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Thinking about jumping ship.

P

Proxy

Pumpkin Ghost
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
4,308
So this may seem stupid to most of you but here is the background:

I bought my original XFX 5870 XXX a little over a month after the 5870's came out. All was well for a while, then I started getting GSOD's and artifacts. So I contacted XFX and they sent me a new one. So now I have had this new 5870 for a while now too, and it has started acting up again. I got a GSOD two nights ago while in the middle of a game with some friends, and ever since then sometimes my game performance is complete crap, as it will not run any higher than 20 FPS. Other times it will be okay for about an hour then slow down.

If I send this card back it will be my 2nd one with in the year, that, combined with all of the driver issues I have been having (10.4's were the last good ones for me) I am peeved! :mad: So, all that said, here is what I have been looking at in terms of a possible replacement:

- Single GTX 480
- GTX 470 SLI

The power/heat doesn't seem too out of line for SLI 470's, and SLi scaling seems to be really good right now according to the [H] reviews. I also plan on getting a new monitor soon, as I have been on my old 22inch for far too long. I was looking at two Samsung panels, one 1920x1200 and the other was 1920x1080, I may go with the 1080 one for the 16:9 for gaming and movies. I'm not trying to bad mouth ATi or XFX in anyway, they both still make great products, but my personal experience so far has been complete crap. :(
 
Single GTX 480, now. Add a GTX 480 later if you go multi-monitor. You've got the right PSU.

GTX 480's are $430 on NewEgg, after a MIR.

If you want to consider 3D Vision, this is one of the best monitors you can buy... and that's before you count its 3D Vision compatibility:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236092

With their on year no interest "preferred account," you can have it all for $77.50/mo for 12 months. :)

Monitor reviews (Conclusions only):
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3842/asus-vg236h-review-our-first-look-at-120hz/13
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/asus_vg236h_3d_vision_monitor_review/7
http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Asus-VG236-120Hz-LCD-Monitor-Review/?page=8
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/asus_vg236h_120hz_display_review
 
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If you were going to go Nvidia, and want it to work as far into the future as possible, i'd say start with a gtx480, and maybe down the line SLI it. That setup will last a long time, maybe just marginally longer than 470 sli, but i must say, i do quite love my 480.
 
By all means get the 460, they are outstanding cards!!

But I urge you to pursue RMAing your non-working 5870.

By not RMAing you are basically promoting poor quality control and helping a company profit from faulty equipment.

You are not the only person experiencing issues with a 5870 XXX, and the more people that actively RMA cards that are indeed not working will result in a higher standard of quality assurance.
 
I like the 470 sli option if you are moving to the green team. The 480 is a card I would skip due to heat and noise issues.

Also, based upon the Nvidia conference call yesterday we should be seeing newer high performance cards in the next month or two. Hopefully these cards will be more efficient like the 460 series than the 480 series.
 
Let's be clear, GTX 470 in SLI = leafblower. I think Anandtech said something like 70db+ max? I didn't think it would be that loud. Two weeks of air cooling then I broke down and bought two FC waterblocks. Now it is 2x GTX 470s w/ over 25% overclock and virtually no noise. After this experience, I wouldn't consider a GTX 480 unless it was WC.
 
RMA the card. Wait and see what's new that's coming. Don't do something too fast and regret; unless you have an unlimited budget.
 
I'll bet $10000 it's an instability in some other part of your system causing the grey screens.
 
My computer had regular gray screens and BSODs after installing my XFX 5850. It turns out the card brought out instability in my CPU/memory overclock. The problems went away after tweaking those. It had nothing to do with the 5850, which is perfectly stable (and nearly silent) at 940/1150.
 
Off topic here, but why would you opt for the lower resolution monitor for gaming and movies, when the 1920x1200 monitor is also 1080p AND gives you extra lines of resoution for gaming?

This is a strange phenomenon of buyers I haven't been able to figure out.
 
Darksword said:
Off topic here, but why would you opt for the lower resolution monitor for gaming and movies, when the 1920x1200 monitor is also 1080p AND gives you extra lines of resoution for gaming?

This is a strange phenomenon of buyers I haven't been able to figure out.
Click to expand...

It's called 120Hz. Plus he wants to play consoles and watch movies as well. No worries about distortion from lack of scalar processing.

Anyways back to the OP. If it is really giving you headaches, just RMA it now and sell it when it gets back. A single GTX 480 will perform better than the 5870 so I think that's the best option for you. Dual 470s will produce a lot of noise and heat, even more than the single 480. Now if noise and heat don't matter, feel free to go for it, just go into it being aware that the noise produced by two cards is considerably more than one.
 
MrC4 said:
I like the 470 sli option if you are moving to the green team. The 480 is a card I would skip due to heat and noise issues.

Also, based upon the Nvidia conference call yesterday we should be seeing newer high performance cards in the next month or two. Hopefully these cards will be more efficient like the 460 series than the 480 series.
Click to expand...

are you speaking from experience, or what you've read?

My 480 is quite quiet. I havent seen the fan go over 40% as a single card, and its never gone over 75C.
Though, i clocked the fan up to 100% with the EVGA precison tool thingamabobber, and I actually burst out laughing at how loud it was. I think the lesson here is to have good case airflow :)

Not sure what SLI would do to noise though.
 
thesecond said:
are you speaking from experience, or what you've read?

My 480 is quite quiet. I havent seen the fan go over 40% as a single card, and its never gone over 75C.
Though, i clocked the fan up to 100% with the EVGA precison tool thingamabobber, and I actually burst out laughing at how loud it was. I think the lesson here is to have good case airflow :)

Not sure what SLI would do to noise though.
Click to expand...

Speaking from experience. 480 SLI is WICKED loud.
 
If you're willing to put up with the heat and noise don't bother with the 470 and just go 480. My reference 470 runs just as hot as a reference 480.

If SLI is an option and what you really want to do go 460s.


thesecond said:
are you speaking from experience, or what you've read?

My 480 is quite quiet. I havent seen the fan go over 40% as a single card, and its never gone over 75C.
Though, i clocked the fan up to 100% with the EVGA precison tool thingamabobber, and I actually burst out laughing at how loud it was. I think the lesson here is to have good case airflow :)

Not sure what SLI would do to noise though.
Click to expand...


I would not call the card quiet. If your fan is not going over 40% and your card does not go over 75C you have one golden card there.. First time I hear of a GF100 doing that. Just running at 3D clocks with 2 monitors and no 3D gaming the card idles at 70C on air.

What case is this by the way?
 
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SixtyWattMan said:
I'll bet $10000 it's an instability in some other part of your system causing the grey screens.
Click to expand...

The both 5870's that I have gone through were not my first GPU's. When I first built my system I had SLi GTX 280's. At the time the 5870 was the only DX 11 GPU out so I bought one. I have NO OC's as I also use this system for VMWare stuff so maximum stability is a must. I'll go over my system again though.

Disconnect said:
My computer had regular gray screens and BSODs after installing my XFX 5850. It turns out the card brought out instability in my CPU/memory overclock. The problems went away after tweaking those. It had nothing to do with the 5850, which is perfectly stable (and nearly silent) at 940/1150.
Click to expand...

Nothing in my system is OC'ed.

cageymaru said:
RMA the card. Wait and see what's new that's coming. Don't do something too fast and regret; unless you have an unlimited budget.
Click to expand...

I thought about this, we are getting closer to the end of the year, but so far other than there maybe a 512sp GTX 480 coming out, I haven't heard a peep form either camp.
 
I've gone through (3) 5870s, all had one crash or another. Nothing OCed, checked everything within reason. There are issues with these cards, not everything can be chalked up to a bad OC or buy a new PSU.
 
martinmsj said:
I would not call the card quiet. If your fan is not going over 40% and your card does not go over 75C you have one golden card there.. First time I hear of a GF100 doing that. Just running at 3D clocks with 2 monitors and no 3D gaming the card idles at 70C on air.

What case is this by the way?
Click to expand...

Level 10 :rolleyes:

i should mention, that i am measuring all of the card's temps and speeds using the evga precision tool thinger... i dont remember what its caleld - its the evga thing. :)
 
thesecond said:
Level 10 :rolleyes:

i should mention, that i am measuring all of the card's temps and speeds using the evga precision tool thinger... i dont remember what its caleld - its the evga thing. :)
Click to expand...

It's EVGA Precision. ;) About the GTX 480 SLI, I find the noise quite acceptable (probably because I was expecting much worst). Also, like many have said, a well ventilated case will help a great deal.
 
If you don't need all that horse power from a GTX480(possibly SLI), seriously consider the 470 SLI, especially with the price drops. Yes they put out heat, yes they pull power, but with current drivers compared to ATi, they crunch price/performance of a pair of 5870cfx with the expandibility of NV Surround without having to purchase a DP adaptor (unless you have a DP monitor). I will say this, if noise bothers you, of your case has bad ventilation, stay away unless you plan on watercooling.
 
magictoaster said:
It's EVGA Precision. ;) About the GTX 480 SLI, I find the noise quite acceptable (probably because I was expecting much worst). Also, like many have said, a well ventilated case will help a great deal.
Click to expand...

yeah. I expected worse as well. I upgraded from an 8800gtx that would buzz and hiss and ring when it really got goin; it wasnt the fan, but the capacitors or something like that. :p
 
A friend of mine has a XFX5870, the overclocked edition, he bought around launch time. Well he had issues with it right from the start so he went in and set the clocks back down to regular stock speeds and all is fine with it now. Maybe try resetting the clocks to regular stock speeds,just as a test?
I tried to tell him to RMA it cause he paid for an OC one and it don't work at their speeds but he wont go through all that "cause he don't have another card to use while waiting".
 
That is just silly.

Your friend clearly doesn't have very high standards if he is willing to settle for stock clocks on a pre-OCed card.

I can see the change from 875/1300 to 900/1250 as acceptable....but for it to be advertised as one of those and then only work at 850/1200 is not ok IMO.
 
That is too bad, that two cards have the same exact issue especially in the same exact manner and time. Do you overclock at all? Intermittent artifacts and freezing like that, especially if you get the card to work again usually points to something causing it other than hardware failure. I've had artifacts like you are talking about, and had an RMA number from XFX but I luckily fixed it while taking the card out. I don't know if you tried to reseat the card or checked the monitor cables? One or both were causing my artifacts. The cable itself wasn't bad, but I had to remove the cable, put it back on, reseat the card and it was fixed. I don't know if you are overclocking or increasing voltage, even if it wasn't at the time of the occurrence. I've seen CPU's especially that had damage from voltage, only to manifest a month later. I'm just throwing some ideas out there. Good luck, hope you get back to gaming soon.

Right now I have one single 5850, with my system and OC on the card, I run every game including DX11 games at 1920x1200 with 2xaa, 16xaf and v-sync with no hiccups. Small power draw and 60c load temps during gaming. I can't imagine the power people are getting from CF5850/70's, and SLI 470/80. Granted I'm only running a single monitor, but anything more than what I have now would show no difference in games to my single 5850. First time ever I've upgraded and not had to have the best card in the series, not crossfired as well, to push my games at max for my resolution. Graphics card have come such a long way I think most people are extremely happy with their purchases and realistically most of us are able to push our gaming to the max with all the eye candy for cheap. Can't wait to see what the 2nd generation DX11 cards, unlike when DX10 was introduced and top end cards could barely handle it, the DX11 1st gen cards are handling it very well already, which means the companies can really focus on the other things instead of pure power to push the FPS with a new Direct X. Will surely be interesting to say the least.
 
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Piotrsama said:
Well, your XFX 5870 XXX is... by XFX :D
Try putting it at 5870 reference speeds and test it.
Click to expand...

Yeah you know I was starting to think it was the factory OC. I'll give that a try and see what happens. If it works, then I am going to place and RMA again, but ask for a stock 5870.
 
I remember when jumping ship was... "going over to ATI", boy have times changes hehe
 
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