Need a quick replacement for a Radeon HD4850

[cleverhandle]

The Sapphire HD4850 on my light gaming box died yesterday and I'm looking for a (preferably inexpensive) replacement. I haven't followed the hardware scene since I built the rig a year ago, so I'm not sure what line of current GPU's I want to be looking at. By modern gaming standards, this box doesn't do any heavy work - I occasionally fire up some older games like Civ 4 or Oblivion on my impressive 19" 1280x1024 display. I'd like to play Civ5 when it comes out in the fall, but I don't play FPS's or anything really strenuous. Any suggestions for a decent, preferably sub-$100 card that I could drop in as a replacement?

 

[v8envy]

Another 4850 or GTS250 is your best bang/buck -- both can be had for a bit under $100. The next best value upgrade is a 5770 (a bit slower than a 4870) for $150ish.

 

[Qbah]

You probably got that HD4850 during the days of cheap video cards... prices right now are pretty bad. Unfortunately, there's nothing sub-$100 that could match that HD4850 performance-wise. Well, there are HD5750s for $99 AMIR (if you don't mind MIRs), which would be cooler and a bit faster.

For a non-demanding replacement, you may want to look into a GeForce GT240 with GDDR5 memory or a Radeon HD5670. Or a GeForce 9800GT, which would be the fastest option of those three. Though those will be definitely slower than a HD4850, but do fit the sub-$100 requirement. Also, thought about getting another HD4850 off eBay or something? No idea how much they cost there though - just a thought.

 

[cleverhandle]

You probably got that HD4850 during the days of cheap video cards... prices right now are pretty bad.

Apparently so. It was $100 when I bought it last July. What's the story with GPU prices these days? After buying vidcards over the last decade or so, I've grown to expect that what I can buy for $100 at any given time is probably about 25-50% better than what I got for that price the year before.

Anyway, I see some 4850's listed for ~$100 at Newegg, so I can certainly get one of those. I was just thinking that there was probably newer tech offering a better bargain these days. Guess not.

 

[cleverhandle]

Any reason not to order this $100 Visiontek with 5 eggs on 178 reviews?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129112

 

[Qbah]

Any reason not to order this $100 Visiontek with 5 eggs on 178 reviews?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129112

Looks good to me.

As for the prices... well, AMD probably feels good in the spot it's at right now with prices and units sold. Also, there's no real competition for this price bracket from nVidia. You got a GTS250 (~$110) on the lower part (old tech) and the next card is the GTX470 (~$350). So there's a huge gap from nVidia. AMD is there with both a HD5750 and a HD5770 for roughly $120 and $150, respectively. Next up is a HD5830 for ~$230 - a PoS card, severely overpriced for what it offers. They don't really have any incentive to drop the prices - no pressure at all from nVidia as there are no competing products from the green camp around this price.

Also I'd hazard a guess nVidia can't really go any lower with their prices (plus a very limited line-up right now) and AMD is selling plenty of cards (6 months+ of heads-up grabbed a lot of minds) - hence no price war.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Sigh. If nVidia was doing its job I could buy a 5850 for $199 by now, or a comparable nV card for under $250.

I miss the 2008 price wars

 

[cleverhandle]

Ordered the Visiontek. Thanks all.

 

[llee]

In my opinion, you should probably just pick up an HD 5670 or HD 5570. They work fine for your games and resolutions, cost less, and feature newer tech.

 

[bryanW1995]

Sigh. If nVidia was doing its job I could buy a 5850 for $199 by now, or a comparable nV card for under $250.

I miss the 2008 price wars

2008 was a very rare instance of a near simultaneous rollout of similar products from both camps. plus, amd had a strong need to be aggressive and regain lost market share, and they had a cost advantage that enabled them to really push the market in their favor. they still seem ascendant or at least much more competitive these days than they were in the last year or two as ati, but now thanks to those tsmc bastards amd is choosing to go for margins instead of market share. not much chance this situation clears up until we move to 32nm or lower, unfortunately...

 

[OCGuy]

Sigh. If nVidia was doing its job I could buy a 5850 for $199 by now, or a comparable nV card for under $250.

I miss the 2008 price wars

Huh? What makes you think that ATi doesn't want to start increasing margin?

Ther 470/480 performance almost lines up exactly with 4850/4870.

 

[Borealis7]

Huh? What makes you think that ATi doesn't want to start increasing margin?

Ther 470/480 performance almost lines up exactly with 5850/5870.

fixed.

i agree with what's been said, and i'm holding on to my 4850 until next gen from ATI and then i'll decide.
you could always spring for a holdout card and join the waiting.