N9600GT or HD4670?

[danielfede]

This are the specs on each card, please if you can, explain all the reasons why each card is better than the other instead of just saying ATI sucks or Nvidia sucks.

RADEON HD4670:

Brand: Powercolor

Core: 750mhz

Ram: 1gb ddr3 1746mhz 128-bit

Stream processors: 320

Cooling: Fan

Price: $104



GEFORCE N9600GT

Brand: ECS

Core: 680mhz

Ram: 512mb ddr3 1800mhz 256-bit

Stream Processors: 64

Cooling: Fan

Price: $100


Both are SLI/Crossfire capable, I think the ATI one is better, but I just want to be sure 😀

One more thing: how noticeable will be the upgrade from my HD2600pro to any of these?

ATI Radeon 2600 PRO
manufacturer MSI
• 600MHz Core (the box says dual core)
• Memory 256MB DDR2
• 400MHz memory
• 128 Bits
• 120 Stream Processor

I'm not some who doesnt know about computers, but I pretty much dont know a lot about video cards, since the 2600pro was my first VGA and im selling it because i cant play many new games with it.

EDIT: Sorry i forgot to say... Will these be too much power hungry? my PSU is 500w, because if it wont handle them maybe i should just wait and sell my 2600 later.

Thanks again 😀 Daniel

 

[gkay09]

^ For $100, I would get the HD 4850 512MB...It would be mnre powerful than either of those cards...

And a 500W powersupply can handle the 4850...
What is the make and model of the PSU??

 

[BruceOTB]

Answering ur question, it would be the 9600gt.

 

[rajadog]

Get the 4870. The 4870 is = to the GTX 260 and is much better than those cards. I got my 4879 for $123 on ebay so for $20 more you could have a much better card 😀
The gtx 4850 is still pretty good and goes for around $100 to $115 on ebay so either one are great cards

 

[danielfede]

^ For $100, I would get the HD 4850 512MB...It would be mnre powerful than either of those cards...

And a 500W powersupply can handle the 4850...
What is the make and model of the PSU??

Well, the PSU is "EDGE systems" i've been looking about it and it seems like this brand makes PSU's for Acteck cases.
12V = 25A
5V = 30A
3.3V = 20A
If that's important at all. Besides, it does not have a 6pin connector.

those prices are rather high, are you in the USA? The 9600GT is the better of the two.

No, i do not live in the US, and why is the 9600GT better?

Plus, what games could i play with this cards?

Processor: E5200 2.5Ghz OC'ed to 3.2Ghz
RAM: 1Gb Kingston

 

[danielfede]

I accidentally found this video card, its like half price on any of those and the specs are these:
BRAND: POWERCOLOR

MODEL: AX3850 512MD3-PH
CHIPSET: MANUFACTURER ATI
GPU: RADEON HD 3850
CORE CLOCK: 720MHZ
STREAM PROCESSORS 320 STREAM PROCESSING UNITS
MEMORY CLOCK: 1800MHZ
MEMORY SIZE: 512MB
MEMORY INTERFACE: 256-BIT
MEMORY TYPE: GDDR3

For me... its seems better than any of those i posted before, in both price and specs, but i still want to be sure, thanks 😀

 

[danielfede]

the 3850 is below the previous two cards in terms of performance
the 9600GT is still the top card you listed, use this hierarchy chart to see where cards stand.

Don't uses stats as a way of measurements. Nvidia and ATI go about using different architecture to build their cards. It's totally comparing apples to oranges.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2362-6.html

The 4670 and 3850 are in the same step, while the 9600gt is one step higher.

"I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in performance."

They're almost the same and yet the 3850 is half the price, im not that really into power. I play often player but i dont mind not having all the settings on high, and I think that for a little bit more power, paying the double isn't that much of a good deal.

What do you think?

 

[gkay09]

^ I would still suggest the HD4670...You could get the performance similar to that of the 9600GT and yet the card doesnt require a separate power connector as the other cards you have listed...
But the 3850 is also a good option if you are a casual gamer...but I think it would require a 6-pin power connector(You could use an adaptor though, but might push your PSU)...

 

[Jaysin]

^ I would still suggest the HD4670...You could get the performance similar to that of the 9600GT and yet the card doesnt require a separate power connector as the other cards you have listed...
But the 3850 is also a good option if you are a casual gamer...but I think it would require a 6-pin power connector(You could use an adaptor though, but might push your PSU)...

+1 Why toss in the concern of a new PSU when the 4670 should meet your demands. That is the route I would suggest though we don't know what resolution you are playing on which could be a concern. 1440 or less and I wouldn't be concerned with more than a 4670.

 

[BruceOTB]

^ i play 1440x900 and im not even contented with my 9600gt 512mb oc to 740/1000/1850. i dont get a smooth 60fps(yes, i want it always on 60 fps) on GRID and 2K9. my settings are all maxxed except AA/AF (i have it on 2x only)

i use a 3.0ghz e4600 and 2x2gb ddr2 800.

for this reso to be played smoothly in ALL current games and some in the future, a 4850 would do the trick given that it's not bottlenecked. But again, answering ur question, it would be the 9600gt; it doesnt draw that much power anyways. even a generic 400 watt psu would handle it.

 

[amnotanoobie]

For me I'd say the 9600GT, it outdoes the 4670 in some games, and partially loses to some. It's really up to you, since the performance difference between the two isn't really that great (~5-10%). The 4670 by default doesn't require an extra power connector, but later variations of the 9600GT also didn't need the 6-pin (though you need to really check).

I've heard of overclocks and mods with the 3850 that could make it to speeds of 3870, but then the 3870 is about at par with the 9600GT and 4670 so you really aren't gaining much.


* On a side note I am concerned about your PSU, the Corsair CX400 (400W) that I have does 30A on the 12V rail. A 9600GT should run fine on your rig, but since you also overclocked your cpu, I am not sure of the extra headroom you have on your psu.

 

[BruceOTB]

That PSU will do just fine, trust me. heck, you could do a gtx260 if you want to.. This whole can-your-psu-handle-it? thing is so damn overrated.. the real amp requirement on video cards is just half, or even less of its advertised rating.

 

[coozie7]

@ Danielfede: Of the 3 being discussed, the 9600GT is the fastest with the HD4670 and HD3850 being about equal.
Best choice for performance is the 9600.
Best choice for value is the HD3850.
Any would be a nice upgrade from a HD2600.
Do not worry about power, none of these cards draw enough for it to be an issue and you can quite safely use the molex/PCI-E converters that should come with the 9600 and HD3850.
Is that HD3850 PCI-E or AGP? It might be an old AGP card the vendor is selling cheap to clear stock.
Look into the overclocking issue, the 'lower leval' Intel CPUs' are well known for overclocking like mad.
You need more memory, another 1Gb will make a difference.

 

[amnotanoobie]

That PSU will do just fine, trust me. heck, you could do a gtx260 if you want to.. This whole can-your-psu-handle-it? thing is so damn overrated.. the real amp requirement on video cards is just half, or even less of its advertised rating.

If we were dealing with branded, well known psu's I really wouldn't mind if the guy used even a 350W one.

Like the article about a generic 500W (which was a really a 250W one, only the sticker was 500W):
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/534/1

If the brand name of the psu is not regularly known or sketchy quality, then how sure are you that it could even survive the load that it says?


The 9600GT should still work with his system.



*Call me paranoid but when I make recommendations to other people's computers especially the ones that I couldn't or wouldn't service myself, I just want to make sure it wouldn't blow up or fry in the other person's face.

 

[invisik]

3850 since you said it is half the price from the other 2 cards your suggest and it performs similar to those cards.

 

[danielfede]

@ Danielfede: Of the 3 being discussed, the 9600GT is the fastest with the HD4670 and HD3850 being about equal.
Best choice for performance is the 9600.
Best choice for value is the HD3850.
Any would be a nice upgrade from a HD2600.
Do not worry about power, none of these cards draw enough for it to be an issue and you can quite safely use the molex/PCI-E converters that should come with the 9600 and HD3850.
Is that HD3850 PCI-E or AGP? It might be an old AGP card the vendor is selling cheap to clear stock.
Look into the overclocking issue, the 'lower leval' Intel CPUs' are well known for overclocking like mad.
You need more memory, another 1Gb will make a difference.

Thanks a lot for the recomendation man, it really helped me much and i finally ended up buying the 9600gt, it just happends that from one day to the other all the 3850 were OUT of stock... welll that was pretty fast and im pretty happy with it, and actually i was going to buy 2 more GB ram but a few weeks ago my laptop died ( :´( ) and i had to get my self a now one and couldn't invest what i had in my for this comp.

Anyways, Thanks, you really helped me. This was the kind of asnwer i was looking for.

If we were dealing with branded, well known psu's I really wouldn't mind if the guy used even a 350W one.

Like the article about a generic 500W (which was a really a 250W one, only the sticker was 500W):
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/534/1

If the brand name of the psu is not regularly known or sketchy quality, then how sure are you that it could even survive the load that it says?


The 9600GT should still work with his system.



*Call me paranoid but when I make recommendations to other people's computers especially the ones that I couldn't or wouldn't service myself, I just want to make sure it wouldn't blow up or fry in the other person's face.

I had read that article before, and since i have the instruments i actually tested my PSU and it was all fine, watts and Amps, anyways thanks for the recommendation.

The only thing that just sucks is that i have no more 4 pin connectors available since i had the 9600GT, i only have one more SATA connector.


Tahnks to everyone for reading and for your answers