Best buy at £40? gaming & folding

I've asked the same question in the folding forum, but here's the question posed to gamers :D

I'm planning on spending about £40 on the GPU for my new office, casual gaming (at 1280x1024) and folding computer. As far as I can tell my basic choice at that price is a HD4650 or a DDR2 9500GT. I've hunted around and found one direct comparison review which puts the 4650 slightly - but only *very* slightly - ahead in gaming terms: however I understand the NVidia architecture is better for folding. Adding complexity, microdirect are currently doing a clearance 8600GT 256MB for £35 which looks quite tempting.

Another (minor) consideration is that I do have an SLI capable motherboard, so I could add a second card at a later date for mutli-gpu goodness :mrgreen:

So, any opinions, and have I missed any contenders in that price range (I can probably go a few quid over £40, but not too much).

You can get a brand new 9600GSO 96 shader version for under £40 delivered:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XFX-GeForce-96...item3ca69fd006

Perhaps a HD4670 for £50..
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152940

CAT's suggestion is good for £40 though.

9600gt from pc world for £39.99 would kill the above !!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by wazi

9600gt from pc world for £39.99 would kill the above !!!!!!!!!!!!

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Is it one of the PC World offers that you can actually buy?? :p

Also do remember that the 9600GSO 384mb has 96 stream processors as opposed to the 64 found in the 9600GT. The lack of RAM and narrower memory bus is what affects the 9600GSO in games.

Edit!!

According to this article the 9600GSO is better for folding:

http://www.bit-tech.net/custompc/lab...d-9600-gt.html

Thanks CAT, that's some incredibly useful information :) looks like a DDR3 9600GSO is very much what I want then, as it should handle the games / resolution I'm using fine and be much better for folding!

Unfortunately, I've just had to pay for two osteopathy appointments out of my bank account so I'm not sure I can afford to put any paypal transactions through it! (grrrr!) Shame, because that's a great price for the 9600GSO - might have to see if I can persuade Paypal to take it off my credit card instead...

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Is it one of the PC World offers that you can actually buy?? :p

Also do remember that the 9600GSO 384mb has 96 stream processors as opposed to the 64 found in the 9600GT. The lack of RAM and narrower memory bus is what affects the 9600GSO in games.

Edit!!

According to this article the 9600GSO is better for folding:

http://www.bit-tech.net/custompc/lab...d-9600-gt.html

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http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/P...D_4670/26.html

i saw the card instore and had it in my hands ( but i have a 4670 ) and didnt need it ( cant belive i didnt impulse buy it and build another machine :D

To be honest, you should go second hand and get something like a 8800GT 512MB. That will be much better than anything you can get brand new for £40. :)

Steer clear of ATI for folding. :)

I second going second hand. I think BFG or XFX might have transferable warranties too, although I'm not too sure.

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Originally Posted by o0~Wiz~0o

Steer clear of ATI for folding. :)

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Why?

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Originally Posted by kalniel

Why?

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AFAIK the folding clients(I assume that is what you call them?) are better optimised for Nvidia cards than ATI cards currently. This means you end up with lower end Nvidia cards even beating a higher end ATI card in folding or something along those lines.

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Originally Posted by Duel

To be honest, you should go second hand and get something like a 8800GT 512MB. That will be much better than anything you can get brand new for £40. :)

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I fully agree here, although they were hard to get hold of for that price (well back in july) if there's no Must have it now!!! then hunt around on fleabay, set a max price and don't go over, if you miss one don't worry another will be along.

Cards to look for
nvidia = 8800gt, 8800gts 512mb, (maybe the 8800gts 640mb as well), 8800gtx, 9800gtx, 9800gt (9series harder to find but you might get lucky)
ati = 3870, 3850 512mb (although that the very lowest I'd go)

oooh, thread revival!

Actually, I'm still looking, and doing exactly what Pob has recommended. My real problem is I currently have 0 budget, so this build is on hold for the time being. It will hopefully be revived (like this thread ;) ) after Christmas, and I'm very interested in the new GT240 with its 96 Cuda cores... ;)

The GT240 is basically a rebranded 9600gt, again should be able to pick one up 2nd hand, although a 8800gt would be better if you can grab one for around £40

ps another 2nd ati to look out for is the 4830

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Originally Posted by Pob255

The GT240 is basically a rebranded 9600gt

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Ooooh, no it isn't ;)

the GT240 is a new, 40nm GPU with 96 "cuda cores" (as NVidia would have it) and either GDDR3 or GDDR5 memory on a 128bit bus (a bit of a mixed bag really) whereas the 9600gt is 64 cores and a 256bit memory bus. 512MB GDDR3 versions are just under £60, and would be bad for gaming (crippled by the low memory bandwidth) but should be brilliant for folding (the GDDR5 versions should be reasonable gaming cards, however). Plus, it has a TDP of just 69W (i.e. no additional PCIe power connectors :thumbsup:) - very important consideration if I'm going to be running the machine 24/7.

the OEM-only GTS240 is a rebranded 9800GT - 112 cores, 256bit GDDR3 memory interface. Not interested!</archi-lecture>

right now, I'm watching a couple of 8800GS's on fleabay (that's the one that was rebranded to the 9600GSO!) - but tbh I really can't afford even £20 on a new GPU right now and it's mostly of academic interest until maybe Feburary...