Hi, I'm looking to buy a new Graphics card, and am wondering what would be a decent one to get? I'd like Nvidia, I've heard good things about them, but any others are up for consideration.

 

 

 

Thanks for the help,

 

Peter

I tend to agree with you and would go with nvidia. There big competitor ATI i don't prefer but there is nothing wrong with them. Do you have a price range?

$50-$150 I think.

 

 

 

I can go a bit more, but that would be my preferred range to stay in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%204027%201305520548&name=NVIDIA

 

 

 

^ All of those look like they could do a decent job. I'm unsure about what specifics you will be wanting though.

I tend to agree with you and would go with nvidia. There big competitor ATI i don't prefer but there is nothing wrong with them. Do you have a price range?

 

 

 

ATI currently kicks NVIDIA's [wagon] with their HD series. I haven't heard much about their current drivers, but for example:

 

 

 

ASUS HD4850 512MB $140

 

 

 

The next closest NVIDIA card would be

 

 

 

EVGA 9800GTX 512MB $150

 

 

 

 

 

In benchmark tests the HD4850 often beats the 9800GTX at large scale resolutions (1680x1050 and up) where as the 9800GTX tends to do better at lower resolutions. You could spend another $20-$30 though and get

 

 

 

HD4870 512MB $180

 

 

 

Which has been known to get close to the 1GB GTX280 on a lot of benchmarks, like within 3-5 FPS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or if you want a cheaper card for for a 9800GT, $100.

Most of them look good, I'll only ever run a 1024 x 768, its just the right size for me, So i might go with the Nvidia one.

 

 

 

Keep bring suggestions if you have any. Also, if someone could give me a heads up on installing one?

What are you using this graphics card for? I mean, are you playing the latest games or what. I'd rather you not spend $150 if you will only be playing runescape. :lol:

I tend to agree with you and would go with nvidia. There big competitor ATI i don't prefer but there is nothing wrong with them. Do you have a price range?

 

 

 

ATI currently kicks NVIDIA's [wagon] with their HD series. I haven't heard much about their current drivers, but for example:

 

 

 

ASUS HD4850 512MB $140

 

 

 

The next closest NVIDIA card would be

 

 

 

EVGA 9800GTX 512MB $150

 

 

 

 

 

In benchmark tests the HD4850 often beats the 9800GTX at large scale resolutions (1680x1050 and up) where as the 9800GTX tends to do better at lower resolutions. You could spend another $20-$30 though and get

 

 

 

HD4870 512MB $180

 

 

 

Which has been known to get close to the 1GB GTX280 on a lot of benchmarks, like within 3-5 FPS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or if you want a cheaper card for for a 9800GT, $100.

 

I never said that they weren't bad i just prefer nvidia.

HD4670/4830 or 9600/9800GT if you just play at that res... You'll be able to play any new game with high settings and get good frame rates in that res.

I never said that they weren't bad i just prefer nvidia.

 

 

 

I figured so. Wasn't really trying to prove you wrong or anything :P

I never said that they weren't bad i just prefer nvidia.

 

 

 

I figured so. Wasn't really trying to prove you wrong or anything :P

 

I will say i have heard the HD series is suppose to be good.

Yeah. reason I said something is because I've been looking up benchmarks for NVIDIA vs ATI lately, as I'm kind of looking for a new video card. When I saw the HD4870 benchmarks I was blown away, like I said it was just kicking [wagon] even with the 512mb version.

I don't really play rs anymore, so I would be using this card for better gaming. I feel left out in the way of gaming. I have pitiful CoD 1 and that hardly runs on this gfx card, so I really need an upgrade.

What's the rest of your computer? I mean, do you even have a PCI-E slot?

I really recommend the HD4870, it's cheap and very good. I can run all games I've tried on the highest settings with it (Even FarCry 2, Company of Heroes dx10 and Crysis).

 

 

 

I plan on getting the HD4870x2 next year, it will shred anything that gets thrown at it :twisted:

I really recommend the HD4870, it's cheap and very good. I can run all games I've tried on the highest settings with it (Even FarCry 2, Company of Heroes dx10 and Crysis).

 

 

 

I plan on getting the HD4870x2 next year, it will shred anything that gets thrown at it :twisted:

 

 

 

4870 for 1024x768?

 

Right...

I got Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 and it plays all games including new ones like GTA 4, Crysis, etc.. At almost-full details on 1440x900 resolution, totally no lag, about 30-50fps at all times. (Over 100-300 fps in games like unreal tournament and some pre-2007 games)

 

 

 

Would say it costs somewhere around $90-$110 these days, definitely recommend it.

 

 

 

I don't really play games that much anymore.. Then again, if I were to build a new system, I'd definitely fork the extra 30 bucks for a HD 4850 like suggested above and get even better quality graphics.

 

 

 

(The 4870X2 and other dual cards seem a bit too expensive IMO... At least I wouldn't spend $300-$500 *just* to get a slight FPS upgrade and run more anti-alias or shaders etc.)

I got Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 and it plays all games including new ones like GTA 4, Crysis, etc.. At almost-full details on 1440x900 resolution, totally no lag, about 30-50fps at all times. (Over 100-300 fps in games like unreal tournament and some pre-2007 games)

 

 

 

Would say it costs somewhere around $90-$110 these days, definitely recommend it.

 

 

 

I don't really play games that much anymore.. Then again, if I were to build a new system, I'd definitely fork the extra 30 bucks for a HD 4850 like suggested above and get even better quality graphics.

 

 

 

(The 4870X2 and other dual cards seem a bit too expensive IMO... At least I wouldn't spend $300-$500 *just* to get a slight FPS upgrade and run more anti-alias or shaders etc.)

 

 

 

You can get a 4670 for 70$, which performs the same as the 3850 but with just a 128bit bus... Pretty amazing.

 

Yum yum, veggie-burgers and some fries for dinner... Now a coffee!

I looked into 4670, according to the name it should be a higher and thus "better" series, but it's really pretty much weaker than 3000-series and the 4800-series cards

 

 

 

http://www.guru3d.com/article/ati-radeo ... 0-review/2

 

 

514 million transistors (4800 series has nearly 1 billion, 3800 series 666 million)

 

memory clock 2ghz (4870 has 3.6ghz, 3800 series 2.25ghz)

 

128-bit bus (all others in comparable series 256)

 

math processing rate: 480 Gigaflops (4000 series 1000+, 3800 series 497+)

 

 

Positive: Very low power consumption, half of comparable medium-high end chips

 

 

 

That's not to say it's still not a steal for that price (seriously underpriced by ATI?), but it will suffer in performance compared to gpu's within the same price range +30-50 dollars. I personally wouldn't buy it unless on a very, very restricting low budget.

4870 uses gddr5... That's why it has it's insane speed.

 

128bit bus, yes, but it still performs the same as the 3850 which has 256bit... It's pretty amazing that it has it's performance but with just a 128bit bus and it also makes it much more cheaper for us consumers.

 

You could also go on about the 4870's 256 bus, but since it uses gddr5 it doesn't need a 512 bus, take a look at GT200 which uses gddr3 and it's bus is 448 and 512 (if remember correct)... Which makes it more expensive to produce.

 

 

 

As i said, it depends on what resolution you play on, the budget and how often you play games. For me, playing a bit then and now with a 19" widescreen... It's the perfect card.

 

Performance/price ratio is very good (as with all the 48xx series cards).

 

 

 

And since that dude only plays on 1024x768 he doesn't need a 4850/9800gtx+ to play with high settings for a good frame rate.

Exactly. And as I said before we don't even know if he has a PCI-E right now, or what he plays. May have to recommend something else entirely.

I'm a virgin when it comes to manually upgrading computers. So can someone tell me what a PCI-E slot looks like? I'll take my computer apart and check it out if someone can give me a decent explanation of what one looks like. A pic would be nice too.

PCI-E slot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, how many watts does your PSU give? If it's a prebuilt computer it probably won't be very high as they only just cover the components contained inside the case. You can easily buy a decent cheap one to upgrade though.

How do I find out how many watts it gives, and your image doesn't work.

Your PSU should have a label on the side saying some information, your psu will probably be between 300-500W.

 

Take a picture of it if you're still not sure and post it here.

 

 

 

A pci-e slot looks like this:

 

 

It's the blue one, but yours might not necessarily be that colour, it varies.

 

Note the division of the slots, and the bit hanging off the end.

 

 

 

The white ones below it are pci slots, which are still quite common.