Hi guys,

So I got a new job today at Hewlett Packard as a technician/dispatch, and in my old job I have 70 hours of holiday that will be paid out to me when I leave which is around $950

This means I can finally upgrade my 7600GT.

I am looking at the 4850, what do you guys think? My budget extends to $400 NEW ZEALAND dollars as I want to save the rest of the money.

http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&am...ts_id=3303

Thanks dudes

Kieran congratulations on the job and on finally deciding to upgrade. Yes the 4850 is an excellent performer, you will notice a huge increase in performance just as I did when I upgraded from my 7600gt to the 8800gt and better for you since the 4850 performs better than the 8800gt. You'll be able to run every game out right now with high graphics including Crysis. So yeah I say go for it.

You can also check if the 9800GTX+ is cheaper than the 4850 since it performs a tad better.

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=367883

That is just over $400 which I can afford no problem, so go with that instead?

The reviews I have read show the 4850 slightly better.

The only problem I can see with it is the heat output. It is ridiculous at 70 degrees idle and 90 under load.

4870 under $400:
http://www.extremepc.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&am...ts_id=3335

Do I trust Palit as a brand though?

I had the choice between the 4850 and 9800GTX+ and chose the 9800, very impressed. If you can try to get at the + if you can find it cheaper.

Palit is fine.Id buy one no problem .They are making a name for them selves lately.So Yes Palit is fine and you can trust them.Oh and the 4850 is better than a 9800GTX+

Well, judging from these test the 9800GTX+ is a bit faster, but I'm thinking if the 4850 in the end is a better buy since the 9800GTX+ comes pre-overclocked and maybe doesn't have much room left for overclocking as the 4850 would.

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-5631-view-9800GTX+-vs-HD-4850.html
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_radeon_hd_4850_geforce.../page3.asp

The 4850 is up to 22% faster than a 8800gt and the 9800gtx + is 8 or 9% faster than the 9800GTX.

*Edit*

Kieran, you should also check out the 9800 GX2. The prices are ridiculously low. They're even dropping below $280 and the performance of the 9800GX2 is better than a 4870 and even surpasses the GTX280 so if your PSU can handle it you should definitely check it out.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=13

Look at Asus's 4850's bad ass
http://www.overclock.net/hardware-news/379695-tpu-asus-release...800gt.html

I think I will just go with a 4850. The only problem I hear about them is the temperature under load is 90 degrees+....wtf is with that? And they all come with that same cooler.
I might have to add an aftermarket one.

congrates on the new job kieran!
the 4850 is a good choice. check out the HIS iceQ's. the have good coolers and are usually factory oc'd
http://xtremegears.wordpress.com/2008/08/24/his-radeon-hd-4850...he-market/

http://www.techpowerup.com/69397/HIS_Radeon_HD_4850_IceQ_4_Released.html

Congrats on the job.. hope u do well, now since Nvidia came out with the claim that all 8xxx series Gpus have sub-quality PCB's and leaded transformators (well the leaded crap on the boards), which put them in a 200 million dollar insurance.. its said the 8xxx series MOBILE gpus are affected, but also the desktop varieties..

anyways, to the point, the 4850 is a great card, lots of my friends have it and they are not one bit un-satisfied.. i also liked that they fixed the AA and AF filtering to where it doesnt lower your fps anymore.. fabulous...

go for the SAPPHIRE version, not the asus or anything else.. the sapphire's are now shipping with their own custom fan (bigger heatsink, fan etc.), which significantly reduces heat, and thereby should enable you to overclock some more... go for it!
dont know if most vendors have changed the picture, but this is a factual statement from sapphire themselves..

Probably the main reason I didn't buy the 4850 is because of the awful stock temps and the 9800GTX+ was cheaper and faster...quite obvious.

grab the 4870 the orignials are dropping into the 250 range now that my be a better bet for you. can't go wrong with GDDR5

**Warning, Thread Hijack in Progress**

so if all goes well and Best Buy is still having there HD4850 sale (185.99) this friday, my awesome sauced gf is going to buy me one. i want one and would love to have one BUT will my 4400+ (currently at stock) starv it into oblivion even though i'll be playing games at 1680x1050? my guess is, pretty much. any guesstimations?

If some one has any input on the above question, that would be sweet

4850 + 4400+ = :[

Can you say...bottleneck?

Michael C said:


thanks for ruining my friday

I don't know about that, the 4400 X2 is still a very capable processor.

No no bottleneck. CPU is way overrated and I'm sure that with that cpu you'll be able to utilize your gpu without bottlenecking it. I know Tom's Hardware had an excellent detailed article about this matter. I'll search it up in the meantime.

*Edit*
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-gpu-upgrade,1928.html

CPUs can only really be considered a bottle neck to GPUs when there is a generational gap between them (or it's just a rubbish processor like Celerons and Semprons). Even that has fallen apart because processors have gone linear instead of faster. I would only be concerned about a bottleneck if you were running a processor predating Pentium 4 and Athlon 64.