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HD3870 or 9600GT (plus power requirements)

S

speedy11131

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Oct 15, 2006
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New York City, USA
System Specs
Processor Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-M68MT-SP2
Video Card(s) EVGA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB
Storage Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB SSD, Western Digital Caviar Black 1.5TB
Display(s) JVC 32"
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply RP-550
Software Windows 7 Ultimate
I'm planning on getting a new videocard for my other machine (not in my profile) and have decided between a Palit 9600GT or a Sapphire HD3870. Which one would be better for 1024x1080 resolution? (my monitor is 19" and I won't go higher than that res.)

My other primary concern is if the NZXT PP500 PSU in that machine would be enough for either the 3870 or the 9600GT.
IIRC the power supply has dual rails with 16A on one rail and 17A on the other.

Also I have heard about black screens after playing for some time on the 9600GTs, but that they are on the EVGA boards. Do the Palit boards have this problem?

Thanks for your time and help.
 
Get either a 9600GT or 9600GSO, they are cheaper and will deliver almost the same performance at 1024x1080
 
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i am selling a 9600gt, see my sig . 9600gt will be better with AA .
 
My Xpertvision/Palit 9600GT does not black screen. Afaik, they did some kind of redesign to avoid just that.
 
Thanks for the replies, wolf I will have a look in the thread :D

Will my power supply be enough to keep the 9600GT stable? The power supply in question is a NZXT PP500 PSU.
 
speedy11131 said:
Thanks for the replies, wolf I will have a look in the thread :D

Will my power supply be enough to keep the 9600GT stable? The power supply in question is a NZXT PP500 PSU.
Click to expand...

for sho, no problem . 9600gt doesn't require much power .
 
Whatever is cheaper. Performance is quite similar. PSU is ok.
 
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3870 gets higher minimum FPS. Even though you are only at 1024...

Oh and I like how that 'latest review' had only one 3870 and then a bunch of SLI'd crap. Where are the Xfire'd 3870s?
 
The 3870 does a little bit better than a 9600GT in comparison results, and even in actual games, the 9600GT does pull ahead in some areas, they're too even, and when I got my 9600GT, getting similar performance for $50+ less was the way to go. Both series are damn good imo, I love my 9600GT, and I'm sure an HD3870 would've been good too...I just didn't see the point in the extra money for a card that didn't show enough difference to necessitate the price.

Now, with prices coming down, the 3870 will be phased out sooner than the 9600GT, you may see some nice price drops. At that resolution, both cards will do a great job, I game at 1440x900 which is the widescreen equivilent to 1280x1024, or the closest to it.

As-far-as Palit 9600GT's go, I love mine, it is a true champ and is my favorite vid card since my older x850xt pe. It OC'd quite far, I got the Sonic edition for it's 3-phase power, good PCB design and Zalman style cooler w/2 heatpipes that does a great job of keeping my card cool...I have my GPU Vmodded and OC'd (see sys specs), at 60% fan speed, the fan is just noticable and it keeps my card cooler than most single slot cooling solutions at stock speed, which for me is important even if these cards can take a lot of heat.

You won't lose either way you go, but make sure you do the research to make sure you're getting what you wanted, make sure it will fit your plans, whether overclocking or not, read up about cooling solutions provided and aftermarket, you won't lose either way Speedy.

:toast:
 
Now they both have dual slot cards available for 135. Gotta love price drops! :D
 
I would go for HD 3870.
 
First thing is first - make sure yo upgrade your PSU to a quality one (no brand being mentioned) as it is the "heart" of your PC and we all know a healthy heart is just good for the whole body... yes this is somewhat a stupid analogy but it still hold true... do your self a favor and take a look at http://www.jonnyguru.com/ and his power supply section and see what he recommends - he is the last word on PSUs as far as many people are concerned and he does great testing... Take a look at the Corsair TX750 review as he seems to like it:
Summary:

The Corsair TX750W represents the ideal PSU for the high end gamer. There's plenty of capacity to allow for future additions to current bleeding edge systems with no need to worry about a shortfall of power... (read story for full details)
 
you PSU is fine and will even sustain higher cards.

My honest advice? DONT buy any of the ones u mentioned even at the resolution you state.

prices are falling due to the recent happenings , get a 8800GT (which is better than the 9600 see reviews) or get the 4750.

i can not recommend anything less than these 2 cards in performance.
 
speedy11131 said:
Thanks for the replies, wolf I will have a look in the thread :D

Will my power supply be enough to keep the 9600GT stable? The power supply in question is a NZXT PP500 PSU.
Click to expand...
Probably yes. But does it have a 6pin PIC-E cable? Using adaptors for power is not the best idea.

I would look at the 8800GS and 9600GSO cards (close performance) cause the prices are crazy now.

Like TheGoat Eater mentioned a better PS is recommended (especially if there is no PCI E on your PS)

the best plan is a new PS and a cheaper card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023(dont pay a lot of attention to the rocket scientists that leave reviews on Newegg)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130332

zithe said:
One model of 8800gt is selling for $99 USD. If I get the money, I might go after it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125089
But keep in mind. Dual 8800GT's won't always (if at all) beat a 4850 if you decide to go SLI.
Click to expand...

Thats a 256mb version, better off with a bit more memory
 
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They're all good cards, and terrific values can be found right now. Personally, after switching between Nvidia and ATI back and forth for the past 4 or 5 years, I've settled on ATI recently, simply because I seem to prefer their software. NTune just started to piss me off, and CCC seems to be more practical and less overbearing. Also, CCC Overdrive will let you set overclocks that get applied to the card when you reboot. NTune does not. You can of course hack the living (insert expletive) out of the BIOS of either and ignore the software altogether.

I also settled on ATI because of Nvidia's insane escalating pricing. These are just video games for goodness sake and there are other things to spend money on. But the cards you're looking at are affordable.

Also, Nvidia had much better board partners for quite some time (EVGA is simply an awesome company to deal with), and ATI board partners sucked until recently. I settled on Visiontek and Asus for ATI cards, cuz they actually honor their warranties. But I do wish EVGA would get into the Radeon business, as they are just that good.
 
zithe said:
Still better than a 3870/9600gt
Click to expand...
I dont know if I agree with that, 512 seems to be the sweet spot in most games.

Also with his PS I would get the best card that uses the least power.
 
Id recommend you to get a 9600GT, Ive got one of those and to be honest it rans everything at max settings @ 1440x900 on my 19" LCD and everything runs great, without lag and very very smooth.

Good Luck :D
 
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