Nvidia 260 GTX ot ATI HD 4870

[BrianG]

So, yeah, I picked up a Visiontek 4870 for $280 out the door at Best Buy. No hassles, other then getting a guy to unlock the cage. Yes, I could have gotten it for cheaper online, but it would involve a rebate. I hate rebates.

So far so good. Driver install was pretty painless. My system is quieter as I was able to remove an Antec slot cooler that was used to force all the 8800's exhaust out the back. I have a great case, and with my Spot Cool still aimed towards the memory and northbridge, the idle temps, case closed is 78-80C. Fur got it up to 84-85C with the fan up and down. The 8800 GTX ran at 64C idle and 72-74C load.

The amount of heat out the back is very similar between the two, to be honest and the interior of the case is cooler. My Quad now idles between 45-48C versus 48-50C. Mobo temp seems unchanged, reporting 36C on the Northbridge. System fan speeds are unchanged.

Going to tinker a little an familiarize myself with the CCC.

Hey nvToni, wanna buy a PNY 8800GTX?

[Xion X2]

So, yeah, I picked up a Visiontek 4870 for $280 out the door at Best Buy.
Congrats. That's a great price for a retail chain!

[BrianG]

Congrats. That's a great price for a retail chain!

Slickdeals has a 10% or 12% with Reward Zone coupon. So $299, minus the 12% and had a couple gift card bucks to use up. Heh.

One other note, the 2D seems better. Much crisper than I remember the last Radeon I used.

[mojoman0]

evga 260 is now 269.00 on newegg. FTW edition is only 309 TOO

EDIT: make that $224.99

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/128917

[methimpikehoses]

Holy crap, I need a new mobo for this nonsense!

[nvToni]

Ok so I have decided to gor for ATI (cross fingers) and hope that I shall be happy about it.

The statements you guys made and the poll results show clearly who is the winner this time around.

Thanks for all your help here.

[Heinz68]

Congratulation, according to the feedback and all the reviews you made a good choice. Happy gaming.

[nvToni]

And one more good news I looked at the EVGA warranty conditions and I fullfill all of them so I can send it back for RMA to Germany but it will set me back 60€ for postage brbrbr.

[cvearl]

If you plan on playing Crysis in Vista, run it in DX9 mode ALL HIGH for now. It looks the same as ALL HIGH for DX10 anyway. Looks great and runs on average in the high 30's low 40's at 1680x1050 res. (nana2)

The only problem I have run into with my 4870 is that in DX10 Crysis there are little white dots in some textures in some of the buildings in the game. This bug is known to ATI and they are working on resolving it. But this is ONLY DX10 mode of Crysis.

I have not seen it anywhere else.

My current list of games that seem to run glass smooth everywhere with details maxed out on my res of 1680x1050 are...

FEAR
Grid
COD4
Bioshock DX10
Call of Juarez
Half Life 2: Episode 1 and 2
Mass Effect
Race 07 (Although with HIGH shadows the replays still have random hitching on some maps like my 8800GT did. Game bug I think.)

Overall I like this card alot. My favorite since the 8800GT I picked up last year.

As far as 80C idle goes... That is how it is designed. ATI was gunning for near silent running.

It runs cooler under load than my 8800GT and my case temps are lower since the card expells the hot air.

Another plus was it was happy with just a good old 500 watt PSU. :D

C.

[MUFC4EVER]

If you plan on playing Crysis in Vista, run it in DX9 mode ALL HIGH for now. It looks the same as ALL HIGH for DX10 anyway. Looks great and runs on average in the high 30's low 40's at 1680x1050 res. (nana2)

The only problem I have run into with my 4870 is that in DX10 Crysis there are little white dots in some textures in some of the buildings in the game. This bug is known to ATI and they are working on resolving it. But this is ONLY DX10 mode of Crysis.

I have not seen it anywhere else.

My current list of games that seem to run glass smooth everywhere with details maxed out on my res of 1680x1050 are...

FEAR
Grid
COD4
Bioshock DX10
Call of Juarez
Half Life 2: Episode 1 and 2
Mass Effect
Race 07 (Although with HIGH shadows the replays still have random hitching on some maps like my 8800GT did. Game bug I think.)

Overall I like this card alot. My favorite since the 8800GT I picked up last year.

As far as 80C idle goes... That is how it is designed. ATI was gunning for near silent running.

It runs cooler under load than my 8800GT and my case temps are lower since the card expells the hot air.

Another plus was it was happy with just a good old 500 watt PSU. :D

C.

Nice to hear from you cvearl. Long time no speak. Remember LordHawkwind from rage3d? That's me!!

I'm now running the GTX260 and it is an excellent card. Whether it beats your 4870 I don't know but what the hell. How's the family, hope all is well. Rage3d has gone downhill lately as all the good guys seem to have gone.

What do you think?

Cheers

(lee63)

[nvToni]

Yeey EVGA sent me a new card under warranty conditions and is coming this week.

Anyone want to buy a brand new 8800 GTX?

[Chiles4]

I also had to make the decision between an HD4870 and a GTX 260. And all I had to go on was my own experiences with both vendors and what I heard of personal anecdotes and reviews.

What I got from "pro" reviews:

"The HD4870 runs much quieter than the GTX 260 because ATI is allowing the card to run much hotter."

One example...Tom's Hardware (everyone's favorite I know) stated that the 260 sounded like a jet was taking off outside his door but also reported that the HD4870 they tested idled at 70C.

What I summarized from personal anecdotes:

To get both cards to run at nearly the same temps, temps that I personally consider acceptable, the HD4870 would be significantly louder than the GTX 260. The key here being temps acceptable to me - that means idling somewhere in the 50s (C) and running under full load no higher than somewhere in the 70s (C) with the 80s reserved for FurMark and ATI Tool's artifact tester. But I've never had a card that actually hit the 70s while gaming. With ATI I used Zalman coolers. With my 8800GTS 512, it already had a great cooler.

The card I was just using was an 8800GTS 512. For me, not only was the card awesome, but the stock cooler was excellent as well. The last time I had an ATI cooler that didn't need to be replaced (because it sounded like a blow dryer) was my 9500Pro. I've had a X1900GT and a X1950XT.

And there you have it - all the information I had from which to make a decision. Bottom line - I was fairly certain I would be fine with the 260. Unfortunately, for the HD4870, I wasn't able to tell from the personal anecdotes whether or not its cooling abilities were up to snuff. Actually I still can't make that determination, some say its fine, others say it sucks elephant balls.

But much of that is keyed to what temps you want your card to run at. I ended up buying a BFG GTX 260 with an after MIR price of $260. As stated above (I think), if it wasn't for ATI, I would have paid closer to $400 for it - yay competition!

[cvearl]

Nice to hear from you cvearl. Long time no speak. Remember LordHawkwind from rage3d? That's me!!

I'm now running the GTX260 and it is an excellent card. Whether it beats your 4870 I don't know but what the hell. How's the family, hope all is well. Rage3d has gone downhill lately as all the good guys seem to have gone.

What do you think?

Cheers

(lee63)

Nice to see ya bro! Rage is ok. I think it's getting better again. I think all forums go through phases. They all seem to have their share of good guys and smacktards. I will always miss Ratchet and very sad to have lost Vengie. Otherwise it is picking up again. I ignore any smacktards I come across. ;)

4870 vs. 260? Bah. They perform so close in 75% of games that I dare anyone to tell the difference in a blind taste test (in same case) in those games. The other 25% there is likely wins in either direction. Really cannot go wrong with either card. Last year I was an 8800GT ****. This year 4870. Next year who knows! :)

Everything has been great so far. Thanks for asking. Hope you and yours are having a restfull summer too. :D

C.

[ChrisRay]

Nice to see ya bro! Rage is ok. I think it's getting better again. I think all forums go through phases. They all seem to have their share of good guys and smacktards. I will always miss Ratchet and very sad to have lost Vengie. Otherwise it is picking up again. I ignore any smacktards I come across. ;)

4870 vs. 260? Bah. They perform so close in 75% of games that I dare anyone to tell the difference in a blind taste test (in same case) in those games. The other 25% there is likely wins in either direction. Really cannot go wrong with either card. Last year I was an 8800GT ****. This year 4870. Next year who knows! :)

Everything has been great so far. Thanks for asking. Hope you and yours are having a restfull summer too. :D

C.

A Freaken Men.

[BrianG]

Best Buy put the 4870 on sale, $279 with a $10 gift card. I actually went into the store today to get my price match as I bought under thirty days ago. Got another $22 off the price after the reapplication of the 12% coupon. Sweet. Being able to get the card at a brick and mortar for online prices is a huge plus.

[Medion]

Nice to see ya bro! Rage is ok. I think it's getting better again. I think all forums go through phases. They all seem to have their share of good guys and smacktards. I will always miss Ratchet and very sad to have lost Vengie. Otherwise it is picking up again. I ignore any smacktards I come across. ;)

4870 vs. 260? Bah. They perform so close in 75% of games that I dare anyone to tell the difference in a blind taste test (in same case) in those games. The other 25% there is likely wins in either direction. Really cannot go wrong with either card. Last year I was an 8800GT ****. This year 4870. Next year who knows! :)

Everything has been great so far. Thanks for asking. Hope you and yours are having a restfull summer too. :D

C.

Probably one of the most accurate comparisons of both cards. As stated, performance is relatively close in most games. There are a lot of games where the Radeon gets a clear lead with 8xAA, but then there are also a few games where the Radeon cannot properly implement AA for some reason. GeForce performance is more consistent while the Radeon has highs and lows. The GeForce supports PhysX, while the Radeon offers DX10.1 support. Both cards are simply outstanding for the price, and you can't go wrong with either.

I still feel that the HD4870 is the better overall performer, but if I had to choose which to get, it would be an agonizing decision.