recommend me a graphics card

[KalC]

Need a bit of advice, im looking to get a new graphics card as i will be upgrading my current monitor to a 22"/24" relatively soon..now im not sure how my VGA card (radeon x1600) would cope with the change in resolution so i think it would be wise to purchase a new one...im a light gamer and it will be mainly used for media usage, the new VGA card should have/be:

1. dx10 capabilities
2. very quiet
3. be able to handle high vid resolution
4. cope with HD content
5. be able to play games such as company of heroes, splinter cell etc at nice res

budget is around 70-£80

i came across this at scan

your views?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I assume that you want to buy a new card only?? Is £70 to £80 your maximum budget??

For that price range the following option is the only decent one:

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK


I would raise your budget by at least 10 quid though as 512mb of video memory is recommended
in many new games especially if you are gaming above 1280x800!

For 90 quid the following are quite decent options:

Inno3D 9600GT Armor Edition 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

The last card is probably better for media use though!

[hermeticist]

If you`re not in a desperate rush, keep an eye out for:

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Earlier in the week they had this:

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

for £69.33 & will have similar offers in the future, I`m sure.

[staffsMike]

I think they had the 3850pro on for £64 this week too which is an amazing price.

If the games are light though something like an HD3650 is probably fine, certainly capable of all the HD media stuff and you can get them passive so no need to worry about nosie

The card you originally picked is very nice, I have the 8500GT version and the cooler is fantastic. The HD3650 is slightly better for media though as it can carry audio over it's HDMI

[KalC]

Thanks for all the feedback. So you guys recommend a HD3850 series card? seems quite a popular choice for media use, which is my main concern really. I like the idea of them being passive my VGA card ive got now is the loudest thing in my case...Another quick question, how comes the Ati cards have much larger stream processes than the Nvidia cards do?? The difference is quite a bit..Ati have 320 Vs nvidia's 32 (i know squat about graphic cards)

I can raise the budget to 100 quid..maximum

[staffsMike]

A cheap HD3850 (with a fan if need be) and this
Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev. 2 VGA Cooler would be quite a nice solution.

Not sure why ATi use so many more stream processes, doesn't make them better than nvidia though but this card is great for the money and perfect for HD media

[Mithrandir]

I reckon the 3850 would be the ideal choice. These are very powerful cards for the money.

[KalC]

so in terms of what the card will be used for theres no NVIDIA card alterative? just that ive owned ATi cards for a while now and ive always had driver problems with them or problems with the bundled software...now ive had a look at the 3850 cards over at scan and they have the 256mb and the 512mb versions, would there be any notable difference with the RAM? and also (last question i swear) could someone pick one for me..not that im lazy just cant decide which one

[staffsMike]

As you have seen in this thread you ahve cards such as the 8800GS and 9600GT but neither are better for media. The 9600GT is probably a bit better in games but it'll probably cost you £20 more and be noiser.

For your resoulution the 512mb will be the better option espeically for gaming but it won't really affect the media stuff too much.

I'd wait for the powercolor one to be back on scans today only, you can request it here themanwhocan@scan.co.uk. It will be around £65 - £70. That way if the cooler doesn't meet your sound requirements you can get the artic cooling accelero as I suggest above for £15 and you still come if well under £100

[KalC]

Mike so i should defo go with the 3850 series? Im goin with your advice here mate..lol whats the difference between the one i pointed out and a 3850 card? For gaming use which one is better?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks for all the feedback. So you guys recommend a HD3850 series card? seems quite a popular choice for media use, which is my main concern really. I like the idea of them being passive my VGA card ive got now is the loudest thing in my case...Another quick question, how comes the Ati cards have much larger stream processes than the Nvidia cards do?? The difference is quite a bit..Ati have 320 Vs nvidia's 32 (i know squat about graphic cards)

I can raise the budget to 100 quid..maximum

The ATI stream processors are different to the Nvidia ones. Basically the ATI cards have 64 clusters of stream processors which can do 5 operations in one pass - I think - whereas the Nvidia ones can do one operation in a single pass. The Nvidia stream processors are clocked higher too.In games which favour the ATI architecure it can do very well but many games are more Nvidia biased(sponsered) so the Nvidia architecure does better at the present in many games. . For the Nvidia sponsered titles performance it usaully takes a month or two for performance to optimised in ATI cards with newer drivers. This was true of Crysis which is far more playable now on my HD3870 than it was at release in late 2007.
Basically the Nvidia approach is more brute force as opposed to the ATI method. Anyway for Media purposed I do find the ATI cards better and they consume less power idling too! The newer HD4850 and HD4870 cards are coming out in the next month or so though; it maybe worth waiting to see the price of these as performance is supposed to be at least 50-100% more according to rumours - although do not please quote me on this!!

[Ommid]

Wait till june/july

[KalC]

The ATI stream processors are different to the Nvidia ones. Basically the ATI cards have 64 clusters of stream processors which can do 5 operations in one pass - I think - whereas the Nvidia ones can do one operation in a single pass. The Nvidia stream processors are clocked higher too.In games which favour the ATI architecure it can do very well but many games are more Nvidia biased(sponsered) so the Nvidia architecure does better at the present in many games. . For the Nvidia sponsered titles performance it usaully takes a month or two for performance to optimised in ATI cards with newer drivers. This was true of Crysis which is far more playable now on my HD3870 than it was at release in late 2007.
Basically the Nvidia approach is more brute force as opposed to the ATI method. Anyway for Media purposed I do find the ATI cards better and they consume less power idling too! The newer HD4850 and HD4870 cards are coming out in the next month or so though; it maybe worth waiting to see the price of these as performance is supposed to be at least 50-100% more according to rumours - although do not please quote me on this!!

sorry..had to quote you thanks for the info. How much do you think these newer cards are gonna cost though? Bearing in mind that its main use isnt for gaming...would it be worth me waiting?

Wait till june/july

Thats if my VGA card lets me, its been acting up recently and sometimes i have to take it out and put it back in again just for the monitor to come on!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

sorry..had to quote you thanks for the info. How much do you think these newer cards are gonna cost though? Bearing in mind that its main use isnt for gaming...would it be worth me waiting?



Thats if my VGA card lets me, its been acting up recently and sometimes i have to take it out and put it back in again just for the monitor to come on!

If gaming is not the most important thing and your card is starting to cause problems then I suppose replacing it as quickly as possible is probably the best bet. I am not certain about pricing although I assume the HD4850/HD4870 cards initially will cost more than the existing cards due to their newness and supply and demand considerations. As with a lot of electronic items prices will start to drop in a month or two. I would personally go for a cheap HD3850 512mb as Scan did have them for around 70 quid a while back on special offer.However the aftermarket cooler is supposed to be noisy though!

http://forums.hexus.net/current-barg...9-33-scan.html

You can also qualify for free postage from Scan if you have not done so already!!

[sammytomjohn]

sorry..had to quote you thanks for the info. How much do you think these newer cards are gonna cost though? Bearing in mind that its main use isnt for gaming...would it be worth me waiting?



Thats if my VGA card lets me, its been acting up recently and sometimes i have to take it out and put it back in again just for the monitor to come on!

i have 2 3870 512mb cards fitted with duorb coolers (very quiet gpu temp of 35*c) on ebay uk type in (3870 duorb) £90

if you can stretch your price this far you have a good bye

my user id becalewis89

[sammytomjohn]

forgot to say only put in my system for 1 day on the 30/04/08