To GTX 280....or 4870....

[K007]

Well...i can finally buy either of these cards now from my local retail shop ><...

The GTX 280 is arround 800-850AUD.....
The 4870 atm only one flavour Gigabyte is 399.99.

To make it easy, in USD

GTX 280 - $762USD

4870 - $382USD

Yes...thats right..thats how much the GTX280 price is...

I feel the GTX 280 defiantly does have some good features...
- Phyx
- 1GB Ram/512bit
- Drivers look more mature (compared to ati).
- Future proof (ignoring the 10.1)

4870
- Cheap (Makes upgrading to the next card a bit easier if it comes out in the next 6-12 months)
- GDDR5
- Smaller length, also power cables are not much of an issue.

Atm i game at 1280x960, main reason is because i am still CRT and i can hit 85hz refresh rate on it. I don't want to upgrade my screen because i feel its really pointless, i am quiet happy with my CRT which i purchased a very long time ago...when the 6800GT came out...and it works great.

I feel the 4870 is more than enough, but i don't feel that its a card that can last some time...its 512MB of ram (Where the **** are those 1GB cards?!?!) seems like a real let down, once AA starts to play in..even though it has the power..if it runs out of ram its gonna run out of juice...

The GTX280 defiantly feels very strong card, 1GB of ram, 512bit, lots of hoarse power, a card that could last quiet sometime, much like the 8800GTX...but seeing all these heat issues and the card just going boom 105C and having to RMA...i really don't like this..i had alot of bad experience left with the 7900GTX..5+ Cards die from getting stressed and 3 of which were out of the box @ the store on different computers...it was disgusting...not to mention a complete waste of my time as i only have free time during the weekend to run off to the store and get a new card and after spending that much $ i would feel a bit ripped off...thank fully the 7950GX2 was a good card -.-...

I defiantly feel that the 4870 is a solid card atm, sure its temps are high atm...but thats due to its fan speeds set to really low levels...plus aftermarket coolers seem to drop the temps down in half, opens the door for overclocking...so even if u account aftermarket cooler the cost is far less than the GTX280...

Also 4870 seems to have some ****ty drivers..and by that i mean AMD/ATi seem to really slack off in that department...i think it has issues in AoC?...and what eva the case...they seem very very slow in bringing them out...where as nvidia seems to be getting drivers out quick..atleast faster than ati....

What to do -.-....

My specs are in my Sig for PSU / etc. I did do a full upgrade awhile ago, but held back on the gpu till i see how the 4870/gtx200 series go out, i am very glad i did wait it out.

My PSU dosen't have the 8 pin thing, so i will need a convert one of the 6pins into it, i do have 2 pci-e connectors (just have to plug them into the psu)..i may have to disable one of my hdd tho...might get a 1TB HDD as well..put everything into 1.

Xfire is a open door for me..i am on x38...but i really don't feel like ati is going to pick up on there drivers..and i rather buy a gtx280 than 2x4870...

[Badboy_12345]

Get the 4870 for the res you are playing in.
If you plan on getting a new lcd that supports 1920x1200 in the near future before you upgrade to another card then get a GTX280

The GTX280 is a waste of money at that res. The 4870 can handle that with lots of aa and AF.

And ATI cards will get Physx support also.

Actually ATI brings out more new drivers than nvidia. What you get from nvidia is lots of beta drivers. But you get a lot more updated WHQL drivers from ATI.

And only pure nvidia fanboys will recommend you to buy the GTX280 when you are playing at that res.

[slaWter]

What about the GTX 260? It's cheap, fast and has CUDA/PhysX support.

[spajdr]

I would take GTX 260 and then later second, but since you got X38 .. then GTX 280
But really, GTX SLI is AMAZING, no microstuttering, its perfect!.

[Badboy_12345]

What about the GTX 260? It's cheap, fast and has CUDA/PhysX support.

Depends on how much it costs there.

And still ATi will have CUDA/PhysX support. Nvidia is even helping in making it available for all ATI cards

[slaWter]

And still ATi will have CUDA/PhysX support. Nvidia is even helping in making it available for all ATI cards

Is there an official statement on this? I thought that's still only a rumor.

[Badboy_12345]

Is there an official statement on this? I thought that's still only a rumor.

here you go:

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38283/135

Not a rumor at all :)

[spajdr]

Thats great for ATI/AMD fans :)

[K007]

Get the 4870 for the res you are playing in.
If you plan on getting a new lcd that supports 1920x1200 in the near future before you upgrade to another card then get a GTX280

The GTX280 is a waste of money at that res. The 4870 can handle that with lots of aa and AF.

And ATI cards will get Physx support also.

Actually ATI brings out more new drivers than nvidia. What you get from nvidia is lots of beta drivers. But you get a lot more updated WHQL drivers from ATI.

And only pure nvidia fanboys will recommend you to buy the GTX280 when you are playing at that res.

your right about the res...but this only means that the card will last alot longer for me

[K007]

here you go:

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38283/135

Not a rumor at all :)

nice move from nvidia

[Badboy_12345]

your right about the res...but this only means that the card will last alot longer for me

As the ATI card is half the price and can run Crysis at very high at that res it will last long and when its time to buy a new one you get another card for the same price that will be better in every way than the GTX280 at that time. = you get good performance over a loooooooooong time for the same price

I see no point of spending so much money on card when you are running at that res and plan on running it in the future

[Vasot02]

Well...i can finally buy either of these cards now from my local retail shop ><...

I feel the 4870 is more than enough, but i don't feel that its a card that can last some time...its 512MB of ram (Where the **** are those 1GB cards?!?!) seems like a real let down, once AA starts to play in..even though it has the power..if it runs out of ram its gonna run out of juice...

Also 4870 seems to have some ****ty drivers..and by that i mean AMD/ATi seem to really slack off in that department...i think it has issues in AoC?...and what eva the case...



You hit the jackpot in these two areas about the disadvantages of the 4870

The GTX280 is a more future proof sollution in my opinion even if it does not support DX10.1

[K007]

http://au.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=2293&l1=2&l2=6&l3=721&l4=0
Asus is saying the GTX has 10.1 DX and SM 4.1....wtf?

Graphics GPU Features

NVIDIA® GeForce GTX280

PCI Express & PCI Express 2.0 support

Microsoft DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1 support

OpenGL®2.1 support

HDCP compliant

NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology—Essential for the Ultimate HD Movie Experience on a PC

NVIDIA Quantum Technology— Advanced Shader Processors architected for physics computation

[LordJuanlo]

To play at 1280x960 I would go for the 4870 or the GTX 260. Don't worry about the 512 Mb, I've tried some of the most demanding games at 1920x1200 with 4xAA (look at my post at benchmark section (http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=115791)) and the card really shines even at this very high resolution.

The price is very similar, so it's up to your personal preferences, both cards will perform superb at 1280x960, I don't think you need a GTX 280, it's still too expensive for the extra performance you will get at that resolution.

[Toss3]

http://au.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=2293&l1=2&l2=6&l3=721&l4=0
Asus is saying the GTX has 10.1 DX and SM 4.1....wtf?

Graphics GPU Features

NVIDIA® GeForce GTX280

PCI Express & PCI Express 2.0 support

Microsoft DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1 support

OpenGL®2.1 support

HDCP compliant

NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology—Essential for the Ultimate HD Movie Experience on a PC

NVIDIA Quantum Technology— Advanced Shader Processors architected for physics computation
False advertising.. anyone up for a mass lawsuit? :D

I'd say go for the 4870 or 260 Gtx, or just wait a couple of weeks and see how the r700(2Gb gddr5) performs. :) I really don't think you can go wrong this time around - each card certainly offers good performance for the price. The gtx 280 at that price would offer the least amount of performance per buck, but if you want to have the latest and greatest that's the only way to go.

The 512mb isn't really anything that you should be concerned about as it seems that the card performs really well even when AA comes into play at higher resolutions. :)

[slaWter]

here you go:

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38283/135

Not a rumor at all :)

This is nice! So CUDA and OpenCL might be the standard languages for GPGPU!

[hell_of_doom227]

That's rip off for both. Europe, Australia have some ridiculous prices.

[DHP]

Get the 4870 for the res you are playing in.
If you plan on getting a new lcd that supports 1920x1200 in the near future before you upgrade to another card then get a GTX280

The GTX280 is a waste of money at that res. The 4870 can handle that with lots of aa and AF.




And only pure nvidia fanboys will recommend you to buy the GTX280 when you are playing at that res.
Good post.

[ScBlacksunshine]

The way how Nvidia dropped the price on the GTX 280 less then 2 weeks w/o giving customer any price protection pretty much is like a F*** U to all the people that bought the card first round :thumbdwn: That pretty much sour my experience with Nvidia's product....don't think I'll buying any of their product in the near future......

P.S. Even Apple was able to give their customers $100 rebate to early iphone adopter and keep in mind they didn't drop the price in 2 weeks....

[Shocky]

The way how Nvidia dropped the price on the GTX 280 less then 2 weeks w/o giving customer any price protection pretty much is like a F*** U to all the people that bought the card first round :thumbdwn: That pretty much sour my experience with Nvidia's product....don't think I'll buying any of their product in the near future......

P.S. Even Apple was able to give their customers $100 rebate to early iphone adopter and keep in mind they didn't drop the price in 2 weeks....

Would be difficult as nvidia don't sell them direct, and the manufactures would never do it as there not making as much as they’d like on these cards as it is.
But the fairness, early adaptors knew the 4800 series was only weeks away, prices usually drop quite allot after launch anyway but then add a competitor’s product launch to the mix and you can expect further price drops, of course there may be a few noobs that were completely clueless that might be a bit bitter but it’s their own fault for not doing a little research.

[K007]

I have decided to go with the 4870.

The GTX 260 is priced $50-100AUD more than the 4870....and aandtechreview side is apparently one of the few sites that actually used the latest hotfixed drivers for 4870...and there results show the 4870 being a very good contender...

[Xion X2]

Make sure that you use the 8.6 officials for it--not the hotfix or the 8.7 (which is for the X2). These are the best performing drivers out for the card at the moment.

You'll also want to refer to the fan fix in the "other graphics" section here, because the fan currently throttles down too low and causes the card to run hot. Fixing the fan speed will keep it idling nice and cool (~45-50C.)

[LordJuanlo]

Are you sure? The hotfix works great for me, and it's a recommended upgrade (by ATI) for the 4000 series. The leaked 8.7 appear to be very problematic, but I though the hotfix was the best

[cvearl]

Are you sure? The hotfix works great for me, and it's a recommended upgrade (by ATI) for the 4000 series. The leaked 8.7 appear to be very problematic, but I though the hotfix was the best

Every 4000 series owner I hear from run the hotix drivers.

The 80c at idle is within spec. Fan hack if you want. It's not hard to do if it makes you feel better. You don't lose either way. They are looking at possible changes to fan speeds in upcomming drivers. I agree a little louder for a little cooler would be nice. But my eVGA 8800GT SC sat idle at 76c all the time and I never gave it a second thought. It went VERY close to 90c in Crysis every time. I never worried then either. My 4870 never goes beyond 84c under load.

For the price nothing touches the 4870. Period.

If we call nVidia driver support in games 100%? Then ATI is 99.5%. Ya. They are that close. I know because I run both all the time.

C.

[Xion X2]

Are you sure? The hotfix works great for me, and it's a recommended upgrade (by ATI) for the 4000 series. The leaked 8.7 appear to be very problematic, but I though the hotfix was the best

There's a guy on the guru3d forums who has a pretty good rundown between the 8.6s and the hotfix. I've also seen both in action myself, and the performance on the hotfix drivers is worse than the official.

I think the main purpose of the hotfix was to improve crossfire and enable support for a few games, but I've seen performance suffer in several games on a single 4870 with those drivers.

Edit: Here's the thread I'm referencing. You'll need to scroll down to his second post.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=264510