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Upgrading to a HD 4870... Really?

M

MWHarrell

n00b
Joined
Mar 9, 2008
Messages
21
I've been running a 8800GTS in my rig for the past 4 years. It played Skyrim at medium / high-ish settings on my 1920x1080 32' monitor, and I was overall pretty content with it. However, it decided to poop out on me two days ago and I've been looking into a new Mid / Low range graphics card.

I was considering the 6850 ($130-$150 before rebate) and the 6870 ($150-$170 before rebate), but it's just still a smidge too expensive for me. The HD 4870 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103193) is $60 on newegg now, is this a decent upgrade to my expired 8800GTS 512, or a side grade? I'm not looking for a huge performance leap, just a card that can chugg along with current games on medium for the next 2 years @ 1920x1080.

Can I get away with a $60 4870, or should I hold out for a 6850/70?
 
The 4870 would be a side grade...definitely a faster card but not too much faster.

Check the forums here in the For Sale section...I see 58xx/68xx cards going for $100 or less all the time!
 
cyclone3d said:
+1

Even if you did go to a 4870, you would want at least a 1GB card. 512MB is not enough for Skyrim or any other newish game if you want anything more than low settings.
Click to expand...

See, I would have thought that too, but coming from an 8800GTS 512, I was playing skyrim at 1920x1080 at Medium/High settings. The 4870 has almost double the G3D Mark score on PassMark, surely it will preform better than my 8800GTS. Also, it's listed as two categories above the 8800GTS 512 at Toms, though I'm not sure how relevant that is.

Edit: Alrighty, you guys convinced me, I'll keep a look out for a 6850/70. Thanks!
 
I've had an 8800GTS and a 4870 before, and the 4870 is an upgrade. However, I do suggest going for one of the newer cards (58xx or 68xx series).
 
It's actually a massive upgrade, something like 40-100% faster depending on what game.
Just remember the HD4870 is a dx10 card and that if you are planing to keep the card for some time it might be worth to get a dx11 card.
Anything from AMD HD6670 and up would be a big uppgrade from your old 8800GTS.
Just use google and make your own mind up, search for "HD6770 review" or "HD4870 review" for example.
 
Certainly not a side-grade.

The 8800GTS is slower than an 8800GT.
The 8800GT is slower than a 4850
A 4850 is slower than a 4870.

I personally went from an 8800GT to a 4850 and the improvement was along the lines ~30%... Going from an 8800GTS to a 4870 would be an even larger upgrade.

Still, I don't particularly recommend upgrading to another card that is limited to 512mb VRam at this point.
 
Grab a 6850. It will run cooler, use less power, it will be faster, it supports DX11, etc.
 
GotNoRice said:
Certainly not a side-grade.

The 8800GTS is slower than an 8800GT.
The 8800GT is slower than a 4850
A 4850 is slower than a 4870.

I personally went from an 8800GT to a 4850 and the improvement was along the lines ~30%... Going from an 8800GTS to a 4870 would be an even larger upgrade.

Still, I don't particularly recommend upgrading to another card that is limited to 512mb VRam at this point.
Click to expand...

you must be kidding?
the 512MB version of 8800GTS is faster than a 8800GT. the 640MB and 320MB are slower.
IIRC, the 9800 GTX is just the 8800GTS 512 rebranded, which performs about the same as a HD 4850.
 
I went from an 8800GTX to a 4870 1GB and noticed massive performance upgrades in certain games. Up to 50% in games like Just Cause and Oblivion.

But you can likely find a 68x0 card for nearly 100$ if you don't mind buying used.
 
People claiming that its a sidegrade havent the foggiest idea of what theyre talking about. Having gone from 2 8800's in sli to a 4870, the 4870 was equivalent to those cards in sli. Its a MUCH faster card. However dont bother with the 512mb version, it simply does not have enoigh memory for higher resolutons. Get a reference 1GB version. Or get a 4890 they can be had for cheap enough and overclock better than the 4870's.
FWIW, 2 4870's in cf = and sometimes best a 5870.
 
I had a 9800GT and my HD4870 was noticeably faster though I would personally wait and get a 6850/70 as its newer and it'll last you longer. The extra vram helps with higher resolutions and should be able to let you play at med-high settings on most games.
 
Xiphos said:
you must be kidding?
the 512MB version of 8800GTS is faster than a 8800GT. the 640MB and 320MB are slower.
IIRC, the 9800 GTX is just the 8800GTS 512 rebranded, which performs about the same as a HD 4850.
Click to expand...

Could you please explain why the 512MB 8800GT was faster then the 640MBGTS? I was a pretty big tech noob back when the 8800GTS and GTX were released. The GTX was too expensive, so I bought the 640GTS. Later, the 512GT came out and people said it was faster, but I never understood why.
 
The 4870 is ~a GTX 260 (216sp) and the 8800 has 96sp, so in shader-bound games the 4870 will come out miles ahead.
 
Bootleg Usher said:
Could you please explain why the 512MB 8800GT was faster then the 640MBGTS? I was a pretty big tech noob back when the 8800GTS and GTX were released. The GTX was too expensive, so I bought the 640GTS. Later, the 512GT came out and people said it was faster, but I never understood why.
Click to expand...

There was the 8800GTX/Ultra that had 128 Stream Processors. (G80 = 90nm)

The 8800GTS had 96 Stream Processors (G80).

Later on they released a revised (G92 = 65nm):
8800GT had 112 Stream Processors.
8800GTS 512mb had 128 Stream Processors.

So Performancewise it was

8800Ultra/GTX >/= 8800GTS(G92-512mb) > 8800GT > 8800GTS(G80-640mb)

Now the 8800GTS in some cases ran faster than the 8800Ultra/GTX mainly because the smaller fab let it achieve higher clocks as well as it ran cooler, the other times where the Ultra/GTX won was because of the extra memory bandwidth.

Which later on got rebadged using the G92 as:

9800GTX > 9800GT


So the overall:
G80- 8800Ultra/GTX - 128SP
G92- 8800GTS 512mb - 128SP
G92- 8800GT - 112SP
G80- 8800GTS 640mb - 96SP

When they released the G92 to replace the G80, they didn't rename till the following year when they rebadged them as 9800 series so pretty much you could say that a 9800GT = 8800GT and a 9800GTX = 8800GTS +/- tweaks/clocks etc...
 
8800GTS (G92) a year later renamed to 9800GTX, then three months after that it was revised as 9800GTX+ (55nm G92b) and a year later was renamed to GTS 250.

I was also surprised to see a GTS 250 enjoyable while playing Skyrim. 6850 would be a good upgrade.
 
Ive had both 9800GT and a 4870 512mb. The 4870 is a substantial upgrade for me when the resolutions are cranked up.

If i were you, i would get a 6850 though. Ive seen them used for $110 and ive got them low as $120 after rebate.
 
the 4870 1gb competed with the gtx 260 192 which is why nvidia released the 216sp version. So ya even being a 512 it's a pretty decent upgrade for $60.

It still doesn't hold a candle to current cards but still for $60 it will play any game out there. (although the same could be said about the 8800gts 512)
 
Yeah, with that low budget and that resolution I'd shoot for something like a 5850 or 6850/6870.

I used an overclocked 5770 (equivalent to a 4870) and wasn't satisfied with the single card performance at 1280x1024 and 1600x1200. When I crossfired them though things were good.

That being said, if your budget is limited to around $60 I'd get a used/refurb 1gb 5770 over the 4870. It'll scale better in crossfire if you ever decide to upgrade, it's power efficient and cool, and it'll support dx11. I sold mine used for around $70 each and I'm seeing them for sale as refurbs for $75.


A 5850 or 6850 could probably be found for around $100 and would be a good option too.

A 6850 just went for $105 on the Sales forum and a new one on newegg AR w/ Dirt 3 is $130, so that's a pretty good price range.
 
I use a 4870 512MB here and it plays Arkham City just peachy at 1680*1050 with all the details cranked up in dx9..........
 
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