Vista - Recommend Dx10 card for £100

**fieseler** · 07-13-2008

My bro wants to get his pc running vista & wants a dx10 capable card with a bit more power. Hes looking for cards in the £100 area. Currently he has my old 7900gs 512mb which is an ok card for what he does gaming wise, but if we're going to upgrade, i want something at least a little more powerful.

I want to know how the 9600 cards compare to a 7900gs & what kind of heat they kick out. The 7900 runs about 45c so i want to try get something that runs close to that if possible.

ps, looking at this one so far
BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

**eggyuk** · 07-13-2008

I the new ATI 4850 is meant to be a good card for the price. I think they're around £115 mark and according to pcpro it consistently scores better than the 9600 GT in their tests.

**johngalt** · 07-13-2008

Hell, the 4850s measure up almost to the GT 260s, and more often than not hte 4870 *surpass* the GT 260s - I am an nVidia fan myself, but I have to admit that after reading the review at Tom's Hardware Guide, I would probably recommend the 48xx series to anyone on a budget.

However, they did say one thing that makes me still be a bit reserved - they run hotter 8and* Draw a *lot* more power than their nVidia counterparts.

**eggyuk** · 07-13-2008

Its a bit strange that they draw more power than the nvidia cards because the 48XX series uses 55nm process compared to 65nm for nvidia's latest cards. Apparently this switch to 55nm is why the ati cards are cheaper because they use less materials. I'm not convinced thats the whole reason. Could be something to do with AMD/ATI struggling and needing a way to "get back in the game"

**johngalt** · 07-13-2008

Honestly, not sure- but even the ones with less memory use more power then a loaded GT 280.

BTW, for anyone interested in what I am saying here is the THG review:

Radeon HD 4870: Better Than GTX 260! : Introduction - Tom's Hardware

ATI Radeon HD 4850: Smarter by Design? : Introduction - Tom's Hardware

**fieseler** · 07-14-2008

we thought about going for ati, but the case ventilation isnt brilliant & the psu is only a 430w.

07-13-2008	#1 (permalink)
fieseler Vista Ultimate SP1 x64 456 posts	Recommend Dx10 card for £100 My bro wants to get his pc running vista & wants a dx10 capable card with a bit more power. Hes looking for cards in the £100 area. Currently he has my old 7900gs 512mb which is an ok card for what he does gaming wise, but if we're going to upgrade, i want something at least a little more powerful. I want to know how the 9600 cards compare to a 7900gs & what kind of heat they kick out. The 7900 runs about 45c so i want to try get something that runs close to that if possible. ps, looking at this one so far BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
My System Specs

07-13-2008	#2 (permalink)
eggyuk Vista Home Premium 64Bit SP1 133 posts	Re: Recommend Dx10 card for £100 I the new ATI 4850 is meant to be a good card for the price. I think they're around £115 mark and according to pcpro it consistently scores better than the 9600 GT in their tests.
My System Specs

07-13-2008	#3 (permalink)
johngalt Vista Ultimate x64 MAK, OpenSolaris 5, Gentoo 2008.1.... 3,848 posts	Re: Recommend Dx10 card for £100 Hell, the 4850s measure up almost to the GT 260s, and more often than not hte 4870 surpass the GT 260s - I am an nVidia fan myself, but I have to admit that after reading the review at Tom's Hardware Guide, I would probably recommend the 48xx series to anyone on a budget. However, they did say one thing that makes me still be a bit reserved - they run hotter 8and* Draw a lot more power than their nVidia counterparts.
My System Specs

07-13-2008	#4 (permalink)
eggyuk Vista Home Premium 64Bit SP1 133 posts	Re: Recommend Dx10 card for £100 Its a bit strange that they draw more power than the nvidia cards because the 48XX series uses 55nm process compared to 65nm for nvidia's latest cards. Apparently this switch to 55nm is why the ati cards are cheaper because they use less materials. I'm not convinced thats the whole reason. Could be something to do with AMD/ATI struggling and needing a way to "get back in the game"
My System Specs

07-13-2008	#5 (permalink)
johngalt Vista Ultimate x64 MAK, OpenSolaris 5, Gentoo 2008.1.... 3,848 posts	Re: Recommend Dx10 card for £100 Honestly, not sure- but even the ones with less memory use more power then a loaded GT 280. BTW, for anyone interested in what I am saying here is the THG review: Radeon HD 4870: Better Than GTX 260! : Introduction - Tom's Hardware ATI Radeon HD 4850: Smarter by Design? : Introduction - Tom's Hardware
My System Specs

07-14-2008	#6 (permalink)
fieseler Vista Ultimate SP1 x64 456 posts	Re: Recommend Dx10 card for £100 we thought about going for ati, but the case ventilation isnt brilliant & the psu is only a 430w.
My System Specs

Similar Threads
Thread	Forum
Recommend a Card	Graphic cards
Recommend Sound Card for Vista	Vista General
Please recommend a good AGP graphics card for Vista	Vista General
ATI PCI-E X16 Video card support DX10	Vista hardware & devices
DX10 compactible card	Vista hardware & devices