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You can grab a GTX 260 216 core on the egg for around $225 after rebate. Better card than the 4870. DX10.1 is worthless, that's why Nvidia is skipping it and going right to 11. Someone mentioned a 4870 for $175. If that's true, that is a great price, but if I were going to pay over 200 then the GTX260 would be my target.My first thought was the gtx 260, but I see a lot of picks for the 4870.
Is the DirectX 10.1 worth considering?
Which is the better bang for the buck?
Thanks
What resolution are you running? Also, are you planning on overclocking?
^With the exception of Crysis I have everything on high/very high with 2-8xAA and 16xAF and most titles stay near 60fps.
I've seen no reason to OC the card yet as I haven't seen anything it won't handle at stock, but the cooler could easily handle it. I set the fan to manual control and locked at 40% and it's near silent and idles at 38c and loads around 55c.
^ I agree with almost all of that. I believe ATI drivers occasionally have more issues than nvidia, however with 8.12 everything seems to be top notch.4870 1GB especially since it has 7.1 sound through HDMI. With a GTX260 you have to use separate RCA plugs for sound...ultra lame. ATI drivers seems better than Nvidia drivers from my experience, along with overrall IQ as well. 55nm > 65nm and
GDDR5 > GDDR3
Sorry, that question was directed towards the OP XD. However I agree, mine runs 2560x1600 with little sweat .1920x1200, runs everything I have thrown at it. Right now that would include LOTRO/Moria w/DX10 client, Fallout 3, The Witcher EE, Tomb Raider Underworld, Far Cry 2 and Crysis. With the exception of Crysis I have everything on high/very high with 2-8xAA and 16xAF and most titles stay near 60fps. Shadows and AF are bugged in TRU right now, but it's not unplayable by any means. I tend to play with vsync on and I shoot for 45-60fps.
I've seen no reason to OC the card yet as I haven't seen anything it won't handle at stock, but the cooler could easily handle it. I set the fan to manual control and locked at 40% and it's near silent and idles at 38c and loads around 55c.
For 1920x1200, definitely. The extra RAM really helps at higher resolutions, especially if you plan on using AA.I'm running 1920x1200 and sometimes with a second monitor running 1280x1024.
Is the 1gb on the 4870 a big upgrade from the 512mb?
Thanks for all the great feedback!
What do you think about this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121291
At $229 (after rebate), it seems like a good price with some nice cooling.
Go for it, you won't be sorry.
He wont be sorry until he has to deal with CCC and ATI drivers anyway...
4870 1GB especially since it has 7.1 sound through HDMI. With a GTX260 you have to use separate RCA plugs for sound...ultra lame. ATI drivers seems better than Nvidia drivers from my experience, along with overrall IQ as well. 55nm > 65nm and
GDDR5 > GDDR3
Does the 4870 actually process audio, or does it have an SPDIF input that takes processed audio from another card and couple it with video to the HMDI output?
You can grab a GTX 260 216 core on the egg for around $225 after rebate. Better card than the 4870. DX10.1 is worthless, that's why Nvidia is skipping it and going right to 11. Someone mentioned a 4870 for $175. If that's true, that is a great price, but if I were going to pay over 200 then the GTX260 would be my target.
That is exactly why I went with ATI, as I hear many had Blue Screens of Death issues with nvidia cards and their drivers.
Yes, the GTX260 216 is a slightly better card than the HD4870 X2. .
What? The 4870x2 is much faster than the GTX260 216/192 and with the new 8.12 drivers competes with GTX280 sli. Sorry but your dead wrong in that statement. Opinions are good and all but what you said is like me saying a 4850 is faster than a GTX280. And most benches show the GTX260 core 216 model 1-2fps faster than the older core 192 model. $50 for 2 fps? I don't think so.
And I'm sure there is no need to try to encinuate that I'm jumping on someone for making a simple
mistake. This is Hardforum so it's arguable that you wouldn't confuse a 4870 and a 4870x2. I sure
wish they would at Best Buy though, lol.
Yes, the GTX260 216 is a slightly better card than the HD4870 X2.