INFO: Building/Buying a Desktop (PC or Mac)

[Kaio]

Originally Posted by Darus Grey

65nm, small correction ;0

I knew that! Hehe, not sure why i put 45 nm since they don't make 45nm gpu's yet. Is it only intel that uses the process atm?

[ChewieTobbacca]

And more previews for you guys:

Guru3D Review
TechPowerUp Preview of MSI 4850
TechPowerUp Preview of PowerColor 4850 - with confirmed specs!
PC Games Hardware (PCGH) Preview
LegionHardware Preview
Computerbase German RV770 Review - lots of AA tests here
Hardware-Infos (German) Review - full specs revealed here

Looks like the sweet spot right now is 4850's in CrossFire since they match the GTX280 at 2/3 the price. If you guys are building a new computer w/ an Intel chipset, get a P45 or X48 (x8/x8 or x16/x16 pci-e lanes, respectively) and you can get a 4850 or 4870 then get another one down the line. Looks like these are excellent performers at teh 1680x1050 to 1920x1200 range as well. Talk about shitting on Nvidia's parade

[Crell]

I figured Id post this here and not clutter a new thread with this, but after a couple of hours searching google I found nothing.

Basically im building my GF a computer to play WoW on. Its my old computer, but I have 2 graphics cards I can put into it.

The computer itself is a P4 2.4g with 2gigs of ram. Running on an old P4P800 standard board.

my question is, which card is better. A Radeon 9800 Pro 128m, or GeForce FX5900XT 128.

I put the GeForce in, and it runs sluggish, (Which is odd since when I ran the card before I got my new computer, it ran fine. Got the driver from Nvidia, but right now the computer cant even run Youtube at fullscreen) .

Any advice on this old hardware would be nice. (And please, no "buy this and that and screw this setup" comments. This is just a working PC that should run WoW just fine, since its what I used to play it on. And I had little trouble. I just want the better card in it.)

[Burf]

Strike Force: The new ATI Radeon 9800, 9600 and 9200 Series : ATi Strikes Again - Tom's Hardware

Page 3 has the tech specs compared between 9800 and 5900.

The benchmarks looks pretty close until you get into the AA/Filtering, then the Radeon 9800 wins.

Realistically, though, you're talking about 23fps in the original Splinter Cell at 1280x1024, so I wouldn't expect miracles from either one.

[Phoenix]

Damn thats ancient. Anyways the 9800Pro would be a better choice.

[Phoenix]

Looks like Nvidia has sunk ATI's new battleship;

PC Perspective - Comments
Radeon HD 4850 512MB and GeForce 9800 GTX+ Performance Quick Take




Although it is somewhat odd. Why release a 55nm 9800GTX when they just released their new G260/280GTX line? Or why make the G200 65nm when they obviously have the 55nm down?

[Darus Grey]

Having had my GTX280 for 3 days now, I think it's an absolute beast.

It easily gives a 200-300% boost at 25x16 over my 8800gtx.

Also WTF at those 4850 temps? idles at 75c?

[Lefazz]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Looks like Nvidia has sunk ATI's new battleship;

Anandtech's results disagree with that:

AnandTech: ATI Radeon HD 4850 Preview: AMD Delivers Performance for the Masses

[Draegan]

Well you have to get the results on the 4870, not the 4850, and in crossfire since two of those cards will most likely be the same price as the 280. I think.

[Sean]

I'm looking to get a new HS for my E8400 that I recently purchased - I do not like the stock Intel ones.

Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Does anyone have any opinions on that one? It's brand new and getting really good reviews. Frostytech even ranked it as their #1 HS in their list for air cooling. Top 5 Intel & AMD Heatsinks on Frostytech

Apparently that's actually the guys that design the Tuniq stuff too.

[The Dauntless One]

Originally Posted by Draegan

Well you have to get the results on the 4870, not the 4850, and in crossfire since two of those cards will most likely be the same price as the 280. I think.

Did you actually read the anadtech article? A pair of 4850 is $400 and a single 280 is $650. The CF 4850 will provide as good, if not better performance than the 280.

In the Anandtech article, the 4850 provides better performance on average than the 9800GTX so 4850 wins in the 200 dollar range. To be fair, the article didn't include the new 9800GTX+ but that thing is more expensive so we have to see if it is actually worth the extra dollars for the extra performance. The extra 30 dollars is a lot when we're talking about 200 dollars.

I think the real competition is between the 4870 and GTX+. If the 4870 can SQUASH the GTX+ for a few more dollars, then AMD will win the mainstream. I like what AMD is doing: driving prices down so gamers can get affordable products. To quote Anandtech:

Originally Posted by Anandtech

Had AMD not introduced the Radeon HD 4850, the 9800 GTX would never have to drop in price, and thus we enjoy the benefits of an AMD that is once again competitive in the marketplace.

Like I said before, the current Nvidia lineup is fucked. I would like to know what they are thinking...

[The Dauntless One]

Originally Posted by Sean

I'm looking to get a new HS for my E8400 that I recently purchased - I do not like the stock Intel ones.

Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Does anyone have any opinions on that one? It's brand new and getting really good reviews. Frostytech even ranked it as their #1 HS in their list for air cooling. Top 5 Intel & AMD Heatsinks on Frostytech

Apparently that's actually the guys that design the Tuniq stuff too.

personally I don't like big and heavy heatsinks. I use to own a TT Big Typhoon on my last computer for the 939. If I were to choose now, I would choose something like the Zalman 9700 or the Thermalright ultra 120 Extreme. Quiet and provides substantially better heat dissipation.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by The Dauntless One

Did you actually read the anadtech article? A pair of 4850 is $400 and a single 280 is $650. The CF 4850 will provide as good, if not better performance than the 280.

In the Anandtech article, the 4850 provides better performance on average than the 9800GTX so 4850 wins in the 200 dollar range. To be fair, the article didn't include the new 9800GTX+ but that thing is more expensive so we have to see if it is actually worth the extra dollars for the extra performance. The extra 30 dollars is a lot when we're talking about 200 dollars.

I think the real competition is between the 4870 and GTX+. If the 4870 can SQUASH the GTX+ for a few more dollars, then AMD will win the mainstream. I like what AMD is doing: driving prices down so gamers can get affordable products. To quote Anandtech:

Like I said before, the current Nvidia lineup is fucked. I would like to know what they are thinking...

What? The graphs and article I linked compared the 4850 to the new 9800GTX, with the newer 9800GTX being clearly a step ahead compared to the 4850. Even if it is only $30 more, its more than worth it. Now a pair of 4870s in CF may better compared to a 280GTX, but any lead it will have will be short considering a die shrink for the G200 line isnt far off.

[The Dauntless One]

And the graphs from Anandtech clearly show the 4850 is superior to the 9800GTX. The 9800GTX+ SHOULD be a step ahead of the 4850 to justify the 30 dollars. I'll wait for Anandtech to do a full 9800GTX+ review to see if the 9800GTX+ is actually worth the extra 30 dollars as I don't trust the graphs you linked. Anand benched Bioshock and the 4850 destroyed all competition (except the 280 and 9800GX2) while the graph you linked showed the 9800GTX being 5 FPS higher.


Oh I would like to see Nvidia release a 55nm 280GTX anytime soon (within the next 3 months). I would fucking laugh.

[Lefazz]

Originally Posted by Sean

I'm looking to get a new HS for my E8400 that I recently purchased - I do not like the stock Intel ones.

I bought

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-LB12-GP 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

To run my E7200 up to 3.8GHz. With Artic Silver 5 it will max load at 60C, idles around 20C. Easy to mount and really locks down on the processor. It is big, though, but shouldn't be a problem with a good ATX case ( I use Coolermasters ).