Best PCIe Card: Under $100
Best PCI Express (PCIe) Card For ~$50:
Radeon HD 4650 DDR3 (Check Prices)
Good 1680x1050 performance in most games
| Radeon HD 4650 DDR3 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | RV730 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 320 |
| Texture Units: | 32 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 600 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 700 (1,400 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10.1/SM 4.1 |
We've seen some DDR3-equipped Radeon HD 4650 cards approaching the $50 price point, and this makes for a card that packs a lot more punch than its DDR2-equipped cousins. Overclocking this card might bring it surprisingly close to Radeon HD 4670-class performance, so it's an especially good value for tweakers.
Best PCIe Card For ~$75:
GeForce 9600 GT (Check Prices)
Good 1680x1050 performance in most games
| GeForce 9600 GT | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | G94 |
| Process: | 65 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 64 |
| Texture Units: | 32 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 650 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (1,800 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10/SM 4.0 |
A recent price drop lets us recommend the GeForce 9600 GT, which is now within spitting distance of the Radeon HD 4670 and GeForce 9600 GSO. The GeForce 9600 GT is a great performer thanks, in part, to its high-end 256-bit memory interface and speedy DDR3 memory. It's a killer choice if $75 is your budgetary limit.
Best PCIe Card For ~$100:
Radeon HD 4850 512 MB (Check Prices)
Good 1920x1200 performance in most games
| Radeon HD 4850 512 MB | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 800 |
| Texture Units: | 40 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 625 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 993 (1,986 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10.1/SM 4.1 |
With Radeon HD 4850 512 MB prices dropping to a surprisingly low $100, this card easily takes the price/performance crown from the Radeon HD 4770 (which is still about $115 due to availability issues). With generally-better performance compared to the Radeon HD 4770 and equal performance with the more expensive GeForce GTS 250, the pressure is on Nvidia to drop prices in order to compete.
Of course, we're wondering how e-tailers feel about hacking down the prices for the Radeon HD 4850 in response to the Radeon HD 4770, only to see 4770 inventory levels evaporate. Ouch.
hooray!
the return of the 4850X2!
methinks it put the hurt on nvidia, that's why it's been kept quiet?!
great card, that one
cheers,
bill
p.s. stuff and nonsense: http://www.eupeople.net/forum
It might be second nature to anyone with modern hardware, but for anyone upgrading older systems make sure your PSU has 24 pins rather than 20. The extra four pins are needed to maintain stability when you plug in a PCI-E card, whilst 20 should be OK for onboard video. So you have 24 pins + the 4 pins for the CPU.
If you plug a 20-pin PSU into a 24-pin socket on the motherboard, then add even a cheap PCI-E card (eg a Geforce 7300), you'll be overloading the system and it could result in damage. PCI-E boards that sport an external power source may rectify this, I'm not sure (e.g. using a PCI-E to molex converter). I learned the hard ware, to use the proper
..24-pin connectors, rather than outdated 20-pin one's. The 20-pin one's are OK for AGP boards and 24-pin boards that can accept both 20 and 24-pin PSU's.
I upgraded a 20/24-pin board (onboard Geforce 6100 with A64 3200+), by adding a Geforce 7300. The 20-pin PSU was 400W. I realised that 20 pins weren't enough even though this card is really slow.
Hmmm, you must be shopping some secret place you obviously don't want to share with others. You claim a HD 4870 512MB is $130.00 while the cheapest showing up when following your (Check Prices) link is $151.10. Am I missing something?
i think the radeon 4850 is the best buy currently for around €90 you will have one. afther that the radeon 4870 is great too. it will cost you €115-125 if you have the right shops. then 4890 comes around the corner for €165. I'havent decided yet what to get. evergreen is very close now and im hard underway to reach my goal buget for a new system. it sure takes a while but then again i now live on my own and im 20 years old so i dont have much money at hand you know. everything costs alot and saving is hard because your rent aswell as insurrence and food and maintanance cost almost as much as you have each month, But i work hard for my goals and i will achieve them. one of my goals is to have a decent computer by the end of this year, the computer i have right now is neary dead. i might even consider phenom triple core and radeon 4870 because those are well affordable right now.
But lynnfield and the evergreen series should bring the long expacted DX11
Guess I'll be grabbin' a 4890 os a crossfire solution...