The Buyer's Guide: GTX 260 and HD 4870

Smarter choice or the way it's meant to be played?

  • GeForce GTX 260 448-bit 896MB

    Votes: 79 23.4%

  • Radeon HD 4870 256-bit 512MB

    Votes: 249 73.7%

  • Other

    Votes: 10 3.0%
  • Total voters
    338
M

Mr. Stryker

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
5,221
Do not involve any motherboards in this topic (I MEAN it.) This is to discuss about a single-GPU solution, so if you're looking for SLI or Crossfire, please do not bring it up on this thread.

GTX 260 and 4870 are priced very close. Both of them have their pos and cons.

Out of two, which would be better for 1920x1200, with AA applied in any game (Crysis doesn't count. It's got NVIDIA plastered all over it.)

  1. Will the 896MB benefit more in the longer run than 512MB?
  2. Is DirectX 10.1 a neccessity for upcoming games?
  3. Is PhysX a godsend for Geforce owners?
  4. Are drivers going to improve their performance in the next 6 months?

And the list goes on....

Which one is it? Is it the smarter choice or is it the way it's meant to be played?
 
Just as a side note: When you create a poll with one option being 'the smarter choice' you imply that anyone who picks the other option is admitting to being dumb or uninformed. So you bias the poll and make it useless.

(I'm assuming the TWIMTBP option is the Nvidia selection)

In any case the 4870 is still the "smarter choice" even with the price drops on the 260.
 
1. may be 2. diablo3 or other bllizard games are going to use it plus ea and sega as far as i remember 4. can be, mostly for ati cause they have history of doing that
 
trinibwoy said:
Just as a side note: When you create a poll with one option being 'the smarter choice' you imply that anyone who picks the other option is admitting to being dumb or uninformed. So you bias the poll and make it useless.

(I'm assuming the TWIMTBP option is the Nvidia selection)

In any case the 4870 is still the "smarter choice" even with the price drops on the 260.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean for any of this to sound biased, I was merely using the companies' mottos; ATI's motto is "Smarter choice." and Nvidia's was "The way it's meant to be played!"

Although you mention it, I do realize I shouldn't have put that on the poll. :eek:

eric66 said:
1. may be 2. diablo3 or other bllizard games are going to use it plus ea and sega as far as i remember 4. can be, mostly for ati cause they have history of doing that
Click to expand...

Like what happened to Assassin's Creed?
 
trinibwoy said:
Just as a side note: When you create a poll with one option being 'the smarter choice' you imply that anyone who picks the other option is admitting to being dumb or uninformed. So you bias the poll and make it useless.

(I'm assuming the TWIMTBP option is the Nvidia selection)

In any case the 4870 is still the "smarter choice" even with the price drops on the 260.
Click to expand...

AMD's motto is "Smarter Choice". :p


Without SLI, You basically just chopped the legs of the 260 off.
It's like playing 8xAA on the 4870 and 16xCS, a mix of good and bad cases in the 260. 8x will be supported commonplace, 16CS... I'm not sure but only a few TWIMTBP games have it IIRC.
 
Just a quick question, what does TWIMTBP stand for?

So you're saying that 260 is at a disadvantage against the 4870 in single-GPU solutions?
 
what do you mean like what happened to assassins creed ? you mean nvidia forcing to remove dx 10.1 from games ? can be don't know heard that blizzard joined atis program don't know what it is called so at least we are going to see dx10.1 and havoc for physics in diablo or other blizzard titles
 
Mr. Stryker said:
I didn't mean for any of this to sound biased, I was merely using the companies' mottos; ATI's motto is "Smarter choice." and Nvidia's was "The way it's meant to be played!"

Although you mention it, I do realize I shouldn't have put that on the poll. :eek:



Like what happened to Assassin's Creed?
Click to expand...

Those aren't the same things. TWIMTBP isn't NVIDIA's motto, it is their in game partnership/advertising program

ATI has had its own "Get in the Game" GITG program for a while now.
 
To me its a coin flip. The best deal for me is the 12 percent off at best buy on the 4870. With tax its less than 300. Brick and morter
 
Cloud15x said:
To me its a coin flip. The best deal for me is the 12 percent off at best buy on the 4870. With tax its less than 300. Brick and morter
Click to expand...
The 4870 is not sold in the stores. But you can use the Reward Zone coupons online.
 
AMD_logo_us-en.gif


I might be a bit biased though ;)
 
If the GTX 260 gets cheaper than the 4870, it's a good deal. They're both great cards and for such a similar price, it's almost down to personal preference of the company. I don't think anyone would notice much of a difference between the two for gaming anyways.
 
How much do your brand loyalties play when choosing your fav? I like them both, so the value is the only thing I see to make a choice. Is there a bias for one brand or the other?
 
Velocity_Micro said:
How much do your brand loyalties play when choosing your fav? I like them both, so the value is the only thing I see to make a choice. Is there a bias for one brand or the other?
Click to expand...

Not much, for me anyway. I go with whomever has the best performance/price first, then break it down to which AIB has treated me well, then warranty, then overall reputation.

More often than not, I've been purchasing from someone in nvidia's camp, XFX and eVGA have treated me well. Of ATi's AIBs, I've purchased from Sapphire, Connect3D, and Powercolor. Haven't had a need to work with their customer service yet.

As far as your business is concerned, I'm not sure how much my answer would help you. If I were to buy from you, then I'd strictly look at price/performance as I'd hope I can go to you for service should a component fail, and not the AIB. :)
 
hmm this is a very tough decision. I am looking into the same cards. Although I think i have a bias towards nVidia only for the reason that i have been sticking with them for so long. I have not owned an ATI card in forever probably 10 years now. I dont know if i want to swtich back over, nVidia is treating me so well. I understand that the 4870 is much better for performance/price but i just like the nVidia brand so much more.... this is going to be tough....
 
1. Will the 896MB benefit me more in the longer run than 512MB?

Yes, of course.

2. Is DirectX 10.1 a neccessity for upcoming games?

Necessity...no. But obviously more games will use it in the future. Remember though DX10.1 brings nothing new in terms of graphics options, but it does seem to improve performance.

3. Is PhysX a godsend for Geforce owners?

Not a Godsend, but it's definitely an awesome feature. Any CUDA ready GPU will be able to run physics calculations on any game that supports PhysX. And it's much faster than done on a powerful (and expensive) CPU and shows considerable advantages over a dedicated PPU.

4. Are drivers going to improve their performance in the next 6 months?

Yes, all companies improve drivers. Just don't expect any miracle performance increases, because they're just not going to happen.

Overall, you decide. They are both great cards. They trade blows in a few games and one sometimes has the edge over the other. It's highly dependent on the game itself. Assassin's Creed favors ATI hardware, while Age of Conan favors NVIDIA for example. Read some reviews and buy according to what you intend to play the most.
 
I don't/will not play Age of Conan. Just FPS and I already beat Assassin's Creed with a 3870, but it seems like most games I play have the TWIMTBP trademark on it. Thanks for the clarification on PhysX Silus.

It's hard to believe that the 4870 has more votes than the GTX 260 which would be priced the same/or lower than the 4870. This is a really tough decision, I don't want to look stupid buying a GTX 260.
 
Why I bought the 4870:

The firsthand reasons:
-Was cheaper in Canada.
-Was actually available in Canada.
-Has DX10.1 (not that I really care about it, but it's nice to have either way).
-Seems to fare better with AA... Maybe not better, but the hit is less apparent, ergo, easier to estimate your fps with the AA level of your choice.
-Has the same mounting pattern as the older cards, AM heatsinks and waterblocks work right away.

The other reasons :
-The cards themselves look wicked, IMO.
-I wanted to support a company that actually delivered a product worth my time. The last nVidia cycles pissed me off to no end.
 
trinibwoy said:
Simple solution to that. Stop giving a shit about what FAN BOYS think and buy the card you want. Presto! ;)
Click to expand...

Fixed. ;)


I would venture that if I took 100 people and had them play a game on a 4870 and a 260 without fraps running or any other FPS indicators, none of them would be able to correctly identify which system had which card in it, or even that the card was different.
 
Probably.

If you then tried to charge them the price difference, though, between a 4870 and a 280, then they might have something to say. <_<.

~S
 
Every time I think I have made a decision, I change my mind. The problem is that I find problems with both cards. The 4870 has dx10.1 and is very fast, but it lacks muscle/power and I think it is only a 1 year card at best.

The GTX 260 although it is slower, has that brute power I am looking for. However, it doesn't have dx10.1 which for me will probably shorten the life of the card to a year since I really think there will be a use for dx10.1 hardware in another 12 months. Plus, I really think Nvidia is going to do a refresh of these cards before the end of the year with dx10.1, 55nm, and possibly GDDR5.

They cost pretty much the same so that isn't an issue. If I knew I would replace a card in a year I really wouldn't spend so much deciding, I would just buy one and that would be that. Since I wan't my next card to last 18-24 months I might just be better off waiting for the upcoming refresh cards so I get everything I want.
 
I love my GTX260, I couldn't wait any longer so, I ended up buying it before the price cuts but, I am happy with it and I will step-up to the GTX280. I already have it OC'd to "FTW" speeds so that saved me $50 right there...I'm able to play Crysis with everything on very high 1920 x 1080 with the natural mod (average 20 FPS). If I put shaders to High I get 28 FPS. I'm just glad to have finally upgraded from the 7800GT.
 
leh18621 said:
I might just be better off waiting for the upcoming refresh cards so I get everything I want.
Click to expand...

Gosh if we all did that, they would all go out of business. You can wait for the better part forever with computers, it is never going to stop getting better it all just depends on how much you actually need the card. Is your system lagging right now to a point that you cannot play your game or run your application? if not then i would say wait but if you absolutely need this card to play a game then get the new card.

And to choose between the two that is still a hard decision but realistically these minute differences between the two are not going to be visible in a day to day bases.... so with that said i would pick the company that you trust more. hope it helps =)
 
Eibach said:
Gosh if we all did that, they would all go out of business. You can wait for the better part forever with computers, it is never going to stop getting better it all just depends on how much you actually need the card. Is your system lagging right now to a point that you cannot play your game or run your application? if not then i would say wait but if you absolutely need this card to play a game then get the new card.

And to choose between the two that is still a hard decision but realistically these minute differences between the two are not going to be visible in a day to day bases.... so with that said i would pick the company that you trust more. hope it helps =)
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, really. You can play the waiting game literally forever and never play any games on your pc because of it. Right now I have an 8600gts in my pc and I have decided that until I get a new video card I won't play any more pc games. I want to play Crysis and WiC and that is a loosing battle with a 8600gts. In the mean time I have a ps3 and 360 to keep me busy.

In the meantime I am going to watch the cards price wise for the next two weeks and see if any good price drops happen to sway me one way or another. Or possibly even a new driver release.
 
I'm a long time nvidia fanatic and there's no getting around the fact that the 4870 is much faster than the 260 and a better value. If it was a 280 it would be another question but sadly the 280 isn't priced in the 350 range.
 
I vote for the GTX260 for 2 reasons.

1. Nvidia cards have uses beyond gaming, I haven't looked to closely at what is available for CUDA yet but I know that the next Version of Photoshop is going to use it and where Photoshop goes the rest of the graphics industry is close behind.

2. EVGA, BFG, XFX just cant be matched by and company that makes ATI cards, Not to say that the ones that make ATI are bad but they don't have the step-ups, lifetime warranties, and usually Awesome customer service that the Nvidia makers do.

If all you want it for is gaming and you don't care about the step up and extra warranty then I don't see any reason not to get the 4870, They are both excellent products the GTX260 just has a few perks that I like.
 
Soggy said:
2. EVGA, BFG, XFX just cant be matched by and company that makes ATI cards, Not to say that the ones that make ATI are bad but they don't have the step-ups, lifetime warranties, and usually Awesome customer service that the Nvidia makers do.
Click to expand...

That is very true and that is the only reason why it is holding me back from buying the 4870.... i like the step-up program and the lifetime warenty and the fast service from eVGA and other nVida brands but im just not sure what do do lol
 
Soggy said:
I vote for the GTX260 for 2 reasons.

1. Nvidia cards have uses beyond gaming, I haven't looked to closely at what is available for CUDA yet but I know that the next Version of Photoshop is going to use it and where Photoshop goes the rest of the graphics industry is close behind.

2. EVGA, BFG, XFX just cant be matched by and company that makes ATI cards, Not to say that the ones that make ATI are bad but they don't have the step-ups, lifetime warranties, and usually Awesome customer service that the Nvidia makers do.

If all you want it for is gaming and you don't care about the step up and extra warranty then I don't see any reason not to get the 4870, They are both excellent products the GTX260 just has a few perks that I like.
Click to expand...

1. Photoshop will support ANY OpenGL compliant card. Nice for nVidia to show it in their offices, but that isn't CUDA.

2. Visiontek has Lifetime warranty. And as ATI's official AIB, they have better CS than most of the Chinese/Taiwaneese companies (Sapphire, Asus, etc). But really, step-up is just bait and switch in my opinion. It's like buying a SLI/CF motherboard and wanting to get ripped out just to "use the potential" of the motherboard instead of getting the ideal card.

Freebies like T-shirts and stickers, you have a point. Stepup? Nope, I keep my video cards 4 times longer than that.
 
Lost! said:
Freebies like T-shirts and stickers, you have a point. Stepup? Nope, I keep my video cards 4 times longer than that.
Click to expand...

Most people don't. I've had a 8800GTS 320, 8800GT 512, 9800GTX, and a GTX 260 since March 28th of 2007...
 
Lost! said:
1. Photoshop will support ANY OpenGL compliant card. Nice for nVidia to show it in their offices, but that isn't CUDA.
Click to expand...

I must have read an article that was spun for Nvidia. :confused:

Now if only I new what Corel was gonna use to accelerate there programs I would be set.
 
i bought the 4870 here

no regrets and it was a simple install and didn't even have to reinstall drivers..lol it does not get any easier than that lol :p
 
leh18621 said:
The GTX 260 although it is slower, has that brute power I am looking for.
Click to expand...

This statement is kind of confusing to me. If the card is slower, wouldn't it have less power? If you're concerned with the amount of memory on the card your best bet might be to wait for the 1GB 4870's. That way you can have your cake and eat it too :p
 
LaChupacabra said:
If you're concerned with the amount of memory on the card your best bet might be to wait for the 1GB 4870's. That way you can have your cake and eat it too :p
Click to expand...

For me the memory on the 4870 does concern me. I feel that newer games will call for 1GB of vram probably soon and I don't want to have to upgrade so soon after buying a new video card. Any ideas, news on when 1GB 4870 cards are coming out?

TIA
 
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