Video Card Upgrade Time

[John Crichton]

Okay, it's time to slog through the video card mess again. I usually come here and get some excellent advice for computer stuff, so I'm doing it again.

I currently have a GeForce 7950 GT (PCI-E). I'm looking to get something in the $150-200 range to upgrade to. The computer is about two years old a few of the newer games are starting to chug. Thoughts? Things to avoid? What is the current sweet spot? I'm willing to go a little higher on price if need be.

 

[drothgery]

Really, the $150-$200 range is the sweet spot right now. You're probably looking at a Radeon 4850 or 4870, though there's nothing wrong with a GeForce 9800 GTX+.

 

[Thanee]

Best PCIe Card: $90 To $190 - Review Tom's Hardware : Best Graphics Cards For The Money: Feb. '09

I would go with the GeForce 9800 GTX+ or the GeForce GTX 260 (once the price drops), personally, over the Radeon HD 4870.

Because I think Nvidia has the better driver support.

But right now, the Radeon HD 4870 is the sweet spot card.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Steel_Wind]

I would go with the GeForce 9800 GTX+ or the GeForce GTX 260 (once the price drops), personally, over the Radeon HD 4870.

Because I think Nvidia has the better driver support.

But right now, the Radeon HD 4870 is the sweet spot card.

I would not get a 9800 GTX.

The GTX260 runs significantly quieter and cooler than the 4870 John. Real world performance is essentially equivalent, though pushing things as fast as you can, the 4870 is probably a wee faster on most games. But it's not a performance level difference that I notice.

If noise is an issue for you, that's something to consider. I have both the GTX260 and a Radeon 4870. I prefer the Asus GTX260. In a Sonata case, I can barely hear it when it is running.

Noise wise, the comparison is PS3 vs. 360

On the driver issue, I agree with Thanee.

Avoid the Sapphire version of the 4870. Their quality control is crap and support non-existent. If the 4870 is the way you go, Asus makes one too. Their warranty is the best in the business.

 

[John Crichton]

From my short research (based on the posts here) it looks like waiting for the 260 to drop is the way to go. Almost universally it has gotten rave reviews from users from what I can see. Once it drops below $200, I'm in.

So, we have a winner! Thanks again, guys.

If noise is an issue for you, that's something to consider. I have both the GTX260 and a Radeon 4870. I prefer the Asus GTX260. In a Sonata case, I can barely hear it when it is running.

Noise wise, the comparison is PS3 vs. 360

It is an issue! I hate noisy machines. We actually got the current PC partially because our old one was loud.

As an aside, I had a Sonata case for a while. Loved that thing.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I'd probably go for a quieter breed of HD4870. Depending on your monitor, and what settings you'll be likely to use, a 1GB model might be nice.

I run a cooler, quieter HD4850, and that was quite the steal at its price point. IMO, it and the 4870 are both excellent deals. Not to say there's anything wrong with a GTX260 - that would be the next recommendation after those two, in my books. And it's not like I'm an ATI fanboy (unfortunately, it's often necessary to mention that) - a while back, my card of choice would have been the 8800GT, no questions asked. Or the revised 8800GTS, for a tiny bit more money.

But anyway, if you're sold on the GTX260, you won't be disappointed, I'm fairly certain. Nice card, all round.

 

[John Crichton]

Always good to get more opinions, AS. Thanks.

For the record, I have a 24" widescreen monitor. If that makes a difference.

 

[Thanee]

No, not really. 1920x1200 is no problem for those cards. Any of them.

Bye
Thanee

 

[John Crichton]

No, not really. 1920x1200 is no problem for those cards. Any of them.

Bye
Thanee

Cool. Although sometimes I prefer to lower the resolution to see some things (words and the like) a bit better, being able to take advantage of the larger display is always nice.

 

[Steel_Wind]

The EVGA GTX260 is on sale this week at Fry's.

None in Canada - but Fry's.com ships anywhere in the USA.

Cost is $179.99 - with a $30 mail-in rebate too, to bring it down to $149.

Pretty hard to beat that price. Shader pipelines on this model are a tad lower than some others, but this is a solid card.



EVGA GTX 260 896MB PCI-Express 2.0 Video Card
$30.00 Rebate - $149.99 (after rebate)

FRYS.com | EVGA


EVGA:
FRYS.com #: 5636781
The EVGA GeForce GTX 260 graphics card rips through DirectX 10 games at blazing fast frame rates and enables realistic physical motion and massively destructible environments with NVIDIA's new PhysX. technology. And that's not all. The EVGA GeForce GTX 260 graphics card also supports extreme HD (2560x1600) resolutions, and gives your system the power of up to 196 multi-threaded processor cores, offloading the most intensive processing tasks from your CPU to your Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).
Limit 1 per Household.
(when purchased between 03/06/2009 and 03/13/2009)