Goodbye 4870X2

[Markyip1]

Hey friends,

It's been a long time since I've posted here -- I hope everyone is well. I have something to share with you all:

After two years with this loud, dusty, defective card--I've had it. The fact that it builds up so much dust in such a short amount of time--that it routinely overheats while idle--is unacceptable. It's not something to put up with, it's a design flaw.

About six months ago I tinkered with replacing the hunk of junk with a 5870, but decided not to since it wouldn't be a performance upgrade of any sort. Now with the GTX 460 SLI setups taking names, I'll bite. Still, I decided I'd give the card one last shot by finally dismantling it piece-by-piece for a thorough in-depth cleaning, as others have suggested I do. I don't know how others manage this, but this was by far the most difficult piece of hardware I've ever disassembled. I have bruises just by getting the eight backplate screws off, and that's after trying three different variable-head screw-drivers and two jeweler sets. It's impossible.

So I gave up, threw the fan shroud away, and proceeded to transform the card to its above form. It felt good. Very good. I think, given all that this card has put me through, that it was worth the $120 or so I may have been able to fetch if I resold it.

Now then... the question is, what should I replace this with? =)

 

[Lateralus]

Heh. Would have preferred shots of it on fire or being shot with a .357, but whatever eases your frustrations and brings closure for you.

As for your question, 470 SLI would be nice if you can swing it. If not, 460 SLI certainly isn't a bad option.

 

[wrangler]

Awesome!

Since you obviously don't mind multi-gpu, GTX 460 SLI seems to be the sexy thing right now and it's priced right. + SLI>CFX

 

[bastage]

Now then... the question is, what should I replace this with? =)

a Pair of GTX460's is what I would do since it seems that the rest of your system is already up to spec for SLI..

 

[desmopilot]

Awesome!

Since you obviously don't mind multi-gpu, GTX 460 SLI seems to be the sexy thing right now and it's priced right. + SLI>CFX

Agreed with this. 460 SLI is cheaper and out preforms a single 480.

 

[GotNoRice]

After two years with this loud, dusty, defective card--I've had it. The fact that it builds up so much dust in such a short amount of time--that it routinely overheats while idle--is unacceptable. It's not something to put up with, it's a design flaw.

The thing does collect dust rather fast but all it takes is some regular maintenance, is that such a difficult concept? I suggested removing the fan shroud as is required when the dust buildup gets really bad but that is only something that is required as a result of months upon months of neglect (aka YOUR fault, not any kind of "design flaw" ). Once the card is clean, you can easily keep it that way via a once-a-month compressed air cleaning.

Still, I decided I'd give the card one last shot by finally dismantling it piece-by-piece for a thorough in-depth cleaning, as others have suggested I do. I don't know how others manage this, but this was by far the most difficult piece of hardware I've ever disassembled. I have bruises just by getting the eight backplate screws off, and that's after trying three different variable-head screw-drivers and two jeweler sets. It's impossible.

I've disassembled both of my cards and I've also disassembled a friend's card to put on an accelero cooler. I don't recall having any particular difficulty with any of those 3 cards. Not sure why yours was apparently so tight.

So I gave up, threw the fan shroud away, and proceeded to transform the card to its above form. It felt good. Very good. I think, given all that this card has put me through, that it was worth the $120 or so I may have been able to fetch if I resold it.

All the card has put you through? Just think of all you put your card through. You neglected it until it got caked with dust, blamed the problems you caused on it, then cracked it in half. Grats

Now then... the question is, what should I replace this with? =)

Go with something simple since complicated electronics are a bit too much for you to handle apparently.

Absolute worst case you could have just ran the card with Catalyst AI disabled, which would have meant you would only be using one of the GPUs and likely would have cut way down on heat/power consumption and likely made your overheating issue irrelevant. Waste ftl.

 

[Markyip1]

Absolute worst case you could have just ran the card with Catalyst AI disabled, which would have meant you would only be using one of the GPUs and likely would have cut way down on heat/power consumption and likely made your overheating issue irrelevant. Waste ftl.

Haha, ok... whatever dude. I've been building rigs for twenty years, and if you look at my sig and my record of posts here, I think it's clear that I know what I'm doing. It's absolutely a design flaw when a single component builds up order-of-magnitudes more dust than my entire system combined, or any of the past five graphics cards I've had. I've never, ever had to clean out my two 8800 GTXs for example, and they're still going strong (in fact I'm using one now as I wait for my new cards to arrive.) A graphics card--which is often put into systems like Dells or Gateways that will never, ever be cleaned out--should be able to maintain itself without physical user upkeep, given the computer rests in a reasonably dust-free or dust-controlled environment (as mine does.) Even my complex, custom built water-loop can go six months without a checkout and top-off. Anyway, that's all I'm going to respond to that.

To everyone else:

So I went with 2 Gigbayte GTX 460s. Looking forward to these smaller profile, quieter, and considerably more efficient cards. It'll be fun to run an SLI rig again--this time without the headaches of a nForce board.

Also looking forward to the Cuda capabilities and seeing how these puppies handle CS5.

 

[Dangman]

Good luck with the GPU upgrades!

Oh and welcome back!

 

[RoyLuv]

I went from 4870x2 to an SLI 460 setup. A great upgrade for the money imo. I put an accelero cooler on it about a year ago and it was kind of a pain in the ass compared to any other card I've disassembled. It ran way hot and was loud as balls. Eventually I couldn't take the jet engine noise anymore and put the after market cooler on it.

Although I don't loathe it as much as you do, I was happy to get it out of my baby.

You will be happy with your purchase.

And if I didn't need the money to resell it, I'd do the same thing with mine.

 

[BlindedByScience]

....Waste ftl.

Well, that's one opinion.....

Truth is, descruction of aggrevating hardware is a bit of a tradition around here. I have myself taken my .44 Mag to video cards, flakey hard drives, motherboards, etc. and felt wonderful for having done it.....