Need advice, down to two cards

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Riddleofsteel

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 4, 2007
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I'd like to upgrade video, but I can't really make a decision between a 4870x2 or a gtx 280 1gb. On one hand, the x2 seems to outperform everything almost, but seems to have driver and other issues. The gtx I hear is better for overclocking, might not be as fast as the x2 but runs cooler and quieter. Any advice for me? I really appreciate it.
 
HD 4870x2. I'm not an owner myself but reading around here and other forums 8.9 official really turned things around for the card. Easily max out any games and if you've got a highly clocked core 2 duo wolfdale and 4Gbs+ ram you shouldn't have any trouble playing with 4xaa at 1920x1200 in crysis.
imo I would wait a month more before deciding where to drop that much money maybe ati partners will start coming out with non reference overclocked 4870x2 with better aftermarket cooling.
 
more info please, what rez you game at and so one. Right now the 4870X2 is the most powerful and prettiest card but it really seams to really shine at 30". under that the picture is fuzzier. To be honest I got 95% of what I wanted with my GTX280 and got it a full 200 dollars less ten a 4870X2 but I am gaming at 2.3mp. I think that would change if I was playing at 4mp. Also what mother board do you have? and the rest of your system ?
 
Having used both, I think both have their ups and downs. Right now though I am using the 4870x2.
 
I just got a 4870X2.. Upgraded from an 8800GTX. So far the 4870x2, while impressive when working properly, has been nothing but a headache.

I uninstalled the old cards drivers, uninstalled the old card, installed the new card, installed the new cards drivers, and the screen went black and stayed that way. Rebooted and once the windows login screen came up the screen went black again. I eventually figured out I had to use an analog cable instead of DVI to get it working. By that time though the drivers were seriously hosed and I ended up having to reinstall Vista (64-bit).

That worked for a short while, but after trying some of the possible fixes for the DVI issue that I found on the internet the video card drivers ended up even more screwed up and I had to re-install Vista a second time.

It now seems to work for the most part. I was able to run Crysis on all Very-high settings at 1920x1200 without difficulty. However, when playing Warhammer online I get glitches on the ground textures after playing for 30 minutes or more. I think this is possible an overheating issue, though I am not certain yet.

Anyway, given it to do over again I would probably go with the gtx 280. It is competitive enough in performance, and cheaper as well. Given those two facts and the likelihood I would not have all these issues with drivers and artifacts, it seems I made the wrong choice.
 
arentol said:
I just got a 4870X2.. Upgraded from an 8800GTX. So far the 4870x2, while impressive when working properly, has been nothing but a headache.

I uninstalled the old cards drivers, uninstalled the old card, installed the new card, installed the new cards drivers, and the screen went black and stayed that way. Rebooted and once the windows login screen came up the screen went black again. I eventually figured out I had to use an analog cable instead of DVI to get it working. By that time though the drivers were seriously hosed and I ended up having to reinstall Vista (64-bit).

That worked for a short while, but after trying some of the possible fixes for the DVI issue that I found on the internet the video card drivers ended up even more screwed up and I had to re-install Vista a second time.

It now seems to work for the most part. I was able to run Crysis on all Very-high settings at 1920x1200 without difficulty. However, when playing Warhammer online I get glitches on the ground textures after playing for 30 minutes or more. I think this is possible an overheating issue, though I am not certain yet.

Anyway, given it to do over again I would probably go with the gtx 280. It is competitive enough in performance, and cheaper as well. Given those two facts and the likelihood I would not have all these issues with drivers and artifacts, it seems I made the wrong choice.
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I like my GTX280 but I wish people would stop thinking it as a more stable card. I had about a week of headaches getting the damn thing to work right and I was upgrading from a 8800GTX. It has an entire set of issues of its own. Neither ATI or Nvidia has a edge this round in problems, it just picking the ones you want to deal with.
 
Valset said:
I like my GTX280 but I wish people would stop thinking it as a more stable card. I had about a week of headaches getting the damn thing to work right and I was upgrading from a 8800GTX. It has an entire set of issues of its own. Neither ATI or Nvidia has a edge this round in problems, it just picking the ones you want to deal with.
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Alot of people are thinking that. To be honest I have gone from a GTX280 to a 4870x2 and then back a few times and pretty much had 0 issues besides the DVI port problem in the 4870x2.
 
AthlonXP said:
Alot of people are thinking that. To be honest I have gone from a GTX280 to a 4870x2 and then back a few times and pretty much had 0 issues besides the DVI port problem in the 4870x2.
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rub it in why don't you? :D

I wonder if it just isn't a problem with there being too much hardware to get to work together. My problem was my monitor and card (really common with the GTX series) and it seems that ATI has some similar problems.
 
As some said, its pretty much predicated on your system. If you play at less than 1920x1200 and have a mid-range to high/mid CPU the extra $$ for an HD 4870 X2 might be a bit of a waste. Might see better framerates in non-CPU areas of games, but not much improvement (if any) over a GTX 280 in CPU bottleneck situations (which are many in a lot of games).

I have an X2 6400+ with a 22" monitor and recently upgraded from an 8800 GTX to just a GTX 260 OC'd to 666 Mhz. While its much better running around the countryside in a game like Oblivion, as soon as a pile of NPCs show up in a zone or torches get lit it drops back down to just slightly better FPS than the 8800 GTX. Classic bottlenecking.

Just something to consider.
 
Well I have a Biostar Tpower I45 running an E8600 cpu. 8gb of ram, not overclocked. My current card, a 4870 with a passive cooler ( I put fans on it anyway), has trouble with games like Stalker : Clear Sky and of course Crysis. I have a 22" CRT currently, so I was looking into hopefully stepping up my graphics card and selling the 4870. Does that push the decision either way? I am still torn on the two based on what has been mentioned so far, with a slight edge going to the x2 but I don't have a 30" monitor. Thanks for the replies.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
Well I have a Biostar Tpower I45 running an E8600 cpu. 8gb of ram, not overclocked. My current card, a 4870 with a passive cooler ( I put fans on it anyway), has trouble with games like Stalker : Clear Sky and of course Crysis. I have a 22" CRT currently, so I was looking into hopefully stepping up my graphics card and selling the 4870. Does that push the decision either way? I am still torn on the two based on what has been mentioned so far, with a slight edge going to the x2 but I don't have a 30" monitor. Thanks for the replies.
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If your look at crysis then the GTX280 is your card. that is the next step up from a 4870, that and the newer 216 GTX260 but it would help to have the rest of your system specs to make that judgment. A 4870X2 is going to be largely wasted on a 22. really I am thinking you have some other issue here. Crysis should be playable with a 4870 on a 22" monitor.
 
Well, I use on-board realtek sound, use a samsung sata-II hard drive, but that's really all the stuff that might affect performance I believe. Maybe the extra ram is slower? I don't know for certain. Is the GTX260-216 version better than buying a GTX280? Thanks again.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
I'd like to upgrade video, but I can't really make a decision between a 4870x2 or a gtx 280 1gb. On one hand, the x2 seems to outperform everything almost, but seems to have driver and other issues. The gtx I hear is better for overclocking, might not be as fast as the x2 but runs cooler and quieter. Any advice for me? I really appreciate it.
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I am in the same boat as you. I am looking to upgrade the video card in the system listed in my sig. (8800gtx). I game at 1920x1080 and want to ramp up the details on the new games coming out.

These are the cards I am deciding between but I don't know which to choose. I may wait to see if a die shrink is coming for the 280gtx or if 3rd party 4870x2's start to come out. Black friday is also starting to inch closer :)
 
Riddleofsteel said:
Well, I use on-board realtek sound, use a samsung sata-II hard drive, but that's really all the stuff that might affect performance I believe. Maybe the extra ram is slower? I don't know for certain. Is the GTX260-216 version better than buying a GTX280? Thanks again.
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no, look at the H review. It beats a 4870 but not enough to warrant upgrading from it. but again at your screen you should be able to play both those games

whats your CPU, what type of memory, motherboard, and such. at 1.7mp the 4870 should shine. take a look http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...eon-hd4870-512mb-graphics-card-review-13.html

also shows what I am talking about with the GTX280
 
jzodda said:
I am in the same boat as you. I am looking to upgrade the video card in the system listed in my sig. (8800gtx). I game at 1920x1080 and want to ramp up the details on the new games coming out.

These are the cards I am deciding between but I don't know which to choose. I may wait to see if a die shrink is coming for the 280gtx or if 3rd party 4870x2's start to come out. Black friday is also starting to inch closer :)
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I just broke down and got a GTX280. then again I got it for 343 AR.
 
Like I mentioned earlier, I have a biostar T-Force I45 motherboard, an intel 45nm E8600, and G.Skill 2x4 gb of ddr2-800.
 
You say you have a 22" CRT, what rez are you running on it most of the time? I'm assuming some are seeing your 22" and immediately thinking 1680x1050, but that could be a big mistake. You may be pushing more pixels then a 24" WS.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
Like I mentioned earlier, I have a biostar T-Force I45 motherboard, an intel 45nm E8600, and G.Skill 2x4 gb of ddr2-800.
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then I wish to retract my GTX280 statement. the best upgrade path would be to get a seconded 4870 and crossfire it.

that would put you on par with 4870X2 minus the small benefit from the extra memory that you will not see any difference at your screen size.

sorry I missed it in the thread. are you overclocking that CPU?
 
Riddleofsteel said:
No, not overclocking yet. I usually run games at 1600x1200 when I can do so comfortably.
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that would be an easy performance gain. but bang for your buck is probably going to be a seconded 4870. it would rule anything at that resolution. Give the little difference between the setups at your resolution I don't see any reason go to the 4870 X2 and no reason to get a GTX280 when you can do better by dropping in a seconded card.
 
If I had the money I would get the 4870x2. Please be sure to get a good power supply the sucker.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
My current card, a 4870 with a passive cooler ( I put fans on it anyway)
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I usually run games at 1600x1200
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I think the answer also becomes easy for you. You can save money and just buy a second 4870.

At 1600x1200 you would be hard pressed to find a game that would give that resolution a hard time with 2 4870s. In fact I am surprised that 1600x1200 gives that card a hard time in any game, including the Stalker expansion.

It must be a very poorly optimized game.
 
Sorry to dredge this back up, but do I need the exact same video card as my existing card to crossfire them? Thanks.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
Sorry to dredge this back up, but do I need the exact same video card as my existing card to crossfire them? Thanks.
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nope. keep in mind if you have an OC version it will down clock to the lesser card though. just so long as its a 4870 with 512mb of ram.
 
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