Video cards : 512mb vs 1gb

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xpd

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#41848 24-Sep-2009 08:38

Im wanting to upgrade my current video card setup (2x 7800GTX 256mb SLI) to something newer along the lines of a ATI 4850 or Nvidias equal.

Is there much use/difference between the 512MB and 1GB cards ?

I am running an older system however so will be bottlenecked by the CPU more than anything - AMD FX-60 @ 2.6ghz and only have a 17" LCD @ 1280x1024.

TIA :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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vinnieg

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#257993 24-Sep-2009 09:29

I've got a 4870 1gb and my mate has a 4870 512mb, for us, the only games it really makes a difference in , is anything higher than say 1650x1080 with AA on, I play at 1920x1200 so it suits me fine :) his one starts having troubles at that res, even though he's got hte same card.

So I reckon 4850 @ 512 is perfect for you, especially at 1280x1024. I don't think you'll see much of a bottleneck with that res on that CPU, apart from running crysis in vista 64 with everything set to dx10 and very high :)

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

xpd

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#258002 24-Sep-2009 09:51

Thanks for that.... now... any idea what 2x 7800GTX's are worth these days ? :-p

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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vinnieg

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#258029 24-Sep-2009 11:05

Um, round $45-60 each :) I'd say it'd be better to find an 8800GT for round $100-140 second hand and throw that in :) it's faster than 2x 7800GTXs and you could add another one in a few months for 40-60% more performance(in games that support SLI)

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

xpd

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#258038 24-Sep-2009 11:39

Hmm... 4850 is only @$180 new... so jsut as easy to goto that. Itll be the last upgrade for a wee while I think :)
I'll see what happens... :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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vinnieg

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#258261 25-Sep-2009 09:26

4850 is a killer card indeed :) easily overclockable too
I'm happy with my 4870, although so tempted by the 5850 and 5870 that just came out

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

xpd

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#258268 25-Sep-2009 09:46

I so need a new PC (sigh).
Been living off friends "old" systems which are better than what I had anyway heh...

Got the 7800's up on Trademe, fingers crossed they go and off to get a 4850 I go :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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redjet

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#258293 25-Sep-2009 11:32

If you can wait a week or two, AMD's next gen DirectX 11 GPU's are out:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3643

Benchmarks for the 5850 card should out soon as well.

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xpd

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#258305 25-Sep-2009 12:12

Id love one, but the wife would kill me if I spent that much :-p
She's probably going to scream when I buy a 4850 on the sly :)

Also on my aging hardware, no point.....

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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