HD4850 vs HD3870

[Kweku]

Wadup people,
I'm having a bit of an emotional problem, I can't seem to decide who to but for the best bang of my buck, can someone please assist my wondering heart.

 

[Nick259]

The 4850 is a much better card. It is about as powerful as 2 3870's in crossfire depending on the game if overclocked a bit. Unless the 3870 is half the price of the 4850 and you don't mind playing games at lower settings then get the 4850.

 

[Mussels]

4850 is better.


They're similar in performance, but the 4850 is better overall - its far better with AA, for example. (nicks example would be true if AA was involved - 3xx0 cards sucked bad with AA)

 

[sttubs]

I changed from a 3870 to a 4850, huge difference, you won't be disappointed.

 

[kenkickr]

Hell, my two old 4830's in crossfire felt SO MUCH smoother when playing compared to my 3870X2's in crossfire. You can find some really good deals on 4830's but they are kinda getting hard to find without E-tailers raising the price.

Sapphire 4830 512Mb $89 bucks w/ free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822

If your wanting a card with 1Gb then go with a 4850 or higher.

Sapphire 4850 512Mb $99 bucks w/ free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

Powercolor 4850 1Gb $105 bucks w/ free shipping($90 bucks after $15 MIR): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131163

 

[Kweku]

Looking good on the 4850, just a lil bit more than the 3870, but I'm sure I can try manage

 

[Zubasa]

Looking good on the 4850, just a lil bit more than the 3870, but I'm sure I can try manage

If you can't afford a 4850,a HD 4770 will still be a better buy than the 3870.

 

[LittleLizard]

3870 = 9600gt
4850 = 9800gtx+

so which is better ?

 

[Kweku]

4850 it is man, I think I can afford it. Thanx for the help guys, much appriciated

 

[ASRockIQ]

why not get a 4770?

 

[Kweku]

How much better is the 4770?

 

[ASRockIQ]

How much better is the 4770?

it's been tested that the 4770 is way similar in performance to the 4850. the 4770 has GDDR5 verses GDDR3 on the 4850. though the 4850 has a 256-Bit Bus while the 4770 only has 128-Bit but that GDDR5 is worth it.

the 4770 though only has 640 Stream Processors but the 4850 has it beat with 800. still though you'll only see like 3-5FPS difference

4770 can play games liek CoD4, World at War, Left4Dead1&2, CS:S, Crysis with a good CPU and RAM, Etc.

 

[Mussels]

essentially it comes down to:

4770 is a bit more power efficient, and slightly cooler running. Downside is that it cant crossfire with 4830/50/70/90 - its a different architecture.

Its not a bad choice, to be honest... i kinda forget about it as an option, since they're always out of stock here in au.

 

[ASRockIQ]

^Yeah, the 4770 isn't bad. Newegg has them in stock for now. i'll be getting the Sapphire 4770 and maybe get a second one later on for CF

 

[Kweku]

I will check if I can locate one and see the price difference, but as for cooling I was looking at water cooling

 

[Maban]

I hear that it can crossfire with rv770. Though I haven't seen proof. And haven't really cared to follow up on it.

 

[ASRockIQ]

just a question in this thread if those don't mind answering...

would it be worth getting the Sappbhire 4770 or the Power Color 4850 1GB that's only $104 at Newegg Link? i had a PowerColor 9600Pro way back and it was great but is PowerColor a good company anymore? i noticed they have updated their site and opened their Support Forums back up.

 

[human_error]

just a question in this thread if those don't mind answering...

would it be worth getting the Sappbhire 4770 or the Power Color 4850 1GB that's only $104 at Newegg Link? i had a PowerColor 9600Pro way back and it was great but is PowerColor a good company anymore? i noticed they have updated their site and opened their Support Forums back up.

Powercolor are fine - my 4870x2 is a powercolor and it runs fine. I had an asus 3870x2 before this and it ran fine too - i don't think that reference design cards will have any perceivable difference these days with the different manufacturers - the only real difference is non-reference coolers/pcbs and of course what speeds the card is at out the box.

And personally i'd go 4850 - it still has more power over the 4770 in games (others may disagree with me on this).

 

[Zubasa]

I will check if I can locate one and see the price difference, but as for cooling I was looking at water cooling

The thing about 4770s are that they tend to overclock better than the 4850.
With some water cooling and may be volt mods, a 4770 can out do a 4850 with both OCed.

This is the exact thing I don't like my card, it just doesn't clock well.
Now with reference 4890 selling for ~$174 ($1390 HK) here, I am really temped to get one.

 

[left-o-matic]

Right now seems to be a good time to buy video cards.

I picked up 2 XFX 4890s for under $400 USD.

I remember paying over $500 for the X800XT when it first came out.

 

[chaotic_uk]

The 4850 is a much better card. It is about as powerful as 2 3870's in crossfire depending on the game if overclocked a bit. Unless the 3870 is half the price of the 4850 and you don't mind playing games at lower settings then get the 4850.

dude where did you get that info ? , i had 2 3870's in crossfire and in every game i played that supported crossfire they matched my 4870 . anyways back on topic the 4850 is the better of the 2 which the op asked

 

[a_ump]

stock, the HD 4850 is better than the HD 4770, but if you get lucky and get a card that can oc good(most do decent) then it will outperform the HD 4850, esp since your getting wc.

Right now seems to be a good time to buy video cards.

I picked up 2 XFX 4890s for under $400 USD.

I remember paying over $500 for the X800XT when it first came out.

i hear ya man. i finally bought a new card to replace my 7800GTX lol, got a Powercolor HD 4870 for 126, well $134 with shipping. 2 days till it gets here i can't wait

 

[goldfries]

the HD4770 is pretty much like the HD4830, both of them are around 9800GT performance level.

one thing for sure is you can't go wrong with either. In many places, the HD4830 is retailing cheaper than the HD4770 so the HD4830 could actually be a better choice in terms of priceerformance.

 

[a_ump]

price performance in the us on newegg the HD 4830 is cheaper by like $20, but hte HD 4770 does outperform it. really just a matter of do u want more performance for less heat and less power consumption, or does the HD 4830 meet your budget better even though it performs slightly less.

 

[Zoelef]

Powercolor 4850 1Gb $105 bucks w/ free shipping($90 bucks after $15 MIR): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131163

If this is the only computer part you're purchasing, then this is the best per-$ purchase you can make today. You probably won't notice the 1GB RAM, but the shipping is free on this card, making it cheaper than its 512MB counterpart. The cooler on the card appears to be the Arctic Cooling Accelero L2 Pro, which is definitely superior to the default single-slot cooler and comparable to the dual-slot exhaust-out-the-back types more commonly associated with the 4870/4890.