ati HD3850 or Nvidia 9600GT dilema..

[dpcdpc11]

wanna buy a new video adapter and i can't make up my mind...
here are the candidates:

MSI ATI RX3850-T2D512E-OC:

512 MB DDR3
256 bits
GPU: 690 MHz
memory: 1656 MHz
unified processors: 320
HDCP


EVGA e-GeForce 9600 GT:
512MB DDR3
256bit
GPU: 650MHz core
memory: 1800 MHz
unified processors: 64

my current specs:
q6600, 2GB DDR2, mobo ASUS P5K-VM
power supply is a thermaltake tr2-420W

which of the two would perform better? does anyone have experience with one of this cards? if yes don't hesitate to comment on this thread.

thanks in advanced!

 

[romulus47plus1]

Very easy question.
The 9600GT is the better one here.
The 3850 just lacks the firepower here....

 

[zipz0p]

What's your budget? Pricing is changing rapidly right now, so maybe you could take another step up.

 

[romulus47plus1]

Agrees with zipzOp.

 

[fugben]

get a 4850. only 170 $ after rebates (only about 40 $ more than the 9600 gt) and about 3 x faster

 

[dpcdpc11]

thanks for the reply... my budget is about 200$... but that's relative cause i'm from Romania and here everything is overpriced... that's why i chose these 2 cards because they are both at 200$..i know i could buy form the US a ati 4850 at this price but the shipping would be waaaay to much and would take way to long.

and could you explain please why the 2850 lacks the firepower? cuz the GPU is faster than the 9600 and the memory speed is only 100MHz slower.

 

[romulus47plus1]

Well, GPUs are very complicated you see.
These 2 cards are of 2 different companies, and thus 2 different architecture.
There's just so many I gotta say that I dunno where to start from, haha.
By the way, you can check the reviews to see their performances, just google them.
I'm going for dinner, have a nice day Romanian!

 

[marvelous211]

get a 4850. only 170 $ after rebates (only about 40 $ more than the 9600 gt) and about 3 x faster

It's more like 1.5x faster.

 

[dpcdpc11]

in the end all i'm after is a good gaming performance... dont really care about the specs... ati cards always had the specs but when it came to gaming and FPS in a game they didnt always delivered the expected performance... and you're right about nvidia... they always had that raw power.

news in the debate... i found a Sapphire HD 3870 at the same price as the 2 cards above...
review here: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd_3870/

specs:
Interface: PCI-E x16 (PCI-E 2.0 Support)
Memory: 512MB GDDR4
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Engine Clock: 777MHz
Memory Clock: 2250MHz

would this one outperform the 9600 in games?? i know in 3D mark it beats the crap outta 9600GT because of the DX10.1 support and other features... but like i said... the tests means nothing if the card is lame in games.

and one more thing.. would my power supply(thermaltake tr2-420W ) handle the 9600GT's power consumption?

 

[dpcdpc11]

so would the HD3870 outperform the 9600GT?? no opinions about this??

 

[romulus47plus1]

They perform on par, with the 3870 winning without AA and the 9600GT winning with AA.

 

[dirtmountain]

Yes, the 3870 and the 9600GT are basically equal, both outperform the 3850

 

[grizz86]

in the end all i'm after is a good gaming performance... dont really care about the specs... ati cards always had the specs but when it came to gaming and FPS in a game they didnt always delivered the expected performance... and you're right about nvidia... they always had that raw power.

news in the debate... i found a Sapphire HD 3870 at the same price as the 2 cards above...
review here: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd_3870/

specs:
Interface: PCI-E x16 (PCI-E 2.0 Support)
Memory: 512MB GDDR4
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Engine Clock: 777MHz
Memory Clock: 2250MHz

would this one outperform the 9600 in games?? i know in 3D mark it beats the crap outta 9600GT because of the DX10.1 support and other features... but like i said... the tests means nothing if the card is lame in games.

and one more thing.. would my power supply(thermaltake tr2-420W ) handle the 9600GT's power consumption?

yup.. saw ur problem there.. that thermaltake tr2 psu u got there only lacking its power voltage. It has 18a on +12rail while 9600gt needs minimum 22a for optimal performance. I'm not say the card wont work for u but it may bottleneck it a bit. Take this cheap psu and sell the old one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171028&Tpk=coolermaster%2b460
This psu should be enough if u decide to use single card. Good luck!

 

[L1qu1d]

4850+ 1 but if you have to choose between the 2 , the 3850 is pure crap

 

[dpcdpc11]

damn psu... changing that is not an option right now... how much voltage does the HD3870??? it also needs 22a? or will my current psu handle it?

thank you so much for your replies... i certainly don't wanna buy a video card and then not be able to use it at it's full potential!

 

[zipz0p]

If the 4850 or 3870 are not options, the 9600GT is the way to go.

But if your PSU isn't up to task, none of them will be worthwhile!

 

[dpcdpc11]

no... you got me wrong zip... the 3870 is an option... all i wanna know now its the voltage that this card need... will my psu handle it??
so if someone could tell me if my psu fits this card then i'm good to go... and i'll order one... i would by the 4850 but here is pretty expensive!

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Also check out the 8800 gs overclocked cards. It is only a 384 mb memory card, but should still be able to hang with either of your other 2 options. If you find it cheaper, might be worth a look.

 

[dpcdpc11]

i found the Asus 8800GS 384MB EN8800GS-TOP/HTDP/384M with about 10$ cheaper than the HD3870... but my question still stands: does the HD3870 needs more than 18a?? cause in performance it's above the 8800 gs so i would spend an extra 10$ for the HD3870.

 

[dpcdpc11]

plss help on this one... should i buy the HD3870?? will my psu handle it?? i've google this info and didn't find anything useful... if the answer is yes then i'll order it on monday.