Posted January 20, 2009 Also picked up a 3870 in PC World for £40! RIP 3870 It died last night! You know what makes it worse? I shipped out my old GPU yesterday to some bloke down London way who offered my £40 for it. No PC games for me for a while Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 20, 2009 RIP 3870 It died last night! You know what makes it worse? I shipped out my old GPU yesterday to some bloke down London way who offered my £40 for it. No PC games for me for a while Thats quite sad Gives a good reason so bump upto a 4800 series though;) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 Yup, it does I think an AMD BE-2300 (1.9GHz) might hold it back though... ...i guess i'll be needing a Phenom II as well Ooh, and another 2GB RAM. The only snag? That's about £320+ worth of kit Will consult the bank balance tomorrow! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 oh ho, it's so worth it and you know it. If it makes you feel any better I'll be really jealous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 Why not a geforce and take advantage of PhysX? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 Due to price cuts a 4850 is still the way to go really. err hmmm uhh I'm talking US prices though, idk if the cuts have reached you yet. Well even so, ATi still had better performance for the buck, even worse performance is a negligible difference at lower cost. Can you tell the difference between 80 and 70 fps? As for physx, what games even use it? I know Mirrors Edge does, but idk what else. Oh, and there is a group actively making Nvidia's Physx work on ATI cards, and Nvidia does support the endeavor (helps edge out Havok) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 Why not a geforce and take advantage of PhysX? Which answer would you like? The one that says i'm a rabbid ATi/AMD fanboy (take note; i've even got ATi branded RAM)? Or the one that says i want to exploit AMD's Dragon platform to eek the most out of my system? Ordered my RAM Found too good a price on it to turn down! Just trying to track down a passive/silent 4850 or 4870 now (even a 4830 would do). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 Which answer would you like? The one that says i'm a rabbid ATi/AMD fanboy (take note; i've even got ATi branded RAM)? Or the one that says i want to exploit AMD's Dragon platform to eek the most out of my system? Ordered my RAM Found too good a price on it to turn down! Just trying to track down a passive/silent 4850 or 4870 now (even a 4830 would do). Idk that you can find a passive/silent 4800 series. Those cards run really really hot. Although, keep in mind that a 4830 (you say it like it's hardly worth a second thought) can easily be overclocked to 4850 performance. So, it is really a good solution. Also, about the dragon platform. Do you have a mobo with a 750 southbridge(780G, 790FX/GX ect.)? That's the center of the whole platform. Apparently makes OCing the 940 a breeze. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 There are passive 4850's but finding a good price on one can be a challenge. I can't bear noisey coolers, if i can't source a passive card then one with a silent fan will have to do. As for the mobo, the answer is no. However i will pick up a new board before too long, my current one is pretty cheapo (i still need to confirm if it's compatable with PH2 procesors Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 What's your current board? It's probably compatible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 Can someone explain me AMD's Dragon platform? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 21, 2009 A motherboard with at least a 750 Southbridge(new mobos should be along shortly) These motherboards support AMDs overclocking tech, which when paired with a Phenom II CPU the Ocing possibilities are high. Lastly is a 4800 series GPU. Basically with all of those parts together you're going to have a good rig, or that's how I understand it. Before Dragon it was the spider platform with the 650(?)SB and 3800 series cards. And the previous CPUs which were decent enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 22, 2009 I need a new motherboard for a Phenom II. That makes things a tad... complicated. It's now a choice between a 7750 Black Edition with a 4830, or a Phenom II 920 with a 790G mobo and a 4830. The Phenom is effectively gonna cost me £150 more than the 7750! The bonus being that it's a quad, i'd be running AMD's latest platform on a considerably better motherboard, i'd have Crossfire as an upgrade option and an intergrated graphics chip for back-up. It's all down to the bank now and how much money i have left. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 22, 2009 The 7750 is actually a Phenom II with 2 cores disabled, so you'd still be running the latest platform. It also is still a pretty good OCer. I think they named it as Athlon X2 as to not confuse people with Phenom II X2, but I've seen CPU-Z screens that show it's a Deneb core. Also, you never answered me what your current board is. Edit: Just figured I'd announce to whomever cares, that the Warhammer 40K Dawn of War II beta has started. Anyone who bought Soulstorm, either retail or Steam, can access the beta today(or yesterday....it was the 21 fyi still is here) I think the beta goes fully public on the 28th for those of us who didn't get Soulstorm. edit edit: Is it just me or did the PC general spawn a new thread? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 22, 2009 Why not just RMA your graphics card? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 22, 2009 I'm not sure i can? It's a second hand card with an aftermarket cooler, surely they wouldn't accept that back? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 22, 2009 Most companies void the warranty with aftermarket coolers. Plus, most of ATIs brands have pretty bad warranties, which is why XFX making cards is just great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 22, 2009 Can't RMA it, i just checked. I was already planning an upgrade anyway so no massive loss. The only real change is i'll be swapping out the CPU, Mobo and GPU at roughly the same time instead of staggering it. Decided to wait on the AM3 stuff, it's only a few weeks away and tbh the price of the Phenom II's is far too unstable at the moment to warrant a purchase! In the past 254 hours eBuyer's prices have dropped as low as £155 for the 920 and shot back up again to over the £200 mark. Scan are more stable, but i've seen a few quid disappear here and there as well. I'll probably order the first 4830 over the weekend, i've got a lot of holiday time from work in the next couple of weeks and i'd like to get a bit of gaming done during that time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 22, 2009 I read on a hardware forum some time ago how someone fixed his graphics card. He put it in the kitchen oven at 150°C. Apparently it was no joke and it makes some kind of sense if you consider that the heat could fix some soldering. It might actually be worth a shot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 23, 2009 I read on a hardware forum some time ago how someone fixed his graphics card.He put it in the kitchen oven at 150°C. Apparently it was no joke and it makes some kind of sense if you consider that the heat could fix some soldering. It might actually be worth a shot. Depending on how broke it is, he could just remove the cooler, and let it run for a while. They heat up pretty good that way. Although, I doubt a bit of soldering it the problem, and even if it was disassembling a card and resoldering it yourself would be much better than baking it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 23, 2009 I'll probably order the first 4830 over the weekend, i've got a lot of holiday time from work in the next couple of weeks and i'd like to get a bit of gaming done during that time. As you are probably aware, I have a 4850, and I can vouch for it being awesome. And I mean the old kind of awesome - as in worthy of awe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 23, 2009 You say first 4830....so I'm guessing your planning on Crossfire? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 23, 2009 I'm planning on using a single 4830 safe in the knowledge that if i need more power i can get another for £90. Decided it's the best bet, the 4870 is too expensive, and if i go for a 4850 and find myself needing a boost it's gonna set me back a good £120. £240 of GPUs in my machine is too much, so i'm going for the cheaper option. My RAM arrived today! Wasn't expecting it for weeks! They told me the estimated delivery date was the 5th Feb due to stock shortages Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 26, 2009 Idk that you can find a passive/silent 4800 series. Those cards run really really hot. Although, keep in mind that a 4830 (you say it like it's hardly worth a second thought) can easily be overclocked to 4850 performance. So, it is really a good solution. A 4830 has a lot less shaders than a 4850, so it's not a matter of a simple overclock, even if you did clock the core from 575 to 625 it wouldn't be as fast. 4830 is still a decent enough card, but I'd say if you have the pennies, 4850 every time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
