Best for my situation

[letztvondenPriesterlords]

Ok theoretical situation with possible real world impact on an upcoming decision(Could I be more cryptic?). On a system with these stats

Processor - Phenom II 940
CPU cooler -Rosewill RCX-Z940-SL 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3
HDD -Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200 RPM SATA
HDD -Western Digital Caviar RE 250GB 7200 RPM
HDD -Western Digital RE3 500GB 7200 RPM SATA
GPU - SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB
RAM - Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 1066
Optical Drive - ASUS 22X DVD Burner with LightScribe SATA DRW-22B1LT
Antec 300 w/ 2 intake and 2 exhaust fans
OS - Vista ultimate 64bit
PSU - Antec 500w

Because its a bottom tier card hooked to a 32" screen the 4830 puts up a 3dMark score in the teens(figuratively but not too much better) and Crysis, COD4, etc look like Blake Stone (hows that for a FPS reference that age's me lol). The 512 4830 just cant handle 3d games on a 32" LCD. With a budget of up to about $190 what would be the best ATI single card GPU solution for that size screen, everything else is about where I want it but I still cant play games until the GPU gets updated. Currently the front runner in my book is the Sapphire 4870 1Gb Vapor-X but I have read its not to much better if at all in performance or temps then the standard 1Gb 4870. Let me know what you think.

 

[proletarian]

Hello,

I was in your boat last month though i had a slightly better budget, but not much...

...i purchased the Radeon 4890 VapourX 4890 and i'm very impressed.

i was looking at the 4870 and i have a few friends who got them for their media centre boxes - hooked up to HDTVs, one lad got the standard version and it runs hotter than the VapourX, so i'd suggest the vapourx version.

 

[letztvondenPriesterlords]

Ok thats one vote for the 4870 Vapor x 1Gb

Out of curiosity, you are running a 32" monitor/TV as well? Is it sufficient to run good graphics on a screen that large? Guess I am trying to get a bead on the chances of success through proxy, I figure if the 4890 Vapor is more then able to handle it, then the 4870 should provide decent results, however if the 4890 is just barely getting it then the 4870 probably isnt worth it.

 

[megamanx00]

That depends on your resolution. If it's 720p a 4870 1GB is more than enough. If it's 1080p then you may want to go with the slightly faster 4890

 

[letztvondenPriesterlords]

1080p is the resolution at hand, so the thought is that 4890 would be a pretty profound improvement over the 4870?

 

[proletarian]

if 1080p is the resolution you will be running at, the 4890 would be the best bet. if your running higher resolutions, the 2GB version may be more fitting. the difference in price between the 1gb and 2gb versions is minimal.

 

[megamanx00]

The difference between the 4890 and the 4870 isn't huge, but it's enough to make the difference between smooth and unsmooth gameplay. You're looking at like a %15 difference between the stock clocked 4870 1GB and the 4890. Of course the 4890 can generally be overclocked a bit higher . If you don't want to overclock for whatever reason there are a few 4890s clocked over 900MHz that don't cost too much more.

 

[letztvondenPriesterlords]

So a 4890 was out of my budget unfortunately and the day before I went to order Newegg sold out of the 4870 1gb Vapor x so I had to decide between the stock Sapphire 1Gb 4870 or spend the additional $30 (which I really didnt want to) and get the Sapphire 1Gb 4870 Toxic. I chose the Toxic, it should be here middle of next week (I hate ordering things Friday evening, it makes it seem like it takes so much longer). Anyone have any input on the Toxic? it was over my budget but I figured from everything I read it is a pretty good performance boost over the regular 4870 and I wanted to get as good a card as possible for my money.

 

[obsidian86]

you'll be happy with the toxic its marginally under the standard 4890

 

[letztvondenPriesterlords]

Sweet, I like positive responses, I still haven't quite come to terms with what to expect with the vapor cooling on the Toxic though, some reviews say its way cooler but significantly louder, others say you sacrifice lower temps from stock coolers for a quieter card. More say that it is cooler and I am hoping it is, though because this machine is hooked up to my living room TV quieter I would be happy with too.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

May want to hold off though, the 5xxx series should be coming out soon, if nothing else, may drop prices on that 4890.

 

[letztvondenPriesterlords]

Too late, already bought it, plus if I dont buy it now, I wont have the money by the time the prices drop. I figure this will do me well until its time for my tax return (or as I call it my federal savings account) at which point I will get a new mobo and either pick up 1 or 2 more of these cheap along with a new case and PSU and cross or trifire, or pick up a 58xx because hopefully by that time any new card bugs will have been worked out