9600 GT or HD 3850

[neiledavies]

Looking to spend £100 ish on a new DX10 card, would be running on Vista 64 bit with a Q6600 quad core and 4 gb RAM.

But which one to go for ATI 3850 or Nvidia 9600 GT, bang for buck should I go with the Ati (512 MB GDDR3 versions of both)

[SiM]

If its for gaming then the Nvidia 9600 GT is regarded as a better card.

[D.M]

9600GT....

Great Price for a very good card

Can get an 8800GT for about £17 more if you want to spend the little extra?

[fredered]

There was one very detailed comparison I saw somewhere that did average fps and minimum fps and whilst the 9600gt seemed to get better averages the minimum for the 3850 was generally much better. I am sorry I can't find the link, but both are good cards.

[staffsMike]

I'd sway towards the HD3850. The reference single slot cooler (i believe) was given an outstanding review on silentpcreview, which must mean it's bloomin quiet. It's great for HD media and pretty good for games considering the price they can be had for now.

Both good cards but right now ATi are my choice at this budget.

[AndrewJ]

Another vote for the 9600 purely because Nvidia have better support.

[kalniel]

Another vote for the 9600 purely because Nvidia have better support.

[staffsMike]

+1 for that haha. I would say ATi are the lesser of two evils there.

[AndrewJ]

I've heard on here and from friends that the ATi forums are less than useless.

[staffsMike]

Well I know the ATi.care forum here on hexus is pretty useless but I was thinking more stability of drivers.

Support of that kind you menion I would expect from the manafacturer of the card or the retailer.

[AndrewJ]

Well I know the ATi.care forum here on hexus is pretty useless but I was thinking more stability of drivers.

Support of that kind you menion I would expect from the manafacturer of the card or the retailer.

Really? I have just got my 8800GTS as you know and the drivers are fine, then again I had no trouble with my X1950 pro.

It's swings and roundabouts, I know I am glad I am with Nvidia right now who seem to be the class leaders in gaming graphics.

[staffsMike]

I've had a bit of trouble with my 8800GTS (older one) but nothing terrible. My laptop's drivers are pathetic though. The bodged ones you can get from third parties are far better.

Also I can't remember where I saw it but nvidia drivers were responisble for a huge amount of vista creashes in a report released a few days ago.

[AndrewJ]

I've had a bit of trouble with my 8800GTS (older one) but nothing terrible. My laptop's drivers are pathetic though. The bodged ones you can get from third parties are far better.

Also I can't remember where I saw it but nvidia drivers were responisble for a huge amount of vista creashes in a report released a few days ago.

Now that worries me, I am due to move back to X64 Sp1 Ultimate later with my new 8800GTS so I hope I have no problems

I have had no experience with nvidia powered laptops so fair enough I cannot comment on those.

[Agent]

I think someone, somewhere will have a problem with either. When it comes to fixing issues, I don't tend to find there is much between them these days.

[-iceblade^]

but it can't be denied that ATi's driver support far exceeds that of nVidia, not to mention we get monthly driver updates which really bring out the potential of the cards...

nVidia just uses brute force...

@ OP: the 9600GT will be the better buy when you play games, but for HTPC use, you can't go wrong with the HD3850...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

There was one very detailed comparison I saw somewhere that did average fps and minimum fps and whilst the 9600gt seemed to get better averages the minimum for the 3850 was generally much better. I am sorry I can't find the link, but both are good cards.

The HD3850 and HD3870 had some issues with minimum framerates due to a powerplay bug but the latest 8.3 hotfix drivers seemed to have solved this. COD4 and Crysis seem smoother to play too!

I wonder with future games whether the HD3850 and HD3870 will show more longevity as they seem to have more shader power. The X1900/X1950 series cards were better than their Nvidia equivalents in some of the more recent games for instance. In this regard an 8800GT and 8800GS seem a better long term choice than the 9600GT!