Videocard upgrades

[Sonomaa]

Ive decided to upgrade video cards and Im looking for the bang for the buck alternative that allows me to stay fully functional in FFXI. I run XP and a quadcore. There are a myrid of options but I know there are some cards that as strong as they are run FFXI like crap. Id like to play my other games at nice speeds and power but my machine is primarily FFXI onry.

[Zosi]

Standard response for "bang for the buck" and "doesn't have shitty Nvidia drivers" is something in the HD48x0 line, what are you running at the moment?

[Epical]

Posted this in another thread, but it's fitting here:

A few different links for the people needing convincing to get the 48X0 series:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...Card,2011.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ison,2007.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...4870,1964.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...4850,1957.html

And something on the new 46X0s...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3405

[Darwinion]

I'm running HD4850 with Catalyst 8.8 driver and FFXI runs like silk. (E8500 Pentium dual core, Vista and 1GB Ram). All settings are maxed out except shadows (off) and running at 2048x2048 background with 1028x768 foreground. I'm extremely pleased with the performance of FFXI. I also just recently installed Doom 3 (yeah old game now) and that plays on Ultra settings with max resolution set in the console at the full 60 FPS. Doom 3 is like a new game to me now considering the settings I had to play it on before.

However if you are FFXI only I dunno if the 4850 might be a sledgehammer to crack a nut. There might be cheaper cards that perform the very same for FFXI.

[Octavious]

I'm running HD4850 with Catalyst 8.8 driver and FFXI runs like silk. (E8500 Pentium dual core, Vista and 1GB Ram). All settings are maxed out except shadows (off) and running at 2048x2048 background with 1028x768 foreground. I'm extremely pleased with the performance of FFXI. I also just recently installed Doom 3 (yeah old game now) and that plays on Ultra settings with max resolution set in the console at the full 60 FPS. Doom 3 is like a new game to me now considering the settings I had to play it on before.

However if you are FFXI only I dunno if the 4850 might be a sledgehammer to crack a nut. There might be cheaper cards that perform the very same for FFXI.

I've got to second this. I've had great experiences with ATI's HD series and I currently use the HD2600. It runs dual monitors incredibly well and if you fancy i've done up to 3 accounts at the same time for people, without an FPS drop below 25 during events and 29.4 while idle. I'd definitly suggest an newer ATI.

[Shuemue]

HD4850 in my new build, plays WAR and CoH totally maxed with zero lag, haven't tried an FPS yet but I expect it'll perform like a champ.

Basically depending on your budget, I'd go HD4850 > HD4870 > HD4870X2 > 2 x HD4870 in XFire

But yeah, realistically either the HD4850 or HD4870

[Olo401]

I'm very interested in the ATI HD 46X0 series.. particularly because it's looking like a low cost alternative to the 4850 and 4870. I'd like to see some kind of comparison between the two to find out if it's worth the upgrade.

BTW I'm currently running a GeForce 8600GT that I bought in May - I know I don't really need to upgrade but I figured why not go for it given the reported pricepoint of the HD 46X0 series?

[SamanosukeShiva]

I just recently upgraded my vid card to this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127333

cheap and work well, needed extra power supply though since it's huge.

edit: dont know if it helps but it get 5.9 vista rating

[levish]

never had a ffxi problem when i ran ATI cards, had some with Nvidia cards but not anything so bad to throw out the choice to run them.

although bang for the buck would point to the ATI HD4850 now afaik

[Reality]

Sonomaa, get a 4850, it's the best bang-for-your-buck graphics card on the market right now IMO.

You could spend about $100-120 more and get the HD4870 but honestly it isn't worth it

On newegg right now, the 4850 after rebates is about $139, the 4870 however is running about $245.99 after rebates

[Olo401]

Follow-up on the ATI HD 4600 Series cards.. I asked around with some of my more techie contacts and they're saying that the 4670 is comparable to a GeForce 9600GT 512, and is definitely a better buy.

He then suggested I get one for myself, sell off my 8600GT on craigslist and probably make 10 bucks on the deal.

[Reality]

4670 = 128bit memory interface, you're basically pushing 8-year old technology with anything that dated
yeah it's a "new" card, but the memory interface is archaic compared to the 256/384/512 interfaces you see on modern cards (the Geforce GTX 260 uses a 448bit interface, or something around there)

I'd still recommend the 4850 over the 4670, it's just flatout a better card

and the 4670 struggles in games like Frontlines: Fuel of War vs the 9600 GT, by about twice as many frames not being rendered per second

[Mayareira]

I'd also go with 4850. Its clearly the best card of its class and a better long-term investment.

[levish]

a 4870 would be a "better long term investment" since it gives higher fps, a 4850 is the "better bang for the buck" since the money you saved now can be put towards a better video upgrade sooner than if you would have replaced the 4870

[Sonomaa]

Im leaning towards the ATI, but Im also taunted and tempted by this
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=P450-9826

man... I love me some call of duty 4, playing it online would be fun (until I died horribly over and over again)

[Khalil]

I personally just got the 9800 GTX+ for about 200$ @ Canadacomputers.com after rebates.

[levish]

if you go for the 9800GT i'd personally get it with the dual slot cooler, its probably around the same price anyway. Its a heck of a better card than the 9600GT and a better buy (imo) than both the 9600GT and the 9800GTX

Based off Tigerdirect prices
stream processors / core
9600GT - 64 @ 650mhz ~84$ -weak card imo
9800GT - 112 @ 600mhz ~110$
9800GTX - 128 @ 675 mhz ~179$
HD4850 ~164$
HD4870 ~250$
260 GTX ~269$ (getting upgraded soon)

[Shuemue]

Wouldn't buy nvidia if I still played FFXI and wanted to run Vista though

[Reality]

Sonomaa: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==