Good brands of ATi video cards??

[Jsunn]

Hello All,


Quick question, I am looking at getting a new video card in the near future to go with my soon to be purchased Gigabyte UD3P mobo.

I have been using nVidia for the last couple of years, but the "bang for the buck" of the ATi cards is hard to ignore. I have been looking at the 4870.

Every nVidia card I purchased has been an eVGA, great quality and customer service!

So I was wondering if there are any ATi manufactures/brands that are better than others and if there are brands/companies that I should avoid.

Also, I don't want this to turn into an ATi vs nVidia thread,:fanboy: just looking for info on good ATi companies.

Thanks for your help!!

-Jason

[Sycario]

I would go with a Sapphire HD 4870 1GB with the special cooler on it. It's nice and quiet and keeps the card cool.

[Rollo]

Hello All,


Quick question, I am looking at getting a new video card in the near future to go with my soon to be purchased Gigabyte UD3P mobo.

I have been using nVidia for the last couple of years, but the "bang for the buck" of the ATi cards is hard to ignore. I have been looking at the 4870.

Every nVidia card I purchased has been an eVGA, great quality and customer service!

So I was wondering if there are any ATi manufactures/brands that are better than others and if there are brands/companies that I should avoid.

Also, I don't want this to turn into an ATi vs nVidia thread,:fanboy: just looking for info on good ATi companies.

Thanks for your help!!

-Jason

VisionTek is the only one with lifetime warranty I know of, Asus has the nicest cards.

However; GTX260 Core 216s cost less than 1GB HD4870 and is faster pretty much across the board with the new drivers:

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10559&Itemid=1

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/xfx_geforce_gtx_260_black_review/

You can stick with EVGA and get a GTX260 Core216 with Far Cry2 for $239.99 shipped, no rebates, at newegg:

http:
//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398)

The superclocked edition is only $244 shipped:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130400

With those cards you get better performance, lifetime warranty, legendary support, and step up.

The cheapest 1GB HD4870s on the egg are $269.99 AMIR, and the only one of those with a game has Rainbow 6 Vegas, not as good as Far Cry 2.

When you throw in Cuda, PhysX, and stereo support I think your choice here is pretty clear.

[Xion X2]

^ I know that you're just being the usual salesman for Nvidia ( :lol: ) but that is a great deal on the evga core 216, and the firingsquad review really surprised me.

It looks like I made the right choice in single gpu after all. I was going back and forth between the 4870/260.

[K007]

fc2...is still a crap game regardless of what its being bundled with -.-.

Down here Australia...i'd say Leadtek or Gigabyte, both brands are much cheaper and leadtek has some really good support. ASUS / eVGA are at a very high price.

[Rollo]

fc2...is still a crap game regardless of what its being bundled with -.-.

Down here Australia...i'd say Leadtek or Gigabyte, both brands are much cheaper and leadtek has some really good support. ASUS / eVGA are at a very high price.

Odds are he's not "down in Australia". (although from what I've heard about it that's not a bad place to be)

FC2 is one of the hottest games of this holiday season, and even if the OP doesn't like it, it's pretty saleable. Let's say he gets $30 for it. He'd be paying $209 for a card that outperforms the $269 ATi card, doesn't make him wait for a $20 rebate, gives him PhysX, CUDA, stereo support, and better driver support.

I can't think of any reason someone would actually buy a HD4870 at this point unless you live in a place where they cost less, and even then you'd have to think about it.

[grey_1]

Hello All,


Quick question, I am looking at getting a new video card in the near future to go with my soon to be purchased Gigabyte UD3P mobo.

I have been using nVidia for the last couple of years, but the "bang for the buck" of the ATi cards is hard to ignore. I have been looking at the 4870.

Every nVidia card I purchased has been an eVGA, great quality and customer service!

So I was wondering if there are any ATi manufactures/brands that are better than others and if there are brands/companies that I should avoid.

Also, I don't want this to turn into an ATi vs nVidia thread,:fanboy: just looking for info on good ATi companies.

Thanks for your help!!

-Jason
I've never had a problem with my Visiontech HD4870, so i can't comment on customer service - that's a good thing I suppose. :p

I just wanted to say whichever you chose, go for the 1gb model. My 512 chews through everything but large outdoor areas, a good deal of hitching, which hurts as games are really beginning to lean towards expanded outdoor areas.

[methimpikehoses]

I've had a Diamond and a Visiontech now... no problems with either one.

[Tr1cK]

My Visiontek works great. I'd stay away from anything with a special cooler. The stock coolers are more than sufficient. Double slot cooling is OK as long as it stays reference design.

[XDanger]

Also, I don't want this to turn into an ATi vs nVidia thread,:fanboy: just looking for info on good ATi companies.
I don't remember reading a thread like that in here ever.

Anything with a good warranty.

[Jsunn]

I didn't realized that the 216 was as quick as the 4870??

<--not in Austrailia, but I was in Perth for a few days
<--Already own FC2, pretty sweet game IMHO.

Hummm....216 just became a serious contender!

[Rollo]

I didn't realized that the 216 was as quick as the 4870??

<--not in Austrailia, but I was in Perth for a few days
<--Already own FC2, pretty sweet game IMHO.

Hummm....216 just became a serious contender!

Before the 180 series drivers came out, the two cards traded benches, were approximately equal.

Since the 180 series drivers came out, the Core 216s pretty much sweep the 1GB 4870.

Check the reviews here, and at Firing Squad, Driver Heaven, FUDZilla, Bjorn3d, Guru3d, etc. instead of believing a guy on a forum. (even though if the post says "Rollo", you can take it to the bank!)
;)

You really don't have a reason to buy a 4870 now. When they were the same price and trading benches, I would have said "Pick the features you like and company you like". because the 4870 was very competitive.

[K007]

it doesn't win by a large margin tho. mikec did a review on the 1gb vs the new 260 here on nvnews. its neck and neck, and the 260 was a o/c version.

check out the front page.

also keep in mind that there are some 'new' stuff coming out by nvidia...not sure if u wanna just wait it out see whats going to come out.

[Rollo]

it doesn't win by a large margin tho. mikec did a review on the 1gb vs the new 260 here on nvnews. its neck and neck, and the 260 was a o/c version.

check out the front page.

also keep in mind that there are some 'new' stuff coming out by nvidia...not sure if u wanna just wait it out see whats going to come out.

The 4870 in that review is an OCd model as well, so Mike C. did a fair comparison.

[noko]

I bought the EVGA 260 216 version with FarCry2 from Newegg, $239 with FC2. I was leaning towards ATI, decided to wait but now with that great deal I just had to buy. What also concerns me is the repeated, more verbal driver problems ATI folks are complaining about. I was complaining about Nvidia drivers and utterly frustated at times but now Nvidia is at the top again with drivers, about time.

[K007]

i think almost all the ati driver complains must be related to there xfire. Its not that xfire is not working or anything, its just that, there are no profiles, which means if a new game comes out, you have to wait for the driver from ati to put it out. If the game is popular they get there driver out pretty quickly, and its usually a hotfix. The good thing is that you don't have to uninstall drivers/run driver cleaner. The bad thing is that...the wait can be annoying to those on there xfire systems.

It is really a big drawback for multigpu users because not having profiles means you can't tweak/play around with different settings. nHancer was an awesome tool that i used a lot for my games when i had my 7950GX2. It was retired now and replaced with a 4870 ><.

No idea why ati does this...not a clue. they really should put it in there...what are they hiding ><...

[nekrosoft13]

i think almost all the ati driver complains must be related to there xfire.

not all I just upgraded by HTPC, to ATI based board 780G, with radeon 3200, it took me over an hour to get the driver for 3200 to work correctly.

first it didn't want to detect the card, then standard VGA driver wouldn't even work. after finally getting the driver installed i kept getting error 10 (device can't start).

not a good experience.

[Tr1cK]

Drivers have been pretty good to me without Crossfire. I think they are the culprit to my video driver restarting issue. I disabled Aero and haven't had an issue since.

[pkirby11]

Funny I have no issues with my ATI drivers, crossfire or not. Granted I don't play as many games as before but I don't see nearly the issues I hear.

Yes the NVIDIA card is great and who do we owe for such great prices and competitive cards? ATI. If it weren't for the 4850 and 4870 I doubt NVIDIA would have lowered their prices. If I remember correctly NVIDIA was getting beaten price vs. performance compared to NVIDIA. It's only been recently we've seen competitive offerings from NVIDIA both in price and performance. I for one thank ATI for this, no matter who is the clear victor. I still like ATI, they are still pretty close to NVIDIA and I'm sure with some driver optimization they will be as good or better.

Just my .10 cents but it seems like I can't come into an ATI thread without reading Rollo's very slanted pro NVIDIA views. I feel like I'm in the PR forum reading FUD. Whether it is based on fact or not I don't think he can keep his PR marketing out of a single ATI forum. I have nothing against his personal integrity, he's probably a fine man in life and is just trying to do a job but I don't like to read stuff based on marketing. If Rollo was truly here just have a conversation I don't think it would bother me but I feel like he's trying to push and agenda and I don't like it. This wasn't a question of which card to buy, NVIDIA or ATI, but a question as to what manufacturer to get. I'm sure the OP can read articles just like the rest of us. I still went ATI even after seeing all those reviews Rollo, if for nothing else then because my hardware currently supports X-Fire and I get close if not better performance over NVIDIA and I've always supported the under dog when they are close or better in performance. AMD only lost me on the processor side because really they aren't that close performance wise to Intel and it pains me to say that. :D

[nekrosoft13]

i have a bit of everything ;)

system 1
cpu: intel ||| board: nvidia ||| vga: nvidia

system 2
cpu: amd ||| board: nvidia ||| vga: nvidia

system 3
cpu: amd ||| board: ati ||| vga: ati

system 4
cpu: intel ||| board: intel ||| vga: nvidia

[K007]

yea i have no issues either with my 4870. From day 1 ran just fine. Drivers have been solid for me as well. I don't even worry about drivers anymore...everything just runs fine and its pretty easy to get the drivers for ati card to get up and running.

[Xion X2]

ATI has a solid offering in the 4870, but right now Nvidia has them beat on prices and drivers.

The Core 216 is faster in most games and is significantly cheaper (30-40$ w/ a free game.) And Nvidia seems able to keep cranking out better and better performance out of the architecture while ATI's remains stagnant.

Both good cards, though. Really can't go wrong with either one.

[Rollo]

ATI has a solid offering in the 4870, but right now Nvidia has them beat on prices and drivers.

The Core 216 is faster in most games and is significantly cheaper (30-40$ w/ a free game.) And Nvidia seems able to keep cranking out better and better performance out of the architecture while ATI's remains stagnant.

Both good cards, though. Really can't go wrong with either one.

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=uk&code=da592fda195a1f88d4a4025d71edf87d

[methimpikehoses]

:lol2:

[Heinz68]

yea i have no issues either with my 4870. From day 1 ran just fine. Drivers have been solid for me as well. I don't even worry about drivers anymore...everything just runs fine and its pretty easy to get the drivers for ati card to get up and running.
Same here. Was very happy with my HD 4870 otherwise I would never buy the HD 4870 x2 which I'm also happy with. I only need better system setup to take full advantage of it.

Sure ATI has to work much harder on the "The Way It's Meant To Be Played" NVIDIA supported and optimized games.

Far Cry 2 is good example, if the game was real Dx10.1 as rumored, NVIDIA would have to work very hard on the drivers.

Instead it was the second time (as Assassin's Creed) Ubisoft did screw the ATI and the payoff is the the free Far Cry 2 game with some off the NVIDIA cards.

Good example off the money talking better the the latest technology.

As for the card prices there is very good reason why NVIDIA needed to lower them and we all know that.