Get 4850 or wait for RV870?

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Really only 5 months ? Where did you hear that ?

Mactronix
 
You're going to buy DX11 hardware in 5 months.... which is 99% likely to be directly after it comes out..... and you're telling me you're saving money?

Law #1. To save money, never buy the cutting edge.
 
Well someone (dont remember) brought up a great point. How many games even use DX10, forget using it in its entirety, we've got brand new games that are still using DX9! Well, i'm going to get my "cash injection" around early November so i have to wait anyways. Also lets not forget, the new gfx cards then might under perform DX11. that's always a possibility with a new gfx API
 
Im wondering what the performance curve is like when comparing cards in XP vs Vista. I mean sure they run DX9 fine but is there a performance differance between DX9 on vista and DX9 on XP ?

Cards these days seem more optimised to run DX10 and it occurs to me that there could well be a serious performance hit between DX9 under XP and DX10.1/11.

Can anyone shed any light on this for me ? Links etc.

Mactronix
 


From ATI's Roadmap for 2009 and Microsoft's roadmap about DX 11 and Windows 7 might be release in 2009. There is still a high possibility that DX 11 could come by Late June 2009 or perhaps in Q3 2009 and ATI might be the first one to release DX 11 before NVIDIA does with GT300.

But I don't know how legitimate these roadmaps are. That is why I am predicting that DX 11 might come in by as early as mid 2009 but I don't guarantee anyone.

However, this depends also on the Original Poster's decision on whether he will wait or buy now and this is just my opinion and I will still wait until DX 11 video card comes out since I am interested in DX 11 graphics and I don't wanna miss new DX 11 era of graphics. I also would never spend for the current old tech that were rehashed again and again and I will save more money.

It is a possiblilty.


PS:

Not to also mention that Windows 7 beta and DX 11 beta are already released and that Microsoft sent technical preview of DX 11 to ATI and NVIDIA since last November of 2008 so I bet that ATI and NVIDIA already has DX 11 GPU in their hands but except they wanted them to go in mass production much later.
 
The reason i asked was because from what i have read they are looking at later in the year, W7 may be out this year and i would have thought that when it comes out so will DX11.
Like you say its all here say but 5 months is sooner than anything i had heard before.

Guess we wait and see My guess November 2009 along with DX11 for W7 and maybe some DX11 capable cards in Q4. Hope im wrong but thats my guess on it :)

Mactronix
 


Maybe you are right or maybe I am right but however, it is not a matter of who is right and who is wrong about when DX 11 comes out but it is also a matter of who can wait longer and what kind of video card you are currently using and how much money you wanna burn.

Personally, I still can hold my breath a bit longer because I am currently using Geforce 8400M on my notebook PC so I am fine with my Geforce 8400M which is also a DX 10 video card but some other people might have more money to burn and upgrade their card much faster than I do. Since I already have DX 10 card, I am expecting to upgrade to DX 11 which would make it as bigger upgrade and would make more sense. (Regardless to that, I don't even know what previous video card that the Original Poster was using before he bought HD 4850) :)

I wish that I am rich so that I can upgrade my video card in every single year or in every 5 months. 😀 Lol!
 
I had an 8600GT DDR2. It sucked. Even in CoD4. That's why I got the 4850 and except for a few stability issues, I'm totally fine with it. This is the first time I've actually bought a card that is not LOWWWWW end. Anyway, even if DX11 comes in Q3, and they release Vista SP2 by then, what is the point of getting a DX11 card then? If wiki is right, DX10 was released in Q4 2006. Crysis (I think its the first DX10 game) was released in Q4 2007. If the same pattern is followed, it might well be Q4 2010 before the first DX11 game is released. So I just got a card now. May not even upgrade for DX11 (hoping DX11 games are backward compatible with DX10)
 


Just wanted the OP to know that 5 months may be a bit premature, i cant even wait the couple of weeks untill the replacement 4830 comes out.

Mactronix
 
Techno-Boy, I may be reviving an old thread, but you are incredibly wrong about so many things in your post. If you actually did some research on DirectX 11, you would know that it is basically all the important features that directX 10.1 already has, and ATI already has prepared. Windows dumbed down DirectX 10 so nVidia could comply with the restrictions.

ATI basically already has DirectX 11 cards out right now (hardware wise). Additionally, You could get a medium range card right now, say the GTX 275 for $280 which would play all your games at high resolution and high everything and then, a couple years down the road, when DirectX games are actually availalble, you could upgrade your card to a WAY better "DirectX11" card than you would have originally bought "right when it came out" which is usually the absolute worst time to buy any piece of electronic hardware, ever. Value/Revisions etc...
 
Sorry if this is too late to reply to Aftermath.

Well, I heard the opposite things from you Aftermath.

You are plain wrong, actually DX 11 games could come out in Q3 2009 because many game developers are interested in using the new DX 11 features and they quickly switching from DX 10.1 to DX 11 and I read this from many articles.

Like I said, I already have Geforce 8400M so I don't definitely need a GTX 275 which is just a rehash of old tech. Why getting something that is about to be obsolete? It might be worth for you to get GTX 275 only if you have a very old video card and if you cannot hold your breath but that does not mean that it is worth for everyone. I would rather skip the HD 4000 series and GTX 200 series and get a DX 11 GPU which is about to be release soon. I think that's a better move.

Now, there is no innovation from ATI and NVIDIA but only until newer generation DX 11 video cards comes out and you would see old tech being rehashed again and again during these days. It would be stupid for me to invest for the old tech since the new tech is about to come into play in the market and of course, as I mentioned earlier, I am not definitely rich to upgrade my video card in every 5 months. :ouch:

Also, driver issues with early hardware isn't a big deal for me because it is just a temporary issue and ATI and NVIDIA will fix them soon and you will still have better performance with newer DX 11 card than with your GTX 275 and you would be able to play DX 11 games for the next 2-3 years. Despite the possible driver issue with early hardware, when new DX 11 cards comes out, I bet that most people would not certainly get GTX 275. GTX 275 might still allow you to play the future games but it would not fully work with DX 11 so it is like you are stuck with DX 10 games and you are just playing another DX 10 game and not really DX 11 game. You won't manage to see full DX 11 graphics from your game either and plus, spending $280. That would be the consequences for getting GTX 275 now and that would be your fate. :ouch:

I am fine with Geforce 8400M and I will stick with it until DX 11 GPU comes out. It might be wise for you to get GTX 275 but not for everyone. Anyway, thanks for your silly advice...

Good Luck and enjoy your GTX 275! :)