4870 1gb or GTX260 216 core

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zod96

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I'm building a new system for a buddy and was wondering which would be the card to get for a new system. Either a 4870 1 GB or a GTX260 216 core. He plays games at 1680x1050 and likes to play GRID, BF2, COD5 and Far Cry 2.....their both about the same price.....
 
Flip a coin.
Seriously, they're so close they each have edges over the other in this or that game. Your mobo selection might dictate the choice a bit in terms of Xfire v. SLi.
 
If he is looking for the best value, the 192 core gtx 260 from newegg is the way to go. There is a thread about it in the Deals section. Can't beat $170 AR...
 
BIWMirage said:
If he is looking for the best value, the 192 core gtx 260 from newegg is the way to go. There is a thread about it in the Deals section. Can't beat $170 AR...
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have to agree here, and if you use cashback there is one for 135. other wise the 4870 1gb is the better card. the 216 really didn't do much except let nvidia raise the price and increase some canned benchmarks.
 
From what I've been reading it seems multi GPU scaling with ATI has fewer driver issues and better preformance increases. TBH I'm glad to have finally gone back to ATI with my HD 4870 512 :)
 
BIWMirage said:
If he is looking for the best value, the 192 core gtx 260 from newegg is the way to go. There is a thread about it in the Deals section. Can't beat $170 AR...
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Valset said:
have to agree here, and if you use cashback there is one for 135. other wise the 4870 1gb is the better card. the 216 really didn't do much except let nvidia raise the price and increase some canned benchmarks.
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I'm not going to disagree with these statements but the OP was specifically asking about the 216core. What you guys said isn't untrue. But its like in the cpu world when guys ask about E8500 vs Q6600 and then recommending the E7200 because its cheaper and a better value or saying Q9550 because it performs so much better. I don't know that we answer the question even if our intent is to help. Perhaps there is no right answer
 
I did answer, the 4870 1gb is the better card all around IMO. it is slightly faster, somewhat cheaper. Other info was volunteered but I don't see the harm in including the best bang for the buck
 
GonzoP said:
Flip a coin.
Seriously, they're so close they each have edges over the other in this or that game. Your mobo selection might dictate the choice a bit in terms of Xfire v. SLi.
Click to expand...

QFT, if its a X58/NF7xx build get the 260, otherwise get the 4870.
 
Valset said:
I did answer, the 4870 1gb is the better card all around IMO. it is slightly faster, somewhat cheaper. Other info was volunteered but I don't see the harm in including the best bang for the buck
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Of course it depends on what benchmarks you're reading, but they are close enough to call it a tie. But ATI's CCC sucks and their current drivers are still a bit buggy from what I've been reading. Someone chime in if there's been any improvement. I had a 4850 for a few months and was disappointed with it. I had to put my older 8800GTS back in because of the amount of issues I had.

I'd get the GTX 260 Core 216 unless you want better performance with 8xAA. The 4870 1GB owns there.
 
dark_reign said:
Of course it depends on what benchmarks you're reading, but they are close enough to call it a tie. But ATI's CCC sucks and their current drivers are still a bit buggy from what I've been reading. Someone chime in if there's been any improvement. I had a 4850 for a few months and was disappointed with it. I had to put my older 8800GTS back in because of the amount of issues I had.

I'd get the GTX 260 Core 216 unless you want better performance with 8xAA. The 4870 1GB owns there.
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everyone goes back and forth on the driver issue, the truth is both have their problems (I have had to deal with both) I can not honestly say that one is better then the other in this regard. more like take a pick of your evils .
 
GonzoP said:
I'm not going to disagree with these statements but the OP was specifically asking about the 216core. What you guys said isn't untrue. But its like in the cpu world when guys ask about E8500 vs Q6600 and then recommending the E7200 because its cheaper and a better value or saying Q9550 because it performs so much better. I don't know that we answer the question even if our intent is to help. Perhaps there is no right answer
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I was just offering another scenario for his friend if he was trying to save some money. Based on reviews, you will not see much difference between the three cards and one is around $100 less. But I agree with you on the part about the E7200.
 
Valset said:
I did answer, the 4870 1gb is the better card all around IMO. it is slightly faster, somewhat cheaper.
Click to expand...
Valset said:
I can not honestly say that one is better then the other in this regard. more like take a pick of your evils .
Click to expand...
:p So which is it? Seriously its easier to sit on the fence than pick a side. When you sit the fence you're not wrong when the Crysis fan boys start showing their GTX260 benchmarks.
 
BIWMirage said:
I was just offering another scenario for his friend if he was trying to save some money. Based on reviews, you will not see much difference between the three cards and one is around $100 less. But I agree with you on the part about the E7200.
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That's fair. I'm not criticizing you or Valset above. Its natural to try and help and offer the best scenario even if it supercedes the original scenario. At the end of the day these 4870v260 and dualvquad issues sometimes don't have a right/best answer.
I concur the 192core represents the best value/deal of the three and the one I'd steer someone towards if he was considering the 192. Maybe he should and maybe by mentioned the 192 the OP now has something else to ponder.
 
dark_reign said:
Of course it depends on what benchmarks you're reading, but they are close enough to call it a tie. But ATI's CCC sucks and their current drivers are still a bit buggy from what I've been reading. Someone chime in if there's been any improvement. I had a 4850 for a few months and was disappointed with it. I had to put my older 8800GTS back in because of the amount of issues I had.

I'd get the GTX 260 Core 216 unless you want better performance with 8xAA. The 4870 1GB owns there.
Click to expand...

I can't help but notice a trend. The ones who complain the most about ATI's drivers are the ones who go from nvidia to ATI back to nvidia. While that is logical since there are only two choices, but I suspect that crud being left over from the nvidia drivers are the real problem. I haven't seen anyone complain about ATI drivers who went from, say, a 3xxx or 2xxx series card to the 4xxx series. It is also always someone complaining who did more of a side step than an upgrade (like going from the 8800GT/GTS to a 4850)

But I digress. The ATI drivers work great for me, and I like CCC. CCC launches just as fast as the nvidia control panel did (I was running a 7950GT before the 4850 I have now).
 
GonzoP said:
:p So which is it? Seriously its easier to sit on the fence than pick a side. When you sit the fence you're not wrong when the Crysis fan boys start showing their GTX260 benchmarks.
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I was referring to the drivers, and in that regard neither is really better or worse.

The 4870 1gb is the better card all round. unless you care about crysis.
 
I run Driver Sweeper, so no driver residue here.

My problems with the 4850 were related to vsync not working in-game or when forced on some games (had to use D3DOverrider), random and massive frame rate dips in Stalker CS, a refraction shader bug in Oblivion, some other weird bugs, and I was getting the "Atikmdag has stopped responding" error on the desktop at random times. I realize Nvidia has a similar bug, but I haven't experienced it with any NVIDIA card I've owned since upgrading to Vista.

CCC really needs an overhaul as I find that's it gotten worse since using a X800XL (2006?), and they need to add game profiles so you don't have to resort to using a third-party app or trying to create them, which I find tedious.

The other thing I've noticed with ATI is they tend to fix stuff but break other stuff with every driver release more so than NVIDIA. I know I'm ranting, but having owned a 9800 Pro, X800XL and a 4850. It's really bothersome.
 
kllrnohj said:
I can't help but notice a trend. The ones who complain the most about ATI's drivers are the ones who go from nvidia to ATI back to nvidia. While that is logical since there are only two choices, but I suspect that crud being left over from the nvidia drivers are the real problem. I haven't seen anyone complain about ATI drivers who went from, say, a 3xxx or 2xxx series card to the 4xxx series. It is also always someone complaining who did more of a side step than an upgrade (like going from the 8800GT/GTS to a 4850)

But I digress. The ATI drivers work great for me, and I like CCC. CCC launches just as fast as the nvidia control panel did (I was running a 7950GT before the 4850 I have now).
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Agree, and some of it would be from the nvidia marketing people that have multiple stealth forum accounts - like a few of the people from the AT video forums (and the additional minions they also have) that periodically post FUD.
 
What about heat and power issues? I (may be incorrect) heard something about 48x0 cards running upwards of 80~90C. How does GTX260 216 compare?
 
I just bought an EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked

Temperature wise the card runs around 50C idle and between 60-70C when gaming (depending on the game). When I fold on it it can hit 72-75C. This is all with the default fan speed settings.

I don't have an issue with power since I'm using a Corsair HX1000 but my video card makes a high frequency noise in folding, and a buzzing sound in certain games. I'm almost sure its a capacitor or a toroid on the card vibrating.
 
dark_reign said:
CCC really needs an overhaul as I find that's it gotten worse since using a X800XL (2006?), and they need to add game profiles so you don't have to resort to using a third-party app or trying to create them, which I find tedious.
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Game profiles would be nice, but I can't say that I really miss the feature. I never really used it when I had an nvidia card. Personally, I just globally force 16xAF, and almost every other game that I play lets me set AA in game. There really isn't anything left to set in a game profile. For the few games that don't let me specify AA, it really isn't all that difficult to just click the system tray icon and set AA from there - no need to go into CCC at all.
 
koss said:
What about heat and power issues? I (may be incorrect) heard something about 48x0 cards running upwards of 80~90C. How does GTX260 216 compare?
Click to expand...

Don't make the mistake of confusing temperature with heat. The two are not the same. High temperatures does not mean high heat. The GTX 260 and 4870 use comparable amounts of power and generate similar amounts of heat. The 48x0 cards run hot (80c-90c) under load because ATI chose quiet operation of lower temperatures - it was engineered that way, it is *not* a problem. Upping the fan speed will drastically lower the temps if you are concerned about it - a feature that is built into the CCC Overdrive.
 
GonzoP said:
Flip a coin.
Seriously, they're so close they each have edges over the other in this or that game. Your mobo selection might dictate the choice a bit in terms of Xfire v. SLi.
Click to expand...

QFT. Performance wise, they're almost the same. So you have to look at other factors such as manufacturer support and warranty, bundle deals, etc.

Right now, you can get the GTX260 Core 216 for $250 with a copy of FC2:
eVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB PCI-E Video Card - $250

Cheapest HD4870 1GB I could find on newegg (without dealing with rebates) was $275 with no bundle and made by Powercolor. So I recommend getting the above eVGA GTX260 since it's cheaper, comes with a decent game and is backed by a better company.
 
I was in the same boat as the OP. I like both cards, but at the time I felt better about the $250 shipped EVGA core 216 than $300-$350 + shipping HD4870 1GB. I say at the time because prices have changed, however, I don't regret my purchase at all. If you can get a deal on either one, I'd go for it.
 
Danny Bui said:
QFT. Performance wise, they're almost the same. So you have to look at other factors such as manufacturer support and warranty, bundle deals, etc.

Right now, you can get the GTX260 Core 216 for $250 with a copy of FC2:
eVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB PCI-E Video Card - $250

Cheapest HD4870 1GB I could find on newegg (without dealing with rebates) was $275 with no bundle and made by Powercolor. So I recommend getting the above eVGA GTX260 since it's cheaper, comes with a decent game and is backed by a better company.
Click to expand...

solid bundle. curious to see what that price will be @ Black Friday.

The BFG MaxCORE is $249 AR. Wow....I guess they are clearing out inventory for the new cards.
 
Danny Bui said:
QFT. Performance wise, they're almost the same. So you have to look at other factors such as manufacturer support and warranty, bundle deals, etc.

Right now, you can get the GTX260 Core 216 for $250 with a copy of FC2:
eVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB PCI-E Video Card - $250

Cheapest HD4870 1GB I could find on newegg (without dealing with rebates) was $275 with no bundle and made by Powercolor. So I recommend getting the above eVGA GTX260 since it's cheaper, comes with a decent game and is backed by a better company.
Click to expand...

performance wise 260+ wins easy.
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10559&Itemid=1
 
zod96 said:
I'm building a new system for a buddy and was wondering which would be the card to get for a new system. Either a 4870 1 GB or a GTX260 216 core. He plays games at 1680x1050 and likes to play GRID, BF2, COD5 and Far Cry 2.....their both about the same price.....
Click to expand...

They are basically even, so get whatever is cheaper or the one with the best package and warranty.
 
like i said the gtx260+ smokes the 4870 and the 9800gtx+ smokes the 4850,
 
dark_reign said:
But ATI's CCC sucks
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I like it better than nvidia's control panel.

I also like nvidia cards more this year, idle power consumption on the GTX260 is far lower than the 4870. That matters a lot to me because I'm only using my system to game maybe 25% of the time that it is on.
 
at 1680x1050 I don't see how you'd see a difference with any of those cards.. i mean, they both would perform at a rate so similar you wouldn't know the difference between the two if they were side by side at that resolution.
 
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