Help me!!! Planning to buy an ATI Raedon 4850 HD!!!

[ssj4karan]

Hi guys this is my current specs.

AMD 64 X2 3600 processor
Asus M2NPV-VM mother-board
3 GB ram
160 GB Hard Disk
Nvidia Geforce 7300 GT.
17" Monitor ( max resolution 1280 x 1024)

I have a Mercury 450 watts smps and the current cooling system that i have is 1 fan in the rear and 2 small fans in the sides.

I am planning to upgrade to an Palit ATI HD 4850 512 mb Card.

The questions i have is:

1. Is my SMPS enough to handle the card?
2. Is the cooling system enough? Apart from it, The comp is in an A/C room.
3. Whats the difference between Palit ATI HD 4850 512 mb and Palit ATI HD 4850 Sonic 512 mb?
4. Will the palit make, make lot of noise?

Thanx!!!

[kovax]

Welcome In Our Forums :)


1-yeah its can handle the card but your CPU is Not enough to run this Card at 100% (Full load)- Your PowerSupply is Fine for this Card
2-yea its enought if u not ganna overclock.
3-Check Palit ATI HD 4850 (http://www.palit.biz/main/vgapro.php?id=853) & Palit ATI HD 4850 Sonic (http://www.palit.biz/main/vgapro.php?id=755)
4- its depends on what you runing and its not that noise
5-btw its will be more better if you upgrade Your CPU to 5200+ and HD 4670 1G will be enough for you 17" Monitor

[-RK]

The sonic version uses a more effective cooler and a different power connector. The difference isn't going to affect you much unless you're going to be overclocking or you're extremely picky about sound. If they're the same price then pick up the sonic version, it's factory overclocked fairly nicely.


edit: Yeah, take a look at Kovax's advice. A more powerful CPU and slightly lower end video card would serve you better with that monitor, but don't bother with the 1gb version of the 4670. The card can't handle that much extra RAM and it wouldn't help you at that resolution even if it could. You could also look at the hd4830 or the geforce 9600gt for something in a similar price range.

[ssj4karan]

Thanx for the reply guys...

I am planning to upgrade my processor to a 5400+

Just forgot to mention it in my first post :lol:

I forgot to mention that i am using windows Xp sp2.. N i am not gonna ever install vista.

I was so fed up with my 7300 gt as with it i am able to play only at 800*600 resolution with everything low..So wanted a budget card that can last me atleast 2 years and allow me to max out games or atleast run them at high settings, That is why went for the palit hd 4850 card..

N i am not gonna overclock it.

Do you guys still suggest i go for 9600gt or 4670hd?

Sound is an issue as my system will be on for almost 24 hrs a day and at night time the noise should not affect my parents sleep..So will the palit make 4850 hd make that much noise?

N guys i am getting inclined towards 4830 hd..So do you think i should get that instead as i can game only at max 1280 x 1024..Do you think it will solve the sound problem of the 4850 and help me max out games or play them at high settings for atleast 2 years.

Thanx!!!

[-RK]

Hmm, you are going to restart occasionally right?

Sound shouldn't be much of an issue unless your parents are in the same room.

[ssj4karan]

Well i do off the system for an hour everyday, But it is on all night and my parents sleep in the same room..That is why i am concerned about the noise the graphics card can make.

So 4830 hd or 4850 hd?

Thanx!!!

[Radiator]

If I were you , I'd just create some custom cooling thing on it , if you are that worried about noise . The HD 4850 isn't that loud , but I suppose your parents don't tolerate much noise when sleeping . An Arctic Accelero1 cooler and a 12 CM fan would do the trick .

[ssj4karan]

Well i'll check out the price in the local market and decide as on all test the 4830 is quite close to the performance of 4850..There is just 3 fps difference in games between both the cards..

[-RK]

Well for noise...


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121289

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125258

Or you could go for that Sonic version of the Palit card. Basically the bigger the fan, the lower the fan speed to move the same amount of air, the quieter the cooler. Extreme heat sinks like the one on that gigabyte 4850 can also sometimes do the job just fine without any noise at all, just check out any reviews you can find on them before buying a passive card. Some of the passive coolers just plain suck.

Cool?

[ssj4karan]

Thing is that i live in india and i am gonna buy the stuff from my local market.

They seem to have only the palit make of 4850 hd 512 mb.

Am not sure if they have the sonic version. Have to check that out.

So if i find the sonic version i'll go for it, Else i have no choice but to go for the normal palit version..

Hope the sound is not too disturbing in the palit version as my 7300gt does not make even little noise.

[-RK]

Ahh, good luck then man.

[ssj4karan]

Thanx for all the help..Really appreciate it :)

[ssj4karan]

Just one last question,

Which make of the ATI 4850 HD is the most silent and stays cool (what i mean is does not over-heat much)?

Thanx!!!

[Radiator]

Just one last question,

Which make of the ATI 4850 HD is the most silent and stays cool (what i mean is does not over-heat much)?

Thanx!!!

I would look at some HIS IceQ or custom cooler ASUS card , they tend to be silent and cool . Then again even at stock it wont run at 120 degrees Celsius , so heat doesn't really matter .

[ssj4karan]

Thanx mate..

Heat does not matter much to me but sound does as i dont want it to be too disturbing to affect one's sleep at night :)

[ssj4karan]

Guys one more problem.

I just spoke to my computer engineer regarding the upgrade and when he heard that i was just gonna upgrade my processor to 5400+ from 3600+, He told me that it would be of no use and i would not find much difference.

He told me that only if i upgrade both the mother-board and processor, will i find a difference in speed..So is it true?

If yes, Can you recommend a good cheap mother-board that i can go for?

Thanx!!!

[-RK]

No. No it is not true. 900 extra mhz makes enough difference that your processor wouldn't bottleneck your gpu.

What did he say he wanted you to upgrade to? This is likely either inexperience or a sales pitch.

[ultima]

i would say more of a sales pitch

[ssj4karan]

He did not specify any specific mother-board to me..I told him that i'll check with you guys and get back.

So i am not gonna upgrade my mother-board for now.

Guys so with the 5400+ i will get a difference in gaming, But what about normal computer usage? Will i find the system faster than the current 3600+ ?

[Radiator]

Probably yes . Anyhow , you WOULD get a lot better performance from an E8400 and a P45 chipset mobo , but it'd probably cost quite a bit and well the 5400+ isn't bad either .

[ssj4karan]

Yeah i know..

I am planning on upgrading my mother-board when i do a full system upgrade after 2 years..So for now only a X2 5400+ for me :)

[ssj4karan]

Guys i read the review for 4770 HD and it has changed my mind..I am planning to get that instead of the 4850 HD..So will that card be compatible with my system considering its DDR5...

Thanx !!!

[entropy13]

Guys i read the review for 4770 HD and it has changed my mind..I am planning to get that instead of the 4850 HD..So will that card be compatible with my system considering its DDR5...

Thanx !!!

It's compatible, but it's not widely available yet. I don't think it has been officially launched as well.

[ssj4karan]

Yeah i know..It'll take atleast a month for me to upgrade my system..So i am hoping it will be available till then and if not, I dont mind waiting for the card :)

[ssj4karan]

Guys with my current spec and my processor upgraded to 5600+x2, Will i be able to do a cross fire with 2 4770HD cards? Will my current Mother board support it?

If not, Can you tell me what all things i will need to do a cross-fire? Including cooling, smps etc :)

Thanx!!!

[-RK]

CrossfireX adds processor overhead and a pair of 4770s would be enough graphics horsepower that it would bottleneck the 5600x2 a bit even without the extra cycles for crossfire.

Secondly... Sorry man, but your motherboard doesn't support Crossfire. If you want to spend the extra money go with the 4870, it's still a high end card that can be had for a good price.

[ssj4karan]

Thanx for the reply mate.

But is the processor 5600+x2 enough for cross fire or will it limit it?

What about the cooling i will need and the smps for it to be safe cause i doubt my current cooling and Smps would be enough...

Thanx!!!

[-RK]

Well, like I said, crossfire is a moot point since your motherboard doesn't support it.


If you're going to go buy a new motherboard as well...

It really depends on the cards that you're sticking in crossfire. The more powerful the card the more data that has to be processed by the CPU. A pair of 4770s have more power than a 4890. Even without crossfireX's CPU overhead I would want a more powerful processor. Either overclock the 5600 or go with the 6400.

And IF you want to spend the extra money and buy a new motherboard to run crossfire then you would likely want a good 550 watt PSU with around 20 amps on the 12v rail to be safe. You would really just be better off building a new system if you go that route.

[ssj4karan]

Thanx mate..Then i think i'll stick to a normal 4770hd and x2 5600+ processor then..I have no idea how to over-clock..But if i do overclock it,Will my cooling system be enough to handle it and will i find a major difference in performance?

I am a noob when it comes to over-clocking :p

[-RK]

If you're going with a single card you shouldn't hit a bottleneck there and you'd do better in games by overclocking the graphics card, but...

I'd guess that with AMD's stock cooler you would be fine with a 200-500mhz overclock with a little bit of extra voltage, but I haven't OC'd an AM2 system and I'm assuming from working with the socket 939 system that I have.

Here's a full guide if you want to:

http://www.overclock.net/amd-general/307316-offical-overclocking-guide-amd-socket-am2.html

Something pretty important before you do... figure out how to reset your motherboard's CMOS manually. It should be described in your manual. It's usually done with a jumper, but some boards use a little push button. I'd guess that you won't be able to get a big OC out of the thing with that motherboard.

A warning... overclocking voids the warranty and you should really know what you're doing before you get into it as going too high on voltage can be dangerous.

[ssj4karan]

Man, If it voids warranty,I am not gonna overclock it..Can you tell me how big a difference will over-clocking make? If its gonna be minor,I will not even bother.

Thanx!!!

[-RK]

It really depends on how much you overclock and what you're using the system for.

If you're gaming and your processor isn't bottlenecking your graphics card in the first place it probably won't help you out much, but if you're encoding DVDs or if your CPU IS a bottleneck then you'll see some benefits.

Really, overclocking is just a way to get the performance of a faster processor without spending the extra money for it. If you want to see what kind of performance boost you would get by overclocking take a look at some benchmarks comparing higher and lower clocked athlon x2s.

[ssj4karan]

Thanx for the help mate..Mostly wont be over-clocking as i love my warranty :lol: