GeForce 9500 GT

Hello There,

I'm looking for a cheap (not looking to have a huge upgrade, just want to move my x1950 to another comp and replace it with something similar) upgrade. I know absolutely nothing about gfx cards, normally I go on a reviews site look at last years number one and get that... Only question is how does the 9500 GT fair against the x1950. Both 512MB if that makes any difference at all. I am also open to suggestions, but bare in mind don't want to spend too much, this card is only £50 on play.

I'd look at; http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512Mb...e-HD-4670-DDR3 for £54, and http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...5-21149-00-20R for £78

^^ agreed

The 4670 will be a significant improvement over your aging X1950, and is also much much better than the 9500GT (up to twice as fast in many games). However, it is tricky to find for less than £50. This Sapphire HD4650 has GDDR3 memory, rather than the DDR2 that is usual on the 4650, and will provide 80% - 90% of the performance of the 4670 while being below your budget. It has native DVI, HDMI and VGA connections, and is probably your best bet for a sub £50 card.

The nearest NVidia equivalent is probably the 9600GSO: ebuyer have an ASUS 512MB 9600GSO at £51, which looks a very good buy to me, as well as a ZOTAC version of the same card (but with a nicer looking cooler!) for £55.

EDIT: I've just done some reading round the reviews and a 512MB 9600GSO with 256bit memory interface may well be somewhat faster than a 4670, as the 4670 review tested against a 384MB version with 192bit interface. Therefore I'd be extremely tempted to go with one of the 9600GSOs...

The 256 bit 9600GSO has 48 stream processors as opposed to the 192 bit 9600GSO which has 96 stream processors. The former is based on the 9600GT and the latter is based on the 8800GT/9800GT.

The ASUS 512MB 9600GSO which was mentioned earlier is a 96 shader version but is a tad unusual as it has a 128bit memory bus with DDR2! This means the card is somewhat crippled due to a lack of memory bandwidth.

This HD4650 GDDR3 for £52 delivered is decent for the price:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151454

This card does not need an additional power connector too!! :)

Review of another HD4650 GDDR3 card to give you an idea of its performance:

http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/ind...1&limitstart=3

If not i would go for a 4770, same power needs as a 4670, and miles faster, requires a PCI-E connector, same one as your 1950 has, and will use less power than a 1950 i reckon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

The 256 bit 9600GSO has 48 stream processors as opposed to the 192 bit 9600GSO which has 96 stream processors. The former is based on the 9600GT and the latter is based on the 8800GT/9800GT.

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Thanks CAT - I'd just read up on this on the NVidia website and was coming back to fess up my mistake, but as usual you were here first!

It's worth noting that the Sapphire 4650 GDDR3 I linked to will still be < &#163;50 even with delivery... ;)

I'd be interested in how 2 9600GSOs would run in SLI.... but overall the 4650 DDR3 is definitely the best bet under &#163;50...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blaineoliver

If not i would go for a 4770, same power needs as a 4670, and miles faster, requires a PCI-E connector, same one as your 1950 has, and will use less power than a 1950 i reckon.

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All this is very true - the 4770 is indeed a good card, but the OP says "don't want to spend too much, this card is only £50 on play.". The 4770 costs 60% more than that...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scaryjim

Thanks CAT - I'd just read up on this on the NVidia website and was coming back to fess up my mistake, but as usual you were here first!

It's worth noting that the Sapphire 4650 GDDR3 I linked to will still be < &#163;50 even with delivery... ;)

I'd be interested in how 2 9600GSOs would run in SLI.... but overall the 4650 DDR3 is definitely the best bet under &#163;50...

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I just noticed it said it was a hypermemory one???

There are two different types of HD4650 GDDR3 cards it seems:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/153214

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151454

The second one has no hypermemory. WTF??

Says in Gumby voice:
"My Brain Hurts!!"

Remember that if you shop from scan you can get free delivory, which would make up the &#163;4 from the 4670 I linked to: see http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...tup-guide.html

If you can. stretch to the 4770. It is seriously asskicking for the price.

I got the XFX one from scan and the other half is very happy with it. Paired with a dual core 7850 @2.8ghz with 4gb of ram it screams. She's been playing Oblivion with everything turned on. Doesnt stutter unlike when she ran it on her old 2.5ghz Skt A machine with a x1950.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mercyground

If you can. stretch to the 4770. It is seriously asskicking for the price.

I got the XFX one from scan and the other half is very happy with it. Paired with a dual core 7850 @2.8ghz with 4gb of ram it screams. She's been playing Oblivion with everything turned on. Doesnt stutter unlike when she ran it on her old 2.5ghz Skt A machine with a x1950.

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Heh thats almost identical to my two systems. Will look into that. Also, wow, thanks for all the responses.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TrentConstantin

Heh thats almost identical to my two systems. Will look into that. Also, wow, thanks for all the responses.

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The HD4770 is not the best graphics card for around the &#163;80 ATM. You can get the HD4850 and GTS250 512mb for between &#163;80 to &#163;90 and these are better than the HD4770 but consume more power!

The XFX HD4850 is frequently on Scan Today Only for under &#163;85 and is faster than the HD4770 in most games. The OP is eligible for free postage from Scan on orders over &#163;20(excluding VAT) as they have over 20 posts o Hexus.

Also the HD4830 is available for around &#163;70 now and these are only around 10&#37; slower than the HD4770. It does consume more power than the HD4770 but has the same number of stream processors(640). The HD4850 has more stream processors than both the HD4830 and HD4770(800). The HD4830 and HD4770 make more sense when they are overclocked as both can match(or even exceed) the performance of the HD4850 when overclocked. My HD4830 can overclock from 575mhz for the core to between 650mhz to 700mhz.

Late but... 4850/70's RRP dropped by another 10quid recently. Damn good buys now.