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Graphics card head to head!

BuToNz

BuToNz

BuToNz

Soldato
Joined
18 Jan 2007
Posts
2,796
Location
Eastbourne, East Sussex
Hey guys,

Looking for a decently priced graphics card for a present this Christmas...Budget is around £80 (Give or take a few quid) and it MUST be new. Second hand is not an option.

Ive taken it down to these two cards:

In the green corner:
Asus GeForce GTS 250 512MB GDDR3
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=gx-199-as&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=

pros:
better driver support?
runs cooler
single slot
physx support
3 year warranty
able to upgrade to 250 sli in future

in the red corner:
xfx ati radeon hd 4850 "xxx edition" 512mb gddr3
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=gx-127-xf&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

pros:
raw performance faster?
better overclocking (this doesnt apply as it will not be overclocked)
2 year ocuk warranty
directx 10.1 (doesnt mean much imo)
nicer looking
less power hungry

the games which they will be playing will be mainly counterstrike source/oblivion/left 4 dead.

looking at this on toms hardware:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gts-radeon,2274.html
...Indicates the Nvidia has the edge (Apart from in 3DMark) but the cards in the review are not the same clocks/models as the ones above. The board in which it will be going into is an Nvidia 680i so i was thinking more towards the Nvidia based on being able to stick another 250 in when needed.

I know, i know. Its Nvidia VS ATI and this will likely spark a fanboy war, please try to make your decision based purely on performance/value rather than "What i just prefer"

Thanks, and please keep it un-bias!
 
According to that Toms Hardware link its not but they are completely different cards being reviewed. The clock speed on the 250 is abit higher than stock from what i can see.

Please consider the warranty/SLI upgradability and driver support.
 
I'm sure they both perform on similiar levels. Personally I would get the 4850 as Nvidia withdrew most of the high end GTX 200 series, so SLi upgradability will end up costing a lot as these cards are becoming more rare. Recently ATi drivers have been great with the 4800 series, and they are getting cheaper thanks to the 5000 series, so ATi will be more worth on the performance/value level. You may even be able to get a new 4870 at christmas.
 
Well id rather it be a tenner less if im honest, i get free delivery anyways :)

I'll hold out then, thanks for the advice. If not i think i'll just go for the 4850 now that you've said about the withdrawal of Nvidia cards. I can see now as with the stock of the 295...Doesnt exist! :eek:
 
Looking at this review, the two seem to trade blows.

Personally, I would go for the GTS 250 due to the longer ASUS warranty.


I'm sure they both perform on similiar levels. Personally I would get the 4850 as Nvidia withdrew most of the high end GTX 200 series, so SLi upgradability will end up costing a lot as these cards are becoming more rare.
Click to expand...

The GTS 250 uses G92 cores not GT200s, so I wouldn't worry too much about availability. NVidia use these small, efficient cores in the 9800GT and many of their high-end notebook chips. Also, supposedly you can SLI GTS 250s with 9800GTX+ cards as they are almost identical.
 
That GTS 250 isn't single slot. I don't know if that's a requirement but as it's listed in your "pros" I thought I'd better mention it.
 
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