I see THREE amazingly priced 3850 on newegg, please help me decide.

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DeadlyNinja

Veteran
First we have this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103051
That's 512 MB at a mere 109 bucks!!! I'm fully aware of the benefits and all that, but does anyone know anything about the company that's selling it? I had a very awful experience with HIS with my very first video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131096
Same deal, even cheaper!!!! But not enough reviews for me to decide. I want to know if it's quiet. I like silence.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129101
This one is obviously not as good as the previous 2, but there's no need for rebates. Plus, if the company is superior, I will go for it instead.

Mainly I'm interested in silence and a good company. I wish they have some Palit cards at that price since they are the only ones to offer a 2 year warranty on AMD cards. Still, if you guys think highly of any of those companies, please tell me.
 
There's a $99 X1950XTX 512MB on there too. Kinda neat, in a way. Except the 3850s would beat it up pretty bad.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102045

As for which 3850 to go with, well pick the cooler that looks best to you because that's about the only difference. Biggest fan should be quietest.

And, on the other other hand, a GeForce 9600GT is a good bit faster than even a Radeon 3870.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In answer to the OP's question: get the Powercolor card. Lifetime warranty. Nuff said.

swaaye said:
There's a $99 X1950XTX 512MB on there too. Kinda neat, in a way. Except the 3850s would beat it up pretty bad.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102045
Click to expand...

That would be an interesting comparison to make though. The older card has more bandwidth of the two (if GDDR4), and fillrates are also similar due to equal unit counts and similar clocks. The only real differentiating factor is the new architecture and the greater (theoretical) shader performance of the 3850.
 
I can't find anything on Powercolor's warranty plan. If what you're saying is true, then that pretty much seals the deal.
 
DeadlyNinja said:
I can't find anything on Powercolor's warranty plan. If what you're saying is true, then that pretty much seals the deal.
Click to expand...

Well here's a news piece but it is a couple years old. I do see references to a 2 year warranty as well, and Powercolor's website is absolutely no help. I see a lot more references to that 2 year warranty though. That's probably more accurate.

Sorry to get your hopes up :(
 
That's ok. That's why I'm researching before I buy.

What about visiontek? I'm hearing from others who claims that it also offers life time, but I can't find anything on that either.
 
Yeah, I saw that after going to the site. But um... this part puzzles me.

ATI Based Retail Packaged “VisionTek” or “VisionTek Xtasy” Brand 3D Graphics Accelerators except those covered under other VisionTek Warranty Policies.

So picky, these people. I sent them an e-mail asking whether or not that card's under the life time warranty. If it does, then I can forgo the extra 256 MB and the hassle of rebates.
 
I've become a warranty whore. I would definitely get the 9600GT from EVGA if it was a little cheaper. Unfortunately, right now, it's still out of my budget. I need to buy a new PSU to run either a 3850 or the 9600GT.

But honestly, how long do you guys think it'll take for the 9600GT to drop 10 to 20 bucks more? I'm really hoping AMD would make a move that'll force Nvidia to drop the price.
 
Well, I think that when RV770 shows up, prices may move. If NVIDIA stomps RV770, they will definitely move. Just hold out and see what happens in a month or two here. Save money in the mean time. :)
 
After a bit of research, I definitely have second thoughts on the 9600GT. The problem is that it requires a REALLY powerful PSU. I think it needs around 26@. I'm also worried that it's not as future proof. Yes, believe it or not, my X1650XT was more future proof than the 7600GT due the the amount of shader power. It seems to be the same case with the 3850 vs 9600GT. Of course, it's hard to predict the future, and if I could, I'd be super rich. Still, I'm usually happy running games at 1280 x 1024. I probably will wait it out a bit. I got excited when I saw the prices of those 3850s.
 
Considering it uses less power to do its thing than a 3850, I kinda doubt that it's all that demanding. I also strongly doubt that a 3850, which is disappointing today compared to a 9600GT, is going to be better in the long run. How many times have we heard that sort of line? 9600GT is currently always faster than a 3850, ranging from "dramatically faster" to "a bit faster".

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14168/9
power-load.gif


BTW, for the record, I have a 3850. It was a replacement for a 8600GT I had. It's an interesting little board, and quite power efficient compared to a 8800 or even 8600, but it's not very performance competitive anymore.

X1650XT actually seems to have a hard time beating 7600GT in some of the benches I've seen. It actually loses fairly significantly some times. And, let's not forget that it took ATI a long time to finally release a decent mid-range card for that series. X1600XT was really sad compared to 7600GT. It was like the 6600 vs. X700 days all over again.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/11131/1
 
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swaaye said:
Considering it uses less power to do its thing than a 3850, I kinda doubt that it's all that demanding. I also strongly doubt that a 3850, which is disappointing today compared to a 9600GT, is going to be better in the long run. How many times have we heard that sort of line? 9600GT is currently always faster than a 3850, ranging from "dramatically faster" to "a bit faster".
Click to expand...

Actually, I was referring to the 12V requiring 26@ according to what I heard. My PSU can only provide 12 at 19@ so I'm a little worried about that part. Might be unstable for me. I don't know, I might have gotten false info from people though.

About it being more powerful, yeah, after more research, it is much faster. I originally thought it was only a little bit better, but I haven't seen the benchmarks in a while so I forgot. I think I will wait a bit and see. Might as well hope for a price drop and also pick up a new PSU while I'm at it.

Also, digitalwanderer that sale you posted ends at May 6th, and it's already May 7th today. If only I saw that earlier.
 
swaaye said:
Considering it uses less power to do its thing than a 3850, I kinda doubt that it's all that demanding. I also strongly doubt that a 3850, which is disappointing today compared to a 9600GT, is going to be better in the long run. How many times have we heard that sort of line? 9600GT is currently always faster than a 3850, ranging from "dramatically faster" to "a bit faster".

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14168/9
power-load.gif


BTW, for the record, I have a 3850. It was a replacement for a 8600GT I had. It's an interesting little board, and quite power efficient compared to a 8800 or even 8600, but it's not very performance competitive anymore.

X1650XT actually seems to have a hard time beating 7600GT in some of the benches I've seen. It actually loses fairly significantly some times. And, let's not forget that it took ATI a long time to finally release a decent mid-range card for that series. X1600XT was really sad compared to 7600GT. It was like the 6600 vs. X700 days all over again.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/11131/1
Click to expand...

Other than the "traditional NV titles", the X1650 XT does NOT lose to the 7600 GT in most cases. I should know, I have one.

50% more performance in Oblivion @ 1024x768 w/8xAF & HDR + max. quality settings (no AA though) speaks volumes there. Almost double the performance @ 1600x1200 using the same settings. Sure, neither solution is playable but it illustrates my point nicely.

BF2142 has about a 10-15% lead for the X1650XT with high settings.

Even in Prey, which is an OGL (D3 engine) title the two cards are neck-and-neck.

Perhaps you're thinking of the X1650 Pro, as the XT is an entirely different GPU (RV560, not RV535) with twice the ROPs, TMUs, and pixel shader processors of the Pro model. Usually higher clocks too.
 
ShaidarHaran said:
Other than the "traditional NV titles", the X1650 XT does NOT lose to the 7600 GT in most cases. I should know, I have one.

50% more performance in Oblivion @ 1024x768 w/8xAF & HDR + max. quality settings (no AA though) speaks volumes there. Almost double the performance @ 1600x1200 using the same settings. Sure, neither solution is playable but it illustrates my point nicely.

BF2142 has about a 10-15% lead for the X1650XT with high settings.

Even in Prey, which is an OGL (D3 engine) title the two cards are neck-and-neck.

Perhaps you're thinking of the X1650 Pro, as the XT is an entirely different GPU (RV560, not RV535) with twice the ROPs, TMUs, and pixel shader processors of the Pro model. Usually higher clocks too.
Click to expand...

Yup, and the 1650XT also does better in many more modern games like Bioshock and Crysis compared to the 7600GT. I mean, I can actually set models and shader on High for Crysis and still achieve around 30 fps on Crysis at 800 x 600.
 
Are you guys comparing these side by side in person? The X1650XT and 7600GT seem to trade places a lot in reviews out there. But yea, it seems to do well in Oblivion and HL2 Ep2. In these cases it's like comparing X1950 Pro to 7900 GS. ATI wins again, perhaps due to the extra shader oomph of RV560/570.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/12285/7
http://techreport.com/articles.x/12285/6

There are games where one would be better off with 7600GT though. Primarily OpenGL games. 7600GT wins in STALKER, too.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/12285/5
 
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