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replacing a 3850

deshepherd

deshepherd

deshepherd

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Joined
15 Sep 2005
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892
Just had a 3850 start to die in the PC my kids use ... had been thinking of upgrading for a bit as some of the games they play seemed to have problems in high gfx settings (though this may have been an early sign of of card dying!)

I've not been looking at gfx cards for a bit so have lost track as to the relative perfs of all the vast range of 5xxx cards. So, I'm looking for a few reference points to work out how the current set of cards relate to ones I know about.

So which ones are broadly comparable to

- 3850 - the card I'm replacing - definitely don't want less perf than this!
- 4850 - what I'd been thinking of getting when I saw a cheap offer a few weeks ago!
- 4870 - card I've got in my other PC

Also any recommendations at the £50-75 range ... alternatively if there's something around the £100-ish mark that is a step up from the 4870 then I might consider that and play "hand-me-down" with the other PC (which is how it got its 3850 last year!)
 
look in MM i picked up 4870X2 for £108 but apart from that there really isnt much which will show you massive boost over your current 4870 i would say get another one off them as in MM they can be had for £50 and are worth the money a lot more than a 4850
 
BigBruiserAl said:
Wait untill the ATI refresh if possible and pick up a 5750 or 5770
Click to expand...

Normally that's what I do .. wait till new generation of card is out (or is about to come out) and buy what was near the top of previous generation when its price drops for main PC and hand down its old card to other PC etc. However, 3850 is dying/dead now so needs to be replaced + looks like with the 5xxx series prices increased so not sure even with a price drop I'll get a significant increment over a 4870 for a reasonable price.

Looking at Toms Hardware gfx best value guide then ranking seems to be 5670<4850<5750 so 4850 (available at £70) seems to be good buy. 5750 is another £15 at £85 which may be better option though.
 
One thing that I have realised tho, which you should keep in mind.

It nice to have a card that supports the latest graphics , however if the card doesnt have the horsepower to back it up, then choosing one card over another becuase it has support for dx11 or sm5.... shouldnt influence your decision.

If you on a budget, I would go for the more powerfull of two cards.... rather than sacrifice performance....

Of course the ideal situation is to have both. A card with the horse power and support for latest graphics technology.

A second hand 4870...... might be a good idea..... even you could try a very famous auction site....
 
If replacing a 3850 then at least a 1Gb 5770 (£104 Del elsewhere).
If replacing a 4870 then at least a 1Gb 460 or 5850 (currently overpriced in my opinion).:)
 
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