1xPCIe vs 2xPCI Graphics cards

No it's not.

ANYWAY, let us know in a months time.

 

Why do you say that? If an 8800GS can pull 11,500 then an HD3850 can pull at least 10,000.

 

lol

I mean no it's not a bad card. My bad, wasn't clear enough.

 

Ah right, my mistake.

 

heh, you guys are great. Thanks for all the great info... Just got some good news, My Utility Provider just sent me a check for $106 cause I overpaid a bunch of times... lets see if I can scrounge up some more cash and get a 4850

Also, I've searched up different brands for the 4850 and the 3850/70... I noticed there are many variations of this and some brands that are give the same stats... I know the higher the mhz core speeds and such and the more stream processors the better right... but can a card have roughly the same stats, but be inferior? Like would Diamond Be worse than Sapphire even if they both have 775mhz/1800 and 320 stream processing units?

Especially cause one company could use cheaper parts and die faster... Just wondering if you guys did the research and I wanna pick ur brains about what you discovered or think.

Again, thanks for the always great and fast replys... helped me a bunch so far.

 

No email notifications from this thread for some reason, that's weird...

Performance-wise, brands aren't different much for graphics cards. Some may be overclocked, but if anything I veer away from those as a few of them have proven to be less reliable than their standard counterparts. For ATI I generally recommend Sapphire, HIS and Asus for cards. That's not to say that others are bad, but these companies have a proven track record.

 

Avoid powercolor. I personally have an Asus. The packaging is nice lol

 

Nice, but VAST! Lengthways the box for my Asus graphics card wouldn't fit through the doorway...

 

lol

That just means you have a small doorway! haha

 

It's not that wide, but the box was genuinely huge...

 

HA! See a site told me the PowerColor outperformed a few of its tested counterparts... Good to know... I knew PowerColor was a meh brand but that review threw me for a loop. I think I'm picking up on this stuff pretty quick.

Thanks guys. I was actually looking at a few HIS cards, and I know any deal involving Sapphire and Asus are worth it.

 

Powercolor are all well and good (they're no faster, if the card performed better it was obviously an overclocked version) but they don't offer a warranty of their own, so be careful of that.

 

heh, haven't really been paying attention to warranty as of yet, but its a big part of my decision making. Companys that know they've built a long lasting product usually have a warranty that shows it... and vice versa.

 

Indeed, hence companies like Corsair offering five years, and companies like Powercolor not offering one at all.

 

I was kinda disappointed with my ram for this PC. It came with a 2GB stick of crucial... I was thinking of buying 2x 2GB of Corsair and selling the crucial but instead bought a second crucial stick...

But it comes with a lifetime warranty I guess... Only major prob is that in some cases u gotta tweak some stuff as the memory only registers like 1.3GB of 2 in some cases... seems to be rare but crucial offers info/guides on how to rectify this if it happens to you... odd problem heh...

 

Crucial memory seems to have had all sorts of problems lately, I've stopped recommending it.

 

Quick Question... for same price which is better?

Seagate ST3250410AS 250GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA-II 16MB (5YR MFG - 1YR MB)

or;

Western Digital SATA2 250GB 16MB Cache 7200RPM WD2500KS (3year)

 

Both good really. I've had good luck with WD hard drives, and they're quiet. Seagate drives are also excellent, but tend to be noisier.

 

I would take the seagate. Better warranty, plus better Access Times. I knwo they are BARELY different, but if it's the same price then why not lol.

 

One store sells both but if far away, the other only sells the WD but is very close... I think I'll just get the WD if theres minimal differences and save myself a trip

Plus I like quiet... my old comp is VERY loud...

Also, would it be worth getting an HD cooler and PCI card cooler for about $30 combined?
HD Cooler: http://www.greenlyph.com/new/produc...d=225&osCsid=0371daaebdae5fc6a163cd4abb57e11e

PCI Card Cooler: http://www.greenlyph.com/new/produc...d=224&osCsid=0371daaebdae5fc6a163cd4abb57e11e

Are these worth it? I know the cooler it is the better it will perform and all but I'm going to be running a fairly stock system and wasn't sure if its good to get these now or just put it off till I get a good vid card and Overclock the system.

Edit> Bah I know I don't need the PCI Fan yet as I'm gonna have built in video for a month or so... but is the HD fan a good thing to have right away?