Support needed from fellow addicts

[fsh42na]

I already have an EVGA 260 core 216 card for an I7 build to be done soon. Because I have no self-control when it comes to a good deal, I picked up another 920 cpu at Microcenter. Consequently, I need another video card. Common sense (mine) tells me to stay with EVGA/ XFX for their warranties and support for after market cooling. However, the "what if" side of me wants to test out the new 4890 (or 4870 1gb) just because. I know XFX puts out these cards and would support after market cooling. Problem is I've yet to find an after market cooler that'll kick out the hot exhaust out the back. Consquently, I've decided that if I'm gonna test ATI waters, I'd stick with a card using a (hopefully) quieter variant of the stock cooler.

Questions:

(1) How loud do these 4870/4890 coolers get? I know it's subjective, but one of my pc's will be in my bedroom and I tend to do a little gaming in the evening when the boss is asleep.

(2) Do the 4870/4890's offer any real life advantage over the 260 core 216?

(3) What are your experiences with the Sapphire Toxic line and the HIS IceQ series of cards? I saw a review of the HIS in Max PC and they said that noise wasn't bad.

(4) Current driver issues with Nvidia vs ATI on 64bit Vista? I heard of some with both a while back.


Thanks for any and all thoughts/ advice

 

[G0M3S]

1) I just recently upgraded from an 8800GTS 512 to a 4890. The cooler is louder, but not that much worse, I only really notice it in game. Its quiet enough I can have it running 24/7 in my bedroom.

2) As for the upgrade I probably would advise against, the improvement wasn't that huge even from my 8800 let alone a GTX 260.

3) I have an ASUS card, and before the 4890, I only had Nvidia cards, so I don't have any experience with Sapphire and HIS.

4) I used to greatly prefer the Nvidia drivers, but the ATI drivers have come along way, and I actually prefer them now. (no need to install ntune to overclock, overdrive is included in the catalyst control center)

 

[Digital Viper-X-]

OK! Well the 4870 cooler to me has an annoying sound at above 35% it's not louder or quieter then the GTX 2xx series, both are audible, I just didn't like the ATI sound, good thing is a $25 acellero S1 rev 2 can fix that problem for the ATI, a bit more expensive to get the GTX series to shut up(having that problem now with my 285)

 

[fsh42na]

thanks for the feedback

I was looking at the ATI more for variety than an upgrade since I already have the 260 core 216 for my first build. I'm just trying to not be an Nvidia fanboy for my 2nd build. If the noise is dramatically greater, drivers significantly worse/buggier, then I'd stick with another 260 core 216. Based on your responses, the noise can be fixed (unfortunately would void the warranty unless I got the XFX) and the drivers aren't necessarily worse.

Decisions, decisions......

Thanks again.

 

[Digital Viper-X-]

thanks for the feedback

I was looking at the ATI more for variety than an upgrade since I already have the 260 core 216 for my first build. I'm just trying to not be an Nvidia fanboy for my 2nd build. If the noise is dramatically greater, drivers significantly worse/buggier, then I'd stick with another 260 core 216. Based on your responses, the noise can be fixed (unfortunately would void the warranty unless I got the XFX) and the drivers aren't necessarily worse.

Decisions, decisions......

Thanks again.

you can also manually control the fan, or setup a profile to do it, it's not soo bad, but anyway the drivers are not any more or less buggy then Nvidias drivers, I have a 4770 in one machine, and gtx285 in the other, I have to say I've had my share of problems on the nvidia side, more so then the AMD side.

 

[fsh42na]

you can also manually control the fan, or setup a profile to do it, it's not soo bad, but anyway the drivers are not any more or less buggy then Nvidias drivers, I have a 4770 in one machine, and gtx285 in the other, I have to say I've had my share of problems on the nvidia side, more so then the AMD side.

Thanks digital,

I'm really leaning towards getting a 4870/4890 just because. Since I get really annoyed with things like driver instability/ bugginess, a walk on the AMD side seems to be just the ticket. What brand of 4770 do you have?

 

[Digital Viper-X-]

Thanks digital,

I'm really leaning towards getting a 4870/4890 just because. Since I get really annoyed with things like driver instability/ bugginess, a walk on the AMD side seems to be just the ticket. What brand of 4770 do you have?

I just picked up a powercolour, it was on sale
I've had a sapphire 4870 though, if you want to pick up a 4890 / 4870 grab an acellero s1 and you can see a pretty easy mod to using the stock baseplate with the S1 cooling the core, works pretty well

 

[fsh42na]

Thanks. I was a little reluctant to go with Sapphire since they don't handle warranty stuff themselves (have to go back through dealer) and because they don't have as long a warranty. However, since most of us don't keep these things for a "lifetime", it's pretty much a moot point so holding it against them would be a bit lame. I'll just have to make sure I run the thing with the stock cooler first to make sure I don't have a defective card, then I'll swap out the cooler.

Thanks again

 

[RADEoN]

you can also manually control the fan, or setup a profile to do it, it's not soo bad, but anyway the drivers are not any more or less buggy then Nvidias drivers, I have a 4770 in one machine, and gtx285 in the other, I have to say I've had my share of problems on the nvidia side, more so then the AMD side.

Oddly enough, the GTX280 in my dads machine has had 0 driver issues, and with my 4870X2, I have had driver issues in the past, but as soon as catalyst 8.9 (currently on 9.5), they've been perfect.

I think AMD/ATI built a bad name in the past with drivers, and no matter how good their drivers become, there will always be naysayers.