Best bang for buck card ~£150?

[nheather]

Best bang for buck for £150? The GTX 285 in 2 weeks when it all hits the fan ?

Will they really drop by £100 in 2 weeks time. I can see them falling to around £200 but not to £150. (I know there is already one at £200 but that is unbranded and on pre-order. There is also one at £230 but that is out of stock. All the rest are £257+.

Suppose it depends on what prices the 5850 and 5870 arrive at tomorrow and what their real performance is.

I was enticed by the recent PowerColor HD4890 deal at £121 and can confirm has a non-stock cooler which is pretty quiet. Despite advice to wait I bought it on my guess that the HD5850 would be £180 or more and that it wouldn't match the performance of the HD4890. Perhaps I'me going to be proved wrong on both counts but that was my rationale.

TBH its the powercolor ones i've heard people whining about the noise on more than any others?

Yes but on the reference cooler, not the new one. The picture on the OcUK website is now incorrect. And to be honest in my research I saw more complaints about noise and temps on the XFX models.

This is what the PowerColor is like now

http://www.powercolor.com/Global/bi...PCIE_HD4800_4890_1GB_GDDR5/PSD/image_a_xs.jpg

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[HummuH1]

however if you really insist of not buying ATI products then get the 275, you will just be spending more for the same performance.

but is that really the case? I'm not trying to stir a hornet's nest here as I'm not an expert but when I bought my 275 (Asus - £150) I looked through loads of benchmarks (games I play) and at most standard resolutions the stock 275 was coming out roughly the same (better in some, not in others) as a 1gb 4890 OC.

Given that most, me included, OC their GPU (it costs nothing to do), I'd expect the OC'd 275 to be ahead of the 4890 OC in benchmark tests.

When you add in the power consumption and likelyhood of fan noise issues (or cost of uprating the cooler) I'd say there's not much in it, if anything, 275 slightly ahead as a package.

Plus, if you're coming from Nvidia, the 275 should be a bit of a no brainer given the plug and play aspect of it over and above the risk of driver balls up's (deletion and installation) when changing over to ATI.

Feel free to rip to shreds but that was my take on it when buying.

 

[something_totally_different]

its ATI... and I have a completely unfounded and irrational favoratism to nVidia...

That resembles the methodology of a complete pillock.

If that quote is true, you cant ever attain best bang for buck so why bother with the thread.

you should have just put up a thread called "best value Nvidia card at present"

 

[magicroundabout]

That resembles the methodology of a complete pillock.

If that quote is true, you cant ever attain best bang for buck so why bother with the thread.

you should have just put up a thread called "best value Nvidia card at present"

+ 1

i was the same as a friend of mine always stated the cards were poorly built, drivers rubbish, poor performance etc etc

I decided to take the plunge in a 4870 and have been bowled over by the performance. at the time of buying (paid £140) if i wanted the same i'd need a 260 which was almost £100 more.

seriously you need to see for yourself how far they have come

 

[something_totally_different]

indeed magicroundabout, If there is one thing I have learned its that where your wallets concearned, screw brand loyalty. you go with who is giving you the most for the least. end of story.

I used to think the same of Intel being an AMD only fanboy, then I got a Q6600 as it was the best value for money. 19 months on and still havent needed an upgrade! im very impressed.

 

[Skeeter]

Lol

Reading this youd think Id written something like ATI SUCK AND I HATE THEM!

The fact is, I just like nVidia for no real reason than I like them. If you want to inform me that ATI are not as poor as my perception sees then go ahead, but do it in a mature way. Calling me a moron and the thread worthless is not very clever is it. Im sure we all have favorates of things for no real reason.

I dont get paid for a week or so, so looks like ill be after the 5 series comes out, so hopefully I should get some price drop (dont think the 285 is comming into budget). Looks like I will wait and see what prices are like next week for a GTX275 with decent warranty compared to a 4890 with a decent fan and warranty.

 

[Moeks]

Lol

Reading this youd think Id written something like ATI SUCK AND I HATE THEM!

The fact is, I just like nVidia for no real reason than I like them. If you want to inform me that ATI are not as poor as my perception sees then go ahead, but do it in a mature way. Calling me a moron and the thread worthless is not very clever is it. Im sure we all have favorates of things for no real reason.

I thought much the same thing, I see no reason at all for some of the childish responses you have received, to me, what you said, reads exactly like you meant it. You have a favourite, I have favourites too, not always for any particular quantifiable reason either, so I understand that.

I'm debating which card to buy myself, I am waiting for the new ones to come out, although I suspect the 5850 will cost more than I am willing to pay, I also set myself a budget of £150, so if it comes down to the 4890 or the 275 ...which I think it probably will, I'll make my decision based on personal preference more than anything else, since they are both basically the same in terms of performance and price.

I have read one or two things that suggest Nvidia are a better bet for playing MS Flight Sim X though, which I plan to buy, I need to look a bit more into that though, if it is the case, then for that reason I'd be leaning towards the 275 ...if it's just a case of 5fps I'd never notice then it wont factor in.

 

[nheather]

I think the point of the responses is that the OP asked an open question 'best bang for buck ~ £150'.

But he didn't state that he had a very strong leaning towards nVidia. He responded strongly against ati when the HD4890 was mentioned and has then suggested that it would have to be a convincing argument for him to change his perception of ati.

Given that, what is the point of the question - there is only one nvidia card around £150 and that is the 275.

Personally, if I was choosing between a £150 HD4890 and a £150 GTX275 then I'd probably go for the 275, because I think it does have the slight edge and therefore, better bang for buck.

But if you bring in the £130 HD4890 then I would go for that. Whilst there are many arguments about which has the better performance, the 4890 or the 275, I think there is no argument that if we answer the actual exam question, then the 4890 clearly has the better 'BANG FOR BUCK'.

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[Moeks]

I think the point of the responses is that the OP asked an open question 'best bang for buck ~ £150'.

But he didn't state that he had a very strong leaning towards nVidia. He responded strongly against ati when the HD4890 was mentioned and has then suggested that it would have to be a convincing argument for him to change his perception of ati.

No, he didn't respond very strongly, he simply said that and I quote; "But, its ATI... and I have a completely unfounded and irrational favouritism to Nvidia..."

That to me isn't a particularly strong response 'against' ATI at all, all he said was that he likes Nvidia better, he even said it's largely irrational, so I think 'ok sure, fair enough, that's made your decision for you then really'.

Why does everything always have to turn into a damn fight around here, people throwing mud and jumping on and off their internet high horses as the fancy takes them. I've done it myself a few times, although pretty much always in motors never here. And rarely does it paint you in a favourable light.

Who cares precisely how he phrased the question, I've seen some seriously strong anti 'insert company name here' responses around here before, totally blind and borderline crazy loyalty to a given party or for a particular product, this most definitely is not one of those times.

If you care so much about his perception of ATI, why don't you put forward a convincing argument in favour of ATI then, it could actually turn out to be helpful to some people.

From my point of view, there really isn't a particularly convincing argument to pick one card over the other once you have eliminated price as a factor, because they are more or less the same in terms of performance. If you have a game that one does noticeably better with one card than the other, that you play regularly then that would be a good reason to go one way or the other. But really, it mostly just comes down to personal preference. If you do find one substantially cheaper than the other, then I'd say, go with that one.

 

[nheather]

No, he didn't respond very strongly

Sorry, I didn't mean strongly in terms of 'with violence, anger, dis-respect' just that he repeated his 'irrational' poor perception of ATi at least 3 times which gave me the impression that his belief was so strong that nothing that was said would change his mind.

And I'm 'brand agnostic'.

I actually stated that given a choice of a £150 HD4890 or a £150 GTX275 I would go for the GTX275.

But I also said that if comparing with a £130 HD4890 I'd go with that.

Why - because I consider both cards pretty evenly matched but the ATI saves me £20.

And then as for the actual question asked by the OP - Best Bang for Buck then it is just simple maths

4890 Performance/£130 > 275 Performance/£150

Not opinion, just mathmatical fact - do it on benchmark or FPS or whatever

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[Skeeter]

Jeese, dont know why I even bother. Should have known sensible reasoned conversation or debate is impossible on here. My bang for buck question included second hand too, which opens up to pretty much any card you can buy for £150 new or second hand, which is a lot more than a 275 or a 4890.

Just gonna wait for these new cards to see if they affect price, read up on a load of impartial reviews and make my own mind up.

Cheers for those who tried to offer decent advice.