[XSTALKERX]

My friend wants new GPU. Which one of these ???

1. Sapphire ATI HD4850 1GB DDR3 2xDVI/TVO LITE 11132-17-20R - 152 €
2. Club3D CGAX-4852DDO HD4850 512MB DDR3 TV+2xDVI 720/1800 - 156 €
3. BFG GeForce 9800 GTX PLUS OC 512MB DDR3 760/2250Mhz - 165 €
4. MSI ATI HD4850 512MB DDR3 2xDVI +GAME R4850-2D512-OC - 150 €
5. MSI NV 250GTS 1GB DDR3 256bit 2xDVI N250GTS-2D1G - 172 €

 

[BobTheGoldfish]

My father is a parts vendor and he uses mostly Sapphires on the PCs he builds for himself, and I personally love my Sapphire more than I love my father... but that's another story.

My best friend is seriously considering doing something illegal to the people at BFG. I feel inclined to bash a few faces in as well and it wasn't even my card that broke. I've never seen a card break so quickly from minimal use.

I have no opinion on 2,3, and 5.

 

[runawayprisoner]

My friend wants new GPU. Which one of these ???

1. Sapphire ATI HD4850 1GB DDR3 2xDVI/TVO LITE 11132-17-20R - 152 €
2. Club3D CGAX-4852DDO HD4850 512MB DDR3 TV+2xDVI 720/1800 - 156 €
3. BFG GeForce 9800 GTX PLUS OC 512MB DDR3 760/2250Mhz - 165 €
4. MSI ATI HD4850 512MB DDR3 2xDVI +GAME R4850-2D512-OC - 150 €
5. MSI NV 250GTS 1GB DDR3 256bit 2xDVI N250GTS-2D1G - 172 €

I'd choose BFG as a no brainer. Lest you would like to deal with AA problems and the likes. Note that the point here is that the nVidia community is more likely to find a fix for their problems faster than the ATi community. And there are more tools for nVidia as well.

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

BFG and EVGA have the highest return rates. go with XFX if any....

 

[Princess Garnet]

XFX is often overpriced here.

My GeForce 4 Ti4200 (and I think GeForce 4 MX440) and GeForce 6800GS AGP were PNY. My GeForce 8600GTS and current GeForce 8800GT are MSI.

I've thought all were really good except for the GeForce 8600GTS. MSI had it to where unless you paired that card with an MSI motherboard, the fan ran full speed all of the time (loud! Very loud!). It was intolerable.

The MSI GeForce 8800GT, however, doesn't have that issue, and it has an aftermarket cooler akin to a $50 Zalman one. It may not be as good, but the card is cool and quiet, which is a combination you always want to aim for.

If I remember right, that MSI Radeon HD4850 used the same cooler MSI used on the GeForce 8800GT (and later on the GeForce 9600GT and GeForce 9800GT).

Honestly, brand is almost a moot point. It's down to the specific GPU, and then after that, what features that brand offers on that specific card (extra warranty, trade in or step-up program, aftermarket coolers, games, cheaper price [rebates don't count though], factory overclocks, etc.).

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

Honestly, brand is almost a moot point. It's down to the specific GPU, and then after that, what features that brand offers on that specific card (extra warranty, trade in or step-up program, aftermarket coolers, games, cheaper price [rebates don't count though], factory overclocks, etc.).

No, it isn't. Brand determines build quaility, and the quality of the components used on the PCB. PNY build to quality, while maintaining a low cost, while others like sparkle, ship out ****ty hardware with low quality components.

 

[PCXL-Fan]

I remember BFG having a large batch of bad 8800GT cards that went out a couple years ago.

People started posting about them around the net, and in one forum (H 4r|dforums) they were silenced for speaking bad about one of the sites advertisers.

 

[BobTheGoldfish]

I remember BFG having a large batch of bad 8800GT cards that went out a couple years ago.

People started posting about them around the net, and in one forum (H 4r|dforums) they were silenced for speaking bad about one of the sites advertisers.

Yeah, the capacitors would just fall off the cards often while still in the box. Horrible artifacts in some games as well, though Half-Life 2 looked sweet.

 

[skoreanime]

Eh, I've had no problems with my BFG so far. They probably stepped it up a notch after the 8800GT fiasco. They offer the exact same quirks and whistles that eVGA does and their price is usually the same or a tad lower. XFX I find to be a bit overpriced, but they usually come factory overclocked and great warranty.

For ATi, I really would just stick with Sapphire to be honest. My old x800XT is still pumping away in my dads computer. Diamonds another one of my favorites.

 

[Princess Garnet]

No, it isn't. Brand determines build quaility, and the quality of the components used on the PCB. PNY build to quality, while maintaining a low cost, while others like sparkle, ship out ****ty hardware with low quality components.

Yes, but that risk is always there. Good vendors go bad, and bad ones may surprise you. What I was saying was, don't get so loyal and tucked in with any on the idea that Brand A is super and Brand B is bad. I've had one "bad" MSI experience and one "good" one. PNY is supposed to be a quality vendor as you say, but most people still see them as a "generic" brand. Research, research, research, and then go with what you want. That's the final answer.

 

[XSTALKERX]

I am extremely satisfied with my "Club3D CGAX-4852DDO HD4850 512MB DDR3 TV+2xDVI 720/1800 ", since it is in K8N4-SE, if I remeber well, in pci-ex 1.0 standard, wit AMD 3000+ soc 754, 1,5 GB DDR400...

I still can play games on high details with AA - AF. Problem is with emu since I don't have dual core CPU, but solutution to that problem is almost finished. Anyway, that's other topic.

 

[bkwegoharder]

Get the 1GB Sapphire 4850. It has the best value. It's the second cheapest, but it's also one of the best cards up there. A lot of the ATI problems have been overrated. There are a few problems, but in the end, for average use, you won't see a difference between Nvidia and ati.

What you should do though is get a 4770, it's easily overclockable, costs way less, uses way less electricity, and it produces much less heat. You can overclock it to 4850 levels. The difference in fpos between the 4850 and the 4770 is only by a few fps in certain games.

 

[seinfeldx]

if you read guru3d, the 4770 can "The reality is that with our overclock we have been able to push overall performance 15~20% on top of the Radeon HD 4770 baseline performance. And in the world of graphics cards, that's just an awfully nice extra. It makes the card a good amount faster than the Radeon HD 4850, and it actually closes in on the Radeon HD 4870."

 

[sgsavvy]

go with choice no 1 the sapphire

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

Yes, but that risk is always there. Good vendors go bad, and bad ones may surprise you. What I was saying was, don't get so loyal and tucked in with any on the idea that Brand A is super and Brand B is bad. I've had one "bad" MSI experience and one "good" one. PNY is supposed to be a quality vendor as you say, but most people still see them as a "generic" brand. Research, research, research, and then go with what you want. That's the final answer.

PNY is the best generic **** i've ever used

I am extremely satisfied with my "Club3D CGAX-4852DDO HD4850 512MB DDR3 TV+2xDVI 720/1800 ", since it is in K8N4-SE, if I remeber well, in pci-ex 1.0 standard, wit AMD 3000+ soc 754, 1,5 GB DDR400...

I still can play games on high details with AA - AF. Problem is with emu since I don't have dual core CPU, but solutution to that problem is almost finished. Anyway, that's other topic.

ATI sucks at emulation, linux, and development.

 

[-StrikE-]

Except with the linux part i cant really complain with my ati .

 

[LoneWolf]

I would get a Nvidia card

 

[tuanming]

Sapphire ATI HD4850 1GB DDR3, of course. That 1gb will come in handy for sure and the GPU itself will provides an overall good graphic performance with the technologies its carries.