I currently have an ATI 3870 X2 and an NVIDIA 9800 GX2 available to me and I am trying to decide which I should use in the new gaming box I'm going to build (I will sell the other one). Which would you guys recommend keeping? I am leaning towards the ATI card because it supposedly uses less electricity for almost the same performance. However, I know that NVIDIA's drivers have PowerMizer that automatically underclocks the cards when they are not in use. I am (1) not sure if the reviews enable that feature when they post idle usage and (2) not sure if ATI has anything similar. If ATI doesn't it seems the NVIDIA card would be an obvious choice. I've never had an ATI card so can anyone tell me if ATI has a similar feature to PowerMizer (I know they have an automatic overclock feature, but not sure if it works the other way)?
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ATI or NVIDIA + ATI auto underclock?
- Thread starter CefiroZ
- Start date
not sure but I would dump the 9800GX2 due to the resale value being better. The 3870 plays decent in some games and is slower then the 9800GX2 but it seems like 3870X2 has a higher user satisfaction for some reason, I just don't here people complaining about it but I sure here a lot about the 9800GX2, a lot of people can't wait to get rid of it.
Neither card is ideal, but when the 3870X2 doesn't scale, you're falling back on a single 3870, which is noticeably slower than the 8800GT. With the GX2, you're falling back on a single 9800 GPU which is still pretty good.
Maybe sell both and get a 4870/GTX260. Even a 4850 would probably be prefered, depending on what resolition you play at. It isn't much slower than a 3870X2 even when the X2 is scaling properly, and when it doesn't, the 4850 is significantly faster, and you get more consistent performance without micro-stutters or other problems.
Maybe sell both and get a 4870/GTX260. Even a 4850 would probably be prefered, depending on what resolition you play at. It isn't much slower than a 3870X2 even when the X2 is scaling properly, and when it doesn't, the 4850 is significantly faster, and you get more consistent performance without micro-stutters or other problems.