[BG-0]

I'd like to ask which one of these would give the better gaming performance, clocked, or not clocked. The options I can afford are: Radeon HD 3650 512 MB (GPU 725 MHZ, memory freq.: 1.6 GHz) and an another Radeon HD 3650 1 GB (GPU 725 MHz, memory freq.: 800 MHz).

So I am wondering, which, memory amount or memory frequency will give out the better performance? The other specs of the coming computer are: AMD Athlon X2 6000+(3 GHZ), 2x2 GB DDR2 800 memories, MSI AM2 NF560 DDR2 SATA2 GBLAN 8-CH ATX MO-BO, and, umm, I don't feel it'd be necessary to list anything else, request, if needed for answering!

P.S.: please don't complain about my bad English...

[Triple6]

On a card such as the Radeon HD 3650 clock speeds of the memory and GPU are going to be more important then the amount of RAM, especially beyond the 512MB mark. That said I bet they both have the same memory speeds but one is listing the actual and the other the effective memory speed - 800Mhz x 2 is 1600Mhz. DDR memory is Double Data Rate so its sometimes its listed one way and sometimes the other way. So that being said if they are the same or roughly the same price the one with 1GB of RAM would be the better buy, if there is a substantial price difference then get the 512MB version since the extra 512MB on the other card will result in maybe 1 or 2 FPS in most games on such as entry level card.

Honestly if you want a good gaming card that matches the rest of your system consider saving up for the Radeon 3850, 3870, or the Geforce 8800GS, 8800GT, 9600GS, 9600GT; the performance difference will be quite substantial.

[BG-0]

Well, the price difference is 35 euric cents, so it's not too much. Thank you for your advice. And for the better vid cards, the prices just explode, any of those are double the price. I'm kinda stuck now, because I'm really tight on money, and the parts I've chosen by far totally fill my budget.

[Triple6]

Well in that case the 1GB Radeon HD 3650 is the better buy.

[Compiler]

While the 1GB is a better buy for such a small difference in price - it just doesn't make any real difference in the real-world. The 3650 is barely a gaming card by todays standards - it doesn't have the horse power make use of the 1GB RAM. In the USA the price difference isn't much. $70 for a 3650 vs $100 for a 3850. The 3850 is about 3x faster/powerful than any 3650 or 8600GT card.

If you can - save for a while longer. The prices of all video cards are dropping. But I will admit that a 3850 will have more power demands on your system. 350watt+ for a 3650 and 450~500watt for a 3850. (gotta look out for those hidden costs)

[BG-0]

Well I'm anyways getting a 500 W PSU, so I quess I'll just gotta find a way to get the extra 40 or 80 euros. The problem is, I'm from Finland where you really can't get the components as cheap as in US or so. I guess this is solved as far anyone can help thru advices.

[Compiler]

Please make sure you get a good PSU... In different parts of the world, there maybe brand names that don't match up, not knowing if its quality or not.

So if the TOP end 500watt PSU is 100, the cheapest is 20, don't get the 20 Stick to those that cost 60-80 for affordable quality PSU. I don't know how your money relates to value, so use it as an example.

Good luck.

[BG-0]

I know they have big differences between brands.
FALSE ALERT, still need some estimation help. Could a 5600+ or 5400+ AMD Athlon X2 perform with, let's say, a GF 9600? In games being a bit CPU-consuming over demanding for graphics card?

[Compiler]

I gather youre asking if a GF9600GT is more powerful than what the CPU can handle?

If so, no. While Intel's Quad Cores are the fastest on the consumer market - even AMD 5x00 series CPUs could make use of todays fastest video cards. Some games prefer CPU power, others still need the GPU to do the work. BTW; the 9600GT performs between the 3850 and 3870 cards.

[BG-0]

I'm seeing a SAPPHIRE HD 3870 512 M GDDR4 cheaper than the 9600's. So, would it be my choice? I have the image that the producer (club 3D, sapphire, whatever) makes little or no difference in performance. Am I how wrong thinking that?

[Goldfish92]

If i was you i would stick with the 9600 for several reasons.
It should run cooler that the 3870, is only a single slot design and requires less power making it more suitable for your 500W power supply. I also believe that in real world gaming the 9600 equals and slightly passes the ATI 3870.

For the second question, the producer of the graphics card should make little or no difference as they tend to just follow reference designs. Some partners however may have better 'quality' chips allowing their cards to be overlocked further than others but again at reference speeds this will make no difference.

Hope that helps

[BG-0]

Again, I am totally puzzled by the situation... I have calculated and came to the conclusion that I could afford the computer if it were to include the 3870, yet, if it were to include the somewhat more expensive 9600 I would propably have no money for food for a week or so. o.O Would the positive difference be worth that, would it be anything but ability to handle one step bigger AA or so without FPS reduction? Or something more dramatic performance upping? I don't really use too many extra devices, so I'd guess the PSU can handle the drain? Also, I'm going to and cool the case with the two case blower mounts occupied by xilence fans. So I hope that will keep the temp at about 50 C or under.

[Goldfish92]

Hmmm... well the 3870 will be perfectly fine but the 9600 would allow the computer to run cooler without the need for those extra fans and also eliminate noise...

It's up to you though... AA with either cards should be pretty similar although the ATI may handle it better... its a trade off. Also the 9600GT will get more FPS straight off compared to the ATI card by about 5-10 so its up to you.

If you have the cash then I would get the 9600 but if you need the computer fast then the 3870 will handle things fine. You could even upgrade later and resell the 3870.

Here is a review of the 9600GT that also includes results for the 3870 so you can compare them http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/129...ted/index.html....
just out of interest how much are the two cards you are looking at?

(just more questions huh...)

[Compiler]

The 3870 performs about the same as the ATI 9600GT. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. But its cheaper than the 9600GT.

He's already buying a bigger PSU anyways, so that is a non issue.

A dual-cooling design works better than a single.

If the 9600GT was cheaper, I'd say go for that card.

So its about price more than performacne betweenthese two.

[BG-0]

Radeon is 121 euros, GF 147.25, at least, 154.70 would give one that would partly overdo Radeon. I got quite a loud computer, have always had, so the noice won't be anything new. Although the "silence" would be. Gaining FPS would be nice... Damn man, big choices, big choices... And you can't just change your mind afterwards... Maybe, just maybe, if I save 20 euros by changing the CPU from 6000+ to 5400+, (also saving some power because trading 125 W model to 65 W model) I could afford the GF... Yet, I've already maxed out and even more my budget so... Big choices up ahead. Still got time till around the 15th when I get some money...