Looking for a new video card

[Allan]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a new PCI-E video card to replace an nVidia 7800GT.

PC is an X2 5000+ with 4 gigs of RAM. Nothing fancy, but ok for normal use and the occasional game.

I've kind of lost track on the video card arena, so I'm hoping for some advice here. My monitor is just a 19" 1280x1024, but I may be replacing it with a 22" or 23" fairly soon, so it should be able to do gaming at higher resolutions. I don't watch HD movies on my PC, and I don't plan to either.

I want the best bang-for-the-buck in the $175-225 range, and I don't really care if it is nVidia or AMD/ATI. I would prefer if it didn't have a noisy cooler. Quiet = good.

Any ideas?

[ccperf721p]

I would look at ATI, best bang for the dollar these days. The 4890 fits in your budget and is the top of the line in single GPU ATI offerings right now.

The powercolor version is also pretty quiet..

Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX4890 1GBD5-PH Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

[cloasters]

Hi Allan, good to see you on the board. Hope you and yours are doing very well! A while back, the Radion HD4770 was mooted as all the Vidcard you need for modern gaming. At $99, it sure looked good to me!

[Allan]

Thanks, both of you. I appreciate your input.

So, a $99 card really outperforms the aging 7800GT that I'm using currently? Thats good news.

How would a 4870 rate against the two cards you propose? It seems to fall in a price range in-between, so I figure performance is also in between?

Cloasters: Nice to see you too, old chap! :-)

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by Allan

Thanks, both of you. I appreciate your input.

So, a $99 card really outperforms the aging 7800GT that I'm using currently? Thats good news.

How would a 4870 rate against the two cards you propose? It seems to fall in a price range in-between, so I figure performance is also in between?

Cloasters: Nice to see you too, old chap! :-)

You answered your own question so yes, the lower the price the lower the performance.
I'd go with the 4890 so that you won't be disappointed & get the performance you are going to NEED with the higher resolution widescreen monitor!

Because I have a widescreen HD monitor & have to OC my card all the time when gaming to keep the FPS up,
otherwise it would be unplayable with any kind of eyecandy on at the native resolution of 1680x1050.
And what's the point of gaming if it looks like crap at lower resolutions on a high resolution screen...

[cloasters]

Valuable information, thanks MUff1N!

[Allan]

Thanks for the replies.

So nVidia isn't worth a recommendation these days? As I mentioned earlier, I haven't really been paying attention to the video card market for a while.

[Allan]

Oh, and another important thing: Will it fold? And what sort of crunching power is to be expected, compared to the X2 5000+ CPU?

I hope to be back in the fold soon enough, and the more power the better...

[ccperf721p]

You would have to spend an extra 100 bucks to get an nvidia card that would keep up with the 4890, so I just don't feel they are worth a recommendation at this time.

Both ATI and Nvidia will fold. You can usually expect right around 2000PPD average, sometimes more.

[ThunderRd]

ATM the Nvidia cards lead in folding for most units, but soon those units will be outnumbered by the newer, larger proteins that ATI is superior at crunching. These more complex WUs will be around for the foreseeable future.

My 9600 GTs do 3000-3500 ppd each depending on the WU, and that is on the new 1888 point projects. I would suspect that the ATIs do 3500-4000 or thereabouts.

That being said, FWIW my next GPU will be an ATI.

Attached is a screenshot of my Q6600 running 2 9600GTs and the SMP client.

[cloasters]

Have you decided on a Vidcard, Allan? Just asking, not really my business.

[bonesaw]

4890 or wait until ati drops the new line coming up