Which Flavor/Card

[MaXXimus]

Ok so typically many moons ago I use to only buy NVidia... then after having a bad experience with a Hercules card I opted to try out ATi and have been using them for many moons now. But I recently had an issue with 2 of my 4870X2 cards... one had a bad fan in under 3 months usage... and one of them that Im using now has its fan set on 60%, the side off and a floor fan on high blowing on it and its still reaching temps of 79C until the Central Air kicks on and it drops to about 69C.

On top of these issues I understand these cards use an excessive amount of power and was wondering if anyone could recommend me a good card, be it ATi or NVidia... not looking for high end right now. Just something will be able to handle games like Bad Company 2... upcoming releases like Medal of Honor etc etc... I figured once I purchase this new card I can send my 4870X2 out since its under Double Lifetime Warrenty and then sell it on EBay when I get it back and possibly put that cash aside for something a little better down the road or just hold onto it for backup.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... and just so you know Im not really looking at any specific price range.... just looking for any flavor any price, as long as its not top of the line and like $600 lol.

 

[MrC4]

The 5850 from AMD is a great card that runs cool and sips power when non-gaming. This will run you around $280 from numerous online sites.

On the Nvidia front, the only card I would purchase from them right now is the 460 1GB variety. The higher end 470 and 480 both pull waaaaay too much power and run on the high end of the temp scale.

 

[Stoly]

The 5850 from AMD is a great card that runs cool and sips power when non-gaming. This will run you around $280 from numerous online sites.

On the Nvidia front, the only card I would purchase from them right now is the 460 1GB variety. The higher end 470 and 480 both pull waaaaay too much power and run on the high end of the temp scale.

+1 on the 5850 if you can get it at that price. The 470 is tempting as its now at close to $300

 

[MaXXimus]

Appreciate the responses guys... a little suprised that only one card falls under what Im looking for... but oh well, beggers cant be choosers right? lol

 

[Stoly]

Appreciate the responses guys... a little suprised that only one card falls under what Im looking for... but oh well, beggers cant be choosers right? lol

No, no, there are plenty of options. You really can't go wrong in what you choose, no matter if its a 5830, 460gtx, 5850 or gtx 470, you'll get what you pay for.

 

[MrC4]

I would skip the 5830 right now. The 460gtx is a better card at the same price point, and I'm usually an AMD/ATI fan.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

The 5850 would probably be a slight step back from the 4870x2 in terms of GPU power, I think the 5870 is about the equievelent of 2 4870s, the newer ATI cards run a bit cooler than the previous generation (4xxx)

Keep in mind that the 4xxx generation ran very hot, the 4870s could run at 90 degrees C, it's pretty normal for the 4870 and the 4870x2 to be running very hot, the card can handle it.

 

[piscian18]

The problems you're seeing seems like a manufacturing issue and not Green/Red specific. My quams with either of them tend to be in the high-high-highend market.

If you don't want to dick around with upgrading for a while the best single gpu highend card is the 5870. My prefered brand is XFX which can be had for somewhere under $400

The HD 5970 is probably the best priced card which can be had for around $500 if you really look around but it's made by Sapphire *puke*


otherwise I'd take a step back to a GTX 460 1GB for $200


Nvidias competing cards are the GTX470/80 which just have too many heat/noise issues to bother with and the HD 5850 is too expensive for it's value.

 

[Mickey21]

I too dont see a problem with your temps. At load, that is right for 4870's. Otherwise force the fan to 100% to get a little better. BIOS flash the card if you want it all the time. As for new card, I personally feel the GTX460's are the best value right now as indicated by my sig. The overclocking capability of the 460's is phenomenal and many cards are gettting over 800mhz. Not to mention ATI's CF versus Nvidia SLI performance gap. For the money it is a no brainer right now. If only 460's could do TRI or Quad SLI...

 

[blastingcap]

I would skip the 5830 right now. The 460gtx is a better card at the same price point, and I'm usually an AMD/ATI fan.

It all depends on price, 5830 was on sale for $150 a couple of weeks ago that completely blew away the 460GTX, even the gimped 768MB version.

 

[MrC4]

It all depends on price, 5830 was on sale for $150 a couple of weeks ago that completely blew away the 460GTX, even the gimped 768MB version.

I think that was the MSI 5830 that had a $50 mail in rebate for $199 which wasn't a bad deal. Only lasted one day at that price point.

 

[MaXXimus]

I too dont see a problem with your temps. At load, that is right for 4870's. Otherwise force the fan to 100% to get a little better. BIOS flash the card if you want it all the time. As for new card, I personally feel the GTX460's are the best value right now as indicated by my sig. The overclocking capability of the 460's is phenomenal and many cards are gettting over 800mhz. Not to mention ATI's CF versus Nvidia SLI performance gap. For the money it is a no brainer right now. If only 460's could do TRI or Quad SLI...

Oh there for sure is a problem... thats why I got the side off and the floor fan on it. If I didnt... the card sitting at idle will go over 100C and then shut down, then I have to let it sit for a few minutes before it will work again. Trust me... its so bad I cant even play any games right now even with the games graphics turned all the way down and setting the card fan and floor fan to 100%... might last a round or 2 before it starts glitching and then its like playing in slow motion until it shuts off... oh and that also underclocked to 507/450.

All I can do is watch movies and still have to keep the floor fan on and the card fan at 60%.. but from the looks of it I guess I will be sticking with ATi and start looking into the 5850's.

 

[Mickey21]

Oh there for sure is a problem... thats why I got the side off and the floor fan on it. If I didnt... the card sitting at idle will go over 100C and then shut down, then I have to let it sit for a few minutes before it will work again. Trust me... its so bad I cant even play any games right now even with the games graphics turned all the way down and setting the card fan and floor fan to 100%... might last a round or 2 before it starts glitching and then its like playing in slow motion until it shuts off... oh and that also underclocked to 507/450.

All I can do is watch movies and still have to keep the floor fan on and the card fan at 60%.. but from the looks of it I guess I will be sticking with ATi and start looking into the 5850's.

First of all, I cant read your mind, when you dont state the whole truth at the beginning it is kind of hard to help you when you dont really mention much about temps in excess of 100C.

Second if there is anything that you REASONABLY CAN do to get the temps in the 80's or below during load it doesnt sound like a card problem, it sounds like your case doesnt have adequate cooling and airflow for the hot cards that these are.

Third, after knowing you are having heat issues with an ATI card you want to stick with ATI cards some more?! For the money, the GTX460 cant be beat. Take that as the honest truth from someone who has never been able to be a true fan boy. For my money, it will always go to the best value, no matter who makes it.

 

[thefreeaccount]

If you just need something to tide you over for a while, the gtx460 is the most obvious choice. However, it will be a big downgrade in performance from your 4870x2. Even a 5870 would be more of a sidegrade than a real overall increase in performance. Right now, the 4870 has the best price/performance ratio of any card, which means that if you sell it, you'll get a poor return and whatever you buy instead will most likely be worse.

There simply hasn't been a big leap in performance from the 4xxx generation to the cards presently available. Your best bet, IMO, is to milk that 4870x2 until the next generation of cards is released.

 

[vjcsmoke]

It all depends on price, 5830 was on sale for $150 a couple of weeks ago that completely blew away the 460GTX, even the gimped 768MB version.

5830 does not blow away the 460. The 460 is far superior. Now 5850 on the other hand seems to have the edge over the 460 in single gpu configurations but it also costs around $50 more.
Oh and if you ever go SLI, two 460s will own two 5850s as recent testing has shown.

 

[MaXXimus]

First of all, I cant read your mind, when you dont state the whole truth at the beginning it is kind of hard to help you when you dont really mention much about temps in excess of 100C.

Second if there is anything that you REASONABLY CAN do to get the temps in the 80's or below during load it doesnt sound like a card problem, it sounds like your case doesnt have adequate cooling and airflow for the hot cards that these are.

Third, after knowing you are having heat issues with an ATI card you want to stick with ATI cards some more?! For the money, the GTX460 cant be beat. Take that as the honest truth from someone who has never been able to be a true fan boy. For my money, it will always go to the best value, no matter who makes it.

The reason I didnt go into much detail about the overheating is because the thread is about picking a new card to replace it and not a tech question in regards to the overheating. But regardless... I would say its for sure a card issue as its progressivly gotten worse the past 6 months... with each passing month the temperatures getting hotter and hotter during idle and load.

The case is the Lian Li PC-343B (modded) with 12 120mm fans... 6 fans on top of the case pulling up and out... 4 fans on the front pulling in and 2 fans on the back pulling out.

 

[Valset]

The reason I didnt go into much detail about the overheating is because the thread is about picking a new card to replace it and not a tech question in regards to the overheating. But regardless... I would say its for sure a card issue as its progressivly gotten worse the past 6 months... with each passing month the temperatures getting hotter and hotter during idle and load.

The case is the Lian Li PC-343B (modded) with 12 120mm fans... 6 fans on top of the case pulling up and out... 4 fans on the front pulling in and 2 fans on the back pulling out.

the rest of your system specs would help. but it sounds like your looking for a 5850. the 470GTX can be had for 240 right now but its a crappy card all round. next down would be 460GTX. if you have a little more to spend a 5870 is a nice card though not the best bang for the buck.

 

[blastingcap]

5830 does not blow away the 460. The 460 is far superior. Now 5850 on the other hand seems to have the edge over the 460 in single gpu configurations but it also costs around $50 more.
Oh and if you ever go SLI, two 460s will own two 5850s as recent testing has shown.

Are you even reading entire sentences or just a phrase here and there? I will state it even more clearly for you: 5830 at $150 blows away the $200-230 GTX 460 in PRICE/PERFORMANCE RATIO. Why the hell do you think I mentioned the price? I even freaking started with "It all depends on price..." And why do you think I said "even" the 768MB version (which has a higher price/performance for the time being, even though I still think 1GB is better long term), rather than "even" the 1GB version?

Also you are delusional if you're saying a GTX 460 is "far" superior to a HD 5830. The 1GB version has a modest edge overall, the 768 an even smaller edge, and the 5830 holds up better at higher resolutions--look at TPU's 2560x1600 performance chart and you will see what I mean. SLI is currently "far" superior to Crossfire, but that has less to do with the particular GPUs, since you could say the same about any of the GTX 4xx cards--they scale better in SLI than HD58xxs do in Crossfire.

Anyway if 5830s are more than $180 then I'd definitely go 460 instead, as at $180 price/perf is the same.