GHouse Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I have been looking at two possible graphics card upgrades and all the reviews that I have found give contradictory results and answers so I thought why not ask gta forums they have helped me in the past with tech questions. Currently I am using a Nvidia 8800GS not the best card in the world but it has been working for me, but I want to upgrade to something a little more powerful so I went searching and found these two candidates (both are MSI): An Nvidia 260 GTX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127361 and a ATI 4850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127370 so I'm having trouble deciding between these two if someone could shed some sort of insight I would greatly appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyphonPayne Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Definitely the 260. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHouse Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 Can you give me a little be more information on why the 260 is the better choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyphonPayne Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 (edited) Can you give me a little be more information on why the 260 is the better choice? The 260 is a faster card than the 4850. Plus NVIDIA has better drivers. Just look at this benchmark. Also this benchmark. Oh and this one. Oh and this one. Oh and this one. Also, if you can afford it, get This 260 which actually beats the 4870 and costs roughly the same (as the 4870.) I just got that one and couldn't be more satisfied . The Core 216 Edition (also called MaxCore in BFG's flavor of tha card) has 24 more shader processors than the standard GTX 260 and when you purchase the factory-overclocked version which costs roughly the same as the 4870 it beats the 4870 in almost ALL benchmarks (only one game where the 4870 performs marginally better.) Source. Also even though it's factory overclocked it has a good bit of room for more OCing if needed and can nearly perform as well as the GTX 280 (granted the 280 can OC even better though, but the 260 is by far the best bang-for-the-buck.) Mostly depends on your budget. The ATI is definitely a cheaper card but if you're looking at a 260 you might as well get the one I just linked to above which will beat the 4870 for not much more than the 260 you linked to (well it's $63, a little more than the price of a game, but don't forget the rebate.) Edited November 13, 2008 by SyphonPayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHouse Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abel. Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Thanks for the info. Yeah, cheers, it helped me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drag_Drift Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Core 216 FTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abel. Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Core 216 FTW. How good is the 260 on a whole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[CTD]LaBan Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Dunno... it seems like Catalyst have been improved a lot since the release of 4800 series. Now they are having better performance than in benchmarks that were made when cards were released. I'd go for a 4850, but it's your choice anyways... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 (edited) Hi all! This is an FYI for graphics hunters... I just bought the new issue of CPU, and it's cover story is graphics cards showdown.... Many of the best cards all profiled, twice! Get this magazine if you want to see the last year profiled in a score card fashion....that being, you NEED a score card to keep track of all the cards out on the market. The nVidia 280 GTX remains the top Nvidia, while it still falls short of the later introduced ATI Radeon HD4870. CPU magazine offers several price sections for you to look at, including server graphics cards that go up over $1000 in price. The top nVidia and ATI ones mentioned are at the $500 to $600 usd price range. The best budget profiled models are all under $100usd!! Looks like they ALL are PCI Express 2.0 compatible, and NONE are AGP, so there you have it. More to follow... Here's the best of the best previewed; ATI from MSI, R4870 x2-T2D2G-OC Radeon for $550. Nvidia's GTX 280 from EVGA, model Hydro Copper 16, with 240 stream processors and 1GB GDDR3 ram. Core and memory clocked up to 691Mhz, and 2430Mhz respectively. Price? An astounding $660. For me, and likeminded Cheapskates, I think the ASUS EN9600GT Magic looks rather good. 512MB of Ram in GDDR2 form. 550Mhz clock, 800Mhz core. Supports 2.0x16 PCI-E and SLI Edited November 16, 2008 by Slamman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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