GTX 260 / HD4870 / Question

[OoozeSheep]

Hello my OCF Darlings, one has around £200 to spend

I'm currently an Nvidia user [See sig] however im an AMD man at heart

I'd buy the XFX GTX 260 [As its one sexy mother, black PCB, nice cooler, good GFX, matches my back in black theme]

However the HD4870 looks appealing also - What i hate is the horrible [sorry] see-through plastic cover on it, if i bought one, i'd remove the sticker and the case and spray it black - Any opinions on this?

1.XFX GTX 260 - £211
2.HD4870 [Cheapest] £175~
3.Stick with 8800GT, not really worth it

All advice etc is greatly welcomed!

Cheers,

Lou

[Evilsizer]

price performance ratio goes to the 4870. more so since the 4850 can beat the GTX260 in alot of games today and some cases matches or beats the GTX280.

i got a 4850 and dont regret it at all! :)

[OoozeSheep]

Whats your opinion on spraying the case black?

[WorshipMe]

Whats your opinion on spraying the case black?
Ghetto!

How about Powercolor's upcoming PCS version: http://en.expreview.com/2008/07/23/powercolor-hd-4870-1gb-gddr5-has-awesome-vrm/

[OoozeSheep]

Thats a yes in my eyes =P

I'm a big skating/snowboarding fan, I'm thinking of putting a stencil over it whilst i spray it black, leaving an Etnies or Element logo on the case

[MadMan007]

What's your monitor native resolution? This is a key factor that people always seem to forget to mention when asking about video cards.

[OoozeSheep]

I run 1280 x 1024 because im cool

[WorshipMe]

Really no point in the HD 4870 then. You're better off keeping your money and just keeping the 8800GT.

[Evilsizer]

then just get a 4850, even at 1280x1024 with AA/AF on. you will get higher FPS from the 4000's then the 8800's. either way if you get the 4000's now its sets you up to get a better monitor later...heck i play at 720p and notice games are alot smoother with out aa/af vs the 8800GTS i had. while i didnt bench for FPS this is from playing thru a few games agian. including DOW:Soulstone,some crysis,Bioshock.

[OoozeSheep]

Cheers Evilsizer, how much better is the HD4850 than my OC'd 8800GT though? Worth £120?

[WorshipMe]

I recommended to stick with the 8800GT because I don't even think the HD 4850 is needed at 1280x1024. Like Evilsizer said, you should put that money towards a new monitor.

[OoozeSheep]

I'm happy with the monitor i have atm, the only thing is my comp starts to struggle when i run 3 accounts of City of Heroes [All @Max GFX, in windowed mode]

I was wondering if it was the CPU, but its @3.42GHz atm, so i put it down to the GFX card

Its brilliant at running 1 account @1280 x 1024, but when running multiple accounts the FPS goes down to around 15-25FPS

[Evilsizer]

Cheers Evilsizer, how much better is the HD4850 than my OC'd 8800GT though? Worth £120?
how much better hard to say but in terms for higher res's like 1600x1200 the 4800 does beat the GTX260 in fps. worth the 120, see below.

I recommended to stick with the 8800GT because I don't even think the HD 4850 is needed at 1280x1024. Like Evilsizer said, you should put that money towards a new monitor.
i never said save the money someone else did. i found the 4805 to be a worth while upgrade but then while i notice a nice difference over the 8800GTS. for the longest time though i have been on a 7900GT, so im possilby noticing more. now the OP can off set the cost of the 4850 by selling the 8800GT. making the cost difference smaller then before... still its up to the OP if running AA/AF i would recommend getting a 4850. if not using AA/AF then no a upgrade on the video card isnt going to be needed.


*edit*
I'm happy with the monitor i have atm, the only thing is my comp starts to struggle when i run 3 accounts of City of Heroes [All @Max GFX, in windowed mode]

I was wondering if it was the CPU, but its @3.42GHz atm, so i put it down to the GFX card

Its brilliant at running 1 account @1280 x 1024, but when running multiple accounts the FPS goes down to around 15-25FPS

yes thats a GPU issue, in that case a higher end GPU will help alot. Running 3 instances of any game i say it is hard for a GPU to keep up with.

[Shell]

I'd stick with the 8800GT until you get nice 1920x1200 monitor. :)

But you need a lot of power and VRAM to run 3 games at the same time... the 1GB 4870 would offer superior performance.

And a 2GB 4870X2 later for Tri-Fire :0 But you'd need a new mainboard... sure your CPU will hold you back, but it's sufficient.

[OoozeSheep]

yes thats a GPU issue, in that case a higher end GPU will help alot. Running 3 instances of any game i say it is hard for a GPU to keep up with.


Awesome, cheers

The GTX 260 has like 890MB RAM, i guess [for me] its just a simple choice between the 2...The HD4870 would probably get a few FPS more though

[Evilsizer]

well 4850 is better then GTX260 and in some cases beats the GTX280. the 4870 in alot of cases beats the GTX280, so i think the choice is clear, 4870...

[OoozeSheep]

I noticed that the 4870 only has 512MB RAM though... =/

[Evilsizer]

I noticed that the 4870 only has 512MB RAM though... =/

ram is not the only factor here... the bigger player is how good the GPU is at doing work. if you are worried about video ram then you should wait, a 1gig 4870 was rumored to be coming out.

[OoozeSheep]

We have the 1GB HD4870 here in the UK but it costs more than most GTX 260's unfortunatly =/

Does the GDDR5 make up for the half RAM total?

[gigabit]

I love my GTX 260.And i love my second one even more.I have it sitting here waiting on my 780i which should be here tomorrow

well 4850 is better then GTX260 and in some cases beats the GTX280. the 4870 in alot of cases beats the GTX280, so i think the choice is clear, 4870...

Thats BS. TX260 beat the 4850 in every almost every test/game ive seen.I think you mean the 9800GTX+.But noway the 4850 beats GTX280 in anything.

[micamica1217]

personaly, I would work on getting a new monitor first.
something in the 20"-22" range would be a nice upgrade for you for two reasons...

first, your 8800gt can handle your main game fine, your more CPU limited when running 3 instances of the game, while windowed.
other games will be fine if not windowed...but you might need to upgrade your GPU soon for some of todays games.

the biggest reson to upgrade to a larger monitor is all the extra pixels that you'll be displaying when not in windowed mode.
your textures will be far more detailed and sharper.
I upgraded from a 19" LCD to a 24" wide...the differance in texture detail is outstanding.

also, if your able to sell off your old card, a 4850 or 9800GTX style card is all you'l need for your new monitor.
I forgot your mobo, but if it's an intewl chipset, go ATI. if it's a Nforce board, go nVidia.
you can then go Xfire or SLI when you get the extra cash.

the GTX260 is more or less an underclocked 280, and not much faster then the 9800GTX style of cards.
once OCed, it can match the performance of the 280 easy, but I have a problem with mid range cards...

to me, both the 4870 and the GTX260 are still not the best performance cards out there.
to me, you eather go budget, or you go high end, not someplace in the middle.
the prices, even with the huge price drops from both API's, don't justify the performance they give.
this is not to say that the 4870 or the GTX260 are bad cards...I might even be able to step up with free 260s if the price drops more from EVGA.

it's just that if your able to go Xfire or SLI (using two cards), the 4850s and 9800GTX dual card setups will destroy a single 4870/260. cost for a dual card setup is around $300.00 US.

again, to me, there is no reason to upgrade your card untill you get a new monitor. after that, your choices are endless.

mica

[micamica1217]

gigabit,

yeah that was funny as hell from evilsizer.:beer:

mica

[gigabit]

gigabit,

yeah that was funny as hell from evilsizer.:beer:

mica
Agreed..lol

[Evilsizer]

I love my GTX 260.And i love my second one even more.I have it sitting here waiting on my 780i which should be here tomorrow



Thats BS. TX260 beat the 4850 in every almost every test/game ive seen.I think you mean the 9800GTX+.But noway the 4850 beats GTX280 in anything.

gigabit,

yeah that was funny as hell from evilsizer.:beer:

mica

dont beat me to hard!:eek: i swore i saw a reviews showing the 4850 matching the GTX280 in some areas/cases. i would have pulled up benches but pulling up any site here work is painfully slow. :(

[gigabit]

dont beat me to hard!:eek: i swore i saw a reviews showing the 4850 matching the GTX280 in some areas/cases. i would have pulled up benches but pulling up any site here work is painfully slow. :(
..lol I think you confused the 4870 for the 4850.Both are great cards.I was thinking about just selling my mobo and GTX260 from step up and going with a X48 mobo and two 4850's or 4870's

[WorshipMe]

the GTX260 is more or less an underclocked 280,
Far from the truth. The GTX 260 is a crippled 280. It has 192 SPs vs 240. 64 Texture units vs 80 and 24 ROPs vs 30.
dont beat me to hard! i swore i saw a reviews showing the 4850 matching the GTX280 in some areas/cases. i would have pulled up benches but pulling up any site here work is painfully slow.
Yeah, there were a few. I think GRID, Assassin's Creed pre-patch, and perhaps Age Of Conan? Bioshock maybe? So you weren't completely wrong :P

[gigabit]

Its a shame its not like the days when 6800NU's could be unlocked or the ATI X800 Pro's.It would be awesome if you could unlock a GTX260

[Evilsizer]

..lol I think you confused the 4870 for the 4850.Both are great cards.I was thinking about just selling my mobo and GTX260 from step up and going with a X48 mobo and two 4850's or 4870's

possible i got them backwards.. but now im checking...
http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=vga_charts
only site responding fast enought that i can post in the next 10mins before i leave work...
yea looks like your right, i had them backwards...
http://www.guru3d.com/category/vga_2/
but from looking depends on the game.

[gigabit]

Yeah thats the same review i was checking out

GTX 260 is fast though.3Dmark06 surprized me
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=7566651

[OoozeSheep]

Thanks for the input Mica, unfortunatly buying a bigger monitor wouldn't help/solve the 'issue' i have =P

I think i'll go for the GTX 260, ATI STILL has problems in City of Heroes / Villains =( [When hovering over enhancements the mouse goes a bit crazy, water effects are broken, AA/AF is pretty borked, contact windows give massive FPS drops...eurgh]

I'll see if there are any fixes on the horizon though =)

[reznik]

Hello my OCF Darlings, one has around £200 to spend

I'm currently an Nvidia user [See sig] however im an AMD man at heart

ahhh...no man had ever called me darling how nice................

I run 1280 x 1024 because im cool

...and yea your are cool....i also have a monitor at that native rez..no biggy

I think the 4870 rocks...go for it...

[micamica1217]

Thanks for the input Mica, unfortunatly buying a bigger monitor wouldn't help/solve the 'issue' i have =P

that's just it, almost nothing is going to help you unless you are willing to go with a much faster CPU...yes, I said CPU.
in fact, you'll also need more memory too.
your extreemly CPU limited when running 3 instances of your game.
unlike what someone said, running 3 instances of that game, while windowed at a small/low res would not benifit greatly by a new vid card.

I would even say, that to get the most out of running 3 instances of the game, you'll have no choice but to run with a faster CPU, more memory, AND A FASTER VID CARD....is that worth it to you for maybe a 10-15 FPS increase?

true, you should see a small increase in framerate, but so would adding a faster CPU...both not worth it in my eyes.
when I used to do this in WoW, I too could not see me spending $300-$500 to get an extra 5 frames.
don't be fooled into thinking you'll get 40 or 50 FPS by upgrading your vid card. it's just not going to happen.

I think i'll go for the GTX 260, ATI STILL has problems in City of Heroes / Villains =( [When hovering over enhancements the mouse goes a bit crazy, water effects are broken, AA/AF is pretty borked, contact windows give massive FPS drops...eurgh]

I'll see if there are any fixes on the horizon though =)

sadly, this is what bothers me with ATI cards at the moment...
it's not like the old days when AMD did not own ATI.
if this was WoW, you could bet you would have better suport for it...but since Heros is not a popular game, or a heavy benchmarked game, suport for it may never come.
I've seen already 2 titles that had missing textures or other problems with the 4850's that my friend has.
one got fixed (AoC), but the other game is old and not popular, and we have no idea if it will ever get fixed.

I realy wish for the days of the 9700/9800 and x800 type cards from ATI...
the suport was outstanding for games.
today, it's up in the air as to what will happen...while I hope it gets better, it's not that bad as some say.

mica

[OoozeSheep]

What kind of speed do ya reccomend then?

Managed to get 3.42GHz [8 x 428 [1712 FSB]] last night Ram @1028MHz

Will try a plain 355FSB x 10 tonight when it's cooler, I don't see how I'm limited by CPU though, none of the 4 cores ever go above 70%~ under 3 instances

N no, buying a new monitor really wouldn't solve anything lol

Oh n I think I'm gonna go with the GTX 260, the extra 80 SP's will help, along with a better GPU core

[micamica1217]

What kind of speed do ya reccomend then?

Managed to get 3.42GHz [8 x 428 [1712 FSB]] last night Ram @1028MHz

Will try a plain 355FSB x 10 tonight when it's cooler, I don't see how I'm limited by CPU though, none of the 4 cores ever go above 70%~ under 3 instances

the game is not designed to run on more then 2 cores when in single mode, I'm not suprised that it's using 4 cores inefeciantly when running 3 instances of the same game.
so what am I getting at?

your still CPU and memory limited! you don't have enough speed and amount of system memory to run 3 instances of that game...even at low res.
just think for a minute, you are running 3 games on a single CPU that has 4 cores and limited amount of system memory...3 games!!!!!
then, if you are running any mods, like I used to in WoW...more CPU and memory limited.

stop thinking that a vid card upgrade is going to solve this...YOUR PLAYING EACH INSTACE AT ULTRA LOW RES TO FIT ON YOUR MONITOR!!!!
at best, you'll get no more then 5 extra frames with such an upgrade...is that worth it to you?

why are you running 3 instances of that game, other then to traid goods, do banking, and other minor stuff?

N no, buying a new monitor really wouldn't solve anything lol

I never said it would help...
what it will do is give you more realastate to run your game, and "see" the other apps that you are running, such as teamspeak or vent.

also, when you are not running 3 instances, and only running any single game, your visuals will be far more detailed by all the extra pixels you are running at....
trust me bro, 16x12 is far better then 12x10...by alot! you will never want to use a 19" monitor to game again after trying it.

Oh n I think I'm gonna go with the GTX 260, the extra 80 SP's will help, along with a better GPU core

could you please enlighten me just how a 260 vid card would help?
I would realy like to know.;)

mica

[OoozeSheep]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250276259241 Opinions?

Thinking of bidding up to around £180-£190 for it

On another note, I'm selling a load of parts to my friend soon to help him build a new comp, I'd get about £60 for my 8800GT which brings the GTX 260 down to a very low price... Or shall I just ship him the RAM/CPU/Mobo and save up for a newer GFX later on

The reason I'd like a new GFX Card is because the rest of my system is now high spec etc, and the GFX card is trailing a little - I like everything to be equal ^^

[gigabit]

Thats a really nice monitor from what ive heard,S-IPS panel .Id go for it if the price is right.They go for about $599 USD here

[OoozeSheep]

Does he look like a safe ebay guy?

I've NEVER bought anything off ebay or used paypal =S

[gigabit]

I got my 2007FP off ebay brand new in the box .Dell even replace it because of a few dead pixels .

[OoozeSheep]

I've been looking around but all the 24" Monitors are so expensive, it's not really worth it...

I was considering a 22" Monitor but its not that much of an improvement over my current 19" monitor

1280 x 1024 to 1680 x 1050 Is only an extra 400 pixels...

I'm still gonna look for a 24" monitor, thats an extra 700 pixels on the side



Edit: I haven't heard of Iisonic before, any views on this?

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/577457/art/iisonic/iim24wb-24-tft-wide-forma.html?form=8#tech-specs

And would things really be that much different?

[micamica1217]

I've been looking around but all the 24" Monitors are so expensive, it's not really worth it...

I was considering a 22" Monitor but its not that much of an improvement over my current 19" monitor

1280 x 1024 to 1680 x 1050 Is only an extra 400 pixels...



hmmmm, I'm getting 453,280 extra pixels with my math...but hey who's counting. lol
while it does seem like a side grade at first, a 22" wide is a huge upgrade in gaming from a 19" standard.

mica

[OoozeSheep]

I'd only go 24" from my 19" so I can see the gains

Look at the linkie in my previous post, what do you think? It looks alrite i guess...just wish it was silver ^^

[dkizzy]

I think its premature to go with the 260, ATI cards are notorious for having significant improvement with better drivers, because of the way their hardware is designed. BTW the kid complaining about the 4870 only having 512, well being DDR5 memory the bandwidth is much higher so thats not really a huge concern....But yeah the ATI cards get better more so than nvidia cards with driver updates usually.

[OoozeSheep]

Has already been established I wouldn't be going with another ATI card since CoH is RIFE with ATI bugs... =/

[WorshipMe]

ooozesheep is a pretty cool guy, eh buys GTX 260 and doesnt afraid of anything

[micamica1217]

I'd only go 24" from my 19" so I can see the gains

Look at the linkie in my previous post, what do you think? It looks alrite i guess...just wish it was silver ^^


look for something with at least DVI inputs...that monitor only had VGA

mica

[OoozeSheep]

My current only has VGA =P Am I missing out on anything? I hear colour is better on DVI...is this true?

I think i'll hold off getting a new monitor for now then...well...until the price of 24" comes down ^^

[gigabit]

ooozesheep is a pretty cool guy, eh buys GTX 260 and doesnt afraid of anything
I got two whats that make me?...lol

[OoozeSheep]

Makes you awesome!

[gigabit]

:clap:Yea Im AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WorshipMe]

I got two whats that make me?...lol

Gigabit is a pretty dumb guy, eh buys GTX 260s and r afraid of teh 4870

:p

[OoozeSheep]

*Passes sticker*

I really dunno what to buy now =O

[gigabit]

You cant go wrong with either imho

Gigabit is a pretty dumb guy, eh buys GTX 260s and r afraid of teh 4870

:p

Dumb thats why i paid less than $80 for 2xGTX260's.And was gonna get the 4870 but i have a SLI mobo so no point in getting HD4870

[WorshipMe]

Mate, it was a joke. You know, a joke?

[OoozeSheep]

I'm considering going WC... =P

[gigabit]

Mate, it was a joke. You know, a joke?
Sorry sounded like a personal attack.:beer:

[WorshipMe]

I can do that too :D

[OoozeSheep]

Well i've thought about it

And i think i'll buy the GTX 260

The thing is, my penis..it is so small..i need something to distract people from its infantile size, such as an overrated beefy GFX Card

It would make me feel really manly, i'd stop punching kittens for a while if i feel butch enough

The XFX One looks so cool though, i reckon the extra vram will help

Have considered watercooling, but its not really adding anything to me system...

[gigabit]

I can do that too :D
I bet you can:burn:

[WorshipMe]

But you have a P35, so you have an equal choice between the two cards... Seeing as they're both the same price. The obvious choice would be the HD 4870, wouldn't it?

And the 260's extra VRAM doesn't help it, the 4870 does just as well, if not better at high resolution.

[gigabit]

Nope he has a DFI DK P25 T2RS
So i guess its a P25....lmao j/k

[OoozeSheep]

Oh FFS i've done that so many times!


The GTX 260 doesnt bug with CoH

[gigabit]

I was just messing with you..lol I know it was a miss type

[OoozeSheep]

Sorted now ^^

I might go do some OC'ing, have only managed 475 FSB on this board so far


http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=390390

Thats not stable at all

If i can get something like that a little bit stable with 1.5v or less i'll go WC'ing

^^