Graphics Card on a tight budget

I'm gonna buy a graphics card for casual gaming but I'm on a very tight budget. I've managed to cut it down to 2 cards that fit the bill.

One is the Sapphire Radeon HD3650 512MB DDR3 and the other is the XFX GeForce 8600GT 1GB DDR2.

So, which one should I go for? The 512MB DDR3 or the 1GB DDR2?

I can afford both cards so I'll just buy the one that has the better performance. Comments and insights by those who have personally used the above mentioned cards will be really helpful:).

The 8600GT is better - but only when it uses GDDR3 memory. With GDDR2, it will perform worse than the HD3650.

To be quite honest though, you should be able to afford the HD4670 on your budget, which is a whole hell of a lot better - easily worth the extra $10 or so.

Thanks for the advice!

I know about the 4670 but the problem is, I live in Bangladesh and the 4670 isn't available here yet. It will be, in few months time, but for about the first 4-5 months of it's release here, it'll be insanely overpriced. The 3650 is an aging card but even now I'll have to buy it for about $20 more than it's price in USA or other international markets.

My other problem is that even if I somehow manage to get the 4670, I'll probably need to upgrade my power supply and that'll cost me about $60 more.

So, that's my sad story :cry:. If you guys ever come to Bangladesh, bring a decent graphics card for me. Just kidding :D! I think I'll go with the 3650.

Thanks again!

or the 4850 which is alot more better but only a few dollars difference..uchihataru

You're bottlenecking your graphics card so bad it's not even funny.

And I was afraid the situation might be something like that - can you find the 9500GT in your area? Or maybe even the 8800GS or 9600GSO?

What PSU are you running? The HD4670 doesn't even require a PCI connector and is VERY light on the Wattage. Most(if not all) generic PSUd that are over 300W-350W can run it without a problem.

[QUOTE="uchihataru"]or the 4850 which is alot more better but only a few dollars difference..RayvinAzn

You're bottlenecking your graphics card so bad it's not even funny.

And I was afraid the situation might be something like that - can you find the 9500GT in your area? Or maybe even the 8800GS or 9600GSO?

The 8800GS and 9600GSO are probably not available (I would still have the psu problem with the 9600GSO cause the minimum for it is 400W and I have a generic 350W which probably won't be up to the task).

As for the 9500GT, I'll look around, but even if I find it I'm pretty sure it'll cost more than I can afford.

The two cards (3650 and 8600) I mentioned at the beginning have the best combination of performance and price (i.e. my budget) while being available in the local market.

Thanks again for the concern :)!

What PSU are you running? The HD4670 doesn't even require a PCI connector and is VERY light on the Wattage. Most(if not all) generic PSUd that are over 300W-350W can run it without a problem.

nintendog66

Well, sapphire's official website recommends a 400W or greater psu for the HD4670. Even if the psu wasn't a problem, the availability and price are.:(

if u dont have the 4670 do u have the ATI 3850? that would be better and around your budgetvhtboomer

The 3850 costs about $220 here and that, my friend, is waaay beyond my budget. Besides, a 450W power supply is recommended for the 3850, something I don't have.

Wish I could buy it though, I know it's an excellent card.