stompy said:
Aries_Split said:
Bulletinmybrain said:
Whats the most bang for my buck going with graphic cards? Cause this christmas I might go instead for a high end one since this pc is shaping up rapidly.
If you want the absolute MOST bang for your buck graphics card, I would have to recommend the Radeon 4850.
"GASP! But Aries, you've stated yourself that you despise AMD with a passion!"
It's true, I do. But I also know a decent GFX card, and although I have never used it, apparently the 4850 is a godsend for the sub-$200 category.
Hey Aries, don't mean to be rude or nothin', but uh, I've always been under the impression that the best bang-for-buck card has been the 8800GT [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500007]. I admit, I'm not so great with computers (I'm alright, but not so great), so perhaps you could shed some light on this?
Here's a good link on video card value, current as of July 7th so it includes the 260, 280, 4850, 4870, 9800GX2, and 9800GTX but not the 4870X2. I like the Tom's guides because they go out of their way to be fair and because they break the selections down into price points. Down sides are a failure to compare price points (i.e. is it worth an extra $40 to upgrade from 8800GT to HD 4850?) and to take single card-only configurations into account. For instance, a pair of Crossfire HD 4850s are the recommended value for $400, but what if you have a single-slot mobo? If you have an SLI mobo is it worth going to a HD 4870 over a 260 considering you could add a second 260 down the road? Still, for a guide updated monthly it's an excellent tool.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-cards,1965.html
For this particular guide, remember that the excellent HD 4870 made nvidia magically transform the $400 260 and 9800GX2 into the $300 260 and 9800GX2, so the August guide will probably have the $290 to $310 slots as a three-way tie. Either of the three should make you proud.
The 8800GT is an excellent card and a good value, but hardly the most bang for the buck. The cards with the most bang for the buck are always the cheaper cards, but for gaming it's the steeper slopes on the value curve that provide the best experiences. Just avoid the very top, because as you reach the top of the line it gets very expensive to buy more performance. One thing to remember for gaming is that the card with the most bang for the buck
at this instant is seldom the card with the most bang for the buck overall because it will need to be replaced more quickly. If you can afford the extra $40 or so for an HD 4850, do it.
Good thread Aries, but Reep has you on the Socket 'A'. I was a big Socket 'A' guy back in the day but there were no dual cores at that time. There was an Athlon 2100 XP and a 2100 MP, but they were single core as were all processors of that era (circa 2001 - 2003.) There was a Sempron 2100 single core, a Sempron 2100 low power (9W) single core, and a Sempron 2100 dual core. I thought the latter was only for Asian and developing markets, actually, but I think it is only in AM2 socket (it's a late 2007/early 2008 part.) And it is an 1.8 GHz chip.
I also buy practically all my parts from Newegg, but neophytes should realize the Egg uses a real-time pricing engine based on supply. When supply of a particular part gets low, the price goes up. When a new shipment comes in, the price goes down. Thus you need to keep up with prices over some period of time before buying to avoid nasty surprises.
