Need new video card.. help me choose guys

[Thursday146]

Ok my 8600gt failed after 2 months, i mailed it back and newegg has credited me with $80 (my paypal account)

So these are the cards i have in mind:

9600GT
Not really confident in that company.. are they ok?

HD 3850
Its a generation old.. does it still perform?

9600GSO
that cooler is hardcore.. i like the $30 rebate. that would help me out alot

And my system wouldnt bottleneck any of these cards right? Specs:
Asus 790gx
Kuma 7750+ @ 3.0ghz

 

[kkpudge7]

Of the cards you have listed the 3850 is probably the best. You are right though, it is an older card, and you will struggle pushing newer games.

 

[El quad core]

Of the cards you have listed the 3850 is probably the best. You are right though, it is an older card, and you will struggle pushing newer games.

not true. I rock a 3850 in my dad's P4 system and it plays most of my games on high with about 15-25 fps. The 3850 is the best buy and it won't be bottlenecked by ur system.

 

[StrangleHold]

Dont know about the Apollo brand, but both the 9600GT and GSO are better cards then the 3850

 

[El quad core]

Dont know about the Apollo brand, but both the 9600GT and GSO are better cards then the 3850

no that's just not true at all. The GSO is better than the GT but the 3850 demolishes both of them. The 3850 can even compete with the 9800GT.

 

[StrangleHold]

no that's just not true at all. The GSO is better than the GT but the 3850 demolishes both of them. The 3850 can even compete with the 9800GT.

Back it up with a benchmark. Neither 3850/3870 comes close to a 8800/9800GT. Well I'm not going to say a 3870 doesnt come (close).

A 9600GT can hold its on and beat a 3870
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3235&p=2

http://www.techspot.com/article/88-geforce-9600gt-versus-radeon-hd3870/

Against a 3870

From a performance standpoint, the Radeon HD 3870 comes out slightly ahead by outperforming the 9600 GT in one more game (and two benchmarks). The 9600 GT, although winning fewer benchmarks, manages a higher margin of victory in those games that it does win in. Performance issues in Quake Wars and Call of Duty 4 give the nod to NVIDIA, especially when you take into account a lower average selling price for the 9600 GT.

 

[kkpudge7]

That's basically what I said. The 3850 is by far the best choice of the listed options. But 15-25fps is not pushing a game, that is noticeably slow for me, anything below about 25-30 and it annoys me.

El Quad is basically right though, the 3850 isn't going to bottle neck your system and is overall the best choice, I just do not consider it a top of the line GFX card. It will struggle with games like GTA IV and Crysis.

 

[kookooshortman55]

The GSO is better than the GT

I thought the GT was better than the GSO

 

[bomberboysk]

I thought the GT was better than the GSO

Im pretty sure that the 9600gso is better than the 9600gt, as the 9600gso is a renamed 8800gs(which in itself is a 8800gt with 16 less shaders). Also, the 9600gso and 9600gt both beat the 3850 as can be seen on this graph from neoseeker:

[

 

[StrangleHold]

Right, the 9600GSO is a renamed 8800GS, But either one beats a 3850. I dont know where people gets this stuff, fanboyism, I dont know?

 

[bomberboysk]

Look at the benches, the 9600gso aka 8800gs beats the 3850 is most benches, take a look here:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/palit9600gso/

 

[El quad core]

Look at the benches, the 9600gso aka 8800gs beats the 3850 is most benches, take a look here:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/palit9600gso/

Yeah I saw it. Its just bizarre! I guess its once again due to the fact that Nvidia cards are better optimized for games. I still haven't figured out why that is. If ATI wants to keep up why don't they optimize their cards better?

 

[StrangleHold]

The reason is ATI/AMD dropped prices, started a price war with Nvidia. People bought them because they were cheaper and then led theirself to believe over time they were better. Same situation between the 4850 vs. the 9800GTX+/GTS 250 and the 4870 vs. GTX 260.

 

[BigSteve702]

i shy away from ati, had bad driver experiences in the past and nowdays i see they havent improved much since there are still tons of driver issues with vista and whatnot. i mean, the 4870 1 gb was beat by the gtx260/216 with less video memory, about a quarter of the pixel pipelines, and slower video ram too. its like nvidia came to a gun battle with slingshots and tore them apart!

 

[kookooshortman55]

Im pretty sure that the 9600gso is better than the 9600gt, as the 9600gso is a renamed 8800gs(which in itself is a 8800gt with 16 less shaders). Also, the 9600gso and 9600gt both beat the 3850 as can be seen on this graph from neoseeker:[

Oh nevermind, I thought the GSO had less shader processors than the GT. I dunno what I was thinking of then, lol