4850 vs 9800GTX+

[Jack Flash]

I have an eVGA 9800GTX+ which I can trade for a ASUS 4850 TOP. Only cost to me would be the price of shipping.

If I had a shorter card I would be able to use all 6 HDD slots my case has available. Right now two are blocked by the 9800GTX+

Also, the 4850 requires only one 6 pin connector wheras my 9800GTX+ requires 2.

 

[Rifter]

I think they are about equal with the ATI card having better AA.

 

[Jack Flash]

So any reason I shouldn't?

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Jack Flash
So any reason I shouldn't?

you really want to dump the heat in your case though? unless you really need those 6 hard drive slots then why bother?

 

[Jack Flash]

So the nVidia cooler will always be better than the ATI?

 

[MarcVenice]

Way to much hassle for no performance gain. And the Asus Top uses Asus' own cooler. And it doesnt not exhaust out of the back. With decent airflow in your case it should pose no problem though. But still, since performance is equal, why bother?

 

[Rifter]

I would only do it if you played games that you could run with 4xAA+ on.

 

[Jack Flash]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Way to much hassle for no performance gain. And the Asus Top uses Asus' own cooler. And it doesnt not exhaust out of the back. With decent airflow in your case it should pose no problem though. But still, since performance is equal, why bother?

It's mostly that my modular PSU has only one available slot left. Right now the 9800GTX+ is hogging that with its two 6 pin adapters when in reality its performance doesn't justify that. Would be nice to have all of those HDD bays, though...

My Antec 300 has two 120mm intake blowing over the HDD bays and a 120mm exhaust right over the PCI-E slots. The 120mm and 140mm exhausts over the processor keep that area cool.

Originally posted by: Rifterut
I would only do it if you played games that you could run with 4xAA+ on.

Well, the games I play are Call of Duty: World at War, Team Fortress 2 & the rest of the Orange Box (Haven't ever played the HL2 series) Bioshock (Got it for $5.00 on Steam months ago. ATI Mobility 2600XT wasn't great for it...) Left 4 Dead as well.

In the future I'd like to play Modern Warfare 2 as well as run some emulators (Gamecube, PS2 and Wii) Pretty new to PC gaming so I don't know what's to look forward to.

Mostly I just wanted to know if there's any performance or reliability reasons to not do the trade.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: Jack Flash
If I had a shorter card I would be able to use all 6 HDD slots my case has available. Right now two are blocked by the 9800GTX+

Also, the 4850 requires only one 6 pin connector wheras my 9800GTX+ requires 2.

It would still be a very tight fit once you get all of the connectors going where they need to. Had the 4850's 6-pin connector been placed on the long edge of the card (the top) rather than the short edge (the side), it's shorter length would have paid off better.

Here's a pic to help illustrate just how tight it looks like it'll still be: Link

 

[Jack Flash]

Is that your rig? If so could you try moving a HDD as close to the card?

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: Jack Flash
Is that your rig? If so could you try moving a HDD as close to the card?

Sorry, it's not my rig.

But judging by that picture, it looks like it would be a pretty tight fit.

Why not just go with a different case?

 

[MrK6]

Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+. Add in the fact that it'll better fit your case, you really can't lose considering you're only paying shipping.

 

[Jack Flash]

Well actually this is a brand new build, my first ever!

I really like my Antec Three Hundred and everything's installed so I don't really want to switch that.

 

[Jack Flash]

Originally posted by: MrK6
Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+. Add in the fact that it'll better fit your case, you really can't lose considering you're only paying shipping.

Alright the trade is finalized. Guess I'm going to have a 4850 now!

 

[MrK6]

Originally posted by: Jack Flash

Originally posted by: MrK6
Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+. Add in the fact that it'll better fit your case, you really can't lose considering you're only paying shipping.

Alright the trade is finalized. Guess I'm going to have a 4850 now!

You'll be very happy with it :thumbsup:

 

[LOUISSSSS]

nice buy! great card!

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: MrK6
Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+.

Would you care to explain this? If both cards are equal and you start overclocking both, how will the 4850 become faster?

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
nice buy! great card!

Where is the buy, LUISSS? He trades the 9800GTX+ on a 4850. Have you read his thread?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: MrK6
Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+.

Would you care to explain this? If both cards are equal and you start overclocking both, how will the 4850 become faster?

guess i missed the trade part, i saw where he said he's going to have a 4850 now.

 

[MrK6]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: MrK6
Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+.

Would you care to explain this? If both cards are equal and you start overclocking both, how will the 4850 become faster?

The HD4850 has much more overclocking headroom than a 9800GTX+ and it's easier to take it much further. It's not even close if you really overclock the hell out of each card.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: MrK6

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: MrK6
Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+.

Would you care to explain this? If both cards are equal and you start overclocking both, how will the 4850 become faster?

The HD4850 has much more overclocking headroom than a 9800GTX+ and it's easier to take it much further. It's not even close if you really overclock the hell out of each card.

Since you're not going to do anything about it here it is:

http://www.rbmods.com/Articles/Asus/4850_top/4.php

4850 overclocked to 780/1140 ( core/memory). It is a very nice overclock indeed, but it might be lower on OPs card, these numbers are not granted, they just give us an idea about what to expect, since any other overclock informations about this card are lacking.

Now for 9800GTX+ here is this thread:

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=519786

It's an old thread, maybe just as old as OPs card, so this gives a good idea about the whole ocing stuff. You can find other threads about GTX+, that have the same numbers. Here is what a person got with his GTX+:

Core 860 mhz
Shader 1998 (unlinked) mhz
memory 1300 mhz.

Now, of course that 9800GTX+ is some 100mhz slower at stock then 4850, since at 738 mhz is as fast as the ATi card at 625 mhz. But the point is that the proportions are being kept, for the most part, when overclocking, so that just doesn't put 4850 in advantage here.

 

[Jack Flash]

In my experience overclocking my 9800GTX+ I was able to get it stably to

Core: 854
Shader: 2012
Memory: 1250

So a similar overclock to that you posted.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Jack Flash
In my experience overclocking my 9800GTX+ I was able to get it stably to

Core: 854
Shader: 2012
Memory: 1250

So a similar overclock to that you posted.

So, the superior overclocking for the 4850, doesn't add up. I still keep my point as the trade doesn't worth. But right now, for example, I'm trying to trade my 4870 512mb for a 4870 1gb and pay an extra of 46$ for it. :laugh: So, ignore me, just do what your enthusiastic nature tells you to.

 

[Jack Flash]

Hah well the trade is more to do with the smaller PCB and reduced power requirements than it is performance. If this 4850 is even 95% as powerful as my 9800GTX+ I'll be happy.

 

[MrK6]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: MrK6

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: MrK6
Really, an overclocked HD4850 >> an overclocked 9800GTX+.

Would you care to explain this? If both cards are equal and you start overclocking both, how will the 4850 become faster?

The HD4850 has much more overclocking headroom than a 9800GTX+ and it's easier to take it much further. It's not even close if you really overclock the hell out of each card.

Since you're not going to do anything about it here it is:

http://www.rbmods.com/Articles/Asus/4850_top/4.php

4850 overclocked to 780/1140 ( core/memory). It is a very nice overclock indeed, but it might be lower on OPs card, these numbers are not granted, they just give us an idea about what to expect, since any other overclock informations about this card are lacking.

Now for 9800GTX+ here is this thread:

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=519786

It's an old thread, maybe just as old as OPs card, so this gives a good idea about the whole ocing stuff. You can find other threads about GTX+, that have the same numbers. Here is what a person got with his GTX+:

Core 860 mhz
Shader 1998 (unlinked) mhz
memory 1300 mhz.

Now, of course that 9800GTX+ is some 100mhz slower at stock then 4850, since at 738 mhz is as fast as the ATi card at 625 mhz. But the point is that the proportions are being kept, for the most part, when overclocking, so that just doesn't put 4850 in advantage here.

You can't compare two completely different video card architectures clock for clock - that's not how it works.

The HD4850 and the HD4870 have the same GPU - the only difference is the clock speed. Therefore, if you clock an HD 4850 to to 750MHz on the core, you essentially have a 4870 on a crippled memory bus (256-bit GDD3). The other interesting thing about the 4850/4870 architecture is that overclocking the HD4850/70 gives almost linear performance increases (might be due to architecture design and all GPU components clocked at the same frequency, not sure there). The HD4850 not only overclocks far at stock, but it also responds VERY well to voltage. There are actually several different methods for voltmodding the HD 4850, including through the BIOS, via Pencil mod, a standard trimmer attachment, and I think even some of the partner boards support software voltage modding via Rivatuner (don't quote me on that, XtremeSystems is down, can't check the info there).

While the 9800GTX+ clocks well, it doesn't clock as well as the HD4850. For example, if you look at percentages, your average HD 4850 can do ~760MHz (20%), 850MHz+(35%) with voltage while your average 9800GTX+ can do ~850MHz (15%). Also note that the differences become even more apparent at higher resolutions and higher image quality settings, where the HD 4850 excels. The HD 4850 is just a phenomenal bang-for-your-buck package, especially for the enthusiast looking to squeeze every last drop of performance out of it.