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Which one do I buy?

danielmp007

danielmp007

danielmp007

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I was initially going to buy this

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail @ £110

But then I saw this and wondered is it worth the extra £20?

XFX HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card @ £130

and now im pondering on the idea of

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (21133-04-20) @ £165

But is it worth the extra £35 for the 1gb version and will I see a massive difference. Or is the 4850 ample enough for basic gaming?

Current rig:

E4300 @ 3.4gb @ +1.4v
Gigabyte mobo (not sli)
4gb corsair
8800gt 512
vista 64bit
1680 x 1050 res

dP
 
Yes. Have a search for a few benchmarks, though not gospel they are a reasonable guide. You'll also be future proofing a little more.
 
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For the extra £ it's worth getting the 1GB version because it will outlast the 512MB one by a fair amount.

Newer games are using more and more RAM, and you might get a higher resolution in the near future.

Plus the 1GBs are faster anyway.

It's win win :p
 
They're about the same speed, so to be honest, IMO the 260 is the better bet as it has a better stock cooler.

EDIT: In fact, I just had to buy a card at this price point to replace my dead 280, and I went for a Gainward 260 Golden Sample. Aftermarket cooler and overclock for £150 :D
 
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kylew said:
The 4870 is actually faster and has more RAM.
Click to expand...

It's not faster and the extra memory makes no difference, nice try though.

reflux said:
They're about the same speed, so to be honest, IMO the 260 is the better bet as it has a better stock cooler.
Click to expand...

Yep, better cooler and they overclock allot better, id even suggest the 192SP version for £130, only a little slower but still a great overclocker which more then makes up for it.
 
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The extra memory would make a diff in GTA IV wouldn't it? With my 512mb cards, I can only set medium texture settings. But my brother's 768mb 8800 can set to high.
 
the 4870 is faster than a 260 last time i checked and not to mension that the 4870 has much faster ram, but thats abit off topic

if you can afford it get the best you can simple as that really ive had the 4850 and the 4870 512 and the 512 is a great improvment im considering a 1gb myself.

EDIT: ok so it seems at the res in question the cards are pretty close dependant on game engine the op has been looking at ati cards so i would recomend the 1gb 4870
 
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kerrgreg said:
not to mension that the 4870 has much faster ram, but thats abit off topic
Click to expand...

Yes, but the reason it has RAM that fast is to overcome the restrictive 256-bit memory bus. The Nvidia cards use a wider bus and slower RAM, which gives a similar result.
 
cje said:
The extra memory would make a diff in GTA IV wouldn't it? With my 512mb cards, I can only set medium texture settings. But my brother's 768mb 8800 can set to high.
Click to expand...

260GTX has 892MB compared to 1024MB, it's not going to make any difference really, just stay away from 512mb cards.

kerrgreg said:
the 4870 is faster than a 260 last time i checked and not to mension that the 4870 has much faster ram
Click to expand...

Then check again...
 
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