HD2600XT or HD3850?

[Frink191]

Hey there

Well I was wondering, what is the better card? A HD2600XT 512MB or a HD3850 256MB? I plan on running Crysis (on the best settings possible), CoD4, Quake Wars, UT3, BF2 & 2142, Stalker and Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Far Cry 2 etc. My system is being upgraded to an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0GHz, 1MB Cache), 2GB DDR Ram and either the HD2600XT or the HD3850 for major gaming. Just wanting some opinions tbh.

These are the two cards:
HD3850: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....#productdetail

HD2600XT Black Box Edition:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Visio...l.do#prodspecs

Thanks for your help and time.

[cheeser]

from toms hardware:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphi...1061&chart=275

(blue is the 2 cards you selected)

[KarmaKiller]

Yep. The 3850 is waaaaaay better then the 2xxx series.

[Frink191]

Ah cool thanks for that link and advice. How would that spec run the games I've listed above? Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0GHz, 1MB), 2GB DDR Ram, HD3850 256MB.

[cheeser]

I dont have one, but you could read some reviews from newegg to see what people are saying about game play....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129101

also, if you shop around, you may be able to find some cheaper prices...

[Frink191]

Yeah, I live in the UK but I am going on holiday to Florida this coming Saturday for two weeks and was planning on buying a new graphics card while I am over there but from what I've seen on the Best Buy, Circuit City and Walmart websites they either sell the cards on the website only or don't have much choice available.