Video Card Buyer's Guide - Spring 2009
by Derek Wilson on March 30, 2009 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
For our ~$100 price point (plus or minus a bit) we are going to strongly recommend that people wait for about a month. This price point will be shaken up a bit in about that time and we really aren't comfortable recommending anyone purchase something in this market until sometime in early May. This may or may not further compress the sub $100 market, but there really isn't much more room down there, so we don't expect much change except at right around $100.
~$100 Recommendation: IT'S A TRAP!!! (wait about a month)
It just so happens that this price point is also the highest volume price point. Certainly neither AMD nor NVIDIA will be happy that we recommend waiting, but this is all about the consumer. If you are going to spend about $100 on a video card, just try really hard to wait a little bit longer.
From $130 to $150 we are looking at the a tightly contested price point. At the lower end of the spectrum, the Radeon 4850 gets our nod, while at the higher end the 1GB GTS 250 does perform slightly better in our tests (we do not recommend the 512MB variant though). Whether that slight difference in performance is worth the $20 difference in price really has to be up to the end user, but you get a much bigger bump by jumping up out of the price range to the ATI Radeon 4870 512MB at $165 (which is why we don't recommend the GTS 250 1GB at this point).
$130-$150 Recommendation: ATI Radeon HD 4850
| ATI Radeon HD 4850 | |
| PowerColor | $129.99 |
| Diamond | $159.99 |
| XFX | $169.99 |
This next bit is a little more tricky. Between $165 and $180 there exist the 4870 512MB and 4870 1GB. These cards perform nearly the same at lower resolutions, so for gamers with 1680x1050 and lower resolution monitors, we would recommend the 512MB variant with the caveat that some games are becoming memory hogs. The 1GB might be slightly more future proof, but it's really hard to say whether or not that will last beyond when you'd want to upgrade both either way when talking about 1680x1050 and lower.
$165 (At 1680x1050 and Below) Recommendation: ATI Radeon HD 4870
| ATI Radeon HD 4870 | |
| ASUS | $164.99 |
| HIS | $169.99 |
At resolutions above 1680x1050, the 1GB 4870 and the GTX 260 core 216 are both viable options that come in at $180. So save $20 at average to lower resolutions or make a choice based on the games you play (or preference for a hardware designer) at higher resolutions. NVIDIA and AMD really do trade blows depending on the games we choose to test, so if you want the best performance at this price point, you'll have to pick the games in which performance matters most to you.
$180 Recommendation: End User Preference (4870 1GB or GTX 260 core 216)
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frozentundra123456 - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Thanks for all the suggestions. Actually, I would try the power supply with a 4830 or 4850 but I don't think it even has 2 x 4 pin leads to put into a six pin adapter. I can only find one free 4 pin lead.As far as replacing the power supply, getting it out should be no problem. I am just concerned about getting all the cables reconnected and rerouted properly. It might not be that difficult, but when you look at all the wires and connectors, it looks very difficult to reconnect and re-route everything properly. (The case is rather small by the way.)
7Enigma - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Get a digital camera, or better yet a video camera and record (with GOOD lighting) exactly how you remove the wires. It really is pretty simple (replacing mobo's is worlds more difficult), but it's fool-proof if you record what you do and then just watch it while you are installing the new one. Just be very careful if you have any SATA hardware as those connectors are designed horribly and can break off if you aren't gentle.Goodluck!
7Enigma - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Oh and get some zip-ties. Any hardware store will sell a large multipack with different sizes. A handful of them can make a huge difference in appearance and airflow, not to mention avoiding the horrifying discovery that when you place the tower upright a cable hangs down into a fan....not saying that ever happened to me. :)The0ne - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
That's taking some of the fun out of figuring out the best way to route cables inside your PC :) Well, I enjoy doing it hahaha7Enigma - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Of course, but I can easily see how any computer work can be daunting for the first time, especially when dealing with cabling with PSU's and mobo's. I can still remember the first time I built a system; I think I spent 2 hours with all the mobo cables sweating and shaking the entire time just hoping I didn't cross any wires. Then a couple years later on a build I had a bum stick of ram (1gig kit, 2X512meg) which had me tearing my hair out for a couple hours....since then the mantra of K.I.S.S. has allowed me to avoid most of the common pitfalls during builds/upgrades.MagicPants - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - link
How can you recommend the 4870 X2 when two 4870s are cheaper?RyuDeshi - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Maybe because that would require an SLI board. For me that would be another $100-150 for a decent SLI motherboard.Although if you already have an SLI board, then it makes sense.
7Enigma - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Also don't forget the power savings (~15w) which while not massive is still significant.PopcornMachine - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - link
If this is the big secret, then I call it a BIG disappointment...http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/599/10515...">http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new...ia-hoodw...
What's the point of a model between the 260 and 280, even if it were something new?
CookieKrusher - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - link
I love articles like this because every couple of years I end up brushing up on my tech savvy. With that in mind, could I ask what the conventional wisdom is for playing games at 1920x1080? That is, what is the typical single and/or dual card solution for playing at medium-high quality?I'm asking because this question is being prompted by the recent death and replacement of my old 17" lcd with a new 24" one.
In any case, helpful write up. thx.