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4870 Purchasing Help

Z

Zokudu

n00b
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
5
I want to get a 1Gb 4870 card for my new rig but I dont know which to buy. Or should I wait for cooling to improve on them?

Heres my planned rig:
3.16 ghz core 2 duo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345
4gb ddr2 ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156078
Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015
640 Gb hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148335
Optical Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106228
Extra case fan:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998102
Windows Vista
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

I was thinking about going with sapphire and this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102795

In added the extra case fan to try and help the cooling but I'm unsure about which brand/card to buy. Any help is appreciated. (btw I'm probably going to switch to a cheaper plain fan because I dont need prettyness in my machine)
 
They're all the same reference design (except for the powercolor) so it really doesn't matter which one you get. The cooling on the cards is fine. Actually, it's excellent. The only problem is to get the excellent cooling you have to deal with the noisy fan. Putting the fan on ~30-35% is a good compromise between cooling and noise though.
 
Is the cooling changable on the go. Like if I have a low performance thing going on can I turn it down to keep it quiet. But if I'm doing something bigger I can up the cooling?
 
Both Palit and Asus have 1GB cards coming out with improved cooling,I'll probably wait for one of those.The Palit card is a 1GB version of the dual fan Sonic model now out.The Asus card is part of their new "Dark Knight" line of cards.
 
The build is planned for around christmas so I need all parts in around mid-November early-december. Think either of those cards will be out by then? And I am on a budget will either of those likely break the bank big-time?
 
I think the Palit should be available soon,probably close to the cost of the Sapphire.The Asus was just announced,have no clue when and how much it'll be.
 
I noticed that the Gigabyte 4870 (512MB) is only $200 on Newegg after a $40 mail-in rebate. I game at 1680x1050. Would a 1gb 4870 make a noticeable difference to me, or should I jump on this deal while it's available>
 
I would go with the VisonTek HD4870 as the card comes with lifetime warranty. Also, I would make a few changes to your system:
1. You should look into a better power supply (such as the Corsair 620HX). Toms Hardware had a good article on power supplies.
2. Definitely look into some aftermarket cooling for the CPU (Thermalright Ultra-120 is one of the best coolers)
3. If you plan to play games and such, you should probably get an aftermarket cooler for the video card. The Thermalright HR-03 GT is what I currently have and is an excellent cooler, keeping the card under 50C on load.
 
Zokudu said:
Is the cooling changable on the go. Like if I have a low performance thing going on can I turn it down to keep it quiet. But if I'm doing something bigger I can up the cooling?
Click to expand...

Yes, though you can automate it so you don't need to constantly switch manually. Using RivaTuner, you can do this in less than a minute.
 
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