Best Graphics Cards For The Money: April '09

[boudy]

Another great article. There are a few typos, but nothing serious.
Cant wait for the "Best Graphics Cards for the Money: May '09", especially with the 4770 coming out and ATI's partners going ahead with a 4890X2.

 

[avericia]

I've got sli gtx 260 core 216 with a 55nm and a 65nm @666/1404/1100 and they are perfect for 1920x1200.

I can play any game on the highest settings with a very minimum of 22-25 fps in the most explosive intense parts of crysis or Dawn of war 2 on a 3vs3 map in the rain when everyone collides in the middle.

If your on a budget looking for long term high end performance I would probably get 1 gtx 285 now and add a second one for sli when the price drops some because thats what I did with my gtx 260s and it worked out well.

 

[LuxZg]

This article is a rare example of these monthly articles which doesn't feel exactly right... Sure, prices are different from country to country, but the 150$+ parts are bothering me still..

Localy HD4850X2 is 18% more expensive than HD4890. Now taking into account everything, like Crossfire scaling, HD4890 overclocking real well, possible problems with Crossfire and so on.. Do you really think that almost 20% for X2 card isn't kind of too much?

I don't know.. at current prices (which are about same across europe), HD4890 seems like a not-bad buying decision at all. Haven't seen it directly compared to 4850X2, but I'd say it's performing better than the suggested price increase toward X2 suggests.-

 

[hellwig]

I know AGP was dropped, and for good reason (and no, I'm not running AGP), but Wikipedia tells me that in March, Powercolor released a 4650 and 4670 for the AGP bus (although I found a listing on Gigabyte's Taiwanese page, but with only one local retailer in the U.S.).

Can we really consider AGP dead, or will companies continue to drag that dead horse behind the cart?

 

[realcyberghost]

Of course these are specific games, but I run EVE Online in Windowed mode, so SLI is not an option.
Ryzom doesn't seem to run very well in SLI either.
You would think these older games don't profit from highend cards, but once you run 16xAA, performance drops fast enough, even on DX9 games.
Those are the main games I play atm, but also some UT3, Crysis and Bioshock, these games seem to profit alot more from SLI.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]LuxZg[/nom]Localy HD4850X2 is 18% more expensive than HD4890. Now taking into account everything, like Crossfire scaling, HD4890 overclocking real well, possible problems with Crossfire and so on.. Do you really think that almost 20% for X2 card isn't kind of too much?[/citation]

Oh, god no. Not at all. Look at the benchmarks - the 4850 X2 will absolutely school a single 4890. It's not even a contest.

Once again, if you can find a lot of examples nebulous 'crossfire scaling' issues, please point them out. Crossfire has come a very, very long way since the X800. It's quite reliable for the most part and no massive issues come tim mind, at least any I'm aware of.

 

[gspoon]

You cant really compare the 4850X2 VS the GTX285.
In the context of the article those are not comparable in that price range.

4870 1GB @185-265
4850 X2 @240-280
4890 1GB @250-300

GTX260 @175-265
GTX275 @260-270
GTX285 @340-400

The Multi-Gpu issues are enough for me not to buy any dual gpu card.
I also have no love for SLI or CrossFire as they Both have their fair share of problems 1 powerful card is all i need. If the Driver, heat and developer related issues were partially fixed i might take another look. The thing is getting 2 cards and only seeing a 20-30% increase in FPS and even if its supported. No thank you

 

[browncamo7]

Is it just me or is there a blaring omission in the chart? The new gtx 280 and 260 cards for laptops!!!! Haha I wanna know if my 4850 still has a smidgeon of bragging rights!

 

[cracklint]

$160 - none ? I think the 4870 512mb at $165 was a good deal when I bought mine from the egg. I cold have opted for the $20 more expensive 1g version, but I didn't think it would have added any value. Every game I have thrown at it with the exception of Crysis & Far Cry 2 runs at 60 plus fps with Maxed out settings. I have a 22in monitor and a 720p capable tv, so buying a higher end card for 1920x 1080 and higher res won't do me any good anyway. I think there are plenty of people who are in similar situations that can't rationalize spending the extra 15 to 20 bucks.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]gspoon[/nom]You cant really compare the 4850X2 VS the GTX285.In the context of the article those are not comparable in that price range.[/citation]

Wow. I completely and utterly disagree with that.

In the context of this article, I'm recommending the products that are good value for the money. I'm not comparing cards on price alone, I'm comparing them on price vs. performance.

It sounds like your argument is that they can't be compared because they come in at diffrent price points. That's like saying you couldn't make a price/performance comparison between a Corvette and a Mercedes Benz SL bercause the Mercedes costs twice as much.

But I *can* make a price/performance comparison between a Corvette and a Mercedes SL, can't I? I can take them out to the track and drive them around and compare performance. And the Corvette will easily win based on the price/performance criteria.

That doesn't mean I have to recommend the Mercedes SL because it costs more. If I go and ignore the Corvette's price/performance advantage and I recommend the Mercedes SL for way more cash, well, that's the exact opposite of a good price/performance recommendation, isn't it? And that's the exact opposite of what this article is for.

I think your opinion of multi-GPU setups might be stuck in 2005. Multi-GPU issues are much, much less noticable than the old days. I've been running a 4870 X2 in a gaming rig for a long time and I haven't come up against a single problem yet... and I play a lot of games, mate.

 

[cleeve]

Is it just me or is there a blaring omission in the chart? The new gtx 280 and 260 cards for laptops!!!! Haha I wanna know if my 4850 still has a smidgeon of bragging rights!

Yeah, I'm a little behind on the mobile stuff again. I'll fix it for next month, man.

And yeah, your mobility 4850 still has a lot of bragging rights, although ASUS has a mobility 4870 X2 now...

 

[cracklint]

Please people, drop the whole grammatical/typo comments. These guys are computer nerds, just like the rest of us. Matter of fact, we come from all walks of life, but share the same passion for technology, computers, and gaming. So what if writing isn't one of our stronger talents; it doesn't make these guys any less qualified to do what they are doing. Read the articles for what they are intended for, information. Make comments based on the content of the article and stop being so anal. I swear, I think most of Tom's readers are 10 year olds who just learned to type.

 

[Onus]

Any comment on the GDDR4 on the HD4670?

 

[nerrawg]

[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]Two 4830's are pretty good, but a single 4870 512MB for the same price performs similarly and cheaper when you consider you don't need an Xfire motherboard and a beefier PSU. That's why two 4830's didn't make the cut... not to mention two 9800 GTs. [EDIT] Yeah, that Xbit article makes a pretty good case for a couple 4830s. And therefore, probably a couple 9800 GTs. It's still not a slam dunk, but I'll reconsider for next month.[/citation]

Thanks for the reply mate! Next month should be interesting with hopefully the arrival of the 4700 series. From what I've seen of benchies it looks like the 4770 should be hard competition for the 4830 and even the 4850 if they actually come out around the $100 mark, although I don't know how factual this bench is:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4750-rv740-review-preview-test/1
looking forward to Tom's take on this..

 

[tamick88]

Out of curiosity is the gtx 260 on the graphics hierarchy chart showing where the core 216 is or the old 192 shader processer card?

 

[morpheas768]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]Any comment on the GDDR4 on the HD4670?[/citation]

I think the 4670 GDDR4 doesn't offer very much, for that kind of money you can buy a geforce 9600 gt witch is better. Otherwise, you could stick with the GDDR3 4670.

 

[morpheas768]

[citation][nom]tamick88[/nom]Out of curiosity is the gtx 260 on the graphics hierarchy chart showing where the core 216 is or the old 192 shader processer card?[/citation]

The 192 Shader card is a little slower than the 216, but is still on the same tier of course.
I have the 216 version, which i ordered a few days after nvidia released it, and they accidentally sent me the 192 mb version. of course the mistake was corrected but if you're planning on buyin this card, you should be careful on buying the correct one!

 

[trginter]

Love the article. I'm glad these are getting released frequently to keep up with the new cards.

 

[mfr]

You can grab a 4830 at Newegg for $89 and $15 rebate and a 4850 for $115 with a $10 rebate.

 

[jukkie]

Where does he get his prices from?
Can get a 4890 for £190, while the 4850 x2 is £260. Difference of £70 (what's that in dollars? 90-100?). With that in mind, and the massive overclocking potential of the 4890, I think that's much better value.

 

[Onus]

The question about the GDDR4 HD4670 is for people who have minimal PSUs who can't run anything more demanding; is it worthwhile over the GDDR3 versions? There appears to be about a $10-$15 difference.

 

[esquire468]

[citation][nom]esquire468[/nom]Geforce GTX 260's have dropped in price for some time now. In fact, there are several starting at $180, $80 below your suggested price point. Saying the 4850X2 will beat the similarly priced 260 is just plain off. A more adequate comparison in price would have been the GTX 275 or Radeon 4890. Was this just a cut and paste from last month's article, and oversight?[/citation]

Since I didn't get a response, I checked myself, and guess what, the quote was pulled verbatim from the March '09 Review.

The Radeon HD 4850 X2 is essentially two Radeon HD 4850s in CrossFire mode on a single card, and it will beat the similarly priced GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 and more expensive GeForce GTX 280 hands down. It will even put the hurt on the new, more expensive GeForce GTX 285.

We're still quite pleased that the Radeon HD 4850 X2 can now be found on Newegg for $260. At this price, it's the same price as two Radeon 4850 cards, but is more accessible in that it will work with any PCI express motherboard. In either case, that's a lot of performance for the admission price.

Come on guys, at least update the thing, especially when your price is off by $80.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]Any comment on the GDDR4 on the HD4670?[/citation]

Yeah, GDDR4 has the same bandwidth per clock as GDDR3 I believe. It doesn't make much of a diffrence.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]tamick88[/nom]Out of curiosity is the gtx 260 on the graphics hierarchy chart showing where the core 216 is or the old 192 shader processer card?[/citation]

Both. They perform closely.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]esquire468[/nom]Since I didn't get a response, I checked myself, and guess what, the quote was pulled verbatim from the March '09 Review.Come on guys, at least update the thing, especially when your price is off by $80.[/citation]

Sorry, I didn't catch your first post about it. Lots of stuff to dig through.

I do several editing passes for this article each month, but you're right, i missed the GTX 260 note. It's been fixed.