Which Graphics Card

[tbinnerarity]

Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N879-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards


Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards.

Which will run better?

Also, I'm about to make my first build and I have about $600 to work with (not including OS and a monitor). Will those graphics cards run ok with this?

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Newegg.com - ASUS M2N-MX SE Plus AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Newegg.com - Sunbeam PSU-HUSH680-US-BL 680W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Brisbane 2.9GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

 

[aaronkupen]

Both graphics cards are equal, 9800GTX+ wins in some things, HD4850 wins in others.
If it was me, I would pick whichever is cheaper at the time.

You could make a much better build, I have a wishlist for the parents right now that is more powerful than what you have picked out, and I believe the total price is below $400. Don't go with an AMD processor, you want to stick with Intel.

 

[Michowski]

go ati

 

[objecterror]

ATI and Nvidia have there perspective attributes.

It depends on the chipset that most games are built to optimize, it's a monopoly with cards. You can check a few other websites that actually benchmark the performance of each card respectfully.

As far as AMD or Intel, that is, once again, personal preference and performance.

If your going to do dual core, I'd select an intel board that will support quad core processors. Start with a core 2 duo those have come down in price after awhile. I'm sorry your forced into buying a 2.0 card, there isn't enough bandwidth from the graphics card to take advantage of the latest and lamest of technologies.

Look at the core 2's, uhm, why a 650? 600w is good enough, 500 would be good enough. Are you overclocking? Etc? Those are some good questions to ask yourself with a power supply and your boards.

 

[aaronkupen]

Agree with above, but there really is not reason to go AMD x2 line. A solid lower-tier core 2 duo would be best, as it would outperform what you chose, and get you more upgradability in the future if you want to increase performance of your computer in a few years.

Power supply definitely needs to be changed, 500 watt would very adequate for that build.

 

[1337_JohnN]

E5200, Gygabyte UD3P, PI black RAM, and a MSI 4850.

Build of greatness, yet quite cheap.

 

[SuxoR]

I would probably get the 4850 since you can always crossfire in the future

When the other card is already a dual GPU no?

 

[dario03]

No, 9800gtx+ is single gpu. Your thinking of 9800gx2.

 

[Evolv]

Don't get that Asus M2N, that's an old chipset. I'd recommend something with a 780G chipset:
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TFORCE TA780G M2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

And that Sunbeam PSU is horrible and way overkill, something like this is way better:
Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550 550W ATX V1.3/ EPS12V Power Supply - Power Supplies