Which 4850

[narz]

Im finally upgrading my 6800GT Pcie. looking at 3850/4850 somewhere inbetween for light gaming on a 19" and some graphics adobe etc. Rest of the system Gigabyte P35 DQ6, Q6600, 6400 XMS2 4GB, 550w antec true power.

confused about the prices of a 4850 @ scan

512MB Sapphire HD 4850, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1986MHz GDDR3, GPU 625MHz, 800 Cores, VGA/ DL DVI-I/ HDMI ... for £79.24 Inc VAT

for an Extra £3.43 ontop, they offer 1gb more with Cross Fire

1GB Power Color HD 4850, PCI-E 2.0(x16), 1900MHz GDDR3, GPU 625MHz, 800 Cores, DL DVI-I/ HDMI/ D-Sub ... £82.67 Inc VAT

So is this a no brainer and should go for the 2nd? abliet with 86MHz slower GDDR3!

I was trying to get a 2nd hand 3850 originally via ebay, but they kept going for silly money 45-50. Would rather add the £30 extra for a NEW and far better card.

[narz]

Ok.. another one to make me even more confused.

MSI HD 4850 OC 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI Out PCI-E Graphics Card £77.81 delivered @ ebuyer.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172948

ATI CrossFireX™ multi-GPU support for highly scalable performance
Memory Interface 256bit
Core Clock Speed(MHz) 640
Memory Clock Speed(MHz) 1986
Memory Bandwidth(GB/sec) 63.552

So is it this or the 1gb Power Color? I just want best Bang for Buck (some future proofing), not a hardcore gamer at all, just counter strike source @ 1280x1024!! ;o]

[Pob255]

light gaming on a 19"

Personally I'd try for a 2nd hand nvidia 8800gt 512mb
However with these big price drops as places are currently getting rid of their old stock ready for the 5xxx series ati cards the little extra for a 4850 is good value
The only real issue is if it's over kill for a 19" . . . probably is.
Although there is a nother issue, can your PSU handle it?
A good Power Supply Unit is not about the wattage numbers listed but the quality of the unit and how trust worthy the numbers are.

The Card narz listed should be fine here's what it looks like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...20Video%20Card
The cooler doen't look that good and while the fan socket is 4pin PWM the fian is only 2pin so probably runs at a fixed 100% so it could be a bit noisy (depends on the rest of your pc and what you think is loud)

PS don't bother with 1gb a 4850 is not really fast enough to make much use of it and a 19" screen will never require that much, plus if you're on a 32bit OS then that 1gb of card memory is going to eat into your maximum addressable system memory. (a 32bit OS can only actually talk to a total 4gb of memory, that includes graphics card and all other system devices as well as the main ram)

[Hicks12]

find the sapphire vapour x and thats the card you should get imo! Its very quiet,cool and lower power than any other 4850(only 10w more than the 4770) and it can be had for <£80

[Domestic_Ginger]

To me it all seems to be about cooling

Theres the 1GB XFX with good cooler from ebuyer (~£87, 512 @£80) and the Gainward golden sample 512mb (~£83)from novatech both with good coolers.

The vapor-x seems to be at ~90 atm. If you can find it for £80 then I agree, its the one to go for.

Someone on the classifieds is selling a sealed 4870 3Dclub 512mb for £83. If you keep posting you might be able to get to 100 soon!

[narz]

Hey peeps,

Regarding the MSI HD 4850 which might run at full fan speed all the time, id rather avoid something noisy if that's the case, as my PC at the moment is relatively quiet.

I believe a 450w is required for this card and my 550w Antec true power trio should hopefully do the job. 3 x 12v rails @ 18A


Vapor X is indeed £90 @ ebuyer, bit to pricey...

I saw this at ebuyer too looks even cheaper AND same spec @ £70 delivered.
"PowerColor HD 4850 PCS 512MB GDDR3 HDMI DVI VGA Out PCI-E Graphics Card

The Hexus review conclusion stated "Looking at the positive side, if you're looking for, arguably, the quietest air-cooled Radeon HD 4850 around, then the PowerColor PCS+ 4850 HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 works well."

ofcourse this was back in 2008 and better 4850's for few quid extra might be available that I'm totally unaware of...

So now I guess i've sort of narrowed it down to two options.

PowerColor HD 4850 PCS 512MB GDDR3 HDMI DVI VGA Out PCI-E Graphics @ £70.98 - ebuyer
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168023
Or

Gainward ATI Radeon HD 4850 "Golden Sample" 512MB GDDR3 @ £82 - Novatech

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...-9559.html#top

is it worth the extra £12?

Decisions.. decisions..

[Domestic_Ginger]

The Gainward is factory OC and the cooler is very good, sub 60C I think (there is a good review out there). I would check the temps on the powercolour. The powercolour is the budget entry number.

But like you said though if the 3850 was your starting point then the overclock does not make much sense as both cards are much more powerful. If you needed a 3850 why not try and source one or a 3870?

The Gainward is VERY shiny and why not go £8 more for the vapor-X.

One thing I do recommed is the warranty; that may be the ice breaker if one is much better.

Not very helpful I know!

[Zhaoman]

I'd go for the Powercolour to be perfectly honest, most 4850s can be easily overclocked to 690Mhz stable so the factory OCs really don't mean much. And besides it's a tiny increase in performance for a lot more money. If you want quiet then get the Vapour X. Otherwise get the Powercolour

[narz]

Thanks Chaps,

Ahhh aargh. ahhhhh, its either going to be all out on the Vapor X or save £20 with the Powercolor now.

I shall be buying tomorrow..

[marshalex]

Thanks Chaps,

Ahhh aargh. ahhhhh, its either going to be all out on the Vapor X or save £20 with the Powercolor now.

I shall be buying tomorrow..

just thought i would point out that for about the price of the Vapor X you can get a Powercolour 4870 OC 512mb on novatech if thats any help

[narz]

just thought i would point out that for about the price of the Vapor X you can get a Powercolour 4870 OC 512mb on novatech if thats any help

Oh nice totally missed that, guess that takes the vapor X out

PowerColor HD 4850 PCS 512MB @ £70 Vs Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 OC £94

£24 difference, might have to flip a coin and decide as I dont need the power right now, but thinking of upgrade monitors to 22" and doing more intensive graphic stuff at a higher res!

[Domestic_Ginger]

last spanner in the works:-

an XFX 4850 for £75 (it seems to be novatech branded). The cooler is meant to be good from what i remember but you might have to find the review.

[narz]

You my friend are a devil. Apprantley after some google its meant to be palit cards inside, are they any good? Also GDDR3 in the title and DDR4 in the specification on Nova...

I can't stop my own greed for power, "£5 more and... £10 more and......" its never ending! lol

[no_numb]

Or the vapor-x can be had for £80 odd
http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...itle#scoring=p

[Domestic_Ginger]

You my friend are a devil. Apprantley after some google its meant to be palit cards inside, are they any good? Also GDDR3 in the title and DDR4 in the specification on Nova...

I can't stop my own greed for power, "£5 more and... £10 more and......" its never ending! lol

I thought Palit just made nvidia cards? I could be wrong. The cooler is almost definately an XFX one; it says so in the picture. You could always call them; most sales support staff are not much help. They have some forums too and there maybe something there. I think the GDDR4 must be wrong as they are only shipped with GDDR3 from my understanding .

Its a sick sick business buying computer hardware. Its good fun learning how things work and comparing stuff but can start to be really annoying. Its even more annoying things fluctuate in price rather than just going down. I think an idea of budget that you have to stick to is highly advantageous. I'm shopping second hand for a 1/2 decent card as I'm a bit poor and can't really justify spending the money.

The google listed shops usually do not include free postage so will probably be in the high 80s. if there is one local you could see if you can pickup at the prices quoted?

[Pob255]

Here's the link to the powercolor 4850 PCS
http://www.powercolor.com/eng/produc...roductID=5859#

It's not the same cooler as Hexus reviewed (that was the PCS+ with a cooler by Zerotherm)
The cooler on this one is from AcrticCooling
I'd say go for it for that price
Don't bother with the 4870, for a 19" monitor the 4850 is going to be overkill enough