9500GT?

[HiTempguy]

Hey all, relatively new to the site (long time lurker) and I've recently come upon a dilemna that hopefully you can help me solve!

I recently purchased a used EVGA Nvidia 8600GTS card to do some light gaming on my computer with. It worked well for the past two weeks, and then one day it blew a capacitor :(

Obviously, I am not really in the mood to try my hand at some more used hardware after $80 of my hard earned dollars went up in smoke. So, I had my heart set on a new BFG OC 8600GT (the performance difference between a GT and GTS are negligible from what I've read) that a local shop was trying to get rid of (brand new) for $85.99, full warranty, yadda yadda. The guy who ended up grabbing it for me suggested I take a look at a 9500GT instead (supposedly similiar specs, less power usage). I grabbed it. Now, I am having second thoughts (which is ok, because I can return the card for a complete refund if need be). The 9500gt I grabbed only has ddr2 memory, while I believe the 8600GT has ddr3. I don't know how big of a difference this makes, as I cannot find any 9500GT reviews with ddr2 memory.

So what do I do? Should I just get the 8600GT I originally had planned on getting? NCIX.com has an ATI 3850 on sale for a really good price ($98.99) IMO, and it should blow the 8600 series out of the water from the reviews I've read. Should I get my money back and go ATI? Or should I stick with the 9500GT (which I paid $95 with tax for)? Thanks guys!

[SKYMTL]

Grab a HD 4670. Check out our Games of Christmas 2008 article here: The Games of Christmas '08: GPU Performance Part II

There is simply no better card in your price range.

[crazyhorsejohnny]

SKYMTL is right. Those 4670s are great "budget" cards. They consume hardly any power and are extremely quiet. And of course they do the job.

[HiTempguy]

Wow, thanks guys, that article was a real eye opener. I knew the performance of the 9500gt would be subpar, but I can literally spend an extra $20 (all in) and get the 4670. Guess I am going back to Memory Express today.

[Jonwall]

not sure how much the 4830 is there but its a great card. I think its $130 here, probably around $100 on sale or with rebates. Its very close to a 4850 when oced and will blow your 9500 and 8600 out of the water, and should provide a performance increase over the 4670 that justifies a few extra dollars.

[JD]

Personally I'd just RMA your 8600GTS and save yourself ~$100.

EVGA support is top notch and should be effortless to get a RMA.

Though if you want to upgrade, as others have said, HD4670 or the HD4830. That 9500GT is trash IMO.

[Soultribunal]

I think Tiger had on a 4670 1GB model for like, 123.99 or something.
THat card requires no Extra PSU Connections, has 1GB DDR3 Memory, and is a really good choice for someone on a tight budget but not wanting to sacrifice too much coin.

I will second SKY's suggestion on getting that one.

Regards,
ST

[SKYMTL]

I think the issue we are getting into here is the typical "for xxxxxx dollars more you can get such and such card".

Sure, for $30 more than a HD 4670 you can get a HD 4830 and then for $40 more than that you can have a HD 4850. However, at that point the budget has been thrown into the wind anyways. This is why I think it is very important for people to stay right on budget unless a higher performance product can be picked up for $20 more than the product they are looking at.

Here is a HD 4670 @ Canada Computers for $99.99

[Soultribunal]

Fair enough SKY,

Here, this is approx $20 more than what he payed for the GT.

HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo - 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, HDTV, HDMI Support, Video Card H467QT512P in Canada at TigerDirect.ca

HIS 4670 512MEG.

Regards,
ST

[SKYMTL]

$120 is still more than I would spend for a HD 4670. Especially considering HD 4670s are retailing for around $100 these days while HD 4830's are going for $130. A HD 4670 at $120 proves my stance that if there is a better product for less than $20 more, you may as well do it.