Graphics Card question?

[mak213]

im building a new computer and i was just wondering what everyone thinks of these graphics cards, my build is:

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail


Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail



CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail


Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L Core 2 Quad/ Intel P43/ DDR2/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

i was wondering which graphics card i should get:

EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail FREE SHIPPING, 189.99$ before 20$ MAIL IN REBATE

--OR--

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4890 1GB DDR5 2DVI PCI-Express Video Card, Retail FREE SHIPPING, 219.99$ before 20$ MAIL IN REBATE

i want to know which one is the best for the money, i would only be using this computer for gaming
would i be using all of the 4890s features? could my CPU even use all of the power of the 4890? is it really worth spending that extra 30$ for the 4890? would games be just as good if i got the 260 core 216?, would they run as smooth? would it be better to get the more expensive card for the little boost in performance or the cheaper one but still be able to play the game just not at the best quality? thanks for all the help

 

[dannyboy33]

4890 is better than the 260.

260 competes against the 4870 1GB. 4890 competes against the gtx 275.

Also, I don't think you need 8 gb of ram.

 

[nerrawg]

I would say that if you are playing at 1680 x 1050, then I would save the money and get the GTX 260. GTX = best bang for buck

If you have a (strangely) high res 22 inch monitor at 1920 x 1200 then I would go for the 4890 because you will notice a difference then. Don't buy the 4890 just because you think you might buy a 24 inch in the future sometime - only if that future is very soon - because DX11 and a whole new generation of cards are coming out in 9 months

Also I don't know if you have already bought the CPU yet, but if you are gaming then I would save a bunch and get the E7400. If you OC it, it is just as fast clock for clock as the 8000 series. If you don't OC it is still almost as fast at 2.8 GHz, and you won't notice much of a difference in games (except the ridiculously CPU biased FSX)

-edit
+1 on not needing the 8 gigs of RAM, 4 gigs is fine

 

[mak213]

sorry about the typo about 8 gigs of ram
im getting a computer before 9 months and i dont want to spend too much on a monitor, will the 4890 be bottle necked by my processor and only be as good as the 260 core 216? is the other graphics card really worth 30$ for that build (only with 4 gigs of RAM) thanks

 

[nerrawg]

Don't worry about bottleneck - the 4890 will outperform the 260 here, however the question is if you will need that extra performance at the premium of $30-40?
If you are gonna get the 260 I would look at this one:
MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv4 GeForce GTX 260 896MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430
although it still hasn't been tested yet, so its hard to tell, but MSI are generally solid and it is a stock OC'ed card - no need to void any warranties if you want.
EVGA appears to be more tried and tested though so it may be a better choice.

Here is a sample of what the 260 GTX can do at 1680 x 1050:
260 test with a weaker system than you will have:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-geforce-gtx-260-core-216-superclocked-review/8
more articles:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3408
http://hothardware.com/Articles/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-260-Core-216-EVGA-Zotac/Default.aspx?page=2
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/10103-evga-geforce-gtx-260-core-216-216-sp-superclocked-edition-review.html

 

[mak213]

well i think that if my processor wouldnt bottle neck the graphics card then i would get the better one but on a low end monitor would the 4890 run smoother and look better or be held back by the monitor itself? is the 4890 worth the extra 30$? thanks for the help

 

[nerrawg]

The monitor will not hold back the graphics card (4890) from producing higher frame rates. However if the frame rate is between 30-40 fps that is perfectly playable, and if it is above 60 fps then you won't notice a difference. Therefore it is important to consider what games you play and if the have above 30 fps at 1600 x 1200 or similar resolution - because that is the max res of your monitor. In this case I think most games will play just fine on the 260 GTX at 1600 res. However there are a few games (very few like stalker clear sky and crysis) were if you crank the settings to the absolute max you will notice an improvement using the 4890. So I would advise you to look at the tests and see what kind of performance you need. If you are not happy unless you can play every single game out there on maxed out setting like 8xaf and 4xaf, then you should get the 4890. If not, the 260 will offer you these settings in almost all games, and in the most demanding games like crysis, you might only be able to play with the max enthusiast settings but with no anti-analyzing or anthroscopic-filtering turned on

 

[mak213]

thats what i want to do, do you know any good bench marks for the 4890 and 260 core 216, thanks for all the help again

 

[binwhui]

there you go:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4890,2262.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-275,2266.html

gtx 260 is on par with 4870 1gb..
and gtx 275 with 4890..
just what dannyboy said..

 

[Tech-Boy]

Like everyone has said if you are on a 20in or smaller monitor gtx 260 is your best option!

 

[ke7diz]

+1 on the 4gb of ram
i remember reading recently 3gb of ram is the most you would use at the moment so 4gb is plenty
that is unless you do major vid or pic editing

 

[grahamlv]

AMD Radeon HD 4770: Great graphics for $99


Today, we have another bang for buck product, a product that I like very much. As what ATI is doing today is pretty remarkable. They are releasing the Radeon HD 4770, a mainstream product at a budget price. Trust me when I say that after reading this review, you will be impressed. And here's the three step plan that ATI applied to the Radeon HD 4770: http://www.guru3d.com/article/ati-radeon-hd-4770-review/

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2392