What highend gpu should I get?

[BarbaricSoul]

just over $300, about equal to what the q9450 is currently priced.

 

[quasar923]

nice, but staying on track im ganna go with the gx2 and give my dad my 4850. is it possible to crossfire say a 3870 and a 4870? or like a 8800gt and a 9800gtx?

 

[mrw1986]

I'm an AMD fan and would say 4870...but realistically get a GTX260. 9800GX2 is a waste of space and power.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I'm an AMD fan and would say 4870...but realistically get a GTX260. 9800GX2 is a waste of space and power.

and you based that on what? Do you have any experience with the gx2? How can you say it's a wasye when it is the 2nd fastest card available today, beaten only by the gtx280. I just don't get how you can say it's a waste.

 

[alexp999]

I'm an AMD fan and would say 4870...but realistically get a GTX260. 9800GX2 is a waste of space and power.

See now I'm thinking the OP should get a GTX260, I was close to getting GX2, then I decided against it. Although it is better on paper, its not in practice. I cant rem exactly why. I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[quasar923]

I'm an AMD fan and would say 4870...but realistically get a GTX260. 9800GX2 is a waste of space and power.

well i have a full tower CM stacker 832 so space isnt a problem, but power could be because i dont wanna spend loads of money on electricity. Ive never owned an Nvidia card, do they have a program like CCC? or that thing where when the gpu is idle it reduces its core and ram speeds?

 

[KainXS]

I found a GTX260 for 262 after rebate, wanna see the link

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008782

that card will overclock to a GTX280 lvl though, and prob not much higher which is very good

 

[BarbaricSoul]

nice, but staying on track im ganna go with the gx2 and give my dad my 4850. is it possible to crossfire say a 3870 and a 4870? or like a 8800gt and a 9800gtx?

the cards have to be the same series. For X-fire, you would need 2 4xxx or 3xxx cards(a 4870 and a 4850 would x-fire together, but a 3870 and a 4870 won't). For SLI, you would need two cards of the same model(two 8800gt would sli, but a 8800gt and a 8800gts would not). The SLI cards would have to be clocked at the same speeds though. You could run a 9800 gtx sc in sli with a regular 9800 gtx but the sc model would have to be clocked down to gtx speeds or the regular gtx would have to be OC'ed to sc speeds)

 

[alexp999]

well i have a full tower CM stacker 832 so space isnt a problem, but power could be because i dont wanna spend loads of money on electricity. Ive never owned an Nvidia card, do they have a program like CCC? or that thing where when the gpu is idle it reduces its core and ram speeds?

Yes, they do have power saving, same ideas as Ati (at least on the GTX260 and 280 anyway)

And IMO, nvidia control panel is much better and easier to use than CCC. Individual game settings!
I have only had my GTX260 about a week, had a 3870 turbo before that, and I love my new card!

 

[mrw1986]

Also, the GX2 is utilizing SLI onboard which always isn't properly used in games, giving the GTX260 another up on it.

 

[quasar923]

so maybe i should get a 4870 then maybe later i can pair it with either another 4870 or more likely a 4850. or if i really wanna go big a 4870x2. =)

 

[KainXS]

less talky more deal searchy

what cards do you want us to look for deals for quasar

 

[alexp999]

so maybe i should get a 4870 then maybe later i can pair it with either another 4870 or more likely a 4850. or if i really wanna go big a 4870x2. =)

My advice to you, pick up a 4870 or GTX260. Which one you pick is personal preference.

Just dont forget, that "later" like I found, there will be a graphics card out at the same price as getting another card for SLi or crossifre that can outperform the two.

By now, by single or two/three now, the change em every 6 months, preparing for Crossfire/Sli a few month down the line is pointless IMO.

 

[KainXS]

actually I changed my mind, screw the 4870, the GTX260 costs under 280 now

when I get some cash I might go Nvidia now

 

[BarbaricSoul]

the GTX260 that you guys (Kain and Alex)are recommending can only match the gx2 when it's OC'ed. OC the gx2 and the gtx260 won't touch it. Do I have to go find the video of of the gtx280, gtx260, 9800gx2 and 4870 comparing FPS of the 4 cards. The results were in this order-
gtx280
9800gx2(barely behind the 280)
gtx260
4870

You know what, I'm gonna go find the vid, I'll post a link in acouple minutes.

 

[quasar923]

i found this:
powercolor 4870 for $255 after 30$ MIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131113

 

[KainXS]

I'm just looking for the cheapest card man, and the GTX260 I found costs 245 after rebate

theres also that GX2 for 280

right now the only 2 I can reccomend is those 2

If he posted this LAST WEEK, he could have snagged a GX2 for 240 bucks but the sale is over, sry dude

 

[quasar923]

I'm just looking for the cheapest card man, and the GTX260 I found costs 245 after rebate

theres also that GX2 for 280

right now the only 2 I can reccomend is those 2

If he posted this LAST WEEK, he could have snagged a GX2 for 240 bucks but the sale is over, sry dude

well i wont be buying the card for another month or 2. probably closer to a month tho maybe a week over.

 

[alexp999]

the GTX260 that you guys (Kain and Alex)are recommending can only match the gx2 when it's OC'ed. OC the gx2 and the gtx260 won't touch it. Do I have to go find the video of of the gtx280, gtx260, 9800gx2 and 4870 comparing FPS of the 4 cards. The results were in this order-
gtx280
9800gx2(barely behind the 280)
gtx260
4870

You know what, I'm gonna go find the vid, I'll post a link in acouple minutes.

Yeah but what I liked about the GTX260, was the lower power consumption. But mainly no issues with SLi. All you need is a game to have crap SLi support and your stuck with a $280 8800GTS 512.

well i wont be buying the card for another month or 2. probably closer to a month tho maybe a week over.

4870X2 will be out by then, which could give way to further price cuts.

 

[quasar923]

Yeah but what I liked about the GTX260, was the lower power consumption. But mainly no issues with SLi. All you need is a game to have crap SLi support and your stuck with a $280 8800GTS 512.



4870X2 will be out by then, which could give way to further price cuts.

the only games i play are mainly COD4, then some Crysis and im thinking of getting dirt, oh and halo 1 when im bored. My brother also wants to play black and white 2 which is a kinda old game like halo so it should be fine no matter what.

 

[KainXS]

these were the best deals I could find for the 4870, GTX260 and 9800GX2

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008720
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127361
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008918
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008893&prodlist=celebros

Good luck on a card man, im out

 

[BarbaricSoul]

here's the comparison vids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgaqtdfzATs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkGsbybFSjw&feature=user

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYnXxI1UjxE&feature=user

I was wrong about one thing with the vid, they dont include the gtx260. They compare the gtx280, 9800gx2, 9800gtx and 4870.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Well the new gpu is not for him, its for me, im kinda making him pay for it then giving him my 4850, hes an architect and does mostly CAD drawings, and hes had a dell for the past 3 or so years and its a nice PC, still fast but its been crashing. his old PC was a 3ghz P4, 1 gig ddr in daul channle, some single slot gpu with out a fan just a heat sink, but his cpu has a HUGE heat sink on it so im guessing dell put a factory OC on it. but i think the 4850 should handle him fine.

EDIT: his new PC will have a e7200 which i will OC some, not to the max but a decent OC, Asus P5K pro, OCZ StealthXStream 600watt, OCZ platinum revision2 2x1gigs pc6400.

Oh right, my bad, I thought you said it was for his PC. You could easily hold for a 4870X2 and be massively happy, or the 4850X2 even.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

All you need is a game to have crap SLi support and your stuck with a $280 8800GTS 512.

I havnt found a game yet the doesn't like my gx2, even the 7-8 year old mechwarrior mercenaries I run a league for.

 

[quasar923]

the few things i dont like about the gx2 is that its only 256 bit per gpu and the 260 is 448bit for one gpu giving it more bandwith. so i think im between a 4870 and a gtx260 now.