# HD 4850 or an 8800GTX?



## kyle2020 (Jan 16, 2009)

Hey guys, some of you will know that my 260 is on ebay, and im looking to DOWNGRADE. Yes, you heard that right, someone on TPU is looking to downgrade. 

Anyway, ill cut all the bullsh8t explanations and just say I dont need such a powerful card.

So far I have narrowed it down to 2 possibilities, a Gainward HD 4850 OR an XFX 8800GTX. Now I can get the 8 series for roughly £120, the 4850 for like £130.

So, which one and why? Im not too interested in mega E-Penis scores (been there, done that) just a card that can run quiet, have decent customer service and not cost the earth. 

(For reference, I play games such as CS:S and TF:2 on a regular basis, not too fussed about turning the settings down on far cry or the likes)

Cheers!


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 16, 2009)

4850 and undervolt.


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## Kursah (Jan 16, 2009)

the 4850 is a good card, but I don't like their single slot cooling solution, though it can't be any more noisy than an 8800GT single slot on full speed.


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## RadeonX2 (Jan 16, 2009)

For me 8800GTX, I have seen quite many thread regarding 4850 all lots of problems overheating, compatibility, etc but still 4850 is the bang4buck powerful card


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## insider (Jan 16, 2009)

The 4850, the 8800GTX ain't worth even £90 now, the 4850 is better and its resale value is higher


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## Urbklr (Jan 16, 2009)

HD4850.

Run's quiet, pretty easy on power, and runs every game I find well(Runs Maxed in Crysis with 25FPS+ and GTAIV runs pretty good too).


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## kyle2020 (Jan 16, 2009)

Thanks for the opinions guys, always sorta fancied going to ATI, anyway heres the card im thinking of going with:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150577

Ill probably watercool it after a while or drop my S1 on it, not sure.

I was also looking at 9800GTX+'s, however they are guite expensive, more than I paid for my 260 in fact.


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## Silverel (Jan 16, 2009)

kyle2020 said:


> Ill probably watercool it after a while or drop my S1 on it, not sure.



Either of those options will get rid of the heat and noise problems that the stock cooler has. 

Then the only downside to it will be


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## kyle2020 (Jan 16, 2009)

Silverel said:


> Either of those options will get rid of the heat and noise problems that the stock cooler has.
> 
> Then the only downside to it will be



will be what? less power? I dont need it anyway


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## CH@NO (Jan 16, 2009)

insider said:


> The 4850, the 8800GTX ain't worth even £90 now, the 4850 is better and its resale value is higher



 how can be that???

In my country I only coud buy a 8800GTS (320MB) for $180 bucks(second hand), and the HD4850 costs $270 bucks aprox.....MAN, WHAT AN ULTRA RIP OFF!!!!


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## CH@NO (Jan 16, 2009)

I suggest you the 8800GTX, will cost you less and It'll run very well, my actual card has more or less the same design that an 8800GTX, and the cooler is very quiet when the fan runs at 80%, when I had an HD3850 the card was hot, and the fan was very loud if you put it at 60%+.

If you don't care about the power, go for the 8800GTX, also my 8800GTS OC VERY well, gain almost 100MHz on the core and 400MHz (effective) on the mems.


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## 3870x2 (Jan 16, 2009)

you definately will not be doing any service to the earth with an 8800GTX...


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## kyle2020 (Jan 16, 2009)

3870x2 said:


> you definately will not be doing any service to the earth with an 8800GTX...



you think so? Id prefer the 4850, its newer tech and so on


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## spearman914 (Jan 16, 2009)

The 4850 is better. 8800GTX is not worth the price and so fookin overpriced.



CH@NO said:


> how can be that???
> 
> In my country I only coud buy a 8800GTS (320MB) for $180 bucks(second hand), and the HD4850 costs $270 bucks aprox.....MAN, WHAT AN ULTRA RIP OFF!!!!



Lol u live in africa??


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## CH@NO (Jan 16, 2009)

spearman914 said:


> Lol u live in africa??



jajaja 

Nope, on Mexico actually, but in this country doesn't exist any hardware industry, all are imported, so It must be added various taxes....and in the end you'll get a beautiful overpriced thing.

man, and actually if I lived on USA using the same money I spended on my actual rig..easilly I could has a 1.5-2X faster rig.


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## AMD++ (Jan 16, 2009)

I'd recommend the 8800GTX. I've had mine for a while now and I think is cost me around £300 when I brought it (the most I've ever spent on one chip). 

I've not had a single problem with it, it's quiet too and generally a cool runner. It's nice to be able to buy a game without worrying whether or not it will run. All of my games apart from Crysis/FSX I can have a full settings with very high frame rates (40+). 

It's also a foot long, and has a nice design to it. So if you have a glass case it's brilliant to show off to your mates. Although you might have problems with IDE/SATA connectors depending on your motherboard. In my case it completely covered my IDE ports, luckily I don't use it.

Yeah defiantly 8800GTX (Asus if you can).


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## cdawall (Jan 16, 2009)

8800GTX will run cooler quieter and close to the same performance or you can try adn find a G92 8800GTS 512mb which most clock to 9800GTX clocks and run very well.


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## djisas (Jan 17, 2009)

My recommendation would be gainward 4850GS the same i have, it is perfectly silent (not quiet, really silent) all the time and fresh, although it seems i have a case of wrongly reported temps 16ºc at idle im sure it isn't normal...


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## 3870x2 (Jan 17, 2009)

wtf, never heard of a 4850gs...


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## spearman914 (Jan 17, 2009)

CH@NO said:


> jajaja
> 
> Nope, on Mexico actually, but in this country doesn't exist any hardware industry, all are imported, so It must be added various taxes....and in the end you'll get a beautiful overpriced thing.
> 
> man, and actually if I lived on USA using the same money I spended on my actual rig..easilly I could has a 1.5-2X faster rig.



Why don't u move to us? Costs a lot to buy a ticket but u'll save much more in the future. lol


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## spearman914 (Jan 17, 2009)

3870x2 said:


> wtf, never heard of a 4850gs...



http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=80


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## kyle2020 (Jan 17, 2009)

How can i start a vote? Id like to see results based on that too.


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## trt740 (Jan 17, 2009)

4850 but it is close


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## leonard_222003 (Jan 17, 2009)

To not offend fanboys of Nvidia and people who still have 8800GTX's , it is a good card but consumes more than a 4850 (two power connectors on GTX and only one on 4850 plus the reviews we've seen ) and overall is slightly under the 4850 but it's still a good card even today.
Some will say in some particular game the GTX is better and ...bla bla bla , the man stated he playes CS Source and Team fortress 2 ( i loveeee TF2 ) , well you know who is king in this engine , ATI all the way.
I play a lot of TF2 , maybe 2-3 hours a day and i had 8800GTS 320mb overcloked and i tell you with the 4850 i got recentlly it's not just better in framerate but almost tripled.
Again , people will say TF2 graphics can run good even on a HD3870/9600GT or even lower end but it's not like that  , when you play on a 33 people server and sometimes  you get a lot of action in front of you with 10-15 people at the same time killing each other in front of you the framerate it's not 60fps if you have 8800's video card but it stay over 60 if you have a 4850/4870 videocard.
You can lower the game graphics but it gets ugly without some AA and i can't play it without 4xAA and all details to max so i guess the man has this expecations too if he ad gtx260.
Get the 4850 and you will game flawlessly in TF2 , BTW , wich servers do you play ?


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## newtekie1 (Jan 17, 2009)

Both cards, overall, are about equal, with the 8800GTX being ever so slightly faster.  I would go with the HD4850, however it is a tough decision.  If the 8800GTX is cheaper, that is hard to pass up.  The more memory will help in newer games, but of course you said you really don't mind lowering settings, so it shouldn't really matter if you have to lower some texture settings to get newer games to run on the 512MB.

Of course, the HD4850's stock cooler is crap, however the Gainward card uses a non-reference dual slot cooler, which hopefully is better than the stock single slot cooler.  This should eliminate the heat and noise issues of the HD4850 right off the bat.

The HD4850 also consumes less power, about 20w less actually.  Which means that it should only take you a few months of running the HD4850 to make up the the price difference in power savings.


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## CH@NO (Jan 17, 2009)

spearman914 said:


> Why don't u move to us? Costs a lot to buy a ticket but u'll save much more in the future. lol



yep, probably you're right 

Hope you have an extra room in your house 

But I'm warning you, I EAT a LOT....food (just to make it clear)


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## insider (Jan 17, 2009)

At idle the 4850 GPU consumes *a lot less* power I'd imagine


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## JrRacinFan (Jan 17, 2009)

Are you very set on either card?

Here's my vote-in:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151393

HD4830


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## ghost101 (Jan 17, 2009)

Gainward hd 4850 available for £120.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150577

Also remember to check that its using the latest bios, i.e. the one which has 2d clocks of 160mhz/500mhz.

When looking at idle power consumption, most reviews were using the initial bios which didn't downclock much in idle and hence some poor idle consumption figures relative to the 9800gtx.


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## LittleLizard (Jan 17, 2009)

4850, but u will have to live with the worst thing a computer can have... Ati Drivers


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## insider (Jan 17, 2009)

JrRacinFan said:


> Are you very set on either card?
> 
> Here's my vote-in:
> http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151393
> ...



That is another good option, with it running overclocked its almost on par with a stock 4850.


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## Moose (Jan 17, 2009)

Get 
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146705
I have that card and it has not got the single slot cooler the picture is wrong, ASUS discontinued that cooler.
Or even better we can trade


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## leonard_222003 (Jan 17, 2009)

Where do you see overall the GTX faster newtekie ? Even in crysis wich is an Nvidia game and the 4850 is still faster than GTX , not by much but it is faster.
The man said he plays source engine based games so tell me newtekie wich is faster ? the Nvidia 8800GTX or the 4850 ? 
Now it's all down to what you play , if you like mirrors edge you buy Nvidia card because they give you physx ( wich will die with opencl and directx11 )  and if you play grid racer or source engine based games you buy ATI video cards.
The 8800GTX is a dying card already , 684 million transitors on 90nm process fabrication , old , big GPU and a big stress on your PSU because it consumes more power.
On the other hand the 4850 is almost 1 bilion transistors on 55nm and with a proper cooler like that gainward is cool and fast.


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## hv43082 (Jan 17, 2009)

I did the same upgrade a while back from XFX8800gtx to Hd 4850 and I prefer the 4850 b/c it uses less energy and release less heat.  Game performance was slightly faster, too.


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## djisas (Jan 17, 2009)

LittleLizard said:


> 4850, but u will have to live with the worst thing a computer can have... Ati Drivers



Ive had ati and nvidea cards x850 agp -> 7300gs pcie -> hd2900 -> 8800 GTS G92 -> hd 4850 oc and i still hate nvidea drivers while i love ati ones...

One side note both gainward coolers might look the same but the gs one is a lot better with a few pipes and other thing, the gs has the best and fastest memories of all 4850's...


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## DonInKansas (Jan 17, 2009)

kyle2020 said:


> Ill probably watercool it after a while or drop my S1 on it, not sure.



Do this.  I strapped a Yate Loon medium 120mm on my S1 and my 4850 hasn't broken 50C even after 2 hours of FO3.


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## Jeffredo (Jan 19, 2009)

I had an 8800 GTX prior to my GTX 260.  There is no way I would have every retired it for an HD 4850 - the performance between the two is too close.  That said, if I didn't have it to begin and was choosing between the two I would spend another $15-$20 to get the HD 4850.


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## ste2425 (Jan 19, 2009)

im borrowing my mates pallit 4850 its amazing can max everything out even aa and af on fallout 3 and get a solid 30-35 fps plus its a dual slot fan so it runs cooler then my cpu


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## ShadowFold (Jan 19, 2009)

LittleLizard said:


> 4850, but u will have to live with the worst thing a computer can have... Ati Drivers



Trust me. I went from a 7600GT to a HD 3850 to a 8800GT to a HD 4850 and now a GTX 280 and I can say ATi drivers are way better.


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## cdawall (Jan 19, 2009)

see i ran a 7800GS 3850 then 3 3850s then a 8800GTS then a 7950GX2 and i say the opposite i had a ton of issues with ATi drivers


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## JrRacinFan (Jan 19, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Trust me. I went from a 7600GT to a HD 3850 to a 8800GT to a HD 4850 and now a GTX 280 and I can say ATi drivers are way better.



It's not that ATi drivers are better, they are always fixing issues. Mainly caused by themselves. 

When I had nVidia, as long as I had the most recent drivers, everything ran exceptionally well ..

Which I am contemplating going GTX260, the only thing stopping me is that I don't game as much as I used to.

@kyle

With that said, I still think you should go HD4850. Or a vote in of HD4830.


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## djisas (Jan 19, 2009)

Actually ive had my share of issues with both drivers, with the hd2900 early drivers, i had serious problems with, im not sure what u call it the image in my screen would appear corrupted, on desktop, ie, firefox or even browsing some pics, when i changed to the 8800gts g92, i had serious issues with some drivers crashing the whole thing making it impossible to do anything at all, it was hard to get the right drivers in the beginning too but eventually all issues with both cards were solved...
I like ATI control panel a lot more than nvidea's one, its so plain...


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## Exavier (Jan 19, 2009)

if you're running off a 22" I'm not totally convinced you even need a 4850, you could probably even go to 4830 and still max most things out + the inflated costs in the UK make any 'new' tech right now outrageously hard to justify.
my money's on 4830/50 with S1 cooler.


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## ste2425 (Jan 19, 2009)

its not just the size of the screen in inches its the resolution of the screen also


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## newtekie1 (Jan 19, 2009)

I currently use both ATi and nVidia drivers.  The nVidia drivers on my 9600GSO's and GTX260, and the ATi drivers on my x800XL and HD4670.

IMO, both have their problems, but I haven't really found that either had major issues.  No issues that would keep me from playing games anyway.  Never really had any crashing issues, at least none that were cause by the driver, most of my graphics crashes were from overclocking too high.


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## Exavier (Jan 19, 2009)

ste2425 said:


> its not just the size of the screen in inches its the resolution of the screen also



well aware of that, I'm just saying the maximum resolution is going to be under that level which the gfx begin to suffer.


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## ste2425 (Jan 19, 2009)

i dont no i play at 1680 x1050 with a 4850 an on fallout three completally maxed out it does stutter only at cirtain time but its still there


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## djisas (Jan 19, 2009)

i played fallout 3 at same rz maxed out 0AA and 6AF and it didnt shutter, it was very playable, dunno the fps but it was...


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## Tatty_One (Jan 19, 2009)

Palit HD4850 1GB Sonic with aftermarket cooler keeping idle temps at under 30C that overclocks like a madman for just £130 brand new?


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## JC316 (Jan 19, 2009)

4850. Best bang for the buck card out there right now.


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## erocker (Jan 19, 2009)

I would take a HD 4850 over a 8800GTX any day.  The fact that the 4850 is a Gainward would make me choose the 4850 even more.


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## djisas (Jan 19, 2009)

Tatty_One said:


> Palit HD4850 1GB Sonic with aftermarket cooler keeping idle temps at under 30C that overclocks like a madman for just £130 brand new?



how much it clocks??
I can get mine to 750 without artifacts on ati tool, but cant max the memory as its already heavily oced, at 1150 i gets lots of artifacts and ive been playing a lot with these settings...

stock's are 700/1100

Maybe the gpu can take some more but i need some advanced oc app, im only using the drivers for oc...


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## Tatty_One (Jan 19, 2009)

djisas said:


> how much it clocks??
> I can get mine to 750 without artifacts on ati tool, but cant max the memory as its already heavily oced, at 1150 i gets lots of artifacts and ive been playing a lot with these settings...
> 
> stock's are 700/1100
> ...



I have two, both run COD5 fine at 790......fan on 55%.  memory @ 1135mhz.


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## djisas (Jan 19, 2009)

guess 1150 is really to much...


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## 97sslude (Jan 19, 2009)

I had a 4850 and it's a great card. The only thing I didn't like about the 4850 was the cooler.


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## niko084 (Jan 20, 2009)

RadeonX2 said:


> For me 8800GTX, I have seen quite many thread regarding 4850 all lots of problems overheating, compatibility, etc but still 4850 is the bang4buck powerful card



If you have a 4850 and its overheating you well... I don't even need to say it do I...
*Without modding fan speeds, mine runs 720/1050 rock stable, knocking on the doors of 105c*

8800GTX is known to be faster by a minute amount in some occasions, but the power draw is more, the heat is more, and its just plain and simply dated.

I would jump for the 4850 all day and I had the chance to trade mine for a 8800Ultra.


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## ste2425 (Jan 20, 2009)

mine 4850 runs at 30 od on idle and after a few hours playing dead space its only around 45 at stock, is yours a single or dual slot cooler?


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## ThorAxe (Jan 21, 2009)

The 8800GTX is faster than the 4850 when you start using resolutions of 1920x1200.

I just bought a 4870X2 (I was going the get a GTX295 but they are $200 more in Western Australia) and it is barely faster than my old 8800GTX SLI setup. Hopefully the 9.1 drivers will help this. I also suffered from the 8.12 single GPU install bug which I eventually manage to fix by a manual install.


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## niko084 (Jan 21, 2009)

ste2425 said:


> mine 4850 runs at 30 od on idle and after a few hours playing dead space its only around 45 at stock, is yours a single or dual slot cooler?



If its saying 30c on idle, 1 of 3 things is happening, it's bugged, you have LN2 on it, or you have your computer outside in -40 weather.

Even with an AC S2 with 2 92mm fans in a 70F room I can't get it to 35c at idle downclocked to 350/400.


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## ste2425 (Jan 21, 2009)

well its what my ccc is saying at stock speeds idleing at around 35


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## francis511 (Jan 21, 2009)

You should update your specs ste2425


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## Tatty_One (Jan 21, 2009)

djisas said:


> guess 1150 is really to much...



To be honest, the memory has little or minimal impact on performance anyway, probably just 1-2% at best for even 50mhz on the speed, you only need to look at GDDR4 and 5 that ATi have adopted for some time, it has never been a significant factor in the overall performance of their cards against the opposition.


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## Yukikaze (Jan 21, 2009)

niko084 said:


> If its saying 30c on idle, 1 of 3 things is happening, it's bugged, you have LN2 on it, or you have your computer outside in -40 weather.
> 
> Even with an AC S2 with 2 92mm fans in a 70F room I can't get it to 35c at idle downclocked to 350/400.



I dunno. My HD4870X2 idles at 34c on the cold core and 38c on the hot core. Stock cooler, 42% fan speed, rest of specs in the tab on the left, ambient 18-20c at this time of year.

Load temps are a wholly different matter though. 80c on the hot core, easily.


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## D007 (Jan 21, 2009)

leonard_222003 said:


> To not offend fanboys of Nvidia and people who still have 8800GTX's , it is a good card but consumes more than a 4850 (two power connectors on GTX and only one on 4850 plus the reviews we've seen ) and overall is slightly under the 4850 but it's still a good card even today.
> Some will say in some particular game the GTX is better and ...bla bla bla , the man stated he playes CS Source and Team fortress 2 ( i loveeee TF2 ) , well you know who is king in this engine , ATI all the way.
> I play a lot of TF2 , maybe 2-3 hours a day and i had 8800GTS 320mb overcloked and i tell you with the 4850 i got recentlly it's not just better in framerate but almost tripled.
> Again , people will say TF2 graphics can run good even on a HD3870/9600GT or even lower end but it's not like that  , when you play on a 33 people server and sometimes  you get a lot of action in front of you with 10-15 people at the same time killing each other in front of you the framerate it's not 60fps if you have 8800's video card but it stay over 60 if you have a 4850/4870 videocard.
> ...



Just because you get upset about video cards doesnt mean everyone does..
No one else seems to have mentioned being upset.
It's apparent you don't like nvidia..
you also say you had an 8800gts 320..
thats not even the same animal as the 8800gtx..
they don't belong and are not in the same category.. 
at all..
I had 4 8800gts 320's..
and they do not compare..
not even 2 in sli vs 1 8800gtx..

I could care less personally..
show me the fps and that's what I'm buying.. period..

Their both good cards.

but overpriced for the 8800gtx? not anymore..
easy to find one for 120 bucks. no problem.. and even less if you look around a bit.
all I know is I just finished playing crysis and warhead on all gamer settings with mine and it ran like a charm. 1920 x 1080.

is it a better card?
I'm not capable of saying that because I don't know, or claim to know specs.
I would request an intelligent, non biased opinion from someone who actually knows the facts about each.
not from people who own one and tend to get butthurt over these conversations.

but good luck..


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## Lazer_Dark_Assassin (Jan 23, 2009)

I like the 8800GTX more...


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## Frizz (Jan 23, 2009)

Lazer_Dark_Assassin said:


> I like the 8800GTX more...



No kidding, you own one.


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## leonard_222003 (Jan 23, 2009)

D007 , 2 8800GTS 320mb in sli if used at some resolutions like 1280x1024 or max 1600x1200 or you prefer 1680x1080 with 2-4xAA then i can 100% say it beats a 8800GTX all the time in enabled SLI games.
Even a heavily overcloked 8800GTS 320mb can reach GTX speeds in resolution like 1280x1024 ( what i play ) , remember XFX 8800GTS fatality ? ( 648 gpu and 2xxx something memory ) , it was as fast as GTX.


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## Tatty_One (Jan 23, 2009)

niko084 said:


> If its saying 30c on idle, 1 of 3 things is happening, it's bugged, you have LN2 on it, or you have your computer outside in -40 weather.
> 
> Even with an AC S2 with 2 92mm fans in a 70F room I can't get it to 35c at idle downclocked to 350/400.



I get 30C idle in 2D at startup clocks at 500/1085


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## djisas (Jan 23, 2009)

i get 18 idle!!??


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## CJCerny (Jan 23, 2009)

Powercolor makes a PCS 4850. It's a great card and dead quiet. Read the review on this web site.


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## ste2425 (Jan 23, 2009)

niko084 said:


> If its saying 30c on idle, 1 of 3 things is happening, it's bugged, you have LN2 on it, or you have your computer outside in -40 weather.
> 
> Even with an AC S2 with 2 92mm fans in a 70F room I can't get it to 35c at idle downclocked to 350/400.



i dnt no man lol its what my ccc says i was curious so i did a full update from scrath of my ccc and it says exactly the same i dnt no the temps underload but idle, just web browsin n movies non intense stuff its deffo under my cpu at 30 man


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## djisas (Jan 23, 2009)

CJCerny said:


> Powercolor makes a PCS 4850. It's a great card and dead quiet. Read the review on this web site.



Gainward gold sample is equally silent and faster, it carries better n faster mem 0.8ns x 1.0ns 1100x1000 MHz


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## Tatty_One (Jan 23, 2009)

djisas said:


> Gainward gold sample is equally silent and faster, it carries better n faster mem 0.8ns x 1.0ns 1100x1000 MHz



Gainward is a subsidary of palit


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## ste2425 (Jan 23, 2009)

> I would request an intelligent, non biased opinion from someone who actually knows the facts about each.
> not from people who own one and tend to get butthurt over these conversations.



i think that the people who own either cards are inteligent and understand just a tad to be able to have chosen that card. personally i thought through the same thing and with other cards and came to the inteligent conclusion that 4850 was the best fot my needs and of cause people are going to defend their investments its allot of money and to be told u shouldnt ave spent it is going to a kick in the balls


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## phanbuey (Jan 23, 2009)

get the 1GB 4850


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## Xiphos (Jan 23, 2009)

being a HD4850 user, I voted for the HD4850

4850 out perform the 8800gtx in most games in benchmarks I've seen
and yes, 4850 runs hot, but so does the gtx 

some may say that they have had ati card issues, but there are people out there that had nvidia issues as well...


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## Lazer_Dark_Assassin (Jan 25, 2009)

randomflip said:


> No kidding, you own one.



I own the 8800GT.


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## qubit (Jan 25, 2009)

*8800GTX or derivative*



kyle2020 said:


> Hey guys, some of you will know that my 260 is on ebay, and im looking to DOWNGRADE. Yes, you heard that right, someone on TPU is looking to downgrade.
> 
> Anyway, ill cut all the bullsh8t explanations and just say I dont need such a powerful card.
> 
> ...



I've got my feet in both camps and have lots of cards from each one.  I have an 8800GTX and a HD4870, which is more powerful than what you want to buy. While the 4870 will smoke it in pure performance, there are still some situations where the 8800GTX seems to be smoother, due to less hitches. Also, the performance difference is not so apparent in average game play.

I like the monthly driver updates you get with ATI and the driver control panel has some nifty 2D options. However, the nvidia control panel has better 3D options, which is more important in my book. The per game configs are especially handy.

Noisewise, the 8800GTX is very quiet. Even with the fan artificially set to 100% it's not that loud and in normal use it only makes a quiet shush. The 4870 cooler is also very quiet (and the card runs hot!) but it's a lot better than the standard one fitted to a 4850 anyway.

Also, I'm curious why you want to downgrade and where did you see the 8800GTX? Overclockers were the last to have them and that was some time back.


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## Tatty_One (Jan 25, 2009)

qubit said:


> I've got my feet in both camps and have lots of cards from each one.  I have an 8800GTX and a HD4870, which is more powerful than what you want to buy. While the 4870 will smoke it in pure performance, there are still some situations where the 8800GTX seems to be smoother, due to less hitches. Also, the performance difference is not so apparent in average game play.
> 
> I like the monthly driver updates you get with ATI and the driver control panel has some nifty 2D options. However, the nvidia control panel has better 3D options, which is more important in my book. The per game configs are especially handy.
> 
> ...



8800GTX @ £109.99 (34 in stock) from a little "Special" store we know   Ultra's for £139.99 (4 in stock).  XFX Core 216 GTX260 XXX Black editions also @ £205.99 is a nice buy.


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## qubit (Jan 25, 2009)

Tatty_One said:


> 8800GTX @ £109.99 (34 in stock) from a little "Special" store we know   Ultra's for £139.99 (4 in stock).  XFX Core 216 GTX260 XXX Black editions also @ £205.99 is a nice buy.



Yeah... so which store is it?


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## kyle2020 (Jan 25, 2009)

its a secret


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## insider (Jan 25, 2009)

Where is this special store you speak of?


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## Drizzt5 (Jan 25, 2009)

kyle2020 said:


> Hey guys, some of you will know that my 260 is on ebay, and im looking to DOWNGRADE. Yes, you heard that right, someone on TPU is looking to downgrade.
> 
> Anyway, ill cut all the bullsh8t explanations and just say I dont need such a powerful card.
> 
> ...


You will get more power from the 4850 and you will be able to turn the AA up a lot.

But if you play cs:s you will experience the fog problem on d2 and nuke and your going to want to turn dx to 8.5 instead of 9.

I'd go with the 4850 because of pencil mod's and volt mods


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## crazy pyro (Jan 25, 2009)

My Palit card runs at 33 degrees C idle with the side of my case off. I think it's around 45 with the side of the case on (I think a mod of my case's side may be required). Those temps are with 100% and 80% respectively. My rig's fairly loud at 100%, bear in mind that's overclocked to 675 core and 1038 mem running at 49 degrees during the clocks test.
I've never owned an 8800GTX so I can't provide an opinion there but as a comparison for you I get somewhere between 59 and 66 FPS on cat 8.10 and 58 and 180 FPS on cat 8.12 on TF2, I can't say for CS:S since I've not played it on my current rig.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jan 25, 2009)

I have to say the 4850.

I have a gainward 4850 with a xspc full cover waterblock on it,sweet.With the stock cooler it ran at 80c idle and 86 running wow.With the waterblock on it,it runs at 32c idle and 40c running wow.The stock cooler as can be seen is rubbish,and when the fan kicks in,it is very noisy.


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## crazy pyro (Jan 25, 2009)

Also bear in mind my card can be had for ~£114 from www.novatech.co.uk (It's branded novatech but comes in the palit box with the palit cooler on.) IDK about the 1gb card though
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-48501 
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-4850
First link is the 1GB, second is the 512MB.


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## EviLZeD (Jan 25, 2009)

crazy pyro said:


> Also bear in mind my card can be had for ~£114 from www.novatech.co.uk (It's branded novatech but comes in the palit box with the palit cooler on.) IDK about the 1gb card though
> http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-48501
> http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-4850
> First link is the 1GB, second is the 512MB.



I ordered that 1gb 4850 from novatech a few days ago it comes with a nice really silent cooler and is awesome so far


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## kyle2020 (Jan 25, 2009)

only £20 more for the 1GB version, nice find.


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## crazy pyro (Jan 25, 2009)

Wishin' I'd gone for that now but my entire rig is full of regrets right now (everything's dropped in price since I bought it on the 17th of december.) IDK if the 1GB version runs hotter at all but my 512 is certainly a hell of a card.


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## Tatty_One (Jan 25, 2009)

EviLZeD said:


> I ordered that 1gb 4850 from novatech a few days ago it comes with a nice really silent cooler and is awesome so far



I wish I had known, I could have got you the palit or Xpertvision 1GB Sonic edition with the even better cooler that blows the air out of the back for less.......return the thing and drop me a PM, retail from a shop of course, not from my stock   All 4 of mine will hit 790+mhz without hardmods.


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## kaym0 (Feb 6, 2009)

I don't know about the 8800GTX, but my 8800 GTS 640mb (it was one of the first 8800 series released) outperforms my HD4850 by a ton.


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## Tatty_One (Feb 6, 2009)

kaym0 said:


> I don't know about the 8800GTX, but my 8800 GTS 640mb (it was one of the first 8800 series released) outperforms my HD4850 by a ton.



Now thats surprising, have you got any like for like comparision benches?  I only ask because on paper the 4850 is at least as quick as a 9800GTX+ which is more or less a full 50% faster than your old G80......  I had one of those and they were nice cards, however I upgraded to an 8800GT and that was even faster.


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## Yukikaze (Feb 6, 2009)

kaym0 said:


> I don't know about the 8800GTX, but my 8800 GTS 640mb (it was one of the first 8800 series released) outperforms my HD4850 by a ton.



No it doesn't. I am sorry, but the HD4850 outperforms the 8800GT, which outperforms the G80 GTS 640. What you are saying simply makes no sense. Back in the day I switched from the G80 640 to the G92 512 and there was a noticeable difference and the HD4850 is more powerful.

Unless, of course, you have benchmarks stating the contrary.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 6, 2009)

you know there is a XFX 4850 Now.


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## Wozzer (Feb 6, 2009)

I had 3 ATi 4850's from ebuyer - All faulty. I wouldn't bother trying them...

Just purchased a 8800GTX from Moonpig.


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## Tycho (Feb 6, 2009)

*Gainward Radeon HD 4850 GS*

Hello, 
I have Gainward Radeon HD 4850 Golden Sample and I can only say thats a great graphic card.
Two slots cooling is very quiet and cooling performance is also very good. 

I can only recommend this card.


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## cdawall (Feb 6, 2009)

Yukikaze said:


> No it doesn't. I am sorry, but the HD4850 outperforms the 8800GT, which outperforms the G80 GTS 640. What you are saying simply makes no sense. Back in the day I switched from the G80 640 to the G92 512 and there was a noticeable difference and the HD4850 is more powerful.
> 
> Unless, of course, you have benchmarks stating the contrary.



my GTS G92 beats most 4850s....


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## djisas (Feb 6, 2009)

My 4850GS is faster than my previous GTS G92, the only thing i miss from it is to be able to use EVGA precision tool...


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## desertjedi (Feb 6, 2009)

> I would take a HD 4850 over a 8800GTX any day


 I would have to agree wholeheartedly...and I'm currently an Nvidia fan...using an original GTX 260 and lovin' it. 

All the video card "hierarchy" charts I've seen on the net have the 4850 significantly ahead of the GTX.

I'll probably be ebaying my friend's dual 8800GTXs pretty soon as a favor to him. But when I think of the 8800 GTX, I think of old people...they're just old, hot and smelly!


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## zithe (Feb 6, 2009)

cdawall said:


> my GTS G92 beats most 4850s....



That makes no sense considering it's a 9800GTX with a lower clock which is a teeny bit slower than a 4850. Do you mean when it's OC'd?


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## cdawall (Feb 7, 2009)

zithe said:


> That makes no sense considering it's a 9800GTX with a lower clock which is a teeny bit slower than a 4850. Do you mean when it's OC'd?



yes the card does 830/2200m/2000s easily


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 7, 2009)

Wasley said:


> I had 3 ATi 4850's from ebuyer - All faulty. I wouldn't bother trying them...
> 
> Just purchased a 8800GTX from Moonpig.



you ever think its the etailers fault?


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## J-Man (Feb 7, 2009)

This is like comparing my old card (a 8800 GTS 640MB SC) to a ATI 2900Pro.


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## djisas (Feb 7, 2009)

4850 stock should be a good 5-10% faster than gts g92, according to early charts, with recent drivers and oc it could be as fast as 15-20% faster that would make it 5-10% faster than gtx g92 i suppose...

Just me thinking anyway, havent seen any recent comparative...


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## cdawall (Feb 7, 2009)

djisas said:


> 4850 stock should be a good 5-10% faster than gts g92, according to early charts, with recent drivers and oc it could be as fast as 15-20% faster that would make it 5-10% faster than gtx g92 i suppose...
> 
> Just me thinking anyway, havent seen any recent comparative...



in synthetics i have found the G92 to beat the 4850. even some comparo's done here the 8800GTS beat the 4850


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## djisas (Feb 7, 2009)

in synthetics that benefit nvidea or cuda i believe, but what matters are the games...


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## cdawall (Feb 7, 2009)

djisas said:


> in synthetics that benefit nvidea or cuda i believe, but what matters are the games...



i ran with physx off and gaming wise it kept pretty even


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## Jeffredo (Feb 7, 2009)

Kind of an odd coincidence.  I was gaming tonight on my GTX 260 and it locked up.  Upon reboot I got a black screen and electrical odor.  The card was fried (and I had been so good to it - never OC'd it).  RMA time!

I put back in my 8800 GTX that it had replaced last fall and its running beautifully.  In fact, with my AMD X2 6400+ at 1680x1050 I'm seeing very little drop in FPS vs. the GTX 260 FTW Edition.  Amazing card and I'm certainly glad I didn't sell it now.  I can happily game while EVGA processes my replacement.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 7, 2009)

well the board being bunk probably was the reason the 2 perform close.


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## Jeffredo (Feb 7, 2009)

Yeah, I think its been slowly failing for the past month (noticed stuttering where there wasn't any before).  Still, the 8800 GTX is reminding me how good it was in its day and how long it can last.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 7, 2009)

ya the GTX was a quality product, not sure how NVs lines are or for that matter the 3rd parties, for me my record is ive had 1 1950 Pro go bad without it being my undoing, i shipped it back directly to sapphire and they sent me a new one, been in this machine since. Also to those who switched from the G80 GTS and traded for a G92 wasted time because the GTX held onto the performance lead without an upgrade in core, so most wound up paying basically for a GTX but didnt get its performance unless if you overclocked it (G80s overclocked well)


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## Tatty_One (Feb 7, 2009)

djisas said:


> in synthetics that benefit nvidea or cuda i believe, but what matters are the games...



No, in 2006 with a quad at 3.8gig with an 8800GTS 512MB clocked at 825mhz I acheived 17,211 points 14 months ago, today with a 4850 1GB clocked at 795mhz and a quad at 4.4gig I can barely match that, yes i agree thats synthetic but thats what he said and 2006 gets no benefit from Cuda/Physx.

In gaming terms, the single 4850 does feel faster and probably is however.


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