View Full Version : That's enough ATI
After ~3 months with this ATI 4870(512mb) I've had enough. I'm totally unimpressed with it, maybe it is because I play at 1920x1200 and like to use AA, but it seems like its been hard to get smooth play since I've had this card. What can I say, willing buyer came up locally so I jumped at my chance to get back to an nVidia card.
I would have gone for a 280 but I've been purchasing guns and ammo like crazy and funds are short...NewEgg had a good deal on a BFG overclocked 260(216) 630/2126 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143156) which looks like a great card.
Should have it tomorow...in time to play FallOut 3 :D
The 4870 handles AA better at high res than the 260 from all the benches I've seen. Granted I have two of them, but I've not had a game i can't run 8XAA at native res yet. (crysis excluded of course :p)
Redeemed
10-27-08, 09:51 PM
After ~3 months with this ATI 4870(512mb) I've had enough. I'm totally unimpressed with it, maybe it is because I play at 1920x1200 and like to use AA, but it seems like its been hard to get smooth play since I've had this card. What can I say, willing buyer came up locally so I jumped at my chance to get back to an nVidia card.
I would have gone for a 280 but I've been purchasing guns and ammo like crazy and funds are short...NewEgg had a good deal on a BFG overclocked 260(216) 630/2126 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143156) which looks like a great card.
Should have it tomorow...in time to play FallOut 3 :D
That was an incredibly illogical choice. You should have gotten a 1GB 4870. The HD4000s scale far better at higher resolutions with AA than the GTX200 series does. Your loss though.
you need more vram.
get the 4870 1GB
que....Twilight Zone music/ what forum am I in?
I don't like this Radeon 4870...I had my 8800GTX and gamed with it for well over a year with hardly a hic-up. Since switching to an ATI card, I've had small problems and driver issues but most of all poor performce. I don't find it scales well at all, especially adding AA and I'm talking 2-4x AA.
"illogical choice" not too me....and its my PC :p
kaptkarl
10-28-08, 12:51 AM
que....Twilight Zone music/ what forum am I in?
I don't like this Radeon 4870...I had my 8800GTX and gamed with it for well over a year with hardly a hic-up. Since switching to an ATI card, I've had small problems and driver issues but most of all poor performce. I don't find it scales well at all, especially adding AA and I'm talking 2-4x AA.
"illogical choice" not too me....and its my PC :p
Something's definately wrong. The ATI 4870 is faster than the GTX260, and if you get the 1GB version look out...lot's of AA & AF!! And the 4870 will eat that old 8800GTX for breakfast. Maybe you had some left over Nvidia drivers or posibly a defective card. ATI's drivers are fast and stable, and just as good as Nvidia's, :D regardless of what you hear from others. I've used both extensively w/o any problems. Poor performance is usually due to a driver conflict, not the video drivers themselves.
Kapt
I do agree that the HD 4870 scales well with AF and AA. And the 1 GB really helps. It's shown that 512 mb is holding the AMD card back in more demanding games at high resolutions and AA. (For example Stalker: Clear Sky)
Ýet, you've made a good choice with the GTX 260 (216) which is also an excellent card. There are no bad cards in this videogeneration and I hope the GTX 260 gives you the performance you were looking for. :)
kaptkarl
10-28-08, 09:21 AM
I do agree that the HD 4870 scales well with AF and AA. And the 1 GB really helps. It's shown that 512 mb is holding the AMD card back in more demanding games at high resolutions and AA. (For example Stalker: Clear Sky)
Ýet, you've made a good choice with the GTX 260 (216) which is also an excellent card. There are no bad cards in this videogeneration and I hope the GTX 260 gives you the performance you were looking for. :)
FYI....I choose the GTX260 216core because I already had a GTX9800 and used the EVGA step up program. Otherwise I would have purchased the 1GB 4870. They did not have a 1GB 4870 at the time of my GTX9800 purchase.
Like you said, this round of vid cards is very good for the consumer and either card is a great choice. Yea!!!(nana2)
Kapt
john19055
10-28-08, 01:49 PM
The GTX 260 216 shaders is a great card and will run nearly all games you throw at it ,even with FSAA and aniso.But the HD 4870 with 1gig is a great card to and seems to handle FSAA better in some games then the GTX 260 216 shaders,but in other games the GTX 260 216 works better.It really comes down to what you want because you can't go wrong with either card and price.
I will keep you posted...My system is clean(Vista HP 64bit) and very stable, I've never done a driver change without runnning Driver Sweeper, either.
When I bought this Readeon there was no 1gb version or 216 shader 260. I got what I thought was the best choice at the time....I feel like I should have just kept my 8800GTX a few months longer.
The 260 is delivered, can't wait to get out of work, pick up FO3 and start playing.
john19055
10-28-08, 04:31 PM
Even the plain GTX 260 with 192 shader is still a great card.The GTX 260 216 shaders with it's higher default speed and extra shader is just 8% t0 10% faster in some games and in other they are pretty close.
kaptkarl
10-28-08, 06:15 PM
Ok guys....just got my 260 today and it's installed and running smooth as butta'. I'm going to do some OC'ing w/ the baby to see how it compares to my "old" 9800+. I got insane OC's with it.....10-15% increases.:D
I'll post back later.......
Kapt
i have a new 4870 512mb.
problems...
- barbed wire and interlink wire fences are gone now in Clear Sky dx9
- microstuttering in Pure maybe due to lack of proper vsync & triple buffering in catalyst(there are options in catalyst but i think they don't function)
i already tried using the d3d overrider of rivatuner to force triple buffering(this works in the geforce cards) but still it has microstuttering.
:(
Radeon experts please help...
mailman2
10-28-08, 09:26 PM
I had 2 HD4870s die on me. The last one actually OC'd to 900 Mhz core. When the second one died I went back to Nvidia too 192 shader GTX 260. Overclocked to 756core, 1566 shader and 1242 ram. The GTX 260 SMOKES the hd4870 @ 900. Sorry boys but from someone with first hand experience the GTX 260 is a killer card, great overclocker. The HD4870 512MB I had were never smooth with AA on @ 1680, at the time there weren't any 1GB versions. I've never looked back.
You will enjoy your GTX 260 much more, trust me ;)
BFG 260GTX OC2 MaXcore
The card installed perfectly, drivers went in withiout issue, I didn't bother with all kinds of testing I went straight too Fallout3. The game autoset itself to "high" with played butter smooth and completely stable. After diner, I loaded up RivaTurner bumped the clocks alittle to 650/2150 and set Fallout3 to "Ultra" settings, 1920x1200, 4xAA\8xAF...played a few more hours the game remained smooth and stable.
Over time I'll get to more testing, PhysX the usual benchies etc....I'm aware one game is hardly definative, but based on FO3 I'm very happy. It is the performance I remember and how I expect games to run.....visuals crancked up with smooth consistant frame rates. The 4870(in this system) was always iffy, some areas it was ok, others it would tank, just about every game I played on the Radeon was like this worse in the "latest" games, Far Cry2 played so bad it was the finally straw. I returned FC2 to the store so I have no copy to test with, but I am getting a free version with this BFG card, I can't wait to see how it runs on this 260 vs. the 4870.
Zer0....I experienced alot of "micro-stuttering" in games running the 4870 it would make me crazy, I could do little else to fix it but turn down settings.
Zer0....I experienced alot of "micro-stuttering" in games running the 4870 it would make me crazy, I could do little else to fix it but turn down settings.
i installed the (ATT) ATi Tray Tool...
http://downloads.guru3d.com/downloadget.php?id=733&file=7&evp=d6ed5400c76c91dd5060e1d2d353a016
it has many settings regarding refresh rates, vsnyc and triple buffering options. i tried it in Pure, the microstutters now are less. i'll further experiment on the settings, i hope this is the solution.
catalyst control center is teh suck!
Tyr-Sog
10-29-08, 07:59 AM
I used radeons since the Radeon 32 but ever since the 3xxx generation ATI left a bad taste in my mouth. I upgraded to a 3870(I think that was the model, forget lol) back in march and it was a dog. My old x800xt agp system that I had just retired smoked it. The FPS were all over the place(well mostly low and lower) and couldn't even play The Witcher. So I for the first time since the orginal geforce 256(radeon 32 era but stuck with the Radeon) decided to try NV again. The 8800 GTS g92 sluaghtered the 3870. Drivers were much better and the NV card just had power.
So I was itching to upgrade again these last couple of weeks and knowing that this generation of cards were so close one couldn't go wrong with either. I was kinda leaning towards the Radeon but after reading at various forums about the CCC, micro stuttering, AA not working in titles and other problems like over heating swayed me to stay with NV. Glad I did as I have no issues with the GTX 260(core192).
Also, imo,
GTX 260(core192) @ $199 > then the 4870 1gb @ $269
Tyr-Sog
10-29-08, 08:03 AM
I had 2 HD4870s die on me. The last one actually OC'd to 900 Mhz core. When the second one died I went back to Nvidia too 192 shader GTX 260. Overclocked to 756core, 1566 shader and 1242 ram. The GTX 260 SMOKES the hd4870 @ 900. Sorry boys but from someone with first hand experience the GTX 260 is a killer card, great overclocker. The HD4870 512MB I had were never smooth with AA on @ 1680, at the time there weren't any 1GB versions. I've never looked back.
You will enjoy your GTX 260 much more, trust me ;)
Damn dude, thats a great OC you got there. That certainly has you up there in the GTX 280 league on stats. Post a pic of GPU-Z if you can.
My BFG core 192 won't let me go higher then 730 on the core using the evga precision tool for whatever reason. If I set it higher it just reverts back. I haven't had time to tweak my new card out yet but I have gone to 702/1458/1203 and made it trough 3D 06' with no visable artifacting. I know though I can't get above 1500 on shader as I tried and got corruption :(. TBH though I just go back to eVGA FTW speeds and call it good :D
Also your experience isn't unheard of. I see these stories a lot over at R3D. People going with the 4870's becasue on paper they're beating 260's but in real world it seems like a lot of peolpe are having issues with them. So they try the 260 out and with most don't look back after they do.
nekrosoft13
10-29-08, 08:12 AM
i have a new 4870 512mb.
problems...
- barbed wire and interlink wire fences are gone now in Clear Sky dx9
- microstuttering in Pure maybe due to lack of proper vsync & triple buffering in catalyst(there are options in catalyst but i think they don't function)
i already tried using the d3d overrider of rivatuner to force triple buffering(this works in the geforce cards) but still it has microstuttering.
:(
Radeon experts please help...
wrong place to look for Radeon experts, different type of issues, but my ati card in HTPC can't playback high def files smoothly, even when CPU usage is still plenty to spare.
bumped the clocks alittle more to 675/2200
I ran 3dMark06 and scored 15976
http://service.futuremark.com/results/showSingleResult.action?resultId=8712788&resultType=14
BronzeGod
10-29-08, 11:05 AM
ATInews.com :bleh:
nekrosoft13
10-29-08, 01:02 PM
ATInews.com :bleh:
Have you ever tried posting about nvidia on rage3d? Even when nvidia was the leader. Hell they would burn at the stake
Chiles4
10-29-08, 01:53 PM
People going with the 4870's becasue on paper they're beating 260's but in real world it seems like a lot of peolpe are having issues with them. So they try the 260 out and with most don't look back after they do.It's funny you mentioned that because that was the exact situation for me. I was torn between a 4870 and a GTX 260 (original). The HD4870 was the better performer and I came within inches of buying it but I ended up going with the GTX 260 mostly because of everything people were reporting on the net about the 4870.
I think most people report a max stable oc on the 260 of about 700 on the core. That's where I've left it at. Supposedly, the OC on the core yields more performance than oc'ed VRAM. At one point during oc'ing, I got a checkerboard-type pattern which scared the crap outta me so I'm not pushing it too hard anymore.
here is the microstuttering problem that i experience in clear sky & Pure using the 4870 512mb. this does not happen to my 8800GT 512mb.
it's not very obvious because when i converted the video the framerate dropped also. but you can notice it on the running guy. the background has minimal microstutter coz i'm looking at a fixed direction.
FNM9y1RmqOE
vsync & triple buffering already on but still microstuttering happens.
After ~3 months with this ATI 4870(512mb) I've had enough. I'm totally unimpressed with it, maybe it is because I play at 1920x1200 and like to use AA, but it seems like its been hard to get smooth play since I've had this card. What can I say, willing buyer came up locally so I jumped at my chance to get back to an nVidia card.
I would have gone for a 280 but I've been purchasing guns and ammo like crazy and funds are short...NewEgg had a good deal on a BFG overclocked 260(216) 630/2126 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143156) which looks like a great card.
Should have it tomorow...in time to play FallOut 3 :D
Good choice mate!
Over the past few months it’s clear that the driver updates from NVIDIA have really kicked up the performance of the GTX 260 with it managing to beat out the HD 4870 nearly every time.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1638/18/bfg_tech_geforce_gtx_260_ocx_graphics_card/index.html
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