HD5770 vs GTX 260

[turkeyspit]

I'm kinda of in limbo here. My computer is getting a bit old (almost 3 yrs now) but I'm not in the place to drop the cash for a brand new system.

As such I was hoping to give a breath of life for my system via a new vid card (since my old one was dying). Given the I was using a Radeon x1900, I decided to stick with the ATI brand and picked up a 5770 over the GTX 260.

The reason why I did so was because based on the stats, the 5770 was more advanced, making it more likely to be "contemporary" when I do get my new system.

-DDR 5 mem
-DX11 support

Seemed like a better call over the GTX 260s DDR3 / DX10.

But now I have a problem. I've discovered that the 5xxx system of cards has some problems with 2D artifacts/crashing because the card doesn't like it's memory to be 'downclocked', which happens during idle times to preserve power. I've been having this problem, which is what brought me to the interweb.

Since searching out the solution, I've found thread after thread of people bitching about poor drivers, loss of performance in older games (HL2 / Source powered), etc, and now I'm scared that I made the wrong choice. I'm also sure that Physx will be more important to me than Eyefinity, given that I only have 1 monitor.

Now, if I ask the question, I know the nvidia fanboys will tell me how ATI sucks and how incompetent they are. ATI fanboys will then tell me the exact same about nvidia. (ironically, the x1900 Radeon I had was a result of returning an XFX 7900 card, because iirc, that chipset was problematic)

So what do I do? Do I just ignore the rabid posts I keep coming across as being 'normal', assuming that I'd find the identical stuff were I to lookup the GTX 260? Or has nvidia just pulled ahead of ATI, and despite of what I think, the GTX 260 would be a better choice, and I should return my card while I have the chance?





ps. As much as I love PC gaming (started with The Bards Tale on my Apple IIe clone w/ green monocrome screen!) I can see the attraction to XBOX/PS3 consoles, as they never have to deal with this shite.

 

[Aktunka]

I have two 5770s in Crossfire on one of my machines and not having any issues at all whether just in Windows 7 or in gaming. It could just be that you have a defective card. Have you tried doing an RMA?

 

[Stiffy]

I also have a 5770 and am using Windows 7 and I haven't come across any issue whatsoever.

 

[MrXROK]

You could probably flash the card so 2D stays a little higher clocks than default.

 

[misan-thrope]

My 5770 never has its memory downclock, only the core will go from 875 or whatever I have it overclocked to down to 400. Memory stands firm at 1200/whatever i OC it to.

 

[4x4not]

This is a driver and/or "tweaking utility" issue that can be fixed by simply not using ATI Overdrive. I leave my 5770 at stock speeds without OD and it works perfectly fine (core stays @ 400Mhz idle instead of the 1xxMhz idle).

I was even told by the manufacture (XFX) to use a third-party overclocking utility if I had problems with Overdrive.

 

[Rahnter]

nm wrong thread

 

[noquarter]

In 2d idle the 5770 clocks to 157 core 300 memory on a single monitor and 400 core 1200 memory on dual/triple monitor. The only issue I've heard with the clock speeds is flickering when you set an OC on the card because it reverts the idle speed to 157/300 clock even if you have dual monitors which causes the flickering on the monitors.

I haven't heard of the idle clocks being the cause of any artifacting/crashing. If it's artifacting/crashing it's probably a bad card.

 

[LAiN_OfTheWired]

My 5770s do not display this issue, either. You could try editing the 2D clocks either through app or BIOS edit, but you may want to RMA this card first to make sure its not something bad on it.