Legit Reviews

I know sounds simple right? Maybe or maybe not. Anyways, I am trying to get enough money to purchase a new graphic card because i want to replace my current 9800 gt (Nvidia).

Now, I could go for a gtx card but the thing is they are all too big so it would not fit into my HP case not to mention i might have to replace my power supply. So I went online and researched some other cards such as the ATI: XFX, Diamond, radeon etc. and i came across some very good ones and narrowed it down to two: 4850 and 4890.

Its either Diamond HD4850 http://www.diamondmm.com/4850PE31G.php
or
XFX HD4890 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
which one should i get?
thanks

If your are concerned about size, a 4850 will be a good choice (It will fit in a mATX case). On the other hand, the 4890 better in performance.

But from experience (I guess), the 4850 seems to do quite well in games, etc on lower resolutions (1680 x 1050 or lower) with settings set to medium-high. 'Diamond' is pretty good, but 'Sapphire' and 'HIS' is better (in my opinion).

The dual slot 4850 from 'HIS' is really nice...heat pipes, lower temperatures on idle and full load.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product . Newegg HAD 1GB ones, but I think other online vendors have them still.

BUT, if you want to try and see if the 4890 works for you, again, 'HIS' and 'Sapphire' isn't too bad. 'HIS's low temperatures, and 'Sapphire's "Vapor-X" is really good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

*XFX cards seems to use more power (in terms of wattage) for some reason. Also, somebody told me to get a XFX 4850, but reviews say it doesn't lower its speeds on idle (always on max.) It might of just been that batch of cards but I'm not sure.

Both are good cards but I don't know if that 4850 will feel like that much of an update from a 9800gt. If your case and PSU can handle it I would look for a good deal on a 4890 1gb, esp. if you are going to be gaming at higher resolutions. You can pick up an overclocked HIS 4890 for $160 after MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product (this one requires 6-pin and 8-pin power connector so probably too much for your PSU).

Edit: One other option you could consider if your PSU isn't up to powering a 4890 is a 5770. You can pick one up off Newegg for $170. The performance is higher than a 4850 (probably right under a 4870) but the power requirements are lower than a 4850. It only requires a 450w PSU with a single 6-pin connector. This card also supports Direct X 11 as an added bonus.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1105/1/

I second the 5770 card - give yourself DX11

smack323 wrote:I second the 5770 card - give yourself DX11

yeah but a majority of games out right now dont even support dx 11

VanBoHawa141 wrote:

smack323 wrote:I second the 5770 card - give yourself DX11

yeah but a majority of games out right now dont even support dx 11

Future-proofing is a big part of consideration for a computer part, what good is a card that only plays games decently for a year? And to not support the next generation of DX--? I think DX11 is worth having on your shopping list if you don't plan on another upgrade within the next year and a half.

yeah i can only think of Dirt 2 that will support dx11 - I am sure there are more- but if your going to be paying right around the same price point go with the most recent tech.

I'm going to have to say 5770. The 4850 won't really be an upgrade from the 9800 GT. You might get a 2-5% increase. The 4890 is big, can get warm (unless you go vapor-x) and you will likely need a new PSU to support it. But the 4890 is still a bit faster than a 5770.

I guess a better question is, do you care more about pure bleeding power? Or would you like the extra security with DX11?

More games will support DX11 then you think!
http://www.legitreviews.com/news/6804/

According to Tom's, you can't go wrong with any of these choices. They all earned "best graphics card for the money" in their respective fields. If you can afford the 4890 or 5770 they are great picks.

If you plan on folding though, nVidia is still the best bang-for-your-buck. When the code gets optimized, I expect ATI will take over again. Right now I think ATI wins for pure gaming (with the caveat that games like arkham asylum run better with an nvidia card as a dedicated physx processor)

stopthekilling77 wrote:

VanBoHawa141 wrote:

smack323 wrote:I second the 5770 card - give yourself DX11

yeah but a majority of games out right now dont even support dx 11

Future-proofing is a big part of consideration for a computer part, what good is a card that only plays games decently for a year? And to not support the next generation of DX--? I think DX11 is worth having on your shopping list if you don't plan on another upgrade within the next year and a half.

interesting point i might add especially since i already upgraded to a hd5750

ckthecerealkiller wrote:I'm going to have to say 5770. The 4850 won't really be an upgrade from the 9800 GT. You might get a 2-5% increase. The 4890 is big, can get warm (unless you go vapor-x) and you will likely need a new PSU to support it. But the 4890 is still a bit faster than a 5770.

I guess a better question is, do you care more about pure bleeding power? Or would you like the extra security with DX11?

More games will support DX11 then you think!
http://www.legitreviews.com/news/6804/

BTW, when do the gtx 300 series come out i'm wondering?