[exnx]

I was just about to return my card but a friend recommended I make a thread here first to see if there was something I could try first.

Specs:
windows xp 32bit
core2duo 6850 3.0 ghz
ati xfx 5870 or nvidia 8800gt
2 gb crucial pc6400
300gb velociraptor
700w seagate psu

I recently decided to upgrade to the 5870 from an 8800gt. I've been a longtime nvidia fan and have always been quite satisfied with their cards' performance and quality. But nowadays I couldn't overlook the performance to price I've heard so much about from ATI.

In 3dmark 06 with the 8800gt I got around 12,300. With the 5870 I got about 14,500. In Half-Life 2 Loast Coast stress test using identical settings I got 174 fps with the 8800gt, 192 with the 5870. Sure, minor improvements in those 2 departments.

But in actual games I tested (modern warfare 2, team fortress 2, far cry 2, crysis warhead), the 8800gt was always quite a bit better.

A bunch of things crossed my mind:
-A dud card?
-Not enough power from power supply?
-Card was being bottlenecked by lesser quality other parts?
-overheating/poor cooling?(checked 5870 at one point after poor performance and I was at 52 celsius which I don't believe is horrible for a fan cooled card)

Basically any comments or suggestions are welcome before I return the card and proceed to wait for the new nvidias or wait to upgrade my whole computer.

Thanks

[dribblesnort]

You listed a lot of specs, but not the most important one, in my opinion...

The resolution you play at is more critical than anything else in the equation.

Think of it this way...you have 2 cars. One (nvidia) does 0-60 almost as fast as the other (ATI) but a top speed of only 130mph

The ATI has slightly faster 0-60 times, but a much higher top-end of 175mph

If all your "races" are from 0-140mph, then the ATI card will seem only a small amount faster.

1920x1200 is the minimum res for the 5870, in my opinion. If you're playing at less than that, you're wasting the power of the card.

Additionally, you "may" want to overclock the processor a bit to see how much it helps. The cards now days can actually be bottle-necked by a slower performing CPU because it doesn't feed them fast enough...

Edited to add:

Corrected "no" to "now", and to give you an idea of the power of the HD5870, I'm running three Dell 24" widescreens in a Portrait Mode Eyefinity setup (1920x3600res) and my games are smooth as silk with only 1 of those cards

[EarthDog]

+_1 to dribble more or less...

What res do you play on? Overclock that CPU!!!

[sandyduff]

Overclock that cpu and the 5870 will fly... your cpu at 3GHz will be the bottleneck...

[exnx]

Thanks for comments all.

I play at 1680x1050 as that's the native and max res of the samsung 2233rz, and I wouldn't really know how to overclock the cpu and probably don't have sufficient cooling.

Still much appreciated

[sandyduff]

Originally Posted by exnx

Thanks for comments all.

I play at 1680x1050 as that's the native and max res of the samsung 2233rz, and I wouldn't really know how to overclock the cpu and probably don't have sufficient cooling.

Still much appreciated

Are you using the stock cooler?

[exnx]

Yeah I'm using the stock hs/fan

[EarthDog]

Just keep it under 70C load and overclock!!! There is a link in my signature to a guide that should get you started!!!