GFX upgrade - OH, the horror!!

Leakysandwich

Leakysandwich

New member
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
 
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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.
 
Lycanthrope said:
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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Leakysandwich said:
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
 
HANDsolo said:
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.
 
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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.
 
if ur looking to upgrade now, ati's new generation is currently the best way to go.

a 5850 is a great card, i'd say wait for it to be back in stock then go for that.

don't hold out for NV's GT300 range if u want to upgrade soon, looks to be quite a long way off, and will probably release with a very hefty price tag.

but as spookie says, make sure ur CPU is decent enuff to support the upgrade... a bottleneck will mean money badly spent, and not that much of a performance boost.
 
Subversion said:
if ur looking to upgrade now, ati's new generation is currently the best way to go.

a 5850 is a great card, i'd say wait for it to be back in stock then go for that.

don't hold out for NV's GT300 range if u want to upgrade soon, looks to be quite a long way off, and will probably release with a very hefty price tag.

but as spookie says, make sure ur CPU is decent enuff to support the upgrade... a bottleneck will mean money badly spent, and not that much of a performance boost.
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aye my brother, but i've heard this song before the 48xxx launch :D
 
I don't support ATi, simply coz of their drivers, a game may work today, but after an update to a new version, suddenly it doesnt. You end up with several drivers for several games - so much hastle for something that should be unified and left untouched. Good cards, bad software.
 
Slipperyduck said:
I don't support ATi, simply coz of their drivers, a game may work today, but after an update to a new version, suddenly it doesnt. You end up with several drivers for several games - so much hastle for something that should be unified and left untouched. Good cards, bad software.
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Can't say I've ever experienced that, apart from a few issues with the first Win7 beta drivers, but they were beta :p
 
SpoOkie said:
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.
Click to expand...

Lol, true.

My specs currently :
CPU C2Q Q9550
GFX 8800GT
MOBO ASUS P5Q SE
RAM 4GB DDR800
PSU Isonic 600W
22" Screen @ 1680x1050 rez

Look, i've been planning to upgrade end of this year, so im not in a hurry yet, but a month or so ago my motherboard went so i upgraded my dual core to a quad. I wanted so bad to go core i7, but it was just too damned expensive...
i'm basically just preparing for any specials that may pop up in the next few months, so that i can buy it without having to do all the research then.

Anyway, as you can see its not a bad setup, but the gfx card is a bit old. Most performance charts puts the HD5850 at roughly a 100% increase in performance vs the 8800GT (meaning @ 1680x1050 the FPS is doubled using the 5850)
I'm not a huge sucker for marketing, so whatever dx11 features or eyefinity blubber they are trying to sell wont work on me. i'm buying on value for money but still want the best performance item that will keep you going for 2 yrs min (such as the 8800GT).

So yes, i'd say the ram probably needs an upgrade and also the gfx card.
Still, im gaming at 1680x1050 but i may decide to get another screen maybe. So i dont need a beast of a card such as the HD5870.
 
I ordered the 5870 last week, still waiting for it though. Being the AMD/Ati fanboy that I am, I feel I should recommend that you go red. I currently have a 4850 and love it, and the only problems I have had with it, have been caused by my own tinkering...
 
Leakysandwich said:
Lol, true.

My specs currently :
CPU C2Q Q9550
GFX 8800GT
MOBO ASUS P5Q SE
RAM 4GB DDR800
PSU Isonic 600W
22" Screen @ 1680x1050 rez

Look, i've been planning to upgrade end of this year, so im not in a hurry yet, but a month or so ago my motherboard went so i upgraded my dual core to a quad. I wanted so bad to go core i7, but it was just too damned expensive...
i'm basically just preparing for any specials that may pop up in the next few months, so that i can buy it without having to do all the research then.

Anyway, as you can see its not a bad setup, but the gfx card is a bit old. Most performance charts puts the HD5850 at roughly a 100% increase in performance vs the 8800GT (meaning @ 1680x1050 the FPS is doubled using the 5850)
I'm not a huge sucker for marketing, so whatever dx11 features or eyefinity blubber they are trying to sell wont work on me. i'm buying on value for money but still want the best performance item that will keep you going for 2 yrs min (such as the 8800GT).

So yes, i'd say the ram probably needs an upgrade and also the gfx card.
Still, im gaming at 1680x1050 but i may decide to get another screen maybe. So i dont need a beast of a card such as the HD5870.
Click to expand...

If you had an I7 setup you would have gotten 1-3 FPS more in games. I7 only helps if you have a dual/tri card setup. Seeing as you are gaming on a 22" and better/faster DX11 cards are going to be released within 18 months.

I would suggest you look at buying something like a 4870 or a GTX260/280(depending on what price you can get, second hand bargains are awesome ;))

You can get the 512mb 4870 for about R2200 and a GTX260 for R2000. That's the route I would take. Else you could be an early adopter and go for the 5850.
 
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SpoOkie said:
If you had an I7 setup you would have gotten 1-3 FPS more in games. I7 only helps if you have a dual/tri card setup. Seeing as you are gaming on a 22" and better/faster DX11 cards are going to be released within 18 months.

I would suggest you look at buying something like a 4870 or a GTX260/280(depending on what price you can get, second hand bargains are awesome ;))

You can get the 512mb 4870 for about R2200 and a GTX260 for R2000. That's the route I would take. Else you could be an early adopter and go for the 5850.
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You can get a 4890 for R2000 from prophecy which is the best bet...otherwise 5850:)
 
4870 for R2200? Where you shopping, incredible connection? :P

You can pick up one of those for around R1300 - R1500.

and prophecy do have a gr8 deal on a Force3D 4890 like zenbaas says.
 
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