Time to upgrade !

[No1Jew]

My Old AMD3000+(O/C 2.8Ghz) & 6800GT is on it's last legs and I have permission from the wife to upgrade. My Max Budget with delivery is £600. I've been doing some research and this is what I intend to get unless any one can suggest better for the same price.


Coolermaster RC-330 V2 Elite Black Midi Tower Case w/o PSU (New Improved Version) Scan Exclusive £29.99

120mm Akasa AK-174BK-S Black Case Fan, 3 Pin, Sleeve Bearing Ultra Quiet (17dBA) £3.41

600w Tagan TG-600-U33 2ForceII Intel EPS12V V2.91, standard ATX V2.2, x4 +12V rails, 80% efficiency £68.14

XFX MB-N780I-ISH9, nForce 780i SLI, 3-Way SLi, 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2, 533/667/800, SATA II, ATX £150.34

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 SLACR, Kentsfield Core, Socket 775, 2.40 GHz 1066MHz 8MB Cache, £116.90

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18 £54.57

2x LG GH-20NS15 20xDVD±R, 12xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM, £30.53

Now the next bit is what I am unsure of and what I'd like some help with.

I'm not too sure which of these cards to go for I know the 9800Gtx is OK, however having read some reviews for the HD 4850 it kicks the shit out of the 9800 on most aspects, so my question to you all is which would you go for and why?

512MB XFX 9800 GTX XT, PCI-E 2.0, Mem 2200MHz, GDDR3, GPU 720MHz, 128 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/HDTV £129.23

512MB Asus HD 4850, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1986 MHz GDDR3, GPU 625 MHz, 800 Cores, 2 x DL DVI-I/HDTV £123.95

[Mr. Johnson]

well, i have the 4850, but the memory was fucked so i didn't have a proper chance of testing it. The times it did work though were quite amazing. (TWSS)

[TezzRexx]

Tl;Dr

[friznit]

Asus. Cos of all the reviews you've read. Otherwise I have nfc. They're both decently priced graphics cards, both will probably last well enough until you need to upgrade everything again.

I've long since stopped getting excited by the numbers. If it's good enough and the price is right, it's good enough

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Take the 4850 probably.

but not an asus one (their support is patchy at best) I'd avoid sapphire too.

[deject]

which one of you joeys voted for the 9800GTX?

I know I'm a fanboy, but why would you go for a physically larger card that's slower?

[Lateralus]

Is it more expensive or something?

[deject]

Is it more expensive or something?

[TezzRexx]

I lol'd

[Lee]

Why are you spending so much on a triple SLI mobo that you won't use? The nvidia chipsets are supposed to be unreliable aswell.

Get yourself an intel P35 mobo from asus or gigabyte instead for less moneys.

Also, 4850 > 9800GTX, it's faster and cheaper.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Why are you spending so much on a triple SLI mobo that you won't use? The nvidia chipsets are supposed to be unreliable aswell.

Get yourself an intel P35 mobo from asus or gigabyte instead for less moneys.

or X48/58 if you want proper high end/crossfire support.

[HereComesPete]

I vote neither. I vote wait a bit more and see more price drops as and when they turn up. but if I had to I'd get the 3850.

Also two optical drives? how often will you actually use them both at the exact same time?

Also also mobo is a bit overkill on SLi and dodgy chipsets. My p35 chipset was a great price and they're cheaper now, not had any niggles either (please don't break now I wrote that)

Also x3 at chickenz.

[deject]

Also two optical drives? how often will you actually use them both at the exact same time?

fwiw, having multiple optical drives is awesome. I can leave my BF2142 disc in my DVD drive and have my old CD drive available for other stuff.

[Hehulk]

It's also dead nifty for just burning off quick copies, instead of having to make a disk image and then burn that.

Also Toms hardware says the 4850 beats the GTX in most scenarios.

[buzzmong]

I've had for the better part of the last 5/6 pc's 2 drives, normally one "reader" drive which I make sure is decent and a half decent burner of some sort.

Currently using a not brilliant AOpen dvd reader and a rather good pioneer dvd burner.

Makes copying so much easier, also helps when ripping cd's :D

[Dr. kitteny berk]

XFX MB-N780I-ISH9, nForce 780i SLI,

Sink rate, pull up, pull up, pull up, pull up.

ABANDON SHOP, THIS IS NOT A DAFFODIL REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DAFFODIL.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/ ... led-makers

While that's 790i, rather than 780i. well it doesn't bode well, and there's been issues with many of the recent* nvidia chipsets, especially the higher end ones.

That's not to say you *will* get something utterly shit, but that it's more likely than I'd like

*680i, 780i, and 790i, like, all of them from the last 2 years


Right now, I'd strongly recommend an intel based motherboard, they (IME) are more reliable, run cooler, and often better value.

[Shada]

On a related note (no need for me to make a new thread for this), I'm going to get rid of my shitty crashy 8800 GTS 320mb and get a new card. I was looking at the 4000 series of ATi cards, but I'm not sure which one to get, or if they're even compatible with my current system. Also the many reports of heat issues and Johnson's problems with the card are getting to me.

Current system:
Motherboard: MSI K9A Platinum
Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 600W
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC2-6400 CL4
Video Card: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB

I spend a lot of time searching on google for any problems and compatibility issues that may occur before I buy the card - but some of you here are more tech savvy than I am.

So my questions: Will I be able to just take out the 8800 GTS and put in a Radeon HD 4870, without changing my motherboard or power supply? Should I get a 4850 instead of a 4870? Would it even be worth it to upgrade from an 8800 GTS?

[deject]

So my questions: Will I be able to just take out the 8800 GTS and put in a Radeon HD 4870, without changing my motherboard or power supply? Should I get a 4850 instead of a 4870? Would it even be worth it to upgrade from an 8800 GTS?

Yes, the 48x0 will work fine in your rig. If you're worried about heat issues, I'd get the 4870 as it has a dual slot cooler that vents outside the case as opposed to the 4850 which is a single slot and vents the hot air back into your case. Lastly, You'll see a pretty big improvement going from a 8800GTS 320MB to a 48x0. Definitely worth it.

[Shada]

If you're worried about heat issues, I'd get the 4870 as it has a dual slot cooler that vents outside the case as opposed to the 4850 which is a single slot and vents the hot air back into your case.

Exactly what I thought. Cheers.

Maybe I'll actually be able to play Clear Sky when it comes out without it FUCKING BLUESCREENING LIKE SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL DOES.

FUCK YOU 320MB VRAM.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Deject is right, but missed a bit.

You should be fine to just swap cards, but I'd suggest, at the very least removing all the nvidia graphics drivers using drivercleaner (it can still be found for free)

Obviously, a full reinstall would be the most reliable way of removing the old drivers, but it's a pain in the arse.