Would like some help picking a new card.

L

Levone

New Member
Hey ya'll I'm thinking of upgrading my video card. There's nothing really 'wrong' with it per se, just have some money ($200) right now that I can use and decided to get a new card.

Currently I have a Radeon x1900 on an Asus M2NPV-VM MB.

I was looking to upgrade to a GeForce 9800 GT that's on NewEgg right now for $100 (after rebate).

Was wondering if this would be a worthwhile upgrade? It's been a while since I've even looked at the video card world so I'm not sure what the latest and greatest even is at this point (I know it's not the 9800) and how the rest compare.


And if ya'll have a better suggestion I'd like to hear it. I'm trying to keep with Nvidia for the moment. Granted this is just hear say but I heard their cards interface better with my MB and so I should go with them. I've had no problems with the Radeon - this one or past one's I've owned - though so I wouldn't really be opposed to staying with a Radeon either.

My budget is about $200. Also I have an AMD dual core clocked at 3.2 ghz (no idea what that is in their numbering system) so I'm not sure if that's a limiting factor at this point. Hrm, other than that the card can't be excessively large as I only have one PCI-E slot and two PCI slots (and one must be available for my sound card).

Guess that's it. Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Edit: Oh forgot to add. I don't have Vista. Would getting a DX10 card be pointless? I know DX 10 doesn't work with XP but would a DX 10 card (such as the 9800) not work with a DX 9 set up?

Edit2: Oh yes one other thing: power supply. I have a Corsair 750W with more cables than I know what to do with and nothing really taxing it (just a HDD, 3 fans, and my current rig. No LEDs, flood lights, small aircraft, liquid cooling systems, or anything like that).
 
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DX10 cards do work with DX9. if you dont mind going with radeon then you should get the 4850. its about the same price or less than the 9800 but it perform better than the 9800.
 
Does anyone know how large the 4850 is? Length is an issue due to some parts sticking up further down the MB.

Oh and the 4850: how does it compare to the 4870?
 
Check out THIS review, for comparison.

As for the length of the 4850, i cant find it, even on ATI/AMD's website.
What case do you have?
 
Thanks for the links. As far as which case, I've really no idea, but it's not really a matter of the case, it's just how the mother board is laid out. The IDE slot is down from the PCI-E slot and blocks the card if it hangs too close to the MB's surface (if that makes sense). I wish I could take a picture but I'm at home right now and not near my computer (which is in my room at college).

The MB is about 10" x 10". However, I know of someone (not personally unfortunately, just in his signature) who has a BFG 9800 GT (same card I was looking at) who also has the same MB I have. The BFG 9800, according to BFG, is 13 inches long. So evidently that one, at the least, will fit.


As far as I know my case is a full sized case. It's at least 2-3 feet high if I had to guess. Same length as height.

Edit: Upon reading that review, it looks as if the 4870 is far superior to the HD 4850 and the GeForce 9800. Thinking it might be worth the extra money to go with the 4870 if it'd be worthwhile with my current set up (IE no bottle necking, MB can handle it, etc).

Looking at the 4870s on NewEgg there seems to be quite the range in prices, going from $200 to $500. What's the norm price for that card? Would the manufacturer (MSI vs Sapphire vs Diamond) make a tremendous difference in performance?
 
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Yeh, the 4870 does out-do the other two, but with that you pay more.
As for the brands, i think its up to personal preference, people have the same disussions about Nvidia, there all fairly similar tbh. :)

As for the prices, the 500$ dollar ones are the 4870 X2, the review i showed you was just the 4870.

If your not sure about getting a 4850 in on your mobo, due to size issues, then you won't be able to get a 4870 X2. there HUGE.

They is no real "normal" price, as you get what you pay for. More expensive Versions of the same card tend to be OC'D for you and with upgraded fans. But i guess the price is from $200-$300.

Go with what BM23 suggested the 4850. Perhaps this, its a great price :)
Plus theres 10$ rebate.
 
Ah well that's not too bad I don't think. Will have to measure when I get back.

Playing at 1680 x 1050 resolution on a 22" wide screen monitor.


So, I guess the decision now is whether to get the 4850 or the 4870 ($50 difference). Any other differences between the two such as heat output or anything I should be aware of?
 
O btw, the size I mentioned above is for the 4850. The 4870 is a bit longer than that. It also needs 2 6-pin connectors while the 4850 only needs 1.
 
Oh ok. Well the power connection isn't an issue; got plenty of those. Length may be though.

I think the 4870 is about 9-10 inches long. The 4870 x2 (from another thread) is 10.5 inches long so I imagine it's some where in between.
 
The 4850 isnt inbetween the 4870 and the 4870 X2, if thats what your saying?
Its smaller than both the 4870 and the 4870 X2.
And it only takes up one slot, unlike the 70 and the 70 X2

IF your going for the 4870 make sure you have 500W of power.
For the 4850 make sure you have 450W.
(I dont know how many HD's and DVD drivers you have).
 
Levone said:
So, I guess the decision now is whether to get the 4850 or the 4870 ($50 difference). Any other differences between the two such as heat output or anything I should be aware of?
Click to expand...

$50 difference? where i live, the 4870 is almost twice the price of a 4850. :eek:
 
The 4850 isnt inbetween the 4870 and the 4870 X2, if thats what your saying?
Click to expand...

Yah I wasn't very clear on that. I was just deriving the length of the 4870 from the given length of the 4870 x2 and meant that the 4850 would be shorter than about 9-10 inches.

I think, for the sake of case space (one slot vs two and overall length), I'll be going with the 4850.

Thanks for ya'lls help.
 
Just thought I'd post the follow up. Just got my Sapphire Radeon 4850 1gb today and so far love it. It fits WAY better than my Radeon x1900 did: a good 2 or 3 inches shorter. Plus the video cards fan is much more conveniently located and is no longer partially blocked by my sound card.

But the best part: it's damn quiet. Whenever I would turn on my old computer it was like an engine starting up. First time I turned on my new card I had that 'CRAP' moment you get after making a change and it doesn't boot. It made hardly any sound at all and none in comparison to the x1900 so I was sure something was wrong and was about to turn it off.

But then it POSTed and loaded up to Windows. I haven't run any games on it (installing some fans that I ordered as well) yet but I'm sure I'll get around to that shortly.
 
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