HD4830 - 512MB or 1GB?

[karan733]

Hi there fellas

Pretty new here but been reading around for a while now. I have just placed an order and am expecting delivery tomorrow of an ex-display 1GB HD 4830. It seemed the best comprimise between the 4670 and 4850, one of which was too expensive and the other was running at a 128Mb bus and wasnt 'futureproof'

My problem is - I've spent about £75 inc delivery on an ex-display card, with a limited warranty because its not new, but I couldve got a 512MB version by sapphire from new with full warranty for the same price.

I dont know if I should send the 1GB back when it arrives, and go with the 512 version. Im just using it for playing mostly racing games, but would like to use the eye candy offered and would like it to be future proof. But then ive heard unless you use it to its full potential, the 1GB may even run slower than the 512 because of the wasted VRAM.

And im also worried about the warranty!

your opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Links below to the card I bought and its rival

ebuyer.com/product/173670

play.com/PC/PCs/4-/7953647/SapphireATIRadeonHD4830512MBDDR3PCIExpress20GraphicsCard/Product.html?add=7953647

 

[PeterStoba]

What resolution do you play at?

 

[karan733]

haha right now im running a 256mb 8500 gt so im forced to play at either 1280 x 800 if its an old game, or 1024 x 768 for anything built in the last few years :/ im also usually running any game at very low settings, even at 1024.

I would like to be running at 1440 x 900 and above with settings at medium to high

ps: i think my current card clocked in at 1400 or so in 3dmark06

 

[PeterStoba]

I'd keep the 1GB tbh, although you'd see no difference getting the 512mb for piece of mind (warranty)

 

[I Hunta x]

personaly i would have gone with a 4770 for around £75 as there more or less on par with the 4850 but run cooler and can over clock higher cause of the 40nm core

 

[karan733]

are you saying its a **** of a coin then between extra ram against longer warranty?

do you know if ebuyer are a reputable site as well? I know stranger things have happened but I dont think play.com is going awol anytime soon.

 

[I Hunta x]

i find ccl are realy good with warrenty,

and the 4770 from ccl can be found here if your interested

http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...ory_id=566&manufacturer_id=0&tid=11149-01-20r

 

[karan733]

personaly i would have gone with a 4770 for around £75 as there more or less on par with the 4850 but run cooler and can over clock higher cause of the 40nm core

well ive still got the option - and having seen the specs on scan and ebuyer it does look interesting - would you recommend getting the 4770 then and sending the 4830 back?

scan also offer a 24 month warranty which looks interesting!

 

[tinytomlogan]

4770 is an awesome little card mate, and Id deffo say it will be better than the 4830.

If you can afford that new the deffo get one.

 

[karan733]

4770 is an awesome little card mate, and Id deffo say it will be better than the 4830.

If you can afford that new the deffo get one.

yeah, ive been looking at it and reading some reviews, and nowhere says that the 4830 is better or will be supported longer.

shame, because i thought id found 'the one' that was best in class for my budget, but seems like I missed out on this one for just a few quid more. will just have to wait a few days more for a better card now!

plus the more i thought about the limited warranty, the more i know its something i would regret a few months down the line

 

[karan733]

one thing I forgot to mention is that the 1GB 4830 is OC'd by MSI - does this mean the 4770 and OC'd 4830 are going to be about the same? Because if this is the case, ill just ask ebuyer to match the warranty and stick with the 4830

please let me know if thats a good idea or if theres still something im missing!?

 

[karan733]

so i got the 4830 today and stuck it in, performing really well so far except for a few issues!

1) for the some reason the card is convinced there are two monitors attached, and display properties offers me the chance to edit the res etc for each of them. how do i inform it i only have one display!?

2) when trying to run higher res's (my pref is 1440 x 900), how can i force a refresh rate of anything other than 60MHz?

3) having tested at different res's and also in game, i keep getting a black border around the screen, which didnt used to happen previously even at the same reso's

still not sure as to whether this card is the one ill stick with or not, am running 3dmark now and will try a few games and see how it all handles

thanks for the help so far

 

[meticadpa]

Don't worry, you've made a decent choice.

Although, personally, I'd have held out for a week or so, until ATi's DirectX 11 cards came out, there will be a big price drop then.

What resolution. are you going to be playing at? I don't think that the 1GB of the 4830 will get to use all of its vRAM before being limited by the GPU's muscle power.

It should help in some games, for example: GTA: IV.

 

[I Hunta x]

Ive had the black boarder on my 1080p tv, still slightly unsure why it defaults to that tho, ill try remember how i fixed it.

EDIT: just found it again,

1) Open catalist control center in advancded mode.

2) In the top left corner select the 'graphics' option from the drop down menu

3) At the bottle where it says 'please select a display' click the little down arrow on the screen you want to get rid of the band from and click configure from the sub menu.

4) Click the scaling tab and drag it to the 'overscan' and '0%' end of the slider, you should see the boarder moving as you drag it across.

5) Once its using the full screen just click ok and your done

 

[karan733]

hey there

thanks for taking the time to look into the settings. having opened up catalyst i have the following options, but having looked through all the options i cant seem to find where you are looking. the closest i can find is shown in the pic below but i dont think this is what you mean is it?

http//i61.photobucket.com/albums/h47/karan733/1.jpg

 

[I Hunta x]

ah your on an older version of it. if you un install ccc and install the latest from the link below it will be there

your operating system > radeon > 4800 series

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

 

[karan733]

right...uninstalled and tried that, which came up with the same program. then installed the stock msi ccc from the cd with the card, which came up with a slightly different version of the same options (extra o/c options) etc but still not the bit you are talking about.

could you post a screenshot of what your program interface looks like so i know what you mean and see if it correlates in any way to what im looking at?

 

[karan733]

ok, i have managed to delve a bit deeper into the problem of not fitting to screen.

with my previous card, whenever i set a new res the monitor would refresh so the whole display would fit on the available screen. now when i try to set it at most res's, the monitor wont refresh and will only display, say, the top left hand quarter of the whole windows interface. i can then scroll to the other quartiles but it wont 'fit to screen'

the black lines seems just to occur as a result of the above problem, rather than a seperate issue in itself.

any ideas would be very appreciated!

 

[karan733]

a sample video of the problem that ive just created is shown here

mediafire.com/?ojjjy2witv2

although it doesnt show in the video (which is how i figured out its a problem with the monitor) after I change the res i have to scroll up, down and across the screen. this is reflected by me moving the mouse to each corner of the screen. hope this helps explain the issue!