Which card from these 4?

Which card?

  • 4870 HIS IceQ 4+ Turbo 1Gb

    Votes: 20 21.7%

  • 4870 Sapphire Toxic 1Gb

    Votes: 6 6.5%

  • Cheap 4870 1Gb + Accelero Twin Turbo

    Votes: 19 20.7%

  • GTX 260 core 216

    Votes: 47 51.1%
  • Total voters
    92
C

Camberwell

Gawd
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
947
I'd like some opinions from you guys on which card to get from these four:

4870 Sapphire Toxic (with Vapor-X) 1Gb

4870 HIS IceQ 4+ Turbo 1Gb

Cheapest 4870 1Gb paired with Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo (I'm leaning towards this option but I also like the fact that the other 4870's vent outside the case)

GTX 260 core 216

I'm looking for the best compromise between the coolest (important) and quietest (most important!)....all these options come to around the same price here in The Netherlands, so that's not such an issue.

Thanks for your time!
 
The GTX 260 certainly isn't the quietest nor the coolest, automatically disqualified.
Same for the GTX 280.

I voted for the IceQ4+.
 
I think you would be happy with any of the cards up there. I voted for the 4870 HIS IceQ 4+ Turbo 1Gb. Good card with a great cooler.
 
UtopiA said:
The GTX 260 certainly isn't the quietest nor the coolest, automatically disqualified.
Same for the GTX 280.

I voted for the IceQ4+.
Click to expand...
do you actually own one because it is the quietest AND almost coolest running video card I have ever owned. with my card overclocked to 650/1360/2250 and at the stock fan speeds it idles at 39 C and barely goes over 70 C after hours of gaming. if I bump the fan up 10% it will not ever go over 59 C.


also from a site where is silence is king:http://www.silentpcreview.com/article870-page7.html the ENGTX260's biggest strength in our opinion, keeps the GPU at very reasonable temperatures, directing most of the heat out the back. It is also quiet enough to be usable in most silent PCs, which is quite an accomplishment. The GTX 260's are priced similarly to the HD 4870, but the surprisingly quiet cooler, at least on the Asus version, tips the scales in our opinion.
 
GTX260-216
It doesnt need to be run with noisy fan speeds and is the best all round performer in range.
The added PhysX support gives a bit more fun too.

I'm waiting for a 55nM version or maybe even til the next gen now.
Prices havent been good enough (in the UK) to warrant upgrading from a well clocked 8800GT @ 1080p res.
 
I would go with the nvidia GTX 260 core 216 card because of great driver and customer support. Its' graphical muscle is no slouch either!
 
cannondale06 said:
do you actually own one because it is the quietest AND almost coolest running video card I have ever owned. with my card overclocked to 650/1360/2250 and at the stock fan speeds it idles at 39 C and barely goes over 70 C after hours of gaming. if I bump the fan up 10% it will not ever go over 59 C.


also from a site where is silence is king:http://www.silentpcreview.com/article870-page7.html the ENGTX260's biggest strength in our opinion, keeps the GPU at very reasonable temperatures, directing most of the heat out the back. It is also quiet enough to be usable in most silent PCs, which is quite an accomplishment. The GTX 260's are priced similarly to the HD 4870, but the surprisingly quiet cooler, at least on the Asus version, tips the scales in our opinion.
Click to expand...

I own one, and it's got the stock cooling and it's quiet, too.

And it overclocks like a mad monster. I can't believe this card.
 
I've been reading in almost every review of the HIS card that under 3D load the fan produces an annoying whine, although they don't really say what the loss in cooling performance is if you manually reduce the fan speed.

No one have any experience with the Sapphire Toxic card? It's spposed to run a bit warmer than the HIS, but much quieter (even than the GTX 260). It's also the cheapest for me out of these 4 options...from what I've read the fan only runs at 16% under full load, so I could go up to 20-25% and still have a quiet and cool card. Hmmm....

How are the 4870's in general at underclocking at idle? I'd like to know if I could get lower power consumption at idle by doing so...
 
Camberwell said:
IHow are the 4870's in general at underclocking at idle? I'd like to know if I could get lower power consumption at idle by doing so...
Click to expand...
Amazing, if you set the 2D clocks/volts manually.
Otherwise not as good as Nvidia by default.

I have a GTX 280 coming from the Buy.com deal and I'm going to miss my 4870 simply because of all the customization options (RBE specifically), including the custom downclocking setup.
:(
 
OK I rechecked the prices where I live and the IceQ 4 is actually 50 euros more than the other 3 cards, putting it in GTX 280 territory, and over my budget.
This means that the chioce is between the Sapphire Toxic and the GTX 260, and I think I'll be going for the Toxic, mainly because it seems like I can tweak it more easily to suit my needs.
I can underclock for idle to match the GTX 260 in terms of power usage (and temps), and at full load a tweak of the fan speed will give me a cool running card at GTX 260 noise levels. The Sapphire will also more easily fit in my Antec Sonata II case, so unless there are some crazy price changes in the next month or two it lloks like my decision has been made.
Thanks to everyone for contributing!
 
Damn, having made my mind up for the Toxic, I've just seen a review at Legion Hardware between the 4870 1Gb and the GTX 260 core 216 and for the games that I play they picked the GTX as a winner - now I can't decide!!
 
Camberwell said:
Damn, having made my mind up for the Toxic, I've just seen a review at Legion Hardware between the 4870 1Gb and the GTX 260 core 216 and for the games that I play they picked the GTX as a winner - now I can't decide!!
Click to expand...

Read [H] reviews, fps won't mean much if you can play at the same settings or even higher.
 
Camberwell said:
OK I rechecked the prices where I live and the IceQ 4 is actually 50 euros more than the other 3 cards, putting it in GTX 280 territory, and over my budget.
This means that the chioce is between the Sapphire Toxic and the GTX 260, and I think I'll be going for the Toxic, mainly because it seems like I can tweak it more easily to suit my needs.
I can underclock for idle to match the GTX 260 in terms of power usage (and temps), and at full load a tweak of the fan speed will give me a cool running card at GTX 260 noise levels. The Sapphire will also more easily fit in my Antec Sonata II case, so unless there are some crazy price changes in the next month or two it lloks like my decision has been made.
Thanks to everyone for contributing!
Click to expand...

Your welcome!! We're happy to vote the least by a wide margin on one particular card, only to have you go out and buy that specific one. Way to put the polls to use. Glad we could help.


(*scratches head...*)
 
Camberwell said:
Damn, having made my mind up for the Toxic, I've just seen a review at Legion Hardware between the 4870 1Gb and the GTX 260 core 216 and for the games that I play they picked the GTX as a winner - now I can't decide!!
Click to expand...

Edit: Lol. Didn't see this post before I posted mine. Glad to see you've done some more research. Also, would you rather have a lifetime warranty or a crappy one year? I don't know what they honor in your country, but that's something to take into account. A one year warranty you can actually make claim upon is better than a lifetime that you'll never be able to use. So make sure you look into that on the brand that you buy. How good is their support in Europe?
 
SirKronan said:
Your welcome!! We're happy to vote the least by a wide margin on one particular card, only to have you go out and buy that specific one. Way to put the polls to use. Glad we could help.


(*scratches head...*)
Click to expand...

I know, I know, but I read some reviews, then posted the poll, and then read even more reviews, and got hopelessly lost....
 
SirKronan said:
Edit: Lol. Didn't see this post before I posted mine. Glad to see you've done some more research. Also, would you rather have a lifetime warranty or a crappy one year? I don't know what they honor in your country, but that's something to take into account. A one year warranty you can actually make claim upon is better than a lifetime that you'll never be able to use. So make sure you look into that on the brand that you buy. How good is their support in Europe?
Click to expand...

In the end, the reason I will most likely go for the Sapphire Toxic is that the HardOCP reviews of these cards playing L4D and Far Cry 2 showed only 1 fps difference at 1680x1050, which I will never notice, but also 10 fps (average) more in COD 5 for the 4870 1Gb.

The Toxic can be made to run quieter more easily than the GTX 260, especially now that the 55nm GTX 260 versions appear to have a cheaper, less effective cooler...and as I mentioned earlier, it will fit more easily into my case. Also, if the new 9.1 drivers do deliver better quad core performance that will suit me better as in the summer I'll be getting a Q9450/9550....

Sapphire have a 24 month warranty via the seller, which is fine for me as after 2 years I'll want to upgrade again anyway!
 
Camberwell said:
In the end, the reason I will most likely go for the Sapphire Toxic is that the HardOCP reviews of these cards playing L4D and Far Cry 2 showed only 1 fps difference at 1680x1050, which I will never notice, but also 10 fps (average) more in COD 5 for the 4870 1Gb.

The Toxic can be made to run quieter more easily than the GTX 260, especially now that the 55nm GTX 260 versions appear to have a cheaper, less effective cooler...and as I mentioned earlier, it will fit more easily into my case. Also, if the new 9.1 drivers do deliver better quad core performance that will suit me better as in the summer I'll be getting a Q9450/9550....

Sapphire have a 24 month warranty via the seller, which is fine for me as after 2 years I'll want to upgrade again anyway!
Click to expand...

Lol. My only experience with Sapphire wasn't on anything this high end, but it was a poor experience. Never had a bad experience with an EVGA or BFG video card. Motherboard, yes, video card, no. EVGA even lets you put on your own aftermarket cooling if you want, IIRC.

You'll likely be fine. The failure rate is quite low on the 4870 from all manufacturers. I think with aftermarket cooling it can only be even better. Make sure it's on there solid and looks good when you get the card, and check load temps right away. Aftermarket cooling cards from the factory are usually 100% legit, but I always check to make sure the cooling is firmly installed and there's good thermal contact, and then temps.
 
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