[Byakuya_Sama]

Hi. So I'm looking forward to buying a 4850, but I have 3 options, and I don't know which one to go for.

Powercolor 4850 PCS+ 1GB

Gainward 4850 Golden Sample 512MB

Reference Sapphire 4850 512MB with Accelero Twin Turbo


They're all around the same price, so which one do I go for?

 

[LoneWolf]

go with the sapphire one but beware their customer service is crap

 

[Byakuya_Sama]

go with the sapphire one but beware their customer service is crap

Thanks for the reply. But why the Sapphire one? Do you think the Accelero TwinTurbo is the best option for cooling?

 

[LoneWolf]

No i just like sapphire cards and even the stock cooling is awesome no need to buy new cooing

 

[skoreanime]

Truth be told, I'd get Sapphire too.

Powercolor's not that bad either in terms of brand names. I've never heard of the other 2 though :dead:

 

[LoneWolf]

But if you have just like 200$ in our pocket buy a 1gb sapphire HD 4870 its one of the best cards around right now

 

[Byakuya_Sama]

No i just like sapphire cards and even the stock cooling is awesome no need to buy new cooing

I'd like to OC it, so reference cooling isn't really up to it. I'm also wondering whether those extra 512MB on the PCS+ would be of some use... Oh well, the 512MB isn't available, so that's that.

Truth be told, I'd get Sapphire too.

Powercolor's not that bad either in terms of brand names. I've never heard of the other 2 though :dead:

From what I've heard, the PCS+ one runs cool and is very silent, but the hot air doesn't leave the case, which is the "case" on the Golden Sample one (lol, bad pun)

But if you have just like 200$ in our pocket buy a 1gb sapphire HD 4870 its one of the best cards around right now

Actually, a reference 4870 can be had for just a bit more than the PCS+, but neither my PSU nor my monitor could handle the card, so...

 

[LoneWolf]

I thought it already came with a non reference cooling

 

[Cid Highwind]

Truth be told, I'd get Sapphire too.

Powercolor's not that bad either in terms of brand names. I've never heard of the other 2 though :dead:

You haven't heard of Gainward? They're one of the top quality card makers, Sapphire is ATi's default vendor and only got into the "luxury" versions of cards recently with their VaporX series. Besides, who needs their support anyway?

I don't know how your system works but here we don't have anything to do with them. When I buy something I have a contract with the store and they are the ones that give me a 2 year warranty. I've got nothing to do with the producer, that's the store's business.

Anyway, what kind of resolution do you play at? What's your CPU and PSU? 512MB on this card is probably enough, OCing the memory will get you great results though, since it's mostly limited there. The core probably has some headroom as well since it's the same chip as the 4870.

 

[Byakuya_Sama]

Also, they were selling a GTX260 192SP at 160€, but it's now sold out.

Even if it's the 192SP one, for 20€ less than the cheapest 4870, it would've been a nice deal...

You haven't heard of Gainward? They're one of the top quality card makers, Sapphire is ATi's default vendor and only got into the "luxury" versions of cards recently with their VaporX series. Besides, who needs their support anyway?

I don't know how your system works but here we don't have anything to do with them. When I buy something I have a contract with the store and they are the ones that give me a 2 year warranty. I've got nothing to do with the producer, that's the store's business.

Anyway, what kind of resolution do you play at? What's your CPU and PSU? 512MB on this card is probably enough, OCing the memory will get you great results though, since it's mostly limited there. The core probably has some headroom as well since it's the same chip as the 4870.

My monitor handles 1280x1024 at most.

System is as follows:

E8500
4GB Gskill 900MHz
500GB 16MB Seagate
P5Q-E
Corsair VX450

 

[LoneWolf]

i think it should be enough im a little scared about the power supply it might not be sufficient

 

[Byakuya_Sama]

i think it should be enough im a little scared about the power supply it might not be sufficient

Nah, it works just fine. System draw won't go over 300W with a 4850. People tend to worry too much on these things, and end up getting a 1000W PSU for a 400W system.

The only problem is that it might limit me when I go buying a higher end card.

 

[LoneWolf]

If you plan on future Crossfire when the Ati's new badboys the HD 5870s come out i recommend getting a 650W power supply

 

[Byakuya_Sama]

If you plan on future Crossfire when the Ati's new badboys the HD 5870s come out i recommend getting a 650W power supply

Yes, and I have the money to buy even a 800W PSU, but then I would have no graphics card to use on that monster PSU.

So for now, I'll focus on buying the best 4850 I can get, and worry about future upgrades later. I haven't been playing for quite some time now, so I'm really looking forward to this... :heh:

 

[Cid Highwind]

Well 512MB ought to be enough then. It comes up to the cooling and OC potential. I've heard good things about the Golden Sample cards, Gainward is a very reputable brand and known much more for high quality cards than Sapphire still (which is mostly known for having greatly priced reference cards). Read up on some reviews and see which cooling you'll prefer. Noise can be a major factor as well.

 

[Princess Garnet]

Truth be told, I'd get Sapphire too.

Powercolor's not that bad either in terms of brand names. I've never heard of the other 2 though :dead:

I had the same surprise about you not hearing of Gainward as Cid Highwind did. This isn't meant offensively of course, but are you relatively new (key word is relatively, as you obviously know a good deal now) to PCs? If so, that may explain it. Gainward isn't such a big player these days, it seems, but back in the GeForce 3, 4, FX, and 6 series days, they were pretty popular. It seems that with the GeForce 7 series and on that they aren't as big anymore, at least for nVidia?

 

[Byakuya_Sama]

Hmm... Well, the cheapest one, abeit not by much, is the Gainward Golden Sample one.

Actually, it's the Sapphire reference one, but with the added cost of the Accelero TwinTurbo it'll be more expensive.

The difference between cards is rather small, so I was willing to spend a bit more if it meant better cooling and, as such, better OCing capability.

If they're mostly equal, and if that 1GB won't help me any more so than the 512MB on the others, then I might as well go for the cheapest, which is the Gainward one, which helps by having it's cooler designed so the hot air'll just exit through the back of the case.

Also, noise doesn't really bug me all that much, as long as it isn't too much. I don't sleep with the PC on, so no problems there.

What matters to me is the cooling, since all cards have the same performance at stock. If there's nothing else I'll go with the Gainward one.

Thanks for your help. If you have anything else to say, though, I'd apreciate it.

 

[Cid Highwind]

Well if you replace the cooling yourself you'll most likely lose your warranty, it's what I considered with my last card as well, and that's why I went with a non-reference design. Having a dual slot cooler that blows the heat out is the best invention for GPUs ever, I wish my card would do it more efficiently. Thank heavens I got a new case recently

 

[Byakuya_Sama]

Well if you replace the cooling yourself you'll most likely lose your warranty, it's what I considered with my last card as well, and that's why I went with a non-reference design. Having a dual slot cooler that blows the heat out is the best invention for GPUs ever, I wish my card would do it more efficiently. Thank heavens I got a new case recently

I've got a CM690. Maybe I'll get a P182 later, always liked that case :wub:

 

[-StrikE-]

I'd go for the Saphire 4850 to, the Powercolor has a silent air cooling but it isnt as good as the rest out there, gainward might also be good but since i never tested any of there brands i cant really say anything(i mean ati related products here), the powercolor seems to have the lowest quality build compared to the other 2, but like Cid said you should read some reviews and make a personal opinion on what to get .