Graphic Cards First (dubious) 9800GTX+ review

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This is how it stands so far IMO:

ATi Radeon HD4850:

Pros:
1)Offers better performance than 9800 GTX overall, and better than 9800 GTX+ at higher resolutions and higher levels of AA and AF.
2)Very cheap if ordered from US. Launch price is 200$, sure to get down to 169$ in a month's time :hap2:
3)DirectX 10.1 support.

Cons:
1)Runs very hot (79C idle temp!!). Impossible to keep card unless you are going to install aftermarket cooler.
2)Pricing here in India will be atrocious. So for the average joe it is not a viable option at all.
3)No PhysX support. Supports Havok, but no drivers out for it yet.

Geforce 9800 GTX+:
Pros:
1)Faster than HD4850 at lower resolutions/lowers levels of AA and AF. So anyone with a 17"/19" monitor might find slightly better performance than HD4850.
2)Support for PhysX.
3)Stock cooling is very effective (idle temperature 55C).
4)Pricing in India will not be as inflated as HD4850.

Cons:
1)Not as good at higher resolutions/higher levels of AA and AF.
2)No directX 10.1 support (though games utilising it are not out yet).
3)Costs 30$ more than HD4850 if ordering from US (in India it'll probably be cheaper!)
 
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techster said:
1)Runs very hot (79C idle temp!!). Impossible to keep card unless you are going to install aftermarket cooler.

3)Costs 30$ more than HD4850 if ordering from US (in India it'll probably be cheaper!)
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I think these things balance out each other, and there is always an advantage with the green side, u can always be sure that they will keep on releasing new drivers regularly which will keep your card performing well throughout....but lets wait for 4870 ;)
 
There is something I find bit strange about the temps of 4850. It's based on same manufacturing process as 3800 series, 55nm. But it gets hotter compared to it's predecessor.

I wonder, if it has something to do with board design plus single slot cooler. Cause the difference is substantial, even when power requirements have gone up, it's not like it's gone double than previous card. Anyway, I think there could be second revision coming fixing the temp issue... but then it's probably only a wishful thinking.

I'll be waiting for Sapphire's vapor-x cooler based 4870, that's for sure. :D
 
Well, these are exciting times. But still we have to make a choice. Right? Here is my take on 4850 VS 9800GTX+. As for 9800GTX, well the card no longer matters.

4850 (pros in blue, cons in red)

1- It's at least cheaper by $30 right now and available with immediate effect. By July 16, when the 9800GTX+ will launch, I can bet $50 that it will be down to something like $170-180. The price difference at that time will be at least $50. I know for people in India, ATI's prices sux but here at TE we will be banking on our dealers for fair deals.

Most importantly, getting a card through KMD is not at all bad.

2- Crossfire scales better than SLI and Crossfire mobos are cheaper than SLI-mobos. Also Crossfire supports two monitors while SLI does not

3- 4850 can pass 7.1 channel sound through HDMI. This is something no Nvidia card can do.

4- Better support for Blue-ray, HD-DVD playback out of box

5- DX 10.1 support. If there is a game with support for DX 10.1 API, expect ATI's 48XX series to blow Nvidia cards out of water

6- Needs just one PCIe six-pin power connector



7 - Cards runs hot and may not have that much overclocking potential.

9800GTX+ (pros in blue, cons in red)

1- Runs a lot cooler than 4850 and overclocks slightly better. Also edges out 4850 in most of the benchmarks by <10%.

2- Has support for Physx. In games that will support Physx, expect 9800GTX+ to blow ATI's cards out of water.

3- Supports CUDA and consequently BadaBoom that can encode videos on fly. Though it still lacks support for many popular formats, expect it to come soon.

4- benefits from TWIMTBP programme. Anyone remembers Assasin's Creed saga.



5- Will come only in July second week and will cost at least 30-40% over 4850

6- needs two six-pin PCIe power connectors

7- Still lacks support for DX 10.1

8- To take into accounts ethical practices of a company: It clearly shows Nvidia does not care about its customers. It is happy to sell a product for $300 and within hours can drop it to $200 if there is competition around. It will also sell 9800GTX+ at $230 - $30 over 9800GTX - even when the + card is made on 55nm and must be having less production cost than 9800GTX which is built on 65nm. And why CUDA support only for 4 cards when there are at least ten GeForce cards that support it.

If your pricing is ethical, Nvidia at least sell 9800GTX+ at $199. But then of course, nasty habits die hard!

(I know I am sounding like a fan boy, but I did not really like the Green Team's practices. Being competitive and aggressive is one thing but being a troll is another. I own 8600GT but my next card is gonna be ATI one. For one, we were all deceived very badly with 8600GT. Second, my 8600GT supports the playback of only H.264 content. For VC-1, I have to rely on my CPU. When a company claims it supports Hardware acceleration for to playback high-def content, consumers should get the "FULL SUPPORT")

Final choice, of course, has to be made by you. But one thing is sure, as consumers these are exciting times for us!!!

:ohyeah:
 
morgoth said:
2- Crossfire scales better than SLI and Crossfire mobos are cheaper than SLI-mobos. Also Crossfire supports two monitors while SLI does not
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Uh??? Doesn't SLI support 2 monitors??? :S

BTW all ur reasoning sounds perfect indeed esp the last con of nvidia, lol; :)
 
iGo said:
There is something I find bit strange about the temps of 4850. It's based on same manufacturing process as 3800 series, 55nm. But it gets hotter compared to it's predecessor.

I wonder, if it has something to do with board design plus single slot cooler. Cause the difference is substantial, even when power requirements have gone up, it's not like it's gone double than previous card. Anyway, I think there could be second revision coming fixing the temp issue... but then it's probably only a wishful thinking.

I'll be waiting for Sapphire's vapor-x cooler based 4870, that's for sure. :D
Click to expand...

Pulled this from the XS review of the 4850-

Some notes before the testing. The fan speed very low on the factory bios, I haven't been able to use any fan control to raise the speed so far. The temp is most likely fine even with an Idle of 79c but Being an XS'er I removed the factory thermal goop and replaced it with A.S. Ceramique. the idle temps are now 55c most of the time. That was a huge jump and I wonder if all of the cards suffer from this as I have seen rumors of other 4850's with similar temps (IE: FUD).
Click to expand...

Link- Vision Tek 4850 review - XtremeSystems Forums

Maybe its just the stock cooling design, in a couple of weeks we should see some different cooling solutions which will make a difference!
 
This is one of those rare occasions when both competitors have brought out balanced products and the consumer will not be let down by any one of them. HD4850, 9800 GTX+, whatever you buy in the lower mid-range segment is not going to disappoint. So you can get either an ATi or an nVidia this time, you'll get the same thing for the same price :)
 
fangface said:
Maybe its just the stock cooling design, in a couple of weeks we should see some different cooling solutions which will make a difference!
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Yup, TR sure will bring some decent coolers like HR03GT+ or something; :P

Removal of stock goop and applying MX2 could itself result in some good deltas; :)
 
Well, we gotta all thank AMD here. The overpriced 9800GTX fell from the 299$ ballpark figure to 199$ in a day.:ohyeah:

If buyin in India, its 9800GTX to get between the two which is a non brainer as with ATI products high prices in india. But else outside, its a close call i would say.
 
Heh you guys should wait before speculating about prices. See what 9800GTX+ is charged in India ;)

I wont be surprised to see 9800GTX+ being priced high in India by distributors. Our distributor pricing is whole different story.
And crossfire is still very strong point in favor of ATI. Its very efficient, plenty of motherboards are in the market. Plenty of them are in the systems of people. Way more than SLI boards. And for once dual GPU system is actually making sense.
 
Funky... Where have you been... Heck i believe my 2 year old(almost) ASUS P5B Dlx will be able to Xfire thanks to Intel :D
 
Lol, P965 chipset..

PCI-E 1.0; Heck, the second slot runs on a bandwidth of 4x!!! :ohyeah:

U'd better consider an X38 at least;
 
Funky said:
Heh you guys should wait before speculating about prices. See what 9800GTX+ is charged in India ;)
I wont be surprised to see 9800GTX+ being priced high in India by distributors. Our distributor pricing is whole different story.
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well based on the nvidia,ATI price ratio of US vs india i think the 9800GTX+ will be priced around 15500 to 16500

and ATI 4850 around 15000 to 15500.

also what the best price of 3870xt in india? the best i have seen in india is 10400.
 
gannu said:
Lol, P965 chipset..

PCI-E 1.0; Heck, the second slot runs on a bandwidth of 4x!!! :ohyeah:

U'd better consider an X38 at least;
Click to expand...

QFT!

The card dropped into that second slot would more choked point then a pissed off gorilla squeezing your neck! :P
 
adder said:
well based on the nvidia,ATI price ratio of US vs india i think the 9800GTX+ will be priced around 15500 to 16500

and ATI 4850 around 15000 to 15500.
Click to expand...

Also those prices would pretty much remain constant for next 2-3 months, regardless of any changes in US rates IMO.

On the other hand, 8800 GTS and normal 9800 GTX prices might come down because of arrival of new cards. A 9800 GTX for <14k would still be a good buy!
 
Switch said:
Funky... Where have you been... Heck i believe my 2 year old(almost) ASUS P5B Dlx will be able to Xfire thanks to Intel :D
Click to expand...

Eh??
I said the same thing in my post. Plenty of boards already have crossfire support. Platform is there with people. its just that until now the crossfire setup didnt make sense in terms of price performance ratio.
And unlike US, the price drop on high end card really does not reflect in india most of the times. So dont expect any big changes in prices of current GPU. I wont even be surprised if 9800GTX does not drop a single penny here and GTX+ gets priced even higher than current GTX. Unless our dealers knock some sense into distries with some feedback this is real possibility.
 
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