Gaming Recommend a graphics card?

[RupeeClock]

I want to thank everyone who suggested the ATI HD4850
I couldn't be happier with it.

I haven't been paying much attention to graphics cards for the past two years, and it's about time I upgraded mine, I'm still using the Nvidia GeForce 8600GT (512mb) that came with my system, and it's holding my system back a bit.
(540MHz Core, 118MHz Shader, 512B 400MHz)

I'm not looking for a huge, all-out upgrade, but something that would be a considerable power-boost for the price of around £50 to £100.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...ice-dsc/?page=2

Although this one has caught my eye
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...h/GT2201GB.html
625MHz Core, 1335MHz Shader, 1GB 800MHz.

Or should I pay a little more for this one?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C.../9600GT1GB.html
650MHz Core, 1625MHz Shader, 1GB 1800MHz.

What's confusing me really is the model numbers, 9600 seems to have much better spec, but the GT220 seems to be the newer card, and appears to have a lot more features.
But what really matters to me is system performance.

So any advice? Thanks.

 

[playallday]

I would go for a HD 4830 or a 9800GT.

 

[RupeeClock]

So you think this would be my best bet then?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C.../9800GT1GB.html

 

[playallday]

Seems a bit pricey.

I'm selling my video cards (4830 and 4850 1GB) in the trading forum, but I won't be selling them until I get a offer on both.

 

[RupeeClock]

Yeah, £80 is not something to spend casually...maybe I can find it cheaper elsewhere.
I'll skip on the trading forum though, thanks.

Incidentally, that card seems to have GDDR3 ram, and my current card is GDDR2.
Should I just be able to throw a GDDR3 card in my system with no problems?

 

[playallday]

It's all PCI-E so it'll work.

 

[Joe88]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...eries/4850.html

9800GTX+ performance + its cheaper

 

[RupeeClock]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...eries/4850.html

9800GTX+ performance + its cheaper

And it's also only 512mb, not 1gb, would that matter?
I've been using Nvidia for as long as I know, anything I should expect from switching to ATI?

 

[Joe88]

whats your screen resolution?


other then the difference
theres not much, just the ati software is a lot less bloated

 

[myuusmeow]

I know you guys are talking about Nvidia card and this article is about ATI cards, but it still has a point:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphi...-4870,2428.html

Most games had no difference in FPS between 2GB, 1GB, and 512MB cards except at highest resolution (2560x1600) and ultra high details.

 

[CIJC]

I haven't been paying much attention to graphics cards for the past two years, and it's about time I upgraded mine, I'm still using the Nvidia GeForce 8600GT (512mb) that came with my system, and it's holding my system back a bit.
(540MHz Core, 118MHz Shader, 512B 400MHz)

I'm not looking for a huge, all-out upgrade, but something that would be a considerable power-boost for the price of around £50 to £100.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...ice-dsc/?page=2

Although this one has caught my eye
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...h/GT2201GB.html
625MHz Core, 1335MHz Shader, 1GB 800MHz.

Or should I pay a little more for this one?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C.../9600GT1GB.html
650MHz Core, 1625MHz Shader, 1GB 1800MHz.

What's confusing me really is the model numbers, 9600 seems to have much better spec, but the GT220 seems to be the newer card, and appears to have a lot more features.
But what really matters to me is system performance.

So any advice? Thanks.

You should get a Radeon HD4850 - thats only about £90. Amazing card

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-HD4850-51...0662&sr=8-1

If you want to go a step up - The radeon HD4870 is the next one up

- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11133-03-...0951&sr=1-3 - pricetag: £120

Then there's this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/PEAK-HD-4890-PCI-E...0791&sr=1-7 - The radeon HD4890. Pretty fast card

- pricetag: £160
And I'll take your old card off your hands if you dont want it

- Upgrading an old pc you see xD

 

[RupeeClock]

Okay, the Radeon 4850 looks to probably be the best choice after all.
But I'm seeing there are two kinds of them, one that's Sapphire and one that isn't, any difference?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...TIHD4850Series/
It honestly looks like the Sapphire version is identical, but comes with a "free" game, hence the extra price.

I'm pretty adamant about ordering from Novatech btw, dunno why.

If I'm going to do anything with my old graphics card, I'll probably sell it to someone who could use it more than me, I can think of someone.

 

[CIJC]

There really is no differrence, just the 'free' game xD

 

[Joe88]

Okay, the Radeon 4850 looks to probably be the best choice after all.
But I'm seeing there are two kinds of them, one that's Sapphire and one that isn't, any difference?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...TIHD4850Series/
It honestly looks like the Sapphire version is identical, but comes with a "free" game, hence the extra price.

I'm pretty adamant about ordering from Novatech btw, dunno why.

If I'm going to do anything with my old graphics card, I'll probably sell it to someone who could use it more than me, I can think of someone.

just different heatsinks

I prefer the stock one because it looks alot better then some of the third party ones (my case has a window on the side)

 

[playallday]

I'd go with Sapphire since I'm a Sapphire fanboy, but that's just me.

My 4830 was insanely cool, about 50c on full load. But my 4850 1GB is a bit hotter (80c).

 

[FAST6191]

Just a thought but are we not set to see the directX11 influx in fairly short order, similarly I know the card is old but it should not be all that taxed by the newer games if you set the up correctly.

Might be worth waiting a month or three for the inevitable price drop and booming second hand market.

 

[Harsky]

Didn't want to make a new topic but thought I'd hijack a little.

How big a difference is there between GT220 card and 9800GT card? Like the OP, I also have an 8600gt card and want to upgrade.

 

[Joe88]

the GT220 is just a relabeled 9500GT

 

[Raki]

the GT220 is just a relabeled 9500GT

and the 9500 GT is a relabeld 8600GT IIRC