Dude! Is This For Real??!!

[ocmooz]

Meh by the time I save up enough to get one something better and shinier will come along], but thanks to all who replied. I wish someone had a definitive answer though. *sigh* Guess I'll just wait till I find a game that I like that needs better hardware than what I got before I buy something new. Maybe by then nVidia will have their act together and be using GDDR5.

[Waco]

atleast I speak the truth haha, ddr4-5 is more efficient, and while the latencies aren't very good the raw clock speed still keeps them matching DDR3...he started it with "Who knows maybe I'll find oiut it actually sucks and thats why ATI uses that standard. "

It depends on the application really...but your tone was what makes you a fanboy.

 

Meh by the time I save up enough to get one something better and shinier will come along], but thanks to all who replied. I wish someone had a definitive answer though. *sigh* Guess I'll just wait till I find a game that I like that needs better hardware than what I got before I buy something new. Maybe by then nVidia will have their act together and be using GDDR5.

The type of memory used on a card really doesn't tell you anything about the card at all. The 8800GTX is still a great card and it uses "lowly" GDDR3. The same goes for a Radeon 3870...4850...nVidia 8800GT...nVidia 9800GX2...I think you get my point.

[IVIYTH0S]

It depends on the application really...but your tone was what makes you a fanboy.

 

 

The type of memory used on a card really doesn't tell you anything about the card at all. The 8800GTX is still a great card and it uses "lowly" GDDR3. The same goes for a Radeon 3870...4850...nVidia 8800GT...nVidia 9800GX2...I think you get my point.

ya I can see how it kinda sounded that way, I should have worded it differently.

 

I'm not sayin GDDR3 isn't a proven science, i mean I'd still admit that the gtx 260/280 with their 65nm GPUs and GDDR3 aren't wiping the floor with my card or anything. I'm kinda mad I didn't get a 260 from how much it's improved and now they are about even in price.

[dr_bowtie]

I'd say it's a misprint....

 

if you search for that card most of the places list it as gddr3....only a couple list it as gddr4...

 

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefo...G=Google+Search

 

 

F.Y.I.....google is your friend

[Crazy_Nate]

Yeah...nvidia would make a pretty big stink if they were switching to GDDR4.

 

There aren't many differences between the memories...ATI uses GDDR4 and GDDR5 mostly (sometimes GDDR3), nvidia uses GDDR3 with larger memory interface widths to keep up with the bandwidth...more sometimes...

 

Who knows how much it matters?

[Waco]

Who knows how much it matters?

The 4850 versus the 4870 is a pretty good example.

[Gavin_Capacitor]

Nvidia was/is still using GDDR3 afaik. ATI is using GDDR5. From what I know GDDR4 offers little to no performance increase and uses more power, runs hotter etc compared to GDDR3. The big leap is from GDDR 3/4 to GDDR5 - 5 is much faster (about 2x) and uses ~30% less power and can have more memory in a single chip. Even if that card did have GDDR4 it wouldn't make a whole lot of difference. That said the new nvidia cards use a 512bit bus where the new ATI cards use a 256bit bus, so they have pretty much the same memory bandwidth (512 x 1 vs. 256 x 2).

 

Oh and PS: ATI are winning "this round" (about time too - Nvidia really clobbered them with the 8800's).

 

Edit: forgot "memory" in "can have more memory in a single chip"

Edited September 25, 2008 by Gavin_Capacitor

[Waco]

From what I know GDDR4 offers little to no performance increase and uses more power, runs hotter etc compared to GDDR3.

It uses less power and runs at higher clock speeds...but has higher latency as well. It's also available in higher density.

 

The performance increase of the GDDR4 on my old 2900XT was negligible at worse and slight at best. I have the feeling the larger amount of memory helped more than the extra bandwidth.

[ocmooz]

So riddle me this: Whats a better bang for the buck nVidia 9800GTX+ or ATI 4850? I'm just starting to wonder how much better it is to have an ATI now as in the past my experience has been unstable glitchy cards. I might consider hopping the fence if I could get irrefutable proof of their stability, but only if the technology difference is really there. I mean it appears as though ATI is leaps and bounds beyond nVidia what with better memory and such its just that I hear so much about people being able to cook breakfast on their GPU because it is running so hot. The bad press both cards get for lousy drivers I'll disregard (I heard bad news about the driver I use now, still no problems here) because that can be written off as inexperience by others. What I am searching for is a card that can make my current games look awesome and still be ready for anything new that will crop up. I must also add that I think the protype cards that nVidia are currently touting as the latest and greatest are quite sad. Time and again I see 9800GX2/GTXs lay waste to these in "reviews". My close friend even got rid of his 260 in favor of his old 8800, though he may have just been being cheap, I no longer see his comp blue-screen <_< . Maybe I'll just stick it out with my piddling 8500GT OC'd to all hell, I don't know, it would just be nice to play HL2 with full AA & AF for a change. Edited September 26, 2008 by ocmooz

[slngsht]

Better bang for the buck is the 4850. Don't worry about the heat too much, the ati chips have a very high heat threshold. You may wish to invest in a VGA slot cooler to dispel the heat that could accumulate under the card if you are worried about that heat moving throughout your case.

[ocmooz]

Well I guess I go with the 9800GTX+ because I just found an open-box one on Newegg for $140 (w/ tax and shippng $159) B:) . Guess I'm die hard for nVidia. I looked at the 4850s too, but they weren't much different spec wise (still DDR3 similar clock cores...) and most reviews put it behind a 9800GTX except price-wise. So thanks everyone for helping figure all that out I'll let y'all know how it works out for me.

 

Update: (insert expletive here) Those idiots sent me a dud and then tried to charge me a restocking fee. Not happy right now so I think I'll go smash some old puter parts to vent my rage. :angry2: Still gonn a go with a 9800GTX+ tho.

Edited October 3, 2008 by ocmooz