Buy a 9800GT GFX card?

[G.Drew]

i definitley need a new GFX card, and a few other things

[[R-DEV]Undies]

I use an 8800GTS and not a 4850, but i have read and heard nothing but good things about the card. I have also read it can run hot, but though provided you have adequate cooling it will be fine i am sure.

Dont get me wrong, i love my Nvidia, but i think the ATI card has the upper hand ATM.

[spacemanc]

Ive just read this review of the Gigabyte version, and basically it says its the bollocks:

Gigabyte Radeon HD 4850 1GB GV-R485OC-1GH review

With an OC it will be the same as a HD4870/GTX260 and nearly a GTX 280 - not bad for the money.
Only thing they dont like is the noisy fan, but the Powercolor has a variable fan so problem solved.

Guess what Im going to get Thanks for helping me choose guys!

[Cp]

well, I cant speak for the 4850, But I have a 4870 and it runs flawlessly, no driver problems at all.

Yes, the card runs a little hot (read very hot) mine idles at 70 and goes up to 75 degrees at full load at default fan speeds, I have been told that this is actually low for this card and thats its built for temperatures up to 110 degrees Celsius.

The fan is very effective, you can crank it up manually and get temps of 50 idle 65 full load, but heres the down side, the fan at 65% speed sounds quite a lot (not very noticeable if you play games with a headset though) and at a 100% its just ridiculous.
But I have it at default speeds right now, I cant even hear it and its keeping my card at a safe temperature.

I'm thinking of buying one of these beasts

and strapping it on the card to improve the cooling so I can overclock it without the fear of frying my precious piece of plastic.
Seems to be the best and quietest cooler available for the Hd48xx series of cards. its also quite cheap.


But yeah go for the hd4850, get a feel for the stock cooler before you start cracking the card open and gluing half a kilo of copper and aluminum to it.

[spacemanc]

Im going to get this one:
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS Extreme 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
It already comes with an aftermarket fan, which apparently is variable, very quiet and keeps it cool so should be fine

[Bamboo]

I have helped a lot of people buy 4850's when build a new rig, and they are all very happy with them, as are the tons of tech review sites. About the only down thing everyone says is the heat these things give off, but that the card doesn't seem affected by it. I would say it wouldn't be a problem at all as long as you have a decent case that has good air flow.

Most sites do suggest though that the cards with aftermarket coolers are very worth the extra couple bucks. The best 2 from all the reviews I have read are made by MSI and HIS. There are actually 4 different models of the HIS, including 1 or 2 with 1gig of ram. But the cooler is amazing and keeps it more than 20C cooler than stock fan both at load and idle.

Just for reference on the models:
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

For the MSI, this one gets rave reviews, and my squad leader DisposableHero just picked up this one:

Newegg.com - MSI R4850-512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I have yet to see a low review on any of the cards below.

Check out these reviews reviews from my bookmarks, especially the TechpowerUP one, as it is like 30 pages, and it is only the 512mb version.

techPowerUp :: HIS HD 4850 IceQ4 TurboX 512 MB Review :: Page 1 / 30

HEXUS.net - Review :: HIS Radeon HD 4850 IceQ4 TurboX - the best a man can get? : Page - 1/11

HIS Radeon HD 4850 ICEQ4 TurboX review


Here are some reviews from my bookmarks on the MSI card
MSI R4850 512M Review

MSI R4850 512M Radeon HD 4850 - HotHardware

Personally, you mentioned before about getting a new monitor. If it is a 22" or bigger, or you might go bigger later on, I would go for the 1 gig version. If you are only staying at like 20"-22", I would go with the 512mb. The native rez of a 22" is about the tipping point where it would/would not make a difference in some games.

Let us know how it turns out...............

[spacemanc]

For some reason MSI 4850's aren't available in the UK. If they were, then there's a good chance Id go for it, as the last 3 cards I've used have been MSI's and I've been very happy with them in performance, value and noise wise (I hate noisy fans!). There's one or two available over here, but they're US imports made to US spec

Ive never heard of Power color before tbh, so its a bit of a gamble, but Im tempted by the variable fan and low noise - also as you say the aftermarket fan drops the temp on it by about 20c.

Im going to get the 1gb card, because the discount this week brings it down to the price of a 512mb. Ill be running it at 1680 x 1050 on a 22" samsung syncmaster.

Ill let you know how I get on with it, once I've given it a good test

[[R-DEV]Undies]

Good luck and have fun

[spacemanc]

Ive ended up ordering this for £120 (xpertvision version which is palits european arm) as I missed the offer on the 1gb card :
bit-tech.net | Review - Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic
Its very similar to the HIS version, which seems to be the best around, but the HIS is sold out everywhere, and its £30 more than the Palit on pre order. The Palit keeps the card at 35c at idle so lots of room for my overclocking - apparently I should be able to get it to 755MHz core 2200MHz memory, plus its almost silent.
If youve got about £100 to spend on a new gfx card, then this is the one to get by a mile

[spacemanc]

bit-tech.net | Review - Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic
I received my card yesterday, and spent most of the day OCing it, and all today playing games to make sure its stable.
I got a 3Dmark score of 12675 despite my crappy E6550 CPU, so Im v happy with it. It is actually silent as well = win