Im at a serious delimia. ATi vs Nvidia and/or AMD vs Intel

[Angry]

Simply put, all I REALLY want is a system that I can play games on easily.

I had this setup before:
Amd Opteron 165 @ 2.7thz
MSI K8N Neo NF4 Sli.
Ati 4870 512mb
4gb of OCZ DDR1

This setup performed wonderfully at 720p on my big screen. I played Cyris, Pure ATV, Half-Life Orange box..etc...without a single flaw. Sure Benches were low, but I didnt see that except maybe in Crysis.

Now I have basicly the same setup minus the 4870 and Opteron. Ive been using a x1300 PCI in an NF4 board with a A64 @ 2.4ghz, while this works at 1024x768 for games like Red Alert 3. I severly miss my HDMI and 720p resolution. My TV hasnt seen much use since I sold the 4870 to fix my girlfriends laptop, The Opteron died just before that. I used to just sit back on the couch with a USB Xbox 360 controller, and just lay it on it a video game for a good few hours.

I REALLY miss that....and now I have the oppurtunity to either add to my current system, or finally move to AM2+. I was waiting on the 800 series chipsets from AMD but Ive become impatient, and all of my LAN buddys have moved to AM2+ already. I need a good gaming system soon.

Now Im stuck between AMD and ATi and Intel and Nvidia.

Nvidia looks very appealing with Physx, 9800GX2s are selling good on ebay. yet my 4870 served me so well... Im tempted just to get a 4870 for a future crossfire setup. Yet SLI looks nice as well, Mirrors Edge looks beautiful with Physx.

Yet there doesnt seem to be a really good SLI solution out there.

 

[DarkFury]

well a 4870 will beat almost anything out there single card, for that price range.

since you have experienced the 4870, why not just get another one?

9800GX2 is on the level of like a 280 or 285-295 ,

 

[Evilsizer]

best gaming cpu clock per clock, is Intel. NV vs ATI that is really more up to which games you play. since each will peform a bit different depending on the game. i use to stick with NV for OpenGL games but most games now are D3D. even then in D3D with the newer NV arch it makes it harder to decide. for the cost factor though ATI has some good cards that rival some of the higher priced NV cards. i mean for $234 right now you can get a 4850X2 1gig from newegg. im even considering that since new i paid around $210 for my 4850 512mb card, a while ago.

the setup to go with will really depend on how much you have to spend for the rig.

 

[Angry]

Well I have a bit more to work with, because Im not getting the laptop I originally wanted. I think I may grab one of the MSI P6Ns from nitteo in the classifieds and go with a 9800GX2 and a E7400. Ive loved my AMD 939 rigs to death, but AM2 has been looking like less and less as what I really need, if Ati had true Physx,(not hacks) Id be all over an AMD 790fx setup.

 

[LilBuddy]

I'd go with Intel for the CPu and then depending on your price ATI for the GPU.

Nvidia = $50-100
ATI = $100 - $225
Nvidia = $225 - $500

Personally I go with Xbox 360 for gaming and PC for internet and messing around.