Building a computer, can you check this graphics card

[Unwanted Guest]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if you would be able to help before I spend $

 

..Just want to make sure it does not have any issues with playing all theifs and esp the dark mod.........

 

 

 

 

SAPPHIRE 100256L Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

Link is .....Radeon card

 

Performed very well on Toms hardware site.

 

Thanks!

M

Edited June 21, 2009 by Unwanted Guest

[Subjective Effect]

Toms Hardware have a recent gfx card roundup: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforc...on,2326-16.html

 

The Radeon 4670 is near the bottom on performance. How much did you want to spend?

[LeatherMan]

The HD4670 is a decent entry-level card, and it will work just fine on medium or low settings for a lot of games. A much better choice would be this HD4850 for $85 when you use the promo code included on the page (and $75 after $10 mail-in-rebate). Free shipping on that card actually makes it cheaper than the 4670 even before the rebate! Hurry, promo only good till 06/21 and while supplies last!

 

FWIW, I have this 9600GT which performs respectably, so I would recommend it also. The HD4850 outperforms it, though (at least under Windows it does). 

 

EDIT >> One thing I should have done before recommending a card is asking about your current computer specs. You will need a more powerful power supply for the HD4850 or 9600GT vs the HD4670. So, how about listing your computer specs so we can make a better choice?

[Crispy]

Some people have had issues in TDM using some ATI cards (problems like screwed up ambient lighting, rotating skyboxes, flipped screens, and some surfaces flickering or becoming translucent or invisible when the lightgem is active). Nobody has all these problems though, and other ATI cards work fine I believe, and I don't have a clear sense of which ones those are, so you might be fine. Some of these problems may also happen with NVidia cards. Again, I don't really remember.

 

Sorry I can't be more help than that! It basically comes down to trying it and hoping you don't run into one of the (uncommon) problem situations.

[Ishtvan]

I recently updated to 2x HD 4870 512's. The transparency problems I had with the R9800 are gone, but now I get the rotating skyportal problem. Not sure yet if I get the ambient lighting problem or not.

[Mortem Desino]

I ordered a Radeon HD 4870 1GB for part of my graduation PC build. Best Buy was selling it for $189 USD, but Newegg sold me a sapphire version for $125.

 

Since Crysis seems to be the definitive torture test, I'll mention that it's running on all "high" with 4x AA at 1920x1080. I mostly ordered that because that card is likely to be able to run the next generation of PC games.

[Unwanted Guest]

THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR INPUTS!

 

 

RE Toms hardware, I did not save the page, but there was one where he gave a big listing ( much more than your link) with statements about overall quality in descending order, and the card I listed was near the top - cant find it now! duh! Of course that does not over-rule what you sent me, I'll look at it some more!

 

Sad to say, I am trying to build this computer on my wife's aim of keeping it around $400.00 - that makes it a challange!

What I plan to get.........

 

LINKS TO THE SITES ARE ATTACHED TO THE PRICE AMT OF EACH ITEM

 

Case: $49.99 Cooling looks good, as well as space, options, layout.

Board 99.99 (I am retaining some PATA (IDE) HDs that were recovered from my burned up PC as their info is needed, would like to reuse them) - this motherboard supports the latest AMD processors and DDR3 memory. Its got a newer chipset with two PCI-express X16 slots helpful for gammers. It can also handle 4 PATA (IDE) devices before having to get an IDE to SATA adapter

CPU 120.00 triple core processor This is also a Black Edition processor meaning it has an unlocked multiplier making overclocking very easy, quite a few people have unlocked the 4th core, for me ,doesn't really matter.

RAM 64.99 2 x 2GB 240 pin sdram ddr3. PC can handle up to 32GB, but the manufacturer has tested it up to 8GB. Have to have a 64-bit operating system to use 4GB or more of memory

 

So far, $~363.00

 

PSU 59.99 price drop from $100, 600 watt, 4, 12V rails - which hold very steady according to reviewers

 

Now deciding on graphics, and really do appreciate your input. I guess $85 may be the top limit........ I'll be looking hard now at your inputs

 

 

 

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm kinda a newbie at this!

 

 

ALSO only plan on playing thief games - other games dont have the appeal ( for me)... - at least none yet

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2009 by Unwanted Guest

[LeatherMan]

It's gonna be tough to keep the cost under $400 with the latest hardware, but it can be done if you know how to find the best deals. The card I linked above is a great deal, don't hesitate! As for the rest of the components, you can do better.

 

The CPU + mobo you listed = $219.99 + tax and shipping (plus $10 mail-in-rebate). Here is a combo deal with the same CPU but different mobo (similar features). This combo is $194.99 + tax and shipping (plus $15 mail-in-rebate). That alone saves $25 up front and an additional $5 with rebate. On top of that, Asus is a more respected brand than ECS.       

 

The PSU you listed is fine, and can handle the HD4850 above, but how about this Antec Sonata case with 500W Earthwatts PSU? $79.99 with Free shipping. I have this PSU in a different Antec case, and I feel confident your setup (with a single GPU) would be fine with "only" 500 watts. Here is the PSU alone at Newegg and the case with PSU for reference. This would save you an additional $60 up front (the case and psu you linked is $30 shipping).   

 

I can't find a better RAM deal at the moment, but I'll let you know if I find something.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose! 

[Unwanted Guest]

The HD4670 is a decent entry-level card, and it will work just fine on medium or low settings for a lot of games. A much better choice would be this HD4850 for $85 when you use the promo code included on the page (and $75 after $10 mail-in-rebate). Free shipping on that card actually makes it cheaper than the 4670 even before the rebate! Hurry, promo only good till 06/21 and while supplies last!

 

I took a look at th 4850, and it does seem to be better, though there were some complaints of it being a little big, but that is ok.

 

Got the 15% off tonight before that expired, but they forcibly dumped a "Free Gift" into my cart which I could not remove. It was a Rosewill rc-6 HDMI cable orignally for $20, but they took $5.00 off and charged me $15.00 for the cable that I (1) dont want/need (2) did not ask for!!! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ALL ABOUT??! I sent them an email saying to remove it, & will follow up with a phone call tomorrow morn when they open. Their move is pitiful!

 

Used car salesman: Ok, you knocked the price down by $1,000 - You'll buy the car now?"

 

Buyer: "Sure lets sign the paperwork"

 

Used car salesman: "OK, now that's done, you'll notice in the fine print we are giving you free speakers.....for $1,200, but we'll take $200 off because they are free! So now you owe us another grand"

 

Buyer: "What the......?"

 

 

 

 

We'll see what happens.......

Edited June 22, 2009 by Unwanted Guest

[LeatherMan]

Got the 15% off tonight before that expired, but they forcibly dumped a "Free Gift" into my cart which I could not remove. It was a Rosewill rc-6 HDMI cable orignally for $20, but they took $5.00 off and charged me $15.00 for the cable that I (1) dont want/need (2) did not ask for!!! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ALL ABOUT??! I sent them an email saying to remove it, & will follow up with a phone call tomorrow morn when they open. Their move is pitiful!

 

Hah! I have seen that before, but don't worry, it really is free! The way they add it to the cart makes it look like it costs extra, but they take the cost off of the other item. Your total should still be $85, so if it is then don't complain!

[Unwanted Guest]

You're right!, I'm not complaining now......

 

 

M

[LeatherMan]

Hope I'm not making things too difficult, I just like to bargain shop for PC components.      

[Ishtvan]

I probably should have checked this before I decided to use this setup, but does anyone know how VRAM limitations work in a Crossfire configuration? For example, with two 512 MB cards, can you load 1 GB of textures or only 512? Or does it depend on the software support for concurrent rendering modes?

 

i installed GTA4, and its auto config system won't let me choose options that take up over 512 MB of VRAM, but its auto-detect might just be stupid.

 

EDIT: It looks like it's limited to the lowest VRAM of the individual card, so it doesn't somehow magically pool it all. Guess it does something like cache the same textures in both so that both can process them simultaneously and the work is split up in other ways. Oh well, I'm used to playing with 6 year old hardware at 800x600 resolution, so I should be happy for a while.

[Crispy]

Guess it does something like cache the same textures in both so that both can process them simultaneously and the work is split up in other ways.

Exactly. In general both cards will be responsible for working on different parts of an image which may use the same texture, so they both need a copy.

 

Any attempt to pool the VRAM would likely result in crappy performance because you'd have to stream data across the PCI Express bus all the time, which pretty much removes the point of having VRAM in the first place. (VRAM is just an extra level of cache. It's backed by system RAM.)

[LeatherMan]

Hey UG, check out this deal on OCZ Triple-Channel 6GB DDR3 for $67.09!