Graphics card advice

Bunneh
Bunneh Posts: 1,329
edited September 2012 in The cake stop
I have an antiquated GeForce 9500 GT, it does it's job okay for most things, like WoW, Arma 2 but I recently got given a Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 3870. Thing is I have no idea which is better.

The former has about 1gb memory (with shared memory it's running with around 2.5gb memory), the latter 512. I've tried comparison websites, but I have no idea what I am looking at, so a clear cut answer would be lovely. Should I just stick with what I have or whack the Radeon in? The old adage, if it ain't broke don't fix it, springs to mind so I'm quite unsure what to do.

Thanks :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Eurobunneh - My Youtube channel.

Comments

  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Is it carbon? When in doubt throw more bling on.

    If you have it in your sweaty paws why not drop it in anyway and see whether it's better? An hour or so faffing with old / new drivers and slotting it into place and out again if necessary will give you the answer I'd have thought.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Bunneh wrote:
    I have an antiquated GeForce 9500 GT, it does it's job okay for most things, like WoW, Arma 2 but I recently got given a Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 3870. Thing is I have no idea which is better.

    The former has about 1gb memory (with shared memory it's running with around 2.5gb memory), the latter 512. I've tried comparison websites, but I have no idea what I am looking at, so a clear cut answer would be lovely. Should I just stick with what I have or whack the Radeon in? The old adage, if it ain't broke don't fix it, springs to mind so I'm quite unsure what to do.

    Thanks :)
    Just make sure you backup your system before messing around with drivers ...
  • Lightning
    Lightning Posts: 360
    The Radeon is much better (and uses more power).
  • Bunneh
    Bunneh Posts: 1,329
    Thanks muchly guys :) Will have a fiddle this weekend!
    http://www.youtube.com/user/Eurobunneh - My Youtube channel.
  • willhub
    willhub Posts: 821
    They're both junk.

    Get a 4870 really cheap that's ok, or maybe a 5870.

    I've had a 9800GTX that was good, 8800GT can be picked up for like 15 quid they were awesome. 8800GTX ok but sucks the life out of the national grid. Don't touch a HD2900 with a 10,000ft barge pole.

    The new 7870's not much of a jump up.

    You need a good inbetweener.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/

    compare the specs in here

    http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/grap ... rds,1.html

    or look at specific benchmarks here

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