Thread: Desktop video card: Best bang for the buck?

Originally Posted by GeddyLee

Newegg in all my years of dealing with them has never steered me wrong. And that 8800 GTS you mentioned...........Newegg has a one up on that one

Newegg.com - Recertified: EVGA 512-P3-N871-RX GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Well ok two

Newegg.com - Recertified: EVGA 01G-P3-N891-RX GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

If you are going to spend that amount, why piss it away on an inferior card? Grab a 4850 card instead:

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

ChipsetChipset Manufacturer ATI
GPURadeon HD 4850
Core clock 625MHz
Stream Processors 800 Stream Processing Units
MemoryMemory Clock 1986MHz
Memory Size 512MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR3
3D API DirectX DirectX 10.1
OpenGLOpenGL 2.1

vs


ChipsetChipset Manufacturer NVIDIA
GPUGeForce 9800 GTX(G92)
Core clock 675MHz
Stream Processors 128 Memory
Memory Clock 2200MHz (effective)
Memory Size 512MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR3
3D APIDirectX DirectX 10
OpenGLOpenGL 2.1


I guess the difference I do not understand is how the ATI can have so many more stream processors? And its not just a few...........its a ton more. You would think if that was the case to have almost 778 more stream processors, EVERYONE would be going for the ATI card? The clock speed and memory speed of the nVidia has the ATI by a bit more, but I guess I have to read up on the stream processor difference between those two cards. I was a loyal ATI guy until I got my first 6600 GT back in the day and I have been with them ever since.

I never liked the idea of the crossfire design when it came out. I know they have improved it and AMD has since improved upon the idea, but I am still hesistant to pull the trigger on that one just yet.

But thanks for the comparision! It will make for some interesting reading no doubt!

Originally Posted by GeddyLee

I never liked the idea of the crossfire design when it came out. I know they have improved it and AMD has since improved upon the idea, but I am still hesistant to pull the trigger on that one just yet.

But thanks for the comparision! It will make for some interesting reading no doubt!

ATI has come back on top. Like you said, check around on it, do not just listen to me. I have been looking into building a new machine, and found out quickly through researching that the ATI cards are recommended pretty much everywhere.