.
Here are my PC's stats:

EVGA x58 Tri-SLI/Cross-Fire board
Intel i7 920 (stock for now)
6 gigs of OCZ 1333 DDR3
SATA II drives (HDD+DVD/CD RW)
X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion Series
Enermax Infiniti 720W
 
Sorry! 1900x1200 on a Sceptre 24"
Playing COD:W@W, Crysis, Far Cry 2, L4D, HL2, CS:Source, Mirror's Edge, Fallout 3, WoW.
 
imo i would get gtx280 (gtx280 can be found around $250) or gtx285 if dell's deal is back again (gtx285 for 270)
 
i've got a 9800gx2 laying around somewhere. its essentially your 8800gt sli setup in one card. when the gtx 280's came out i noticed and enormous improvement in playability among all the games i play at 19x12. the 192sp gtx 260, while generating fewer max frames than the gx2, seemed much smoother and raised my crysis mins. i bought a slightly overclocked version of the 216sp gtx 260 in november and found it marginally faster than the old 260 and fairly close to the 280. the card was even able to carry high shaders (the rest at medium) in crysis on my 30" and generate reasonably playable frame rates. the 4890 in crysis is practically indistinguishable in terms of seat-of-the-pants performance with the gtx 280. i haven't tried recording fraps numbers yet so that's all i can really speak to in regard to the 4890.
 
probably the gtx280, or gtx285 if u can get a deal on one.. Try posting your cards for sell in the FS\FT forum on here.. could give you some extra $$$ :)
 
The cards that are in my system now are already sold... (well they will be) I'm building a new AM3 (waiting on an SLI mobo) box for a buddy in a couple months and he's already offered $150+my builder's fee ($100). So I'll have $250 to buy a new screamer of a card. (side note: I told him I didn't want money, he insisted... so I'm going with it!)
 
GTX 275. Performance is neck and neck with the HD 4890 and I prefer Nvidia drivers for a couple odds and ends they offer (digital vibrance, soon-to-be-released ambient occlusion). Right now they are the same price more or less ($249), but if it were a couple weeks ago when the HD 4890 could be had for around $200 in some places I would absolutely get that.

Basically, get the best deal you can find.
 
I'm an ATi fan, mostly every purchase with same price/performance ratio i'd buy the ATi alternative.
But if other people ask me, I'll have to go objective, and say that GTX 275 for you at that resolution.
 
Results so far are pretty one-sided...
GTX 275 5 13.16%
GTX 260 factory over-clocked version 6 15.79%
ATI 4890 24 63.16%
Other- Please specify 3 7.89%

Ambient Occlusion (if it works properly) looks to be a deal-breaker. More realistic lighting is really a huge factor for me. The cards I have now look awesome and I don't want more of the same, I want an upgrade in performance and visually. That being said, the ATI cards offer some interesting options as well.
Due to the poll so far I'm leaning towards the 4890, but could easily be swayed as I'm a fan of SLI and Nvidia drivers. So in the immortal words of Johnny #5- "Input... MORE input..."
 
right now you can get BFG gtx280 OC for about 243 in tigerdirect (after the cashback)
 
I've seen this kind of poll countless times over the past year or so (since the 4800's appeared, at least) and the pre-Nvidia pollster always ends up staying with Nvidia. Sure, the poll always sways towards ATI, etc, but it inevitably ends with the usual "I'll stick with Nvidia since I like their drivers", "good experience in the past", etc.

So, I ask:
Why waste our time?

I think the overall opinion of this community has swayed toward ATI since they're the underdog and finally put out a product that makes them worth buying, even Nvidia fanboys want you to support competition for obvious reasons. But are poll numbers really suggestive of actual purchasing habits?
Would the 66% of the voters in this poll actually buy a 4890 instead of all those other cards? It seems like everyone wants everyone else to buy ATI, so you can get your Nvidia card cheaper.
Some of these polls have showed 80% vote for ATI, but the OP buys Nvidia anyway. I have yet to see any of these things produce actual results, it's more like a "How many people in the community am I disagreeing with by buying Nvidia?" poll.

You're obviously comfortable with the green team, so just buy an Nvidia card.
If 66% of the vote for a 4890 (over two Nvidia card options, and the wildcard option) isn't enough to convince you, then there's obviously no convincing you.
 
Go for the best bang for the buck. You'll replace the card in a year or two anyway.

Cheapest possible 4890 gets my vote.
 
paco16 said:
Due to the poll so far I'm leaning towards the 4890, but could easily be swayed as I'm a fan of SLI and Nvidia drivers. So in the immortal words of Johnny #5- "Input... MORE input..."
Click to expand...

UtopiA- What about this statement did leads you to believe I'll pick Nvidia over ATI? I'm not a fanboy of either... I didn't post this poll so I could see how many people agree/disagree with my predisposed opinion. I've said in another post that I'm totally on the fence. Reading more on a comparison between the two with multiple benchmarks only confuses me more. They even say the winner is neither card, the buyer ultimately benefits from these two cards competing in the same price-class.
I've owned all manufacturers of cards... I don't think it's quite fair to assume just because I listed 2 Nvidia cards and one ATI that I'm biased, or that this is the same ole', same ole poll... I wouldn't be wasting your time if I wasn't looking for outside input.
So instead of questioning my integrity because it's the same status quo... maybe try adding something with a bit more substance?
I really do appreciate everyone's input... and will make a decision based on the banter back and forth... not because I'm a fan-boy.
 
I would pick up the 4890 personally and try to oc it past 1 ghz. I'm a little partial to ati though. The gtx 275 will perform similarly though
 
I was waiting to see where this poll would go as I am/was at the deciding point of getting a new vid card as well. I am not an nvidea fanboy, but I do usually buy nvidea....although 6 of my computers are running an AMD graphics solution (5x ITX mobo's with HD3200 IGP and 1 ITX board with a 4850) . However, the last time I had an ATI card in my main computer was with the 9700pro. Other then that it's always been nvidea...or 3dfx voodoo's.

I almost got the XFX 4890. I was really close. But I know I will sway back to going nvidea with GT300 eventually and although I probably won't go SLI, I may use gpu physx and the GTX285 will come in handy for that. I think if I didn't consider physx and it was only between the GTX275 and the 4890 and I was going to stay at 1920x1200 and not move on to 2560x1600 soon, then I would get the 4890. However, I will get a 2560x1600 soon and price difference between the best deals I could find +shipping to Hawaii of a 4890 and a gtx285 was @$80 and I said fuck it and got what I wanted and what I think is much better future proofing (if there is such a thing here lol) instead of what is "just as good" for less money, but won't be useful to me later as a physx card....which ok, maybe not that useful yet, but I have no doubt will be useful later and AMD is not even in the running here.

The GTX285 is over $250. You can probably get a 4890 for @210 after mail-in-rebates, MS cashback etc and probably the GTX285 for around @$280 on ebay with MS cashback. Maybe wait a little and you'll see better deals, since there were better deals for it before and no doubt AMDwill also have better deals. I couldn't wait and got an eVGA superclocked at amazon for $337 with shipping (shipping sways my choice big time. Other places might sell for less, but then charge me friggen $30+ to ship...hawaii sucks in regards to getting stuff shipped to me)....although Bestbuy is having a sale on BFG GTX285 for $299. I just like eVGA better.
 
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To your comments regarding bad shipping+Hawaii= the sux... Please understand that as much as I try to cry... tears won't come. I'm possibly jealous, but we'll leave that between me and my maker. :cool:
 
My vote is for a used 8800 Ultra for $100 on ebay. I've had great luck with those recently compared to 9800GTX+, 8800GTS 512, 9800GX2, 4890, and GTX 285 while playing Crysis and COD4
 
AParsh335i said:
My vote is for a used 8800 Ultra for $100 on ebay. I've had great luck with those recently compared to 9800GTX+, 8800GTS 512, 9800GX2, 4890, and GTX 285 while playing Crysis and COD4
Click to expand...

umm...? 8800gt sli will already outperform an 8800 Ultra.
 
A 4890 for $200 (ewiz deals, etc?) seems like the best choice between all of those. I voted 4890. Having used the card, the only gripe I had was the fan noise past 40%.
 
It's damn near impossible to beat the sub-$200 4890 deals that have been popping up. I voted for the 4890 as well :D
 
until Nvidia drops the price on the GTX 275 hands down the 4890
 
Umm, out of those listed I'd probably go with whichever I find at a lowest price, probably a 4890... But I don't think any of those are exactly budget options considering they're all $200+, so I voted for 'other'. I mean, you can get a non-factory OC'd GTX 260 for $160 with an awesome lifetime warranty and two bundled games even, OC it yourself and you're basically getting very similar performance (maybe 15% less) for more than 30% less money, now that's a budget choice.

If you're gaming on a 24" display or smaller, all you're gaining from these faster cards is slightly more AA on the most demanding games anyway (and nothing at all on the 'least demanding ones).
 
This review is pretty much locking up the decision for me. I can always buy a 3rd Nvidia card with x-fire ATI's and run PhysicsX off of that right?
 
UtopiA said:
So, I ask:

Why waste our time?
Click to expand...

It appears to me that quite a few people have responded to this thread - so at least for them reading this, and responding to it, must not have been a waste of time.

Also, why did you respond yourself? If you feel that this thread is such a waste of time then why didn't you just move on?
 
Valset said:
until Nvidia drops the price on the GTX 275 hands down the 4890
Click to expand...

But why?

I'm not saying that the 275 is the better card, but to say that the 4890 is the clear favorite is just plain incorrect.

The GTX 275 and the 4890 trade punches (and cost exactly the same amount of money!) - and are as identical as two cards from two separate companies could possibly be. Here's what people need to keep in mind: If one card is running at 40 frames per second, and the other is running at, say, 48 frames per second, then side by side you won't be able to see any difference at all. People get too caught up in benchmark results. They think that because such and such a card is consistently beating another by a good seven, eight, nine, or ten frames per second then that card is obviously the superior card - but that just is not so.

To repeat myself, there's no way that you'd be able to spot the difference between a card that's running a game at 40 frames per second, and one that's running a game at 46 frames per second.

And so, in that situation, other factors should play a role - a central role, really.

Does the card, for example, make a loud noise? The fact is that many websites have posted that the 4890 is 'unacceptably loud'. I've just spent a week debating with myself whether I should have bought the 4890 or the 275, and I settled on the 275 for this very reason. Okay, maybe, for you, the noise level of the card is unimportant, but for another person, like myself, that might be the deciding factor.

Or maybe, for example, a person might want to buy a card with PhysX support? Or maybe Ambient Occlusion is a big deal for a gamer? Or maybe a person might think that one company's drivers are just better than the other's.

When two cards are running as close as the GTX 275 and the 4890 are then there is no 'clear winner' - and to state otherwise really does smack of fan-boy-ism.
 
I respect your thoughts on this WabeWalker. These are the 'reasons' that I was on the fence between the two. You can break it down to pros and cons when there are two cards that in almost every benchmark/review trade punches. So the deciding factors should be the features and the annoyances. So far the 275 has less of these than the 4890. Drivers vs. drivers can (and has) been debated until the cows come home; but which of these "amazingly fast cards for cheap" has the least cons and the most pros outside of performance.
Overclock ability is important, but less important than features in my eyes. I thought I had decided, but you've identified what I couldn't form into a 'makes-sense' paragraph.

Sorry to swing back and forth everyone. I'm a fan of both companies and don't swing one way or the other. Both cards present an interesting comparison.

For all... anything that's "ZOMG CHEAPER" than $250 is less important to me than any of the other deciding factors.
 
Isn't the 275 just a rebranded 9800 GTX ???? I think so......so "older tech"
The GTX 260 OCd is a proven great card, have one myself.
My only gripe about ATI is the damn driver release pattern and hit and miss they seem to pull every once in a while.
I had two 4870 X2s and I loved them.....but I found CrossfireX to be less than what I expected, compared to SLi........I currently also have a 4870-512MB card in my daughters comp and it's been stellar.............Just two cents.
 
All I can say to the OP is that I've just spent the last week debating which card I should get, the 4890 or the GTX 275 - and I finally did opt for the 275, because I was afraid that the noise level of the 4890 might be too high (although nothing was really confirmed about that - I just decided not to take the chance).

Also, a game that I wanted (Call Of Duty 5) was being bundled with the MSI GTX 275, which also happened to be an over-clocked version, with a much better cooling system than the standard reference card.

The cost of the MSI card was identical to the cost of the 4890 I had my eye on.

I never even considered the 260 card - at these low prices (for the 4890 and the 275) there's not much reason, in my opinion, to consider the 260 when you see how much more powerful the other two cards are. And again, to repeat myself, I don't think you can really go wrong, either way - the 4890 and the 275 are both great cards.
 
WabeWalker said:
But why?

I'm not saying that the 275 is the better card, but to say that the 4890 is the clear favorite is just plain incorrect.

The GTX 275 and the 4890 trade punches (and cost exactly the same amount of money!) - and are as identical as two cards from two separate companies could possibly be. Here's what people need to keep in mind: If one card is running at 40 frames per second, and the other is running at, say, 48 frames per second, then side by side you won't be able to see any difference at all. People get too caught up in benchmark results. They think that because such and such a card is consistently beating another by a good seven, eight, nine, or ten frames per second then that card is obviously the superior card - but that just is not so.

To repeat myself, there's no way that you'd be able to spot the difference between a card that's running a game at 40 frames per second, and one that's running a game at 46 frames per second.

And so, in that situation, other factors should play a role - a central role, really.

Does the card, for example, make a loud noise? The fact is that many websites have posted that the 4890 is 'unacceptably loud'. I've just spent a week debating with myself whether I should have bought the 4890 or the 275, and I settled on the 275 for this very reason. Okay, maybe, for you, the noise level of the card is unimportant, but for another person, like myself, that might be the deciding factor.

Or maybe, for example, a person might want to buy a card with PhysX support? Or maybe Ambient Occlusion is a big deal for a gamer? Or maybe a person might think that one company's drivers are just better than the other's.

When two cards are running as close as the GTX 275 and the 4890 are then there is no 'clear winner' - and to state otherwise really does smack of fan-boy-ism.
Click to expand...

because I can get a 4890 for sub 200. I can get a XFX one for 230 AR. I haven't seen a GTX275 for under 245, more for the name brands. it doesn't justify the premium IMO when all other things are equal. If they aren't then of course the situation changes.

and if you think this is fanboisism (we need to codify some spelling of the slang here.) look in my sig. no complaints, its been a good card (won't OC for crap though)
 
Valset said:
because I can get a 4890 for sub 200. I can get a XFX one for 230 AR. I haven't seen a GTX275 for under 245, more for the name brands. it doesn't justify the premium IMO when all other things are equal. If they aren't then of course the situation changes.

and if you think this is fanboisism (we need to codify some spelling of the slang here.) look in my sig. no complaints, its been a good card (won't OC for crap though)
Click to expand...

QFT, man.

Have you got a link to this sub $200 4890 video card? How sub are we talking here? Five dollars!

Nevertheless, if this 4890 is available to everyone here for less than two hundred US dollars then I would agree with the one sentence that was written - specifically, that the 4890 is the much better choice. Hey, I'm all in favor of saving eighty dollars.

If this card isn't available to everyone here for less than $200 then the statement is just plain silly.

In that case it's a bit like saying that apples are better than oranges because you know a guy who sells oranges for much less than apples, except that you're the only one he's going to sell them to. Okay, that wouldn't mean that oranges are the better value! We all have to be able to buy them at that price! Give us a link, man. (Where were you, by the way, when I was trying to decide between the 275 and the 4890?)

I paid $380 Canadian (Provincial Sales Tax, Federal Sales Tax, and Shipping charges included) for the MSI GTX 275 over-clocked edition.
 
WabeWalker said:
QFT, man.

Have you got a link to this sub $200 4890 video card? How sub are we talking here? Five dollars!

Nevertheless, if this 4890 is available to everyone here for less than two hundred US dollars then I would agree with the one sentence that was written - specifically, that the 4890 is the much better choice. Hey, I'm all in favor of saving eighty dollars.

If this card isn't available to everyone here for less than $200 then the statement is just plain silly.

In that case it's a bit like saying that apples are better than oranges because you know a guy who sells oranges for much less than apples, except that you're the only one he's going to sell them to. Okay, that wouldn't mean that oranges are the better value! We all have to be able to buy them at that price! Give us a link, man. (Where were you, by the way, when I was trying to decide between the 275 and the 4890?)

I paid $380 Canadian (Provincial Sales Tax, Federal Sales Tax, and Shipping charges included) for the MSI GTX 275 over-clocked edition.
Click to expand...

zipzoomfly has the both deal (an MSI and the the XFX) though I need to put a retraction, newegg just put the EVGA GTX275 on sale for 240 shipped (not sure how long this is good for) but that puts it withing 10 dollars of the XFX 4890. and that is just awesome
 
UtopiA said:
So, I ask:
Why waste our time?

I think the overall opinion of this community has swayed toward ATI since they're the underdog and finally put out a product that makes them worth buying, even Nvidia fanboys want you to support competition for obvious reasons. But are poll numbers really suggestive of actual purchasing habits?
Would the 66% of the voters in this poll actually buy a 4890 instead of all those other cards? It seems like everyone wants everyone else to buy ATI, so you can get your Nvidia card cheaper.
Some of these polls have showed 80% vote for ATI, but the OP buys Nvidia anyway. I have yet to see any of these things produce actual results, it's more like a "How many people in the community am I disagreeing with by buying Nvidia?" poll.

You're obviously comfortable with the green team, so just buy an Nvidia card.
If 66% of the vote for a 4890 (over two Nvidia card options, and the wildcard option) isn't enough to convince you, then there's obviously no convincing you.
Click to expand...


Wow, such blatant vapidity.

I just bought a GTX 260 c216 for $159.

I read and posted in his other thread regarding this...I said

"If I had $250 I would go with the 4890."

This is coming from an NVidia "fanboy" whose last 4 cards have been from the "green team."

I, as well as others, know the limits and strengths of certain cards. The 4890 is a hell of a purchase for the $$$, IMHO better than the GTX 280 and even 285-when it comes to higher rez and more AA.

Now if he said "I have only $180"...hands down I would have said GTX 260 core 216 OC. But, the ATI product is far superior for only $70 more. Before you espouse on the shortcomings of the opinions here, you should consider more of them.
 
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