Which is better?

**ByzanKing** · 02-24-2009, 22:42

which would be better, a 1GB Geforce 9800GT or a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850? anyone know?

**Lemur** · 02-24-2009, 23:48

Ooooookay, some quick Googling tells me that the 4850 is going to be about 10% faster than the 9800, with some game-specific variation (obviously). All of the tests I found were of the 512 meg versions of the cards, but there's no logical reason why the results of identical chipsets should change when you jump to 1 gi

If you look here you'll see that the 9800 has trouble competing with the 4830, much less the 4850.

Seems pretty cut-and-dried to this lemur.

**Spino** · 02-25-2009, 01:19

Ditto, go for the 4850.

**ByzanKing** · 02-25-2009, 23:12

Thanks guys, I read reviews of the two but I am not that great with computer jargon so I was not sure which was better. I will go with your suggestions. Thanks much again.

**Lemur** · 02-25-2009, 23:41

Yeah, I'm not too clear on what the 9800 actually is. I've read several people claiming that it's just a renamed 8800. If I cared more, I would really look into it.

The 48XX series is newer and more efficient, in any case. Judging by the performance charts I've seen, you won't regret steering clear of the 9800.

**drone** · 02-25-2009, 23:57

Originally Posted by Lemur

Yeah, I'm not too clear on what the 9800 actually is. I've read several people claiming that it's just a renamed 8800. If I cared more, I would really look into it.

The 48XX series is newer and more efficient, in any case. Judging by the performance charts I've seen, you won't regret steering clear of the 9800.

Yeah, it's Wikipedia, but these 2 pages are gold when comparing differences between graphics cards.
Comparison of ATI Graphics Processing Units
Comparison of NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units

**ByzanKing** · 02-26-2009, 21:24

I have always heard people complain that ATI cards are garbage compared to Nvidia cards. I never understood why though. I always figured it was like people arguing over which is better XBOX or Playstation. Probably just a personal preference.

**drone** · 02-26-2009, 21:43

I don't know about "garbage", but they tend to cycle back and forth. ATI has struggled lately (I'm guessing mainly due to the AMD buyout/merger), but their new stuff looks pretty good. nVidia is in trouble now on different fronts, Intel is warring with them over chipsets, and the rumors (true or not) over failures in the G92/G94 GPUs have hurt.

I'm guessing a lot of it is personal preference/fanboyism. The first serious graphics card I owned was a GeForce, but I've been ATI ever since. Of course I still play MTW, so an nVidia card is a no-go. I think it's important for both of them to be competitive, for the health of the industry. Same with Intel and AMD.