4870x2 Disappointment. Should I get a GTX280 OCX?

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I'm sure you have seen my posts around here bigcactus... I race with guys @ Iracing who have both and they said it was totally smooth and fluid with the gt280 and they had the same choppiness we are getting with the x2...This thing runs HOT, is loud has crappy drivers and doesn't give the performance I was hoping for... I got mine from Bestbuy so i have a few weeks to return it.. Will see if ati gets off their ass and come out with a better driver.. But if history has shown anything---- im not going to hold my breath...
 
I guess the question here can anyone else play GOD4 smoothly w/ a 4870 X2?
 
I keep reading this choppyness with the 4870x2. You're the 3rd or 4th person to say it. Is it microstutter? I certainly don't get any choppyness with 4850cf in cod4 but from time to time, like every 10th game or so, I do get a game that shows microstutter. I go back into windows, load a new profile and it usually goes away. Rebooting also takes care of it too. The drivers for the 4800 series cards are all harrible and seem to get worse every new release. AMD better get their shit together soon on these drivers. What happened to, "we are polishing up these drivers to be perfect before we release the card" chatter that we all heard a month or so ago as reason for the delays? My ass....
 
BigCactus said:
I know there is someone out there who even had a pic of both the 4870x2 and gtx280 side by side on this forum. I need this person's opinion
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At this point Cactus, I'd tell you to grab a 280 and be done with it. I have 30 days to return the X2 and unless a *driver miracle* happens, it's going back.

I've owned more than a few ATI cards over the years and drivers always crippled their cards, once again, history is repeating itself.

Just remember, the next driver is always going to fix all the issues :D
 
running mine @ 1920x1200 4x (12x edge detect) 16af and it runs great, runs similar fps with crossfire on and off (single 4870x2 and crossfire 4870x2)

better than my my 280 did

...read up in microstudder before you mention it, people don't notice micro stutter, benchmarking utilities do..not do be confused with the 9800 gx2 that just plain shuddered all the time


not sure what people do to have so much problems with ati drivers lol
 
My system:

QX9770@4ghz
DFI Lanparty UT X48
4gb OCZ DDR3 1800
2 Visiontek 4870x2

I run the same settings as CanadaOwnsJoo with no problems.

edited for spelling...
 
CanadaOwnsJoo said:
running mine @ 1920x1200 4x (12x edge detect) 16af and it runs great, runs similar fps with crossfire on and off (single 4870x2 and crossfire 4870x2)

better than my my 280 did

...read up in microstudder before you mention it, people don't notice micro stutter, benchmarking utilities do..not do be confused with the 9800 gx2 that just plain shuddered all the time


not sure what people do to have so much problems with ati drivers lol
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merlin704 said:
My system is almost the same as yours and I also have no problems playing COD4.
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how many frames do you guys get on avg. in the stressful missions like "the bog"?
 
I hate my X2 to death, but it plays COD4 maxed out NP, but I am only running 1680x1050. (one of the only games it can play...)

But I seriously doubt any 280 GTX will keep up after a driver release or two. So far the drivers are far from optimized for this card.

I personally won't be waiting, but If you have the patience than I think you are better off sticking with you 4870 X2. I am going back to something a little slower, but still works great for me. (260 GTX oced to the max or 2 4850's).
 
Well what gets me is I owned a single 4870 and it seems to be out performing this card in cod4...which doesn't make any sense :confused:. This is why it has to be drivers. Might just be early adopter blues...but I don't believe in the whole early adopter excuses. This thing should chew and spit cod4 out like nothing.

I'm wondering if it's downclocking...causing the choppiness. Not sure how to tell. I think this card needed more work before hitting the shelves. As it is now regretfully, I'll be sending this card back next week or so. I am hoping another driver release occurs to prove me wrong.
 
BigCactus said:
Well what gets me is I owned a single 4870 and it seems to be out performing this card in cod4...which doesn't make any sense :confused:. This is why it has to be drivers. Might just be early adopter blues...but I don't believe in the whole early adopter excuses. This thing should chew and spit cod4 out like nothing.

I'm wondering if it's downclocking...causing the choppiness. Not sure how to tell. I think this card needed more work before hitting the shelves. As it is now regretfully, I'll be sending this card back next week or so. I am hoping another driver release occurs to prove me wrong.
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well when i alt tab the clocks are running correct, but most games cant take full advantage of both gpu's and there memory yet alone since there ran in a special crossfire. so personally ill give it a month or two. Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, Far Cry 2, Dead Space, Spore, etc. are being released. By then hopefully better drivers will come, since ATi wouldnt want to lose its sales and the ground its gaining. And if nVidia comes to counter, XSP will probably be activated helping the 4870x2's keep up or maybe even surprass them too :) As for me, my impatience usually ends up hurting me, so i'll wait :rolleyes:
 
speedy523 said:
well when i alt tab the clocks are running correct, but most games cant take full advantage of both gpu's and there memory yet alone since there ran in a special crossfire. so personally ill give it a month or two. Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, Far Cry 2, Dead Space, Spore, etc. are being released. By then hopefully better drivers will come, since ATi wouldnt want to lose its sales and the ground its gaining. And if nVidia comes to counter, XSP will probably be activated helping the 4870x2's keep up or maybe even surprass them too :) As for me, my impatience usually ends up hurting me, so i'll wait :rolleyes:
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Actually from many tests crossfire has nearly 100% scalability at times (DMC4, lost planet for example)

For OP:

I went from a GTX280 to a HD4780x2 and the X2 rapes the 280. I don't really see what's going on with your system.
nvcf2s.jpg
 
Wow man, I feel for all of you dissappointed X2 users. It must be frustrating to see others not having the same issues and loving thier card. Thats whats really pisses me off sometimes inregards to PCs. There is simply too much shit that can go wrong, too many variables that can differ from one user to the next. ATI/NV have to code drivers for Xp32/64, Vista 32/64, DX9/DX10 and for all the differnet hardware configs that are out thier atm. I'm not surprised not everyone get the same results across the board with all that to code and optimize for. Its just insane LOL Motherboards, sound cards, memory, cpu, powersupplies can all have an impact on system stability/compatibility and we sure as hell see this often in these forums.

I remeber the days when 99.9 % of gamers uses win95/98. Now that must of been a bit easier to code gfx drivers for.
 
well CoD4 is raping my card. I only get 30-60 frames on "the bog" on All Max with Forced 8x AA edge Detect at 24x CFAA, Quality Adaptive AA, 16x AF, Quality Mipmap Detail @ 1280 x 1024.

I also got a Core2Duo 3.2 GHz and 2GB Corsair Dominator 1066 5-5-5-15

Anyone know whats wrong?
 
Just an idea, if it is a crossfire issue you guys that are having problems could disable one of the GPU and then check to see if the performance is the same.
 
BigCactus said:
Well what gets me is I owned a single 4870 and it seems to be out performing this card in cod4...which doesn't make any sense :confused:. This is why it has to be drivers. Might just be early adopter blues...but I don't believe in the whole early adopter excuses. This thing should chew and spit cod4 out like nothing.

I'm wondering if it's downclocking...causing the choppiness. Not sure how to tell. I think this card needed more work before hitting the shelves. As it is now regretfully, I'll be sending this card back next week or so. I am hoping another driver release occurs to prove me wrong.
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http://forum.uabit.com/showthread.php?t=141308

I'd suggest flashing the bios, but it doesn't look like Abit has a good one out yet...
 
Im not sure but maybe 24x CFAA for just one card is a bit to much ? Ive been through several reviews showing x2 perforamce and none have results for 24x CFAA but they rock at over 130 fps max, 56 min and 90 average at 4xAA, 16xAF @ 2560X1600
 
I would try to duplicate results seen in reviews at your resolution at 4xAA 16Af and then see if its getting similar results to see if its the card, driver or anythign else causing you trouble.
 
Spyhawk said:
Im not sure but maybe 24x CFAA for just one card is a bit to much ? Ive been through several reviews showing x2 perforamce and none have results for 24x CFAA and they rock at over 130 fps max, 56 min and 90 average at 4xAA, 16xAF @ 2560X1600
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i know so i turned it down to 12x CFAA and at 1280 x 1024 the card should fly through it, but no only 50-60 frames. So i disabled Adaptive AA and set AF and AA to be set in game. I even changed the filter to box so 4x is really 4x not 12x CFAA. So i ran CoD again, same 50-60 frames. i applied my changes and i know that, since if i disable AA in CoD i can see it disabled, so i know its not forced. So im pissed since even u said they get atleast 90 with the same settings im running and there at 2560 x 1600 while im at 1280 x 1024.....
 
speedy523 said:
i know so i turned it down to 12x CFAA and at 1280 x 1024 the card should fly through it, but no only 50-60 frames. So i disabled Adaptive AA and set AF and AA to be set in game. I even changed the filter to box so 4x is really 4x not 12x CFAA. So i ran CoD again, same 50-60 frames. i applied my changes and i know that, since if i disable AA in CoD i can see it disabled, so i know its not forced. So im pissed since even u said they get atleast 90 with the same settings im running and there at 2560 x 1600 while im at 1280 x 1024.....
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They werent using edgedetect though. Edge detect will hit the card's performance much more I think. Dissable edge detect and use 4xAA 16Xaf through the game and see the differance, if your still getting lower than expected results, then yeah, somethings up with your setup/drivers..

Oops....reread your post. I see you did actually try box instead of edge....hmmm yeah something is defenately xxxed
 
Cactus don't get down man.

I think the drivers suck right now. I can't tell you what it is, but my dual 4870s ran like Big Brown, and my X2 sort of run like Bambi.

I am OK in COD4. I get 60-70 fps at the Bog level with everything I can dial up and it runs smooth. Now I have 2 cards, not one.
I'll tell you what is odd.....
I ran the benchie for Crysis and got 35 fps in 32 bit and 25 fps in 64 bit and I have 64 bit home premium. My 64 bit runs like shit and I thought that waas where the game was supposed to pick up an advantage???

Last night I played a bunch of Crysis in 32 bit mode DX10 Very high and 4x AA and ran mostly at 35 fps. The game felt smooth and no problems......but I'd expect a bit more out of two X2s.

Now Source based games are as smooth as they can be.....HL2, TF2, you name it.

I'm just going to keep on keeping on............anyway, who in their right mind would buy one of these used right now.
 
I think would be helpful if all the people having problems would list their specs along with what drivers and even use 3dmark just to compare drivers. Had problems in the beginning with drivers 8.8 but sorted it all out now. Here's the thing, drivers will install and look perfectly fine when in fact it they didn't install correctly. I found this out when I did some benchmarking comparisons and I messed with drivers all yesterday morning doing 4-5 different installations.
COD4 is probably the most ATI friendly game along with AoC. Gonna go install my copy and report back. What would be the best way to test this? Fraps screenshots or Fraps video?
 
If all esle fails speedy, try it in another PC. Who knows...maybe there is something about your PC that is hadicapping your card. If it stays arounf 50 to 60, no matter what you do, it could be a system bottleneck, but I really dont have a clue about your sys specs atm.

You may have done this all rdy, but if not try getting the latest mb bios and setting everything at default and go from there
 
Just Ran World in Conflict Benchmark. All in Game Settings Maxed with forced 12x CFAA and 16x AF.

Avg. FPS 28

All in Game Settings Maxed. Running 4xAA with box filter and 16x AF, not forced, set in game.

Avg. FPS 30

All in Game Settings Maxed. Running 16x AF, not forced, set in game.

Avg. FPS 32

Something is definitely wrong. My 3DMARk Vantage GPU score is 13354. And im running the 8.8 Catalyst downloaded from ATi's site on Windows Vista 32 Bit.

Any recommendations?


Also, regular 4870's rape my in game frames with the same settings and an even higher resolution.....
 
Spyhawk said:
If all esle fails speedy, try it in another PC. Who knows...maybe there is something about your PC that is hadicapping your card. If it stays arounf 50 to 60, no matter what you do, it could be a system bottleneck, but I really dont have a clue about your sys specs atm.

You may have done this all rdy, but if not try getting the latest mb bios and setting everything at default and go from there
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Specs:

Core2Duo E6600 3.2 GHz
2GB Corsair Dominator 1066 5-5-5-15
EVGA 680i SLI
Enermax Galaxy 1000 watt
Antec 900
Zalman 9700 110mm Heatsink/Fan
WD 150GB 10K RPM Raptor X
VisionTek 4870 x2

I also run the 8.8 WinVista 32 Bit Suite (CCC + Driver) downloaded from ATi's Site

capturevx2.jpg
 
Either your card is defective( looks like the gpu bridge aint doing its job), motherboard problem(Need a new bios), card not getting enough power( make sure 6 pin and 8pin connectors are properly in place) or you have a borked driver instalation( Remove all drivers and reinstall, reboot or install the beta 8.8s. Ive heard some people say that the beta version did a better job.


Last thing Ide try is a complete vista reinstall, but you may have done that all rdy. Then there is that 680i motherboard. That raised a red flag in my mind, but its not exp based. Ive just seen too many people complain about that chipset.
 
Spyhawk said:
Either your card is defective( looks like the gpu bridge aint doing its job), motherboard problem(Need a new bios), card not getting enough power( make sure 6 pin and 8pin connectors are properly in place) or you have a borked driver instalation( Remove all drivers and reinstall, reboot or install the beta 8.8s. Ive heard some people say that the beta version did a better job.
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1) i agree may be card, came slightly damage where the slits under the dvi connector are
2) to flash bios do you have to have a floppy drive?
3) Power is enough, it was built for PCI Express 2.0 and have the pins native. I also used to have my 8800 gtx running there OC'd and it was fine. i've even ran benchmarks fine.
4) will try that, ill probably back up my data and reformat. whats better, 32 or 64 bit?

EDIT: Also, can updating my BIOS lose my compatibility with the 4870x2?
 
Not that Im aware of. Have never seen it in there.

Have you tried CCC at default settings ?
 
Spyhawk said:
Not that Im aware of. Have never seen it in there.

Have you tried CCC at default settings ?
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Reset to factory defaults still got 30 frames in WiC bench. Here, im just gonna back up and format. So what version of vista is better, 32 or 64 bit? and what version of catalyst drivers should i install?
 
Wasn't there an issue with this with the 3870X2 with the Water Quality setting ? Try lowing that one setting
 
Ya, I, once again, feel sorry for those having so many problems.

Im still using the 8.7's and have had no problems.

Ill try to report my FPS in the Bog level once I install COD4.
 
speedy523 said:
Just Ran World in Conflict Benchmark. All in Game Settings Maxed with forced 12x CFAA and 16x AF.

Avg. FPS 28

All in Game Settings Maxed. Running 4xAA with box filter and 16x AF, not forced, set in game.

Avg. FPS 30

All in Game Settings Maxed. Running 16x AF, not forced, set in game.

Avg. FPS 32

Something is definitely wrong. My 3DMARk Vantage GPU score is 13354. And im running the 8.8 Catalyst downloaded from ATi's site on Windows Vista 32 Bit.

Any recommendations?


Also, regular 4870's rape my in game frames with the same settings and an even higher resolution.....
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WiC loves quads:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scaling-in-games-with-quad-core-processors/4
 
speedy523 said:
ah, but the duo got 63 frames on the dual at my res, and i got the most powerful graphics card backing it up, so why is my frame rate crap? it also says CoD isnt that intensive, but my frames there are crap too.

But can someone quickly plz tell me, whats better, 32 or 64 bit vista?
And what catalyst drivers?

I need to format now!
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For gaming?

XP 32 bit, followed by Vista 32 bit and then Vista 64 bit.

Hence why I run dual boot ;)
 
I have run XP 32 and Vista 64 side by side (with 8800 GTX and 260 GTX) and I had absolutely no difference in FPS between the 2. I see no point to running Vista 32 unless you really have to, having more than 3.25gb of ram is nice :).
 
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