I need a new GPU for around $100

[ryan29121]

A buddy of mine is looking for a new gpu for around a $100 -120. The 9800gt looks like a nice one for that range. Does anyone have any other recommendations or of any places with really good deals happening? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Tr1cK]

Get a 4830. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822)

Or if you want a card that will school the 9800gt instead of run with it, get a 4850. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131125)

I wouldn't bother with any NV cards unless you want something in the GTX260 range or faster.

[CaptNKILL]

The Geforce GTS 250 is a pretty solid card.

You can get this one for $130 with free shipping and a free copy of Call of Duty: World at War.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150357

EDIT: The GTS250 is an updated and more efficient version of the 9800 GTX+, and that card beats the 4850 in almost every situation.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/731/1/
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_radeon_hd_4850_geforce_9800_gtx+/default.asp
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-9800-gtx-512mb-plus-review/6

[Tr1cK]

Capt, those reviews are from when the 4800s launched. The drivers are MUCH better now and performance has gone up. I know since I've had one since launch.

[ryan29121]

Gts 250 seems like a pretty good buy. Many people are saying the 4850 is the best choice. The 250 and the 4850 have similar prices. Would you recommend the 250 over the 4850?

[Tr1cK]

I pick 4850 because the 9800(250) is old tech and it has a bit better price-performance.

[john19055]

I would probally go with a 4850 if it is in that price range,the GTS250 is just a 8800GTS or a 9800GTX .It really depends on what resolution you are going to run.The 9800GTX is still a good card and pretty fast in games.So you really have a good selection to choose from.I would look at reviews and see which ones meets your needs the best.

[ryan29121]

I have never owned an ATI graphics card before. What are the good brands and what are the brands to stay away from. I found a good deal on an ASUS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272

[Tr1cK]

I'm not sure. I got mine thru Dell at launch for 10% off. It has held fine to me. I guess anything on Newegg that has a high % of 5 star rating would be good as long as it has a good warranty like lifetime.

That one has a 3 year warranty which would probably be long enough. I wouldn't get it though because there is no memory or voltage regulator cooling.

How about this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150337

[CaptNKILL]

Capt, those reviews are from when the 4800s launched. The drivers are MUCH better now and performance has gone up. I know since I've had one since launch.

Here is a recent review comparing the 4850 to the GTS 250:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16504/1

They seem to be almost identical in most cases with the GTS 250 coming out on top most of the time.

Add in Physx and CUDA support and I think the GTS 250 is the better buy for a good solid mid-range graphics card.

EDIT: Another review with similar results:
http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rid=175029

[john19055]

If I was going to get the 4850 I would go with the 1gig version.But looking at thoses reviews The GTS 250 is just as fast ,wins in some and loses in others but they are very close.So that means if you could find a 9800GTX cheaper it would be just as good.Really out of the 4850 ,GTS 250 and the 9800GTX,you can't go wrong which ever card you choose.I would get one that offered the best deal like a free game.

[Rollo]

Capt, those reviews are from when the 4800s launched. The drivers are MUCH better now and performance has gone up. I know since I've had one since launch.

Do you have links to reputable sources to back your findings? Besides the other reviews Capt Kill posted that show the 4850 still only on par with the GTS250, check out this review of the latest Catalyst 9.3 drivers:

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1794/10/ati_catalyst_9_3_analysis_xp_vista/index.html

Right from the launch of the Catalyst 9.3 drivers, things weren’t looking good with many people complaining about issues they had with the driver suite. We had two major problems; for the most part performance was down.....The other issue we had was that as soon as we installed the driver on Windows XP with the HD 4850, we couldn't run any 3D applications. Loading one would cause our system to simply reboot.

The "new drivers" you speak of sound like a step in the wrong direction.

[Rollo]

I pick 4850 because the 9800(250) is old tech and it has a bit better price-performance.

Hmmm.

So if the "old tech" performs as well (or better) than "new tech", offers some features the "new tech" doesn't have like PhysX, CUDA, 3D Vision, and more flexible multi card drivers, you recommend the "new tech" because it's "new"?

[Toss3]

Here is a recent review comparing the 4850 to the GTS 250:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16504/1

They seem to be almost identical in most cases with the GTS 250 coming out on top most of the time.

Add in Physx and CUDA support and I think the GTS 250 is the better buy for a good solid mid-range graphics card.

EDIT: Another review with similar results:
http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rid=175029

QFT - get the 250 GTS(my 8800GTS still does very well with new games). Only card worth getting from ATI now is the 4850x2.

[kazna]

Only card worth getting from ATI now is the 4850x2.
Gotta disagree with you here. 4850x2 is solid price:performance wise, but its super power hungry at idle, ridiculously loud at load, and relies on crossfire support in the drivers. The GTX 285 doesn't have any of these issues and it performs very close in a majority of titles.

AMD's best value right now is without a doubt the 1gb 4870. Same price ($189) as the GTX 260 and it has a performance advantage in a majority of games.

[jAkUp]

Go with the 250.

[Toss3]

Gotta disagree with you here. 4850x2 is solid price:performance wise, but its super power hungry at idle, ridiculously loud at load, and relies on crossfire support in the drivers. The GTX 285 doesn't have any of these issues and it performs very close in a majority of titles.

AMD's best value right now is without a doubt the 1gb 4870. Same price ($189) as the GTX 260 and it has a performance advantage in a majority of games.

Well it has its faults, but the GTX 260 55nm is a better buy(imo) than the 4870 1GB so it's the only card that doesn't have its equal from the nvidia camp that would be better(and by that I mean driver support, physX, cuda etc.).

The 4850x2 outperforms the GTX 285 in almost every game out there and is a fair bit cheaper too(315€ for a GTX 285 and 250€ for a 4850x2).

Read anandtech's conclusion to their 2-way sli/crossfire article here (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3517&p=14) and you'll see what I'm talking about. :)

EDIT: Xbit labs had some pretty different performance numbers here (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/evga-geforce-gtx285ssc_15.html), but they are equal at least(but the 4850x2 is cheaper).

[ryan29121]

After much researching I went with the XFX GTS 250 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150357. I found a really good deal on it for only $117 and it came with a copy of call of duty: world at war, which I can ebay for about $20. All in all this card will cost my friend only about $100. Pretty good deal. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

[kazna]

Read anandtech's conclusion to their 2-way sli/crossfire article here (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3517&p=14) and you'll see what I'm talking about. :)

EDIT: Xbit labs had some pretty different performance numbers here (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/evga-geforce-gtx285ssc_15.html), but they are equal at least(but the 4850x2 is cheaper).
The 4850x2 does come out quite a bit ahead in most reviews, now that I did some looking around (just looked at xbit for my initial post).

I really wished more AIBs would of picked up the 4850x2, or at least Sapphire would of came out with a Vapor X version w/ quieter fans!

[john19055]

The 4850x2 is a fast card but it cost way more then a $100 and he was looking for something in the $100 to $120 price range and the GTS 250 is closer to the price he wanted and it does perform good,better then I thought untill I looked at the reviews.