The 4850 is good, but I think considering the performance is so close, I prefer the 4770 because it uses so much less power on load. I think it will be the 4770.
Could be wrong, but the 4770 runs a little cooler than a 4850 aswell. I would probably grab the 4850 because its almost a 4870 in sheeps clothes, nothing a little overclock cant fix. I've yet to look at any benchmarks between the 4770 and 4850 so i best check...
The 4770 only seems to lag behind the 4850 by at most one or two frames in most games, as shown here: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/04/28/amd-ati-radeon-hd-4770-512mb/5 However, its power consumption and heat production are waaaay below that of a 4850: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/04/28/amd-ati-radeon-hd-4770-512mb/13 and http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/04/28/amd-ati-radeon-hd-4770-512mb/14 Also remember that the 4770 overclocks extremely well.
ok, im currently running on a 8800gts 640mb. and it has run mass effect, bioshock, oblivion, fallout 3, and the orange box, all at quite high settings @ 1680 x 1050. not bad imo. so i would recommend from experience, whatever the hell nvidia are calling my card nowadays. or, the 4770. thats impressive for the £'s
So long as it's PWM controlled, she wont need to know how fast the fan is going. It wont be overclocked, and will have a relatively easy life, so considering the lower temps and power, it's looking like the strongest contender at the moment.
Well as far as I can see, the HD4850 is currently cheaper than the HD4770(if you can get one). Plus, you can always get one of those modded coolers(ICE-Q anyone?) for barely anything right now.
Eh? As far as I know, you can't do PWM control with only 2 pins (12V and ground). You could use a thermally controlled fan, though. In any case it's one of the most daft "cost savings" I've ever seen in a graphics card. If you decide to go with an HD4770 I'd love to know how the fan works. Would be good to know from someone with first-hand experience.
I beg to differ PWM fans have 4 wires (+12v, Ground, RPM Tach and PWM Signal). When running a fan in PWM mode, the full 12v is constantly applied to the +12v pin, However, the signal on the PWM pin shuts the actual applied voltage to the windings of the fan motor ON and OFF rapidly, using what is know as a "duty cycle". The longer the duty cycle, the longer the 12 volts is applied and the less it is removed. A short duty cycle means that the fan has longer period of no voltage and short bursts of voltage applied to it. +1 on the 4770, IMHO.
So I'm guessing the HD4850's out of the picture now. Well then +1 whichever's cheaper where you live, that's what you should be concerned about.
I dub thee Sir Elton, Champion of the HD4850! Nah, just messing with you. An HD4850 is actually an excellent choice. It's major problem, if there's one at all, would probably be that it runs hotter and uses too much power in regard to the performance it delivers.
Well, I was offering a cheaper alternative(the ICE-Q version is pretty cheap nowadays, it runs pretty cool). And true, the power consumption is a bit high, but hey, it looks cool and it comes with a nice cooler. I wish I was a champion...
I can see that the cheapest HD4770 is about £73 over at Scan. Funny really, considering they're all identical. None of them are in stock, however. There's an XFX HD4850 for about £79, but it's not in stock either. Looks like a good card, though. What's up with the stock issues? Is it because it's summer time? By the way, Elton's looking at prices across the pond. They tend to get things cheaper than us. EDIT: This little baby at Aria might be worthy of your attention. Just shy of £70 sounds like a pretty good deal, especially for this card.
That IS tempting.... but cheap as it is... still can't get over the fact that it's an end of life product (in itself not a problem) that draws around 30watts more than the 4770 and runs considerably hotter. Considering it's going in her old school Lian Li PC-65 with 70mm fans, I don't wanna be having to crank those noisy ****ers up anymore than I need to. Having read more about the power regulation cuts made on the 4770 retail boards compared to the reference boards, I'm not sure I should get a GTS250 now. This is driving me mad.. LOL I shall ponder more while at work later.
well... if you add just £15/$25 to the 9800GT you get a HD4870 which will kick ass up and down the street
It's got heat pipes... Also, it supposedly runs both quieter and cooler than a stock HD4850. Not sure about the power draw, though. It's certainly faster than a stock HD8450, getting close to HD4870 levels.
Just an update: Still waiting for 4770 stocks due to the manufacturing problems... so **** AMD! I just ordered a GTS250 from Scan on their Today only offer for £78. I'll pick it up later this afternoon.
