GFX card confusion

Den_M

I'm upgrading my ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB which has served me well to something that can handle Crysis, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2 a little better.

Can someone clarify the difference between these 2 cards, and maybe suggest a better value alternative if possible - my budget would be up to 200 or thereabouts and I have a 19'' monitor.

9600 GT

4850

The clock speed of the latter is a little faster although the memory speed isn't as fast. the 4850 is probably the best deal I've seen myself so far...

Overheal

Well for starters, I think that Geforce card falls in the dead-chipset category.

http://gizmodo.com/5035980/inquirer-pretty-much-every-nvidia-geforce-8800-9600-and-9800-graphics-card-is-defective

Second, the ATI card has catalyst, and I like catalyst.

Finally, the 4800 series has been compared more against the nvidia GTX 200 line than it as the 9 Series cards.

All googling leads me to believe the 4850 beats the 9600 GT hands down.

AlmightyCushion

I take it you missed the word "rumour" at the top of that article there overheal.

@OP - If you have the money go with the 4850.

papu

well it happened to the laptop mobility chips so its very likely it could have happened with the Desktop Components , 4850 is a sounder buy .

TerrorFirmer

The 4850 also absolutely demolishes the 9600gt, the problem is people often compare price points of previous generations/over-priced models. If you compared the cheapest 4850 versus the cheapest 9600GT, there is a very substantial difference. They're in different performance classes, and both are wayyyyy faster then an X1950Pro so whichever you choose is a sound upgrade. The days of the X1950Pro when 150-200 got you a 'pretty good card' are long gone, these days that price gets you a damn good card and 70-90 euro even gets you a belter of a card (4670; 9600GSO).

With that monitor size, the 512mb 4850 is a sound buy, and you'll have cash left over for something else. Kompletts cheapest 4850 is actually one of the fastest, a Gainward Golden Sample. Good purchase. Another 2gb of ram would also fit in there within your budget.

And if you're thinking of selling that Pro let me know, trying so badly to get even a low end card lately to play a few games of cod2/cod4 on remotely decent settings on my 24" monitor, stuck with an x1300pro until christmas....

Den_M

Thanks for the advice lads, the 4850 is it. Sorry TerrorFirmer, I'll be switching the 1950 into my second machine when the new card arrives. It certainly seems to be a good time to buy a mid-range card at the moment.

In my experience, researching what to buy is made a lot more confusing by the way Nvidia keep releasing slight variations of existing cards with various letters and symbols tacked onto the name.

Den_M

Sorry to double post but the requirements of the Gainward 4850 mention a Core 2 Duo:

Gainward 4850

I currently have a Core Duo, overclocked from 1.8 to 2.7 , will I have to upgrade this before enjoying my new GFX card?