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How much better will this be than my old card?

B1gg3stN00b

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I used to have a 2600XT but I'm thinking of getting a 3870, will it be significantly better? Any numbers on this upgrade?
 

JrRacinFan

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The 3870 is about twice as good, almost 3 times better. Personally owned one the 2600XT in my rig scored about 4900 in 3dm06 the 3870 a little over 11k. :)
 
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Like comparing apples to oranges, if you like oranges more.
 

B1gg3stN00b

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:O I like oranges a lot more. Apples make my throat swell shut.

As long as there's a large difference as I was hoping. :)
 

Zax85

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As long as it's ATI... ;-)

But the 48xx series is even better. For example: the 4870 almost performs as good as the 3870 X2 - offcourse there is a difference, but not much if you ask me.
 

B1gg3stN00b

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I'm not wanting to spend more than 130$ on a card though as this machine is mainly for low graphics intensive games like Spore, CS:S, The Sims 2, and various strategy games.

I'm just worried it might not have enough power to run D2:LOD at 800x600!
 
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I think a 3870 would be a great investment. Check this Sapphire out for less than $120 shipped at Newegg:toast:.
 
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you reach the 3870 so my advice go up and got the 4850 it is about 180$
 

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Well his budget is $130, so the HD3870 is a good choice. Also without more details about the computer, for all we know the HD4850 could be bottleneck by a measly 1.8ghz AMD or Pentium D.
 

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the 3870 would be a big jump but a 4850 (around $150) would be a HUGE jump.
 

B1gg3stN00b

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I plan to have a 4850e AMD dual core processor, probably OC'd to 3.0ghz, depending on how much power it uses.
 

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sounds like a very nice comp.

EDIT: LOL, I saw 4850 and figured they was the GPU... I just had an AMD 4850e and it was a VERY effecient CPU, I OCd mine to 2.9 very easily.

Get the ATI 4850 also (like everyone else mentioned)
 
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mitsirfishi

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why dont you just get a hd4850 ?
 
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I went from a 7950GT to a 3870 and noticed the diffrence in everything, it was night and day, and seeing as your 2600XT is alot worse than my 7950GT was id say yes your gonna notice
 
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go for it, 3870's are so cheap and are able to run all thoose games you listed at un-necessarily high framerates
 
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I have a HIS 3850 512mb ICEQ3 (similar clocks to a 3870) and it runs everything nicely at 1680x1050, but he doesn't need a 3870 for games like that. save him some money and get a 8800gs for $80
 

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Yep, if $130 is your limit, looks like a 3870 will fit the bill. Not sure about your time frame but it looks like there will be four new 55nm cards launched in Sept -- 4450, 4470, 4650, and 4670. The 4670 will be priced under the 4850 and may be of interest to you.
 

..'Ant'..

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go for the 4850 its just an awesome card and i think its price will drop soon
 
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As long as it's ATI... ;-)

But the 48xx series is even better. For example: the 4870 almost performs as good as the 3870 X2 - offcourse there is a difference, but not much if you ask me.

Ummm. *almost* as good as a 3870x2? 3870x2 is kinda behind the 4870. 3870x2 is *almost* as good as 4850, unless AA is turned on. You must not read many benches. :3

Edit: I guess you're defending your card.

The 3870 will be much better than the 2600xt. If you liked the 2600, you'll love the 3870.
 
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you reach the 3870 so my advice go up and got the 4850 it is about 180$

I wouldn't say nay to that but the 4850 runs sooo hot, its annoying.. Until I put my cooler on it and moved some fans around I put my 3870 back in.

The HD3870 is by all means a great card, if you want that price range also consider a 8800GT, either one will be massively faster, I remember going from my 2600xt gddr4 to a 256mb HD3850 and it was about 2x faster.
 
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I used to have a 2600XT but I'm thinking of getting a 3870, will it be significantly better? Any numbers on this upgrade?

about 70 percent faster and even more when overclocked.
 
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As long as it's ATI... ;-)

But the 48xx series is even better. For example: the 4870 almost performs as good as the 3870 X2 - offcourse there is a difference, but not much if you ask me.

:laugh: The HD4850 is on par with a 3870x2... The 4870 beats it up.
 
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