GTX 470/480 vs ATI 5850-70

[Detale]

Hello guys. Well now that the new fermi cards are out I was thinking of getting one. I have always been a Nvidia guy and more or less hated ATI due to driver issues and what not. From what I have read the ATI cards that have been out are still faster, run way cooler and use less power. What do you guys think? Should I just take the plunge and go with the 470 or what?

[Neuromancer]

They are not faster, the 470 and 480 are 5-10% faster than the competing 5850/5870.

Many people are just skipping this series of nVidia GPUs because of the hefty heat and power requirements. They do actually perform pretty well though despite those drawbacks.

[Detale]

Well put, I guess I'm asking if it's worth it to drop the $500 on the 480 or just get a 5850 for $300. I don't exactly "need" one I have a GTX 260 ATM and it does fine. I recently upgraded my rig to a i7 (1156) with all the trimmings. so I just think it's time to get a new GFT card and I have a few bucks to burn ;)

[don'tknow]

If you don't need a new GPU right now (and a 260 isn't bad) then you could wait and see what happens in a few months from now; like the new 5970, the northern/southern islands refresh, maybe a fermi 470/480 refresh (not the low range ones) and possibly a 490/495 dual-gpu. Many people say the dual-gpu is impossible, but Nvidia can still cut down some cores and make it especially if they improve the power efficiency of the architecture with a newer revision.

Right now I would say a 470/480 isn't really worth it not only because of the heat, power issues and stock bench results, but also because the 5k series OC quite a bit better (around +25-30% on stock cooling as opposed to +10-15% from the NV cards) and I'm willing to bet the 5850/5870 can match or even slightly beat the 470/480 in most games once they are all benched at fully OC'd speeds.

But one good thing about the 400 series is that they scale very well with SLI (95-100%), so if you don't mind spending a ton of $ for the cards and buying a new high end PSU, and don't mind the heat (actually, you might need water cooling in the summer especially, not sure about this), then you'll get killer performance by going SLI with 480's.

[baris_]

If you want to get a card now, get the 5870. Including overclockability, heat, powerdraw and price it's easily better than a 480. If you don't want to buy a card now, indeed, wait for the refresh of the 5000 series. In my opinion these 5000 series are already incredible.. There's hardly anything wrong with them so I'm expecting a LOT from the refreshed series. I don't have any idea when they're coming out though.

[Rinne]

Yes, OC'd the 5 series should perform about as well as the fermis, while using less power and being cheaper.

Drivers have not been an issue with ATI since a couple of years now. At least not more than NVIDIA's drivers. (They are pretty much on par now).

My recommendation would be to wait as well, though. It's hard to get your hands on cards from both manufacturers right now, and if yields will some day be better :santa: Prices might come down as well.

Also there has been speculation about fermis longevity. Temperature wise they run pretty much at the end of what's possible. And it isn't even summer, yet.
Also they only have a one year warranty opposed to the usual 2 years. There's currently a thread around here somewhere that states XFX won't sell any 470/480's and there's plenty of plausible speculation of the reasons.

On the positive side for fermi and another reason to wait and watch, see what the next driver revisions will bring.

[Detale]

I do think I am going to wait a bit and maybe get a 9800 or something to use physx for now. MAybe even grab another GTX 260 and use SLI. Opinions on this idea anyone? If I do get anothe 260 I'll surely have to Water cool it like I did my other one using the MCW60. For those who care.
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/3272/dsc03594g.jpg
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7928/dsc03598v.jpg
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/9708/whitegpu6001451.jpg

This does involve getting the 275 backplate and the GPU block so

[wingman99]

Also they only have a one year warranty opposed to the usual 2 years. There's currently a thread around here somewhere that states XFX won't sell any 470/480's and there's plenty of plausible speculation of the reasons.thats not true
LINK: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%20106793413

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

ASUS ENGTX480/2DI/1536MD5 GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 3 years limited
Labor 3 years limited

ZOTAC ZT-40101-10P GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

GIGABYTE GV-N480D5-15I-B GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 9 years limited
Labor 9 years limited

EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1482-AR GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

PNY XLR8 VCGGTX480XPB GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

Stop the rumers, if you leave the stock heatsink on lifetime Warranty, 24/7 summer time.

[Rinne]

thats not true
LINK: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%20106793413

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

ASUS ENGTX480/2DI/1536MD5 GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 3 years limited
Labor 3 years limited

ZOTAC ZT-40101-10P GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

GIGABYTE GV-N480D5-15I-B GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 9 years limited
Labor 9 years limited

EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1482-AR GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

PNY XLR8 VCGGTX480XPB GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

Stop the rumers, if you leave the stock heatsink on lifetime Warranty, 24/7 summer time.


I was referring to the warranty NVIDIA gives to their AIBs. This is not a problem for the customer, indeed. But maybe a sign that NVIDIA doesn't trust their own products.

From the NVIDIA warranty information.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/support_warranty_info.html
What Does This Warranty Cover?
Any manufacturing defects or hardware component failures in your new NVIDIA Tuner Product, as well as the following hardware accessories bundled with the product package or sold separately: NVIDIA remote control, NVIDIA remote control receiver, the physical CD (and not the software or other content included on such CD), and cables (the "Warranted Products").

For How Long?
One (1) year from the date of purchase of your new Warranted Products.

Now this is for all NVIDIA products, but as I get the rumors only since the introduction of fermi. Otherwise the speculation is senseless, of course.

[wingman99]

I was referring to the warranty NVIDIA gives to their AIBs. This is not a problem for the customer, indeed. But maybe a sign that NVIDIA doesn't trust their own products.

From the NVIDIA warranty information.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/support_warranty_info.html


Now this is for all NVIDIA products, but as I get the rumors only since the introduction of fermi. Otherwise the speculation is senseless, of course.That is for NVIDIA® Tuner Products ,is one year.

you can trust nvidia engineers they know what they are doing they don't release a product till it's ready for the hole world, including all OEM pc's.

You are lost.:shock:

[Rinne]

wup, sorry for that, quite embarassing, indeed :fight:

However, it has been reported and never demented that warranties for the AIB's were cut from two years to one year for fermi.

After researching a bit, this statement comes from Fudzilla, of course, so it is indeed to take with a grain of salt.

[killem2]

No question in terms of preformance, gtx is going to win, I still feel the 5850 is the best bang for the buck with its ability to OC to the speeds of 5870. I just love that card, and as far as driver issues, this always gets brought up but I never had any issues thus far.