GC Choice

karltimber

HI folks,

need to upgrade my noisey and outdated gc to a quiet game happy one.

I use my quad-core pc for editing and playing with hd m2ts files from a hd camcorder and other stuff.
Haven't played games in a while but want to start back (nothing major really) - loaded Q of Solace and it's stuttering like mad. so upgrade about the €120 mark.

was looking at this card but read it was noisy enough

it really is a mine-field - so any help would be great.

want : games card about €120 and quiet enough, hdmi output for 24" screen.

note: going onto an asus mb, 650w ps

thanks folks,

k

Unregistered.

I'd look up some HD 4770 vs 4850 reviews because I've heard nothing but good things about them.

PogMoThoin

The all important question is, what resolution do You game at? what resolution is your monitor. If its 1680x1050 or lower go for the HD4850, if its higher, like 1920x1200, go for the HD4870.
The 4770 is a little slower than the 4850. A 9800GT would be another contender here

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-roundup,2297.html

karltimber

hi,

it's a 24" benq at 1920*1200 so will have a look at the hd4870

thanks

any reason why the gt's are a lot cheaper than the hd's

any of these to be recommended - http://www.komplett.ie/k/search.aspx?q=9800gt
more in my price range at the min than the hd's.

PogMoThoin

Ati gpu's are better value for money at the moment

You've just missed out, I just sold a HD4870 for €90 on adverts see my sig

TerrorFirmer

Pixmania have the earlier version of the GTX260's for 138 at the moment (Inno3D), check one of those out. Great card, bit faster then the 4870 overall.

uberpixie

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=479564
(example 4890 1gig with vapour x cooler circa €197)

Have a look at any of the sapphire vapour x gfx cards.
They come with a very good cooler that is a good bit more quiet than the standard ref coolers.

Since you want a quiet gfx card I would at their vapour x range, they are usually only a tenner or so more expensive and are worth it when you consider buying your own after market gfx card cooler is at least €30 and you void your warranty doing it :-)

If you are feeling a bit mental: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=422488

Atomic edition 4800 X2 which has fully enclosed water cooling for €350..... Well reduced from the €700 odd it was when it was released!

Solitaire

I don't recall the Sapphire Value cards being noisy, maybe someone got a fan with a shot bearing on it? Or reviews from back in the old days of yore when the HD4800 fan speeds were screwy (mmm... 100% fan speed for all! Funny, why is blood now shooting out of my ears?)

Anyway, it'd survive at 1900*1200 if you're on a budget but if you have sufficient overhead on the PSU then you should invest the extra few Euro on a card that's happier at >1080p. If you're looking at any HD4870s make sure they're the 1GB version; if GTX260 (mmm... CUDA...) then try to get a 55nm version as they're guaranteed to have the full 216 stream processsors (some of the older 65nm versions only have 192!). I've seen them for ~€150 on HWVS a while back so there may be some deals on them closer to home by now...

karltimber

thx Sol

a choice between these two really - price and power

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=376087
&
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=427373

edit - is this the same one from elara at €130

and even put this one into the mix.

good reviews on-line for both and an acceptable price.

any opinions on either ?

K

Solitaire

Checked against the manufacturer's code for it and the Elara part is the older 65nm GPU. But its still a 216sp part. It'll perform just as well as the one on Komplett (and faster than the old 192sp model) but with a slightly higher power requirement. The bigger problem is that it seems to be out of stock on the "never never" basis

That last card sucks hard - its a GTS250. Unless they start selling at under €70 tomorrow there's little reason for their continued existance :P

That first card seems to have been pulled - thus Komplett have no cheap 1GB HD4870s for the moment.

karltimber

b**tardos - they had 1 in stock earlier :rolleyes:

will have a search for this one so, and see where I can get it at equal price or cheaper- it was €152 on komplett.

thanks sol - appreciate it,

k

Solitaire

After more checking I found the exact same part on Elara in stock - at a more conventional €170+ pricetag I think Elara's database has messed itself, because your entry is still in there - at the same price as the entry beside it for the 55nm version of the same card. Same 30/6 date on them too. Iffy.

karltimber

OK,

just to update - am going to order this card at €145 delivered to the door from overclockers.

just have to double check this evening that my 650w ps has 2 * 6 pin pci-e power connectors - nearly sure it does.

thanks a mil for any help & comments

k

PogMoThoin

Be careful with Overclockers, they're registered for Vat here and will change the vatrate at checkout to the Irish rate amking it more expensive than it looks