9800GTX+ or Sapphire 4850

[richieuk]

Hmmm, which to choose?

Which would you choose on a budget build? £125 for ATi, £140 for GeForce.

The GeForce has slightly better performance and much better stock temperatures, but had problems with my 6 series card previously (but was probably me trying to make it run Oblivion with crappy PSU)

But the 4850 has raving reviews and I trust Sapphire with my life from previous experience.



I'm confused, poor, and sad...

[staffsMike]

I'd be tempted by a 4850 but with an arctic cooling accelro and a nice 120mm fan. Get those silly temps under control with a nice silent solution.

Of course you could save yourself the bother with the 9800GTX + whose temps and fan I'm sure aren't prefect but better than the 4850 out of the box.

[Mithrandir]

There's a 9800gt out around 11th august. Cost is around £90 and apparently performance is just a teeney bit below 4850.

[richieuk]

There's a 9800gt out around 11th august. Cost is around £90 and apparently performance is just a teeney bit below 4850.

Now THAT interests me, saves me £30+ and I just finished my temporary job and my retarded agency haven't got me anywhere yet so I may be waiting til my loans in Spetember before I can buy it.

I've already downgraded the Blu-ray drive to a Lightscribe to save money (if only for a few months). Was also looking at knocking £15 off the Mobo (by swapping to a new Foxconn p41) and buying a 320GB instead of a 640GB WD (assuming the AAKS is the single platter) to drop prices

[staffsMike]

Ebuyer seem to be selling single platter 320 AAKS

9800GT certainly does look interesting in that review, at that price it will probably steal some of the GTX+ thunder as well.

Wouldn't get a naff motherboard, not for the sake of £15 and given the 640GB is £52 right now on scan.. might be worth sticking with that too

[joz12345]

if you shop around you can get a hd4850 for cheaper than that, i think ive seen one somewhere for £110, and if you buy from america, where you can get them for $150 + VAT, you could save some more money

[richieuk]

if you shop around you can get a hd4850 for cheaper than that, i think ive seen one somewhere for £110, and if you buy from america, where you can get them for $150 + VAT, you could save some more money

Dont forget customs import taxes....

And although they can be bought for £110, I would always, ALWAYS, buy Sapphire ATi products...

Still though, I haven't ruled out the GTX+, so it may just become a race between those, for £50 though, it could sway quite a bit...

[joz12345]

i got a sapphire hd4850 for 125 on launch day, im sure they will be cheaper somewhere now

[Zhaoman]

Reviews generally indicate that the 9800GTX+ is only a shade faster than the HD4850; Hexus is the only site/publication that I have seen that has posted significantly higher results for the 9800GTX+. I don't know who to trust now especially after reading in Custom PC that they thought the 9800GTX and GTX260 was not worth buying because of the superior performance of the HD4 series. In their preview of the GTX+ they stated that for the card to be competitive it must more or less match the price of a 4850 because their performance numbers tell them so. CPC have always championed the 8 series as well so it really is getting quite confusing.

[joz12345]

i think hexus did the benchmarks before the hotfix drivers aswell, so that will boost the results slightly

[jam163]

LOL you just saved me a thread rich. I was wondering the exact same thing. I am swaying towards the gtx+ as it can be had for near enough the same price as the sapphire though its on pre order. I'm also waiting for my loan to get strted on my build, so frustrating!! I haven't tried for the credit yet though which I may do.

[richieuk]

I haven't tried for the credit yet though which I may do.

Always worth a try on 9 months finance, then you got jan and april to help too, but tbh, I actually already have finance with V12 mate but they still refused me

What Uni you attending?

[richieuk]

Reviews generally indicate that the 9800GTX+ is only a shade faster than the HD4850; Hexus is the only site/publication that I have seen that has posted significantly higher results for the 9800GTX+.

Interesting, what I also found was that for some unknown reason, the testbeds differed a bit in the review of the 9800GT, but to what overall effects I do not know.

Still, ideally, I'd find a Sapphire 4850 for £90/£100 ad I'd be over the moon, because of my experiences on a Sapphire 9250* back when I used to LAN alot.

Either way, I know I wont be dissapointed as my last graphics card was an old 6 series Geforce, so the jump will be noticable anyhoo. I just want to make sure I'm not missing a beat here




*Could have been a different card, but you get the point

[Crevan]

I've pre-ordered a Leadtek GTX+ myself, still have no idea when it's gonna be available. :

By the way, does anyone have an idea about why there's such a huge price difference in reference 9800GTX+ designs from different vendors? Is it to do with the fact that they've just been released, and the prices will even up after a few weeks (when there's some actual stock available)?

/rant Also, 65% premium over US prices can't be justified by my standards >.<

[kalniel]

I've pre-ordered a Leadtek GTX+ myself, still have no idea when it's gonna be available. :

By the way, does anyone have an idea about why there's such a huge price difference in reference 9800GTX+ designs from different vendors? Is it to do with the fact that they've just been released, and the prices will even up after a few weeks (when there's some actual stock available)?

Different bundles, warranties, support packages and distribution methods.

[Pob255]

The ati 4850 has the advantage of being a shorter card, so will have less issues fitting it into a case.
However I don't like thoes ati coolers, they run too hot for my likeing.
The Akasa Vortexx NEO cooler looks to me as the best option for it, so that adds &#163;20 to the price.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=810140