Should I upgrade now, or wait until next year for a new build.

[Jewels]

As much as I want a 4850, I'm concerned about the heat issues and noise levels. 80C at idle seems a bit too hot, and setting the fan speed higher would make even more noise. I'd rather not have the sound of a hoover constantly running for the next year. I'm probably exaggerating things greatly, but I've never owned any graphics card even remotely high-end. I had a TNT2, and then six years later I bought a 7600GS, so I've never had to deal too much with any issues related to higher end components.

 

[baron5]

well, gpus are designed to take in alot of heat so dont worry about that, they are alot different t temperatures from cpu's. i dont think the 4850 are too loud anyway.

 

[Jewels]

I'm tempted to buy this ASUS 1GB 4850. Better cooler, quieter, more memory, and decently priced considering the prices of other manufacturers and retailers. Sapphire's reference design is more expensive, and at overclockers.co.uk this version is priced at over £150. My only concern now is will this require any extra power?

 

[Luke]

what 500w psu do u have? or is it just a generic one? if it is a generic one then def get a new, better one.

 

[Jewels]

Great, upon closer inspection I find it's merely a 450w FSP ATX-450PNF. I'm not prepared to purchase a new PSU as well; I'd rather settle for a cheaper and less power hungry card.

 

[veg1992]

I'm tempted to buy this ASUS 1GB 4850. Better cooler, quieter, more memory, and decently priced considering the prices of other manufacturers and retailers. Sapphire's reference design is more expensive, and at overclockers.co.uk this version is priced at over £150. My only concern now is will this require any extra power?

No, in fact the 1gb will perform worse, 256bit Interface's can't use all 1gb RAM, so you'd be better off with a normal 512mb version

 

[baron5]

exactly wat i was gonna say, dont waste time on buying them, i think of it like this, whos better at designing cards, ATI or the reference manufacturer?

 

[Jewels]

Dragging this up again after a new revelation, I just want to make sure that my power supply is adequate to handle a (reference) 4850. If it is, I'll be waiting a few weeks to see how new releases affect current prices, and then I'll probably purchase one. I know I won't be getting any 55nm revision of any NVIDIA card, or any of their current cards either, so I'm set on a cheap 4850 as long as I know it won't fry my system.

 

[Luke]

yeah your psu should be enough, why would it fry your system? IF it didn't have enough power it just wouldn't work or would perform extremely bad.

 

[Jewels]

OK, I guess I'm decided then. Is any manufacturer preferred over another, or should I just go for whatever's the cheapest? Sapphire appears to be the most expensive.