DumbStick 13 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I am looking at buying a new computer and looking on the Dell site, for example, I had the choice of these two: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260 1792MB (DVIx2/TV-Out) ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB (DVIx2/TV-out) Means nothing to me that. How are people supposed to choose? Research on the two doesn't really clear much up for me. Anyone any words of wisdom on, for example, the above two? All very confusing and walking in the dark type of feeling. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 pretty sure the NVIDIA is the one my gamer boys stuck in their made to order towers....[ya gotta know I have no clue either!] But just reading those two the thing that stands out for me is: NVIDIA - 1793 MB ATIrad - _512 MB I would assume just from THAT alone the NVIDIA is more powerful - but I could be grossly misguided. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 Right. I noticed that too - but the NVIDIA one is only 4000 yen or so more expensive than the ATI one. So...... Anyway I will try to look around more but these things have so many different names and configurations it's - when you don't know exactly what to look for - and so it gets very confusing. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 My GEEKS are at work at the moment, but I will run the cards by the boys for an explanation later this afternoon and if no-one here has owned up to being the geekmaster by then will let you know what they say. Link to post Share on other sites
yoroshiku onegai shimasu 2 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I had that confusion when I bought my last computer. I just got a geeky friend to advise, though then again that will just have been HIS preference I'm sure. Whatever. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 My understanding is: - you dont need a graphics card unless you doing 3D games or 3D CAD etc. - you might need a dedicated graphics card if you use a huge monitor and need high res output. - otherwise a built in cheapo card is fine, and processor/RAM does all the work (e.g. photoshop). If I am wrong please inform as I am about to order a new work PC based on this assumption. Link to post Share on other sites
klingon 10 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Last June saw the debut of the Radeon HD 4850 and Radeon HD 4870 graphics cards with suggested retail prices of $199 and $299, respectively. These new Radeon products offered exceptional performance for the price. At the time of release the Radeon HD 4850 was set to face off against the GeForce 9800 GTX, which was considerably more expensive. This forced Nvidia to heavily slash the 9800 GTX pricing. Then when the Radeon HD 4870 came along it was able to out gun the GeForce 9800 GX2 in almost every game we tested, and again costed significantly less. However these are previous generation products for Nvidia now, as the latest weapons in their arsenal include the GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 graphics cards. These cards were initially valued at $649 for the GTX 280 and $399 for the GTX 260, making them significantly more expensive than the new Radeon HD 4800 series and from the community's reaction also too expensive to catch anybody's attention. After a few rounds of benchmarks it became clear that the difference in performance between the Radeon HD 4800 and GeForce GTX 200 series of cards was not too big. Therefore, in an effort to increase sales Nvidia rethought their pricing strategy. The GeForce GTX 280 price was cut by a whopping 62%, as it is now priced at $399. The GeForce GTX 260 pricing also plummeted by 33%, for an estimated retail price of $299, placing it in direct competition with the Radeon HD 4870. So, at least for now, Nvidia's only answer to the Radeon HD 4850 is the GeForce 9800 GTX+ which is an overclocked 9800 GTX. ATI on the other hand has nothing as expensive as the GeForce GTX 280 on offer, though that is only until the Radeon HD 4870 X2 is released, and that is right around the corner. But as things stand today, the Radeon HD 4870 and GeForce GTX 260 are the only cards that match up in terms of pricing, while the GTX 280 is significantly more expensive, and the Radeon HD 4850 is a bit cheaper. Our preliminary testing shows that the GeForce GTX 280 is the most powerful graphics card money can buy you right now, but exactly how much more powerful is it than the Radeon HD 4870? Then there is the Radeon HD 4850 which is our value card of choice. And while we know it can beat the GeForce 9800 GTX hands down, how much slower is it than the GeForce GTX 260 exactly? -- Clearly the GeForce GTX 260 is a superior performer when compared to the Radeon HD 4850, though when you take value into account the performance vs. price ratio is very close. The Radeon HD 4850 did cop a hiding in Company of Heroes and Unreal Tournament, where it was on average 53% and 48% slower, respectively. However games like Crysis, saw the GeForce GTX 260 produce smaller leads. Heavily reducing prices of the GeForce GTX 200 series was a smart and necessary move by Nvidia, who reacted very quickly to the storm brought by the AMD/ATI team. Now at $399 the GeForce GTX 280 does very well compared to the $299 Radeon HD 4870. Certainly we are waiting to see how the dual GPU Radeon HD 4870 X2 can perform and how it will compete in pricing against the GTX 280 or anything else Nvidia decides to throw at it. Those on more of a strict budget will love what the Radeon HD 4850 has to offer at $199, and when it comes to ultimate gaming value this one is hard to beat. The real clash today between the GeForce GTX 260 and the Radeon HD 4870 ended up with no definite winner. Nvidia and ATI fans can argue all day, but there is no real way to settle it, unless of course you hand pick the benchmarks to your preference. Where the Radeon HD 4870 falls down a bit is on its idle power consumption and operating temperature levels, though the most hardcore enthusiasts will find this a non-issue when installing a relatively cheap aftermarket cooler. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 hmmm...will ask that question too. Our little boys had old PC's that were a standard off the rack type of thing -pretty basic. But there was some issue with the gaming/graphics and when we took the computer in they laughed and said "your problem is the stupid low powered graphics card - that needs a serious upgrade NOW." So I assumed they all had a graphics CARD, just not a high power/res one. Again - I can use 'em but I can not build 'em - will talk to the Geek Patrol this afternoon. Link to post Share on other sites
klingon 10 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I am sure that above might just confuse things more...... Link to post Share on other sites
klingon 10 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 (I was referring to me own post, not Mamabears!) Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 back in the 486 days of DX2, Voodoo was the card to have. It really made a big difference as the processor and RAM in those days were crap. Man, how far we've come now. And still can't get on the moon. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Originally Posted By: thursday ... And still can't get on the moon. did we ever really? Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Am rocking that nvidia card - for nothing except watching HD tv and surfing the net. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I haven't a clue about PC parts any more but some of them look like they come with big fans and heat sinks. Fans = noise, and more heat being dumped = the other fans in your computer working harder = more noise from them too. I suppose all the sound effects in games must just drown it out. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Thats what I like about the Vaio notebook I have now. It's almost silent you can't tell when it's switched on. The Dell desktop I have sounds like it's going to lift off when it gets turned on though and doesn't get much quiter after that! Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 as the old hardware air vents get blocked with dust n dirt, the components inside get hotter. So the fan cuts in more, sometimes non-stop. And the fan gets a good coating of dirt, it makes more noise. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Originally Posted By: muikabochi Thats what I like about the Vaio notebook I have now. It's almost silent you can't tell when it's switched on. The Dell desktop I have sounds like it's going to lift off when it gets turned on though and doesn't get much quiter after that! The Dell I just got rid of was like that. Noisy bastard it was! And I did try to clean it out a bit but didn't make much difference. I think it was just rubbish! Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 I think I just need to put on a blindfold or toss a coin and pick one with the nicer name! Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts