8800 gts (320 mb) vs HD 4850

[towly]

Would it be worth upgrading from the 8800 gts I have now to the 4850. Ive tried searching the internet and I cant really seem to find a good comparison between the two, people say it is about 30 - 40% faster than the 88. I usually game at 1680*1050 and use AA/AF.

I looked at the 4870 as well but my budget limit is 150 tops, and I can get a really good deal on a HD 4850.

 

[Intel_man]

It's worth it. The 320mb uses the old G80 core and the HD4850 competes with the 9800GTX+ which is a higher clocked version of the 8800GTS 512mb core which had the newer G92 core.

 

[towly]

how does the 9800gtx+ compare to the g80 gts? The games Im really planning on upgrading for are armed assault 2, empire total war, and similar strategy/FPS games.

Right now the 8800 runs games fine but its already a little over 2 years old, so I figure its time to upgrade. Though I wonder if the spending an extra 70 on a 4870 would be worth it or if the 4850 would satisfy my needs.

 

[oregon]

I would say keep your 8800GTS, and wait 6 months to a year. I would assume your card runs most games very well right now. In a year though it may not, but in a years time, you will easily get a 4870 for $150, probably even something better.

 

[towly]

Are there any good cards coming out within a couple of months that might drive down the prices of current cards? And how long is the period in between price drops?

 

[ZeroWing]

the HD4850 I bought like 2-3 month ago has dropped $30 in price due to other cards coming into the picture. A new card doesnt necessarily mean a price drop. Price drops occur with competition is what i think and perhaps a new card running on the same core. MY HD4850 will max any game I play except Crysis. Ive tried a lot of the newest games and the 4850 can play them with no sweat. CPU's have also come into the picture a lot more than they used to in newer games, just something to think about . Also, I think waiting for the next newest thing to release in the PC market is pointless. Something better will always come out 3+ months after the previous champ. Keep in mind the motto if it aint broke dont fix it . If you can play your games fine I would wait until u start to see a decrease and then I'd grab the best card you can.

 

[towly]

good point, for the moment I can play the few games I have no problem, so Ill just wait till the games I want come out and see how the card handles it. Till then I might upgrade my psu and/or get 1 or 2 more gigs of ram as vista and newer games suck up allot of ram.