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Upgrading 4870 512 to 1gb questions

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Doogiehowser

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Apr 3, 2008
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Prussia
I currently have a 1.5 month old HIS 4870 512 and a 24" monitor w/1900x1200 res. I would like to get the 1gb version for better gameplay at 1900x1200. I know that i could run CF with the 512 and 1gb version just fine. My question is if i wanted to sell/trade my 512mb version, what would be the best means of doing this? And what brand name 4870 1gb should i go with? Id much rather sell or trade since i can gather the remaining money pretty easily w/o stressing my budget. Any suggestions would be fantastic. Thank you ahead of time.
 
I suggest you wait until you find a game other than crysis that gives you trouble at that res. By then, prices will have come down. The 1gb card does offer a little better performance at high res, but we're only talking a few frames a second, like 1 or 2, at 19x12. It's probably a waste of money and time to switch out cards. I'd just wait a bit, and add a second 4870 for CF when you can budget it.
 
The 1gb card does offer a little better performance at high res, but we're only talking a few frames a second, like 1 or 2, at 19x12.
Its not only about framerates, the 1GB will be smoother, or as OP said, "better gameplay".

One example in this link, found it somewhere in this forum:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU2MiwxMCwsaGVudGh1c2lhc3Q=

the 1GB video card did actually help us in another way, a way which we cannot exactly show you here, only try to explain to you.
....
with the 1GB 4870 these pauses didn’t occur at all, there were smoother transitions through the Stalker world as we would walk or run through it. When we entered new areas, new buildings, or new tasks loaded it was seamless, just the way we’d expect it to be, and thus in that way it helps the gameplay experience positively. It should also be noted the GTX 260 was also smoother in this way, because it too has a large memory capacity.
 
I suggest you wait until you find a game other than crysis that gives you trouble at that res. By then, prices will have come down. The 1gb card does offer a little better performance at high res, but we're only talking a few frames a second, like 1 or 2, at 19x12. It's probably a waste of money and time to switch out cards. I'd just wait a bit, and add a second 4870 for CF when you can budget it.

Closer to 10+ in some games.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ati-radeon-hd-4870-1024mb-review/8

But in MOST games, the difference is hardly noticable. It can be made up just overclocking the 512MB version. The 1GB version is a really crappy overclocker so I say stick with what you have and just OC it.


As for the smoothness argument, that's always been subjective to the user.
 
The 1GB version is a really crappy overclocker.

Not really...just the memory OCs poorly unless you volt mod...the core does just fine. The core speed has much more influence on performance than the memory so it isn't a big deal. For $30 difference get the extra memory if you are buying a 4870. +1 on keeping the 512 mb version and OCing it if you already have one.
 
Not really...just the memory OCs poorly unless you volt mod...the core does just fine. The core speed has much more influence on performance than the memory so it isn't a big deal. For $30 difference get the extra memory if you are buying a 4870. +1 on keeping the 512 mb version and OCing it if you already have one.

I can't get more than 800 out of my core. :screwy:
 
That sucks! Just a few thoughts...have you remounted your cooler with new TIM such as AS... or even replaced it with an after market one? Also try leaving the memory at stock and just OC the core. The stock cooler may not be cooling the VRM adequately. You could also put some heatsinks on VRM? Obviously that would entail installing a new cooler. OF course maybe your chip is limited...all are not created equal.
 
That sucks! Just a few thoughts...have you remounted your cooler with new TIM such as AS... or even replaced it with an after market one? Also try leaving the memory at stock and just OC the core. The stock cooler may not be cooling the VRM adequately. You could also put some heatsinks on VRM? Obviously that would entail installing a new cooler. OF course maybe your chip is limited...all are not created equal.

yes yes yes yes. :p My card just sucks [for OCing].

That being said, it runs pretty f'in stellar at stock and I don't dread the upgrade at all. I was just saying if you already had a 4870 512MB the upgrade didn't make sense to me.
 
Agreed. My guess is your GPU needs more volts to go higher. If you are happy then fooling with the bios or volt modding doesn't make much sense. The thread on that subject was pretty impressive on what the 4800 series is cable of.

I just now received my replacement Powercolor HD 4870 PCS+ 1gb so we will see how it goes. The last one wouldn't even boot into XP 32. Hope this one works as advertised.
 
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