GFX upgrade - OH, the horror!!

OK, so i've decided to upgrade my ageing 8800GT gfx card, but i seem to be out of the loop with whats happening on the gfx scene a bit.
Basically what i could pick up was that the ATI HD5850 is the way to go...
is this correct?

For the same pricerange (+-R3k) you could get an nVidia GTX275, but the performance difference of the HD5850 is massive compared to the GTX275.

I also know that its currently nigh impossible to find any HD5850's in stock anywhere... so when and where will we be able to get the card?

i'm not looking to spend more than R3k on a gfx card and i dont have a sli setup so i would have to stick to single cards, but also want the best bang for buck that would also keep me going for a year or 2 - like the 8800GT (not asking much, am i :P ).

Your opinions are welcomed :P

Just wait till the HD5850 is back in stock. I have a 9600GT and looking to upgrade, but I'm going to hold out till the GTX300 are released. Might even see price cuts on older cards when that happens.

To get the ball rolling, I prefer nVidia as a brand, for the physics support and because a marginal FPS difference doesn't faze me in the slightest. I also like green :p

In the end I believe it's as simple as a matter of preference.

As you said, Lycanthrope - i also like the green :)
but i'm not so much loyal to any brand - i rather look at best value for money.
I mean look at how good value the 8800GT and even the 9600GT was when they were released, will the 5850 also be one of these 'miracle cards'?

One thing that you did mention was the physX support that nVidia gives.
how are this 'overcome' by ATI? I know they use havok software physics, but software accelerations is so... 2000 xD
so is there any use in getting a 'slower' nvidia card but with the physX acceleration? (edit: and CUDA...)

these are just some things im too lazy to do research on now ;D , but it will be good to know.

chrs

I like Nvidia too. But, the HD58x0 are looking good. Still going to wait for the GTX300 and sell a kidney. You still have a decent functional GFX card. No need to rush. The price of the HD58x0 is artificially inflated in SA due to limited stock. Don't buy now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lycanthrope

To get the ball rolling, I prefer nVidia as a brand, for the physics support and because a marginal FPS difference doesn't faze me in the slightest. I also like green :p

In the end I believe it's as simple as a matter of preference.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Leakysandwich

As you said, Lycanthrope - i also like the green :)
but i'm not so much loyal to any brand - i rather look at best value for money.
I mean look at how good value the 8800GT and even the 9600GT was when they were released, will the 5850 also be one of these 'miracle cards'?

One thing that you did mention was the physX support that nVidia gives.
how are this 'overcome' by ATI? I know they use havok software physics, but software accelerations is so... 2000 xD
so is there any use in getting a 'slower' nvidia card but with the physX acceleration? (edit: and CUDA...)

these are just some things im too lazy to do research on now ;D , but it will be good to know.

chrs

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Like three peas in a pot we are :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HANDsolo

I like Nvidia too. But, the HD58x0 are looking good. Still going to wait for the GTX300 and sell a kidney. You still have a decent functional GFX card. No need to rush. The price of the HD58x0 is artificially inflated in SA due to limited stock. Don't buy now.

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They're hardly artificially inflated, it's just normal supply and demand every product receives. Even then, the most you'd save is possibly R500 if you wanted a month or two.

If you're looking for a new card now, get a 5850 or 5870, excellent performance and the only dx11 compatible cards available.

Otherwise you could wait for the GTX300's, but I reckon they're still months away from being launched.

If I may pose a question.

Why do you want to upgrade your 8800GT? Did you get a bigger screen? do you want to play Crysis night and day? Are you in a hurry to upgrade? why just the graphics card?

Please post your pc specs so we may see if a graphics card upgrade will benefit you? You should always remember that a gfx upgrade might not always reflect such a huge boost in performance as you might think.

It's like putting a turbo a 1l. Sure it might go faster and you spent R20 000k on it, but a bigger engine would have been a better investment then a supercharger.

And don't fall into the marketing scheme of a DX11. Please don't.

when the 48xxx came out i went there without any thought and was greeted by endless kak due to my pcd (i took the HiS) had inherited the nice powerplay bug which would make your games crash into perfectly spaced vertical lines.

saved up cash and got myself BFG 260gtx maxx core 55, result no more issues with a lot more compatibility not to mention the obvious phyx support.

our of all my nvidia cards i had no issues, this was the second ati after the 6800 pro that gave me endless troubles; back in the day i with my friend bought 20x of the 6800 just to return them 3 days later due to fact that games in the cyber cafe were giving too much issues and we had to revert to nvidia again.

its going to take a lot of convincing, at least a free tryout card before i vote red again ever.

5870 ftw!!!