Best Single GPU ATI Card?

J

J1M

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Hi, I currently have a 7800GTX, but I have been wanting to go back to an ATI card for a while now. I have fond memories of my 9500PRO.

Does ATI offer anything competitive when it comes to single GPU single card solutions? Is there something new in the pipe for April I should be waiting for?

I'm essentially looking for something to play Crysis and anything released in '08 in the sub $500 range @ 1680x1050.
 
Right now, for an ATI card, your best bet is the HD3870X2 if you plan on playing Crysis.
 
I know I'm going to get stomped on by the dis-believers and the fanboys...but.


If you play with the same mixture of High and Medium settings in Crysis on XP @ 1680 X 1050, My HD 2900 Pro 512-bit is just about the same as the 8800 GT I just got in.

If you want to play the game on all High....the 8800 GT is slightly better, but you can't really play comfortably at that resolution on all High, anyway.


The HD 3870 is the best right now I guess.
 
Sheesh man... if I made a mistake I made a mistake. No need to make sassy comments. Just say: "He said single GPU in the OP"

Deusfaux said:
What are you retarded? It's in the title and his OP.

SINGLE GPU

3870, dude - it's a bit lesser than an Nvidia 8800 GT
Click to expand...
 
Ogilvy said:
I know I'm going to get stomped on by the dis-believers and the fanboys...but.


If you play with the same mixture of High and Medium settings in Crysis on XP @ 1680 X 1050, My HD 2900 Pro 512-bit is just about the same as the 8800 GT I just got in.

If you want to play the game on all High....the 8800 GT is slightly better, but you can't really play comfortably at that resolution on all High, anyway.


The HD 3870 is the best right now I guess.
Click to expand...

I'd still go with a 3870 over a 2900. Damn things suck up too much power, good thing is they aren't any louder then the 1950s.
 
Ogilvy said:
I know I'm going to get stomped on by the dis-believers and the fanboys...but.


If you play with the same mixture of High and Medium settings in Crysis on XP @ 1680 X 1050, My HD 2900 Pro 512-bit is just about the same as the 8800 GT I just got in.

If you want to play the game on all High....the 8800 GT is slightly better, but you can't really play comfortably at that resolution on all High, anyway.


The HD 3870 is the best right now I guess.
Click to expand...

i'd believe it. before i sold my 2900xt's the two in a 16/4 cf ran crysis before any of the patches at 1440x900 with a combination of very high and high in xp.
 
I know you said you were set on an ATI card, but if I were you I wouldn't be rushing into it. If anything get a decent NV card to tide you over since the prices are dropping quite nicely right now.
 
Deusfaux said:
What are you retarded? It's in the title and his OP.

SINGLE GPU

3870, dude - it's a bit lesser than an Nvidia 8800 GT
Click to expand...

That's rather uncalled for: "are you retarded".

Anyway, SINGLE GPU can mean 1 card but x number of cores right? If this is right, I don't know what to call you.
 
true that the 3870x2 has 2 cores, it fits within your pricerange and will give you the best performance of any ati card (more or less a crossfire through one pcie slot)
 
young boy said:
That's rather uncalled for: "are you retarded".

Anyway, SINGLE GPU can mean 1 card but x number of cores right? If this is right, I don't know what to call you.
Click to expand...

GPU refers to the chip itself, generally speaking, and the 3870X2 uses two discrete chips, not two "cores" on one die. The 9800GX2 uses two PCBs each with their own GPU and memory bridged together to use one connector.

Technicalities aside, with the 3870X2 and 9800GX2 you are still dependent upon Crossfire and SLI support in the software you are using and are subject to the same bugs and glitches as if it were two distinct cards in two separate slots. The only difference is you don't need a certain motherboard to use it.

So when someone wants to avoid SLI and Crossfire, telling them to get a 3870X2 and implying it isn't Crossfire is somewhat dishonest.
 
I'll like to hear more comments about the definition of "single GPU" before I/we clam down on Deusfaux. Nah, just jokking!
 
NKDietrich said:
GPU refers to the chip itself, generally speaking, and the 3870X2 uses two discrete chips, not two "cores" on one die. The 9800GX2 uses two PCBs each with their own GPU and memory bridged together to use one connector.

Technicalities aside, with the 3870X2 and 9800GX2 you are still dependent upon Crossfire and SLI support in the software you are using and are subject to the same bugs and glitches as if it were two distinct cards in two separate slots. The only difference is you don't need a certain motherboard to use it.

So when someone wants to avoid SLI and Crossfire, telling them to get a 3870X2 and implying it isn't Crossfire is somewhat dishonest.
Click to expand...

QFT!

@ OP
Going AMD just to go AMD is a bad call, especially when the 8800GT is so much bang for buck
 
3870 is the fastest ATi single card solution. However I don't know why anyone would buy one since you can get a 9600 for like $130.
 
Ogilvy said:
I know I'm going to get stomped on by the dis-believers and the fanboys...but.


If you play with the same mixture of High and Medium settings in Crysis on XP @ 1680 X 1050, My HD 2900 Pro 512-bit is just about the same as the 8800 GT I just got in.

If you want to play the game on all High....the 8800 GT is slightly better, but you can't really play comfortably at that resolution on all High, anyway.


The HD 3870 is the best right now I guess.
Click to expand...

Yeah my 2900pro actually scores 200 points more than my 8800gt in 3d06, when it's properly clocked. But that's 3d06.. may not mean much. *shrug*
And the biggest difference between my 2900pro and my 8800gt is that the 2900pro actually works.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1286915

But the op might be interested in...
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/19/ati-cuts-prices-3850-3870
 
Deusfaux said:
What are you retarded? It's in the title and his OP.

SINGLE GPU

3870, dude - it's a bit lesser than an Nvidia 8800 GT
Click to expand...

What? Are you retarded?

SINGLE GPU

As in one graphics card in one PCI-E x16 lane. And the HD 3870 X2 counts as one GPU = graphics processing unit. Doesn't just mean one core on the card.
 
Mr. Stryker said:
What? Are you retarded?

SINGLE GPU

As in one graphics card in one PCI-E x16 lane. And the HD 3870 X2 counts as one GPU = graphics processing unit. Doesn't just mean one core on the card.
Click to expand...

You call your entire case the "CPU" don't you. LOL.
 
Mr. Stryker said:
What? Are you retarded?

SINGLE GPU

As in one graphics card in one PCI-E x16 lane. And the HD 3870 X2 counts as one GPU = graphics processing unit. Doesn't just mean one core on the card.
Click to expand...

Boy how you are wrong...
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ1NCwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
What you will notice from the model name is that “3870” remains; indicating the use of the 3870 GPU but what has been added is “X2.” X2 indicates the use of two 3870 GPUs on board one PCB. So what we have are essentially two 3870 GPUs on a single board with a hardware bridge chip that allows CrossFire to be enabled at all times with both GPUs out-of-the-box.
Click to expand...
epic_fail.jpg
 
I love the commercial where guy tells IT that his PC is slow because the fatherboard must be dying.
 
Seems there are too many flamewars to even keep a decent discussion going lately. I've had two threads end up like this, and then closed shortly after. It's just not fair to the OP.

As to the initial question: Just because you have warm memories of your 9500pro doesn't mean you should go with ATI now, and in fact, you shouldn't :)

Currently Nvidia has two excellent value cards out - the 8800GT and the 9600GT. OCed and SLIed both of these contenders can stand up to the best (and are in your sub $500 price range). The games you listed will be playable with these cards, although not with the highest settings/resolutions. Since you noted you only want one card, though, I'd probably go with the G92 8800 GTS, or the 8800 GTX, as prices have been falling.

If you take a gander in the HotDeals section you'll see the 9600GTs are going for $130 AR, which is probably the best value I've seen for a graphics card in quite some time, and there have been numerous decent deals for the 8800 GTX.
 
Zetherin said:
Seems there are too many flamewars to even keep a decent discussion going lately. I've had two threads end up like this, and then closed shortly after. It's just not fair to the OP.

As to the initial question: Just because you have warm memories of your 9500pro doesn't mean you should go with ATI now, and in fact, you shouldn't :)

Currently Nvidia has two excellent value cards out - the 8800GT and the 9600GT. OCed and SLIed both of these contenders can stand up to the best (and are in your sub $500 price range). The games you listed will be playable with these cards, although not with the highest settings/resolutions. Since you noted you only want one card, though, I'd probably go with the G92 8800 GTS, or the 8800 GTX, as prices have been falling.

If you take a gander in the HotDeals section you'll see the 9600GTs are going for $130 AR, which is probably the best value I've seen for a graphics card in quite some time, and there have been numerous decent deals for the 8800 GTX.
Click to expand...

single card... Though the number of cores can be questioned.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Does nVidia have a card out yet that supports DirectX 10.1?

In terms of an nVidia card I was considering the 8800GTS 512MB, but I'd rather not be buying a previous generation card with the 9xxx series being released. I'm also not really a fan of nVidia slow playing the industry right now.

I guess I was hoping ATI had a promising new product that I didn't know about. If they don't have something better than an 8800GT I guess I will have to go nVidia.
 
when is the 4000 series going to be released.
If not soon ATI will again fail to even come to bat.
 
NKDietrich said:
You call your entire case the "CPU" don't you. LOL.
Click to expand...

Umm.. golly, that never crossed my mind. Maybe you do? I don't. :)

Atech said:
Boy how you are wrong...
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ1NCwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
Click to expand...

I don't think I said it right. Sorry, I'll rephrase.

I said that the card (when I say the card, I mean one card) has two GPU processors on it, it's running crossfire in concept of two card but on one PCB. The OP probably meant one card, as on filling one PCI-E slot.

The pic is funny. :p
 
Single card= single physical card but x number of cores.
Single core= x number of cards but 1 core.

Did he say single core? I'm not sure of that.
 
Mr. Stryker said:
I don't think I said it right. Sorry, I'll rephrase.

I said that the card (when I say the card, I mean one card) has two GPU processors on it, it's running crossfire in concept of two card but on one PCB. The OP probably meant one card, as on filling one PCI-E slot.
Click to expand...
No.

I was pretty clear that I wanted something that would run at full speed without needing crossfire support.
 
This is pretty interesting. Is dual core considered dual CPU? It is technically 2 CPUs in 1 package however most people consider it a single CPU. So I dont think it is wrong to say that the card is a single GPU. It really depends on the definition of "unit".
 
lixuelai said:
This is pretty interesting. Is dual core considered dual CPU? It is technically 2 CPUs in 1 package however most people consider it a single CPU. So I dont think it is wrong to say that the card is a single GPU. It really depends on the definition of "unit".
Click to expand...

Comparing apples and oranges.
CPU's don't need drivers (AMD's dual core bug aside) to work within programs, but Crossfire/SLI are at the mercy of drivers.

Besides a GPU is multicore inside (the 128 stream processors eg.) if you wanna do a real comparion like that you compare eg. the 3870X2 to a DUAL soket CPU system like spider or Skulltrail, not a single socket motherboard.
 
Ok, obviously I have different opinions and views and they are wrong to everyone. I'm going to exit the thread.
 
J1M said:
Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Does nVidia have a card out yet that supports DirectX 10.1?

In terms of an nVidia card I was considering the 8800GTS 512MB, but I'd rather not be buying a previous generation card with the 9xxx series being released. I'm also not really a fan of nVidia slow playing the industry right now.

I guess I was hoping ATI had a promising new product that I didn't know about. If they don't have something better than an 8800GT I guess I will have to go nVidia.
Click to expand...

DX10.1 is nothing more than a marketting show piece at this point. There's absolutely no game that takes advantage of the minor changes it introduces.

As for your OP question, the HD 3870 is the fastest ATI single GPU solution. However, the 9600 GT can be had for less and performs a little better than a HD 3870.
But for future proof, while being cheap, the 8800 GT 512 can't be beat. Faster than both the 9600 GT and HD 3870. All are single GPU solutions, so no Crossfire or SLI hassle.
 
Silus said:
DX10.1 is nothing more than a marketting show piece at this point. There's absolutely no game that takes advantage of the minor changes it introduces.

As for your OP question, the HD 3870 is the fastest ATI single GPU solution. However, the 9600 GT can be had for less and performs a little better than a HD 3870.
But for future proof, while being cheap, the 8800 GT 512 can't be beat. Faster than both the 9600 GT and HD 3870. All are single GPU solutions, so no Crossfire or SLI hassle.
Click to expand...


Agreed, when I saw the 8800GT, i jumped on it right away...it was like the Ti4200(without having to OC it to Ti4600 speeds) days all over again ;)
 
Silus said:
DX10.1 is nothing more than a marketting show piece at this point. There's absolutely no game that takes advantage of the minor changes it introduces.
Click to expand...

the marketing gizmos are doing pretty well.... considering anyone even acknowledges 10.1 as existing
 
Single best ATI card with one gpu on it: Any of the numerous HD 3870's.

Single best ATI card with two gpu's on it: Any of the various HD 3870X2's floating around.

That wasnt hard, was it?
 
Atech said:
Comparing apples and oranges.
CPU's don't need drivers (AMD's dual core bug aside) to work within programs, but Crossfire/SLI are at the mercy of drivers.

Besides a GPU is multicore inside (the 128 stream processors eg.) if you wanna do a real comparion like that you compare eg. the 3870X2 to a DUAL soket CPU system like spider or Skulltrail, not a single socket motherboard.
Click to expand...

CPUs have lower level support. If you have an outdated bios that does not support dual core you wont get dual core. Dual core nowadays are 2 totally unconnected processors in 1 package sharing a bus. The graphics processors on the 3870x2 share the PCI-E bus to the rest of the system as well. Now you can say that they have separate memory bus but so do dual cores. Memory = both ram and cache and dual cores do not share cache, Also each stream processor is not a standalone unit. You need other components to get the functionality of a graphics processor while a single core is a single CPU. It gets down to that we call a dual core "a CPU" so it is not wrong to call a card "a GPU".

Iv generally called dual cores "a CPU" and 3870x2 "dual GPUs" as well. Which is why I found it interesting since I never noticed it before...
 
Atech said:
Comparing apples and oranges.
CPU's don't need drivers (AMD's dual core bug aside) to work within programs, but Crossfire/SLI are at the mercy of drivers.

Besides a GPU is multicore inside (the 128 stream processors eg.) if you wanna do a real comparion like that you compare eg. the 3870X2 to a DUAL soket CPU system like spider or Skulltrail, not a single socket motherboard.
Click to expand...

did he say he did not want cf/sli because of drivers? Besides, he just may not have the space or more than 1 PCI-E slot to handle more than 1 GPU card...
 
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