Buying a new graphics card - (read first post)

Walter Morales3 said:The case is
and the PSU is

The rest of the specs are solid: Intel Core Quad 2.33 GHz, Intel iG45 motherboard, DDR2, SATA RAID, Gigabit LAN, VGA, PCI-E, LGA 775 socket,
4GB RAM, and a 22" monitor.

That's the setup. I don't care about the retailer, as long as the price is $700.

So, the 9800 GT 1GB $393—it's nowhere near the performance of an HD3870 x 2 1GB, right?
And is the HD4870 1GB better than the 3870 x 2 1GB?

Also, which brand is better: Sapphire Technology or Gigabyte?

mistyseal11 said:9800 GT, PCIe x16, 512 MB, DDR3, 256-bit, GPU core clock at 600 MHz, memory clock at 1800 MHz, $300 ?

Thomas Hernandez21 said:It’s getting incredibly late over here and my eyes are starting to go all blurry on me, so I honestly don't think I can manage to power through and read every single one of these posts tonight... if someone could just drop a quick line from your keyboard to keep things moving, that would be wonderful...

I'm on the hunt for a decent PCI-e graphics card that can actually handle running GTA 4 without breaking a sweat, and my budget is... well, I'm still figuring that part out! $233 I was just sitting here thinking, maybe I should pick up a few more... perhaps an HD3870 or two if the deal is right? It’s hard to say exactly what I need yet, but my mind keeps drifting back to that card...

Thanks so much...

• The 9600 GSO... now that really takes me back to a simpler time in hardware, doesn't it? I was just sitting here thinking about how much things have shifted since we were all tinkering with those specific cards, and man, it feels like a lifetime ago... such a classic little piece of gear!
• I was just sitting here thinking about that old 9600 GSO with the 768MB of VRAM... it really takes me back to those days when you felt like you actually owned a piece of high-end hardware just by having a decent amount of memory under the hood... it's funny how much things change, isn't it? Back then, everything felt so much more tangible, almost like you could feel the power of the card just by looking at the specs on the box... anyway, I was just reminiscing about that specific era of gaming...
• I was just sitting here thinking about that old Palit 9600GT, and man, it really takes me back to those days when you felt like you were actually making progress with your rig... it’s funny how much we used to obsess over these specific cards, isn't it? I remember staring at the specs and wondering if it would be enough to finally push my favorite games without everything turning into a slideshow... such a different era of computing, truly...
• Now, I was just sitting here thinking about that old 9800 GT with the 512MB of VRAM... you know, those cards really had a certain magic to them back in the day, didn't they? It feels like just yesterday we were all obsessing over every single frame rate jump, and there was something so incredibly satisfying about seeing a game finally run smoothly on a setup you worked so hard to put together... though sometimes I wonder if we even realized how much fun we were having in that moment... anyway, just a little nostalgic thought crossing my mind today!
• I was just sitting here thinking about that Palit 9800 GT... you know, it’s one of those cards that really makes you stop and wonder how much we actually value raw performance versus just having something reliable under the hood, though I suppose at this stage, most of us are just looking for that perfect sweet spot in a build... it's such an interesting little piece of hardware to reflect on, especially when you consider how much the landscape has shifted since we first started tinkering with these components back in the day... anyway, I couldn't help but let my mind wander toward it!
• I was just sitting here thinking about the old HD4670... you know, looking back at how much things have changed since those days when we thought we had everything figured out, and it really makes you wonder where the time went, doesn't it? It’s funny how a single piece of hardware can trigger such a massive wave of nostalgia, especially when you start remembering all the different builds and the sheer excitement of unboxing something new... anyway, I was just reflecting on that specific card for a moment...
• I was just sitting here thinking about that Palit HD3870 we were discussing earlier... you know, the one that's been on my mind quite a bit lately... and I can't help but wonder if anyone else has had a chance to really get under the hood of it yet! It’s such an interesting little piece of hardware, isn't it? I mean, when you consider how much power you can squeeze out of these cards if you find just the right balance... it makes you wonder where the industry is even heading next... anyway, I'm just rambling now, but I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about its performance compared to those other models we looked at...
• I’ve been spending quite a bit of my recent free time tinkering around with the Sapphire HD4830, and I must say, there is something truly delightful about seeing how much life a little bit of modern hardware can breathe into an older setup... It really makes you wonder where the years have gone, doesn't it? I was sitting here just thinking about the sheer evolution of things, and honestly, this card feels like such a charming little bridge between eras... even if it isn't exactly a powerhouse by today's standards, there's a certain magic in its performance that keeps me smiling...

wiredmarlin5 said:

• 9600 GSO
• 9600 gso 768MB
• Palit 9600GT
• 8800 GT 512MB
• Palit 9800GT
• HD4670
• Palit 3870
• Sapphire HD4830

Performance-wise, I guess it looks like this:

HD4670
9600GSO 384 = 9600GT = HD3870
9600 GSO 768MB
8800 GT = 9800GT = (maybe slightly faster) HD4830