On Fri, 2 Jan 2009 06:35:01 -0800 (PST)
Simon Dean <sjdean@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Im not a big gamer, Civ 4, Settlers, The Sims 2 (and soon The Sims 3)
are all I play. I currently have two nVidia 7600GS Graphics cards in
an SLI configuration that Im very happy with. I'll be building a new
PC within 3 to 6 months as finances dictate, but I still want to
replace these mainly to support HDCP.
Lets forget about my having SLI. ATI are also an option.
Budget wise, Im thinking of Â130 for something half decent, and Â70
for the cheapo range.
Im in two minds about which path to take.
Im an nVidia fan and comfortable with nVidia technology. But I don't
think the 9600GT represents good valud for money, but from the sounds
of it, the 9800GT is build basically on old technology and benchmarks
suggest that the ATI 4850 is far superior. Unfortunately Im not
familiar with the technology and spending Â130 on an unknown is a bit
worrying for me. The other option therefore is the ATI 4670 which
would give me better performance than I do now, but as not as
significant as the 9800GT or 4850.
ATI are probably fine nowadays if you only use Windows, but NVidia still
have better Linux drivers, especially in the field of video playback. It
sounds like a mid-range card would be a waste of money for the games you
play, but if you really want a good one, you can get a 9800GTX+ for
under Â140 (it's a shame you missed Aria's offer, I didn't ;-)). It
benchmarks better than a 4850, but you need a decent PSU (officially
minimum 500W, but less is probably OK if you get a good quality one).
It's so greedy it has two PCI-E power connectors. Luckilly the Palit
model I got from Aria has a better than standard cooler; not truly
silent, but quite inoffensive.