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Thread: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

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    Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    Hi All

    I'm after a replacement for a 9600GT which refuses to run Sims 2 without throwing up D3D errors! I'm hoping for sub £100 and had my eye on an ATI 3850 of some sort. Scan have a Sapphire 3850 (Scan code: LN21277) for £70! I'm wondering if the card is any good? Any other suggestions for the £70 - £100 mark?

    Cheers.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    for £120 you could get the 4850, it'll be a much better card and last a lot longer.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    Um you can get a 3850 for £60 (probably a bit less) from eBuyer and the performance will be less than the 9600GT for similar performance to the 9600GT you will need to get a 3870 (£80 again ebuyer) for even better performance you can go for a 4830 or 9800GT/8800GT 512MB will be available from £90+ and then the 4850 is a much bigger step up in performance prices start from £110 (if Novatech still have stock)
    Last edited by Webby; 11-11-2008 at 05:34 PM.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    Hmmm... might save up for a 4850. If I'm gonna spend the cash, I may as well spend a little more for a bigger bang. Cheers for the input.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    well what's the rest of your PC like?
    what other specs?

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    From memory (can confirm later) it's an Athlon 64 AM2 2.4Ghz with 1Gb 5300 Ram. Has a 450watt power supply. The errors sims 2 gives are all D3D related, I've seen a few forum posts mentioning it doesn't like the 9600 series cards. I'm thinking it's either the card or the PSU, my money's on the card. I've tried various drivers, re-installed Direct X etc.

    Anything anyone can think of is appreciated.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    Have you tried a full reformat?

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    I think the 4850 is the best card and your best option for better graphics. But saying that i am hoping your system will not have any issues running it as its much older technology.

    Good luck. I am sure you will be happy with the capability of this card.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    £61 buys you a 4670 and tbh it's a very good and capable card.
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?W...+DVI-I%2f+HDMI

    OK, it's not a 4850 but it's just done very well in Crossfire in our HEXUS review, and that's cos it's a good card to begin with and very close to a 9600 and better than a 3850 as the single card that you need,
    http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=15393&page=1

    Worth a look

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    ive got 3850 cracking card for what i payed for it alot better than the 7600gt i was using before got on today only for about 45quid

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    the 3850 is still a good card, make sure you get the 512mb version if you do.
    I'd also keep an eye out for
    ati 3870 512mb
    nvidia 8800gt 512mb / 9800gt

    none are as fast as the 4850 however they are better than the 9600gt and as they are the last series you should be able to pick one up cheap as places flog off there old stock.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    Pob the 9600GT is a better performer than the 3850 512MB more on a par with the 3870.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    I seem to remember the 3850 512mb and 9600gt 512mb being roughly equal, with the 3850 pulling very slightly ahead
    the 3870 was halfway between the 9600gt and 8800gt

    the main thing here is the original poster said there's issues with SIMS2 and the 9600gt card
    So if it is just that sims2 is having compatibility issues then then the 3850 should resolve it.

    if it's not a compatibility issue then it's something else and no graphics card no matter how powerful will fix it.

    and when I say cheap I mean cheap! infact 2nd hand may be the way to go.

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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?


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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pob255 View Post
    if it's not a compatibility issue then it's something else and no graphics card no matter how powerful will fix it.

    and when I say cheap I mean cheap! infact 2nd hand may be the way to go.
    you're right chap. Sims 2 causes lots of heart ache on modern rigs. It'd need a very old card to run in many cases.

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
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    Re: Sapphire 3850 - Any Good?

    Quote Originally Posted by patch View Post
    Hi All

    I'm after a replacement for a 9600GT which refuses to run Sims 2 without throwing up D3D errors! I'm hoping for sub £100 and had my eye on an ATI 3850 of some sort. Scan have a Sapphire 3850 (Scan code: LN21277) for £70! I'm wondering if the card is any good? Any other suggestions for the £70 - £100 mark?

    Cheers.
    From what ived read the new 4670 is about the same as a 3850 on performance terms, uses less power and also doesnt require a pci-e power adapter

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