4850CF v 4870CF v GTX260 v GTX280

ten80p · 17 Jul 2008 at 21:10

Seems quite a good read for those looking at CF

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Gra...._NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_260,_GTX_280/5935-1.html

gurusan · 17 Jul 2008 at 21:13

would have liked to see 4850/4870 CF vs GTX 260/280 SLI

Hutch · 17 Jul 2008 at 21:18

This part bothers me a bit, considering im looking at getting 2x 4870's :

ATI's drivers still needs some polishing for CrossFire setups. During the course of our testing, we noticed strange and random artifacts appearing in our Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark, as well as micro-stutters which occur very randomly as well in other softwares.

Has anyone any experience with how bad this is?

NeoN Pulse · 17 Jul 2008 at 23:58

Bit pro Nvidia that review is dont really think its a proper neutral point of view tbh

Slashiem · 18 Jul 2008 at 00:05

Hmm i likes the 4850 crossfire results.

~Slash

mmj_uk · 18 Jul 2008 at 00:06

Pretty good showing from GTX 280 considering it's the bog standard reference clocked model they are using.

mrthingyx · 18 Jul 2008 at 00:34

ten80p said:
Seems quite a good read for those looking at CF

Considering pretty much every other website can't stop gushing about the 48xx series in isolation and in Crossfire?

Not saying it's not correct, biased, slanted, paid up or anything at all, however.

pingwing · 18 Jul 2008 at 00:59

Goody the universal conclusion that 4850's crossfire is the best performance to price ratio (if you can afford/ have a decent motherboard and psu to power it all) *irritated face*

On a serious note are there any decent (and well written/unbiased aka not toms harwardware...) reviews of the top 4 new cards, were talking gtx260/280 and 4850/470 in single card modes, preferrably all in one article, as im not into the muti card nonsence and want to see some actual tests with the 4 cards compairing them and giving me a clue how much its worth splashing out in a few weeks (i get some disposable income for one)

ten80p · 18 Jul 2008 at 07:37

pingwing said:
Goody the universal conclusion that 4850's crossfire is the best performance to price ratio (if you can afford/ have a decent motherboard and psu to power it all) *irritated face*

On a serious note are there any decent (and well written/unbiased aka not toms harwardware...) reviews of the top 4 new cards, were talking gtx260/280 and 4850/470 in single card modes, preferrably all in one article, as im not into the muti card nonsence and want to see some actual tests with the 4 cards compairing them and giving me a clue how much its worth splashing out in a few weeks (i get some disposable income for one)

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_4850_4870_performance/

http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/ATI_Radeon_HD_4850_and_4870_RV770_Has_Arrived/

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341

Alpherah · 18 Jul 2008 at 09:52

Hutch said:
This part bothers me a bit, considering im looking at getting 2x 4870's :

Has anyone any experience with how bad this is?

Have CF's 4850's and have 0 micro stutter or artifacting in UT3 or any other software i play (All orangebox titles / HL2, CoD4), only program i have issues with is Quakewars and i had the same artifacting with SLI 8800GT's so.

psychas · 18 Jul 2008 at 09:57

mh i would give best buy for 4870

Scougar · 18 Jul 2008 at 10:49

Pretty good review I thought, if a little short/concise.

Didn't think that Crysis was exactly a good title to show potential of crossfire however as it doesn't scale to well. I suppose it's good to include it, otherwise people may assume that performance will always we close to double (i.e. cod4).

Some more games would have been useful however. Really starting to view 3dmark rsults as completely pointless nowadays. Haven't checked out vantage to see how that fairs.

Matthew

Jono8 · 18 Jul 2008 at 11:21

Saying the 4850 is the best performance to price ratio isnt exactly true...I have a single slot motherboard and a 620w power supply, so getting a gtx280 would be far easier, less time consuming and end up probably cheaper. Sure the two cards are marginally cheaper but the extra kit you have to get to run them means it will probably end up more expensive, especially if you are just upgrading. Also factor in the power consumption and heat and the sometimes dodgy workings of a 2 card set up.

On top of all that the 4850 xfire is only a little faster than the gtx280, and the gtx280 beats in some cases...

If it was my choice now with the 280 being had at £280 then its no contest.

Hutch · 18 Jul 2008 at 12:27

Alpherah said:
Have CF's 4850's and have 0 micro stutter or artifacting in UT3 or any other software i play (All orangebox titles / HL2, CoD4), only program i have issues with is Quakewars and i had the same artifacting with SLI 8800GT's so.

Cheers mate, was hoping to hear that from someone

Looks like 48xx is the sensible choice right now

Greebo · 18 Jul 2008 at 12:35

Jono8 said:
Saying the 4850 is the best performance to price ratio isnt exactly true...SNIP

Although everything you say about your setup is true and it would make sense to get a GTX280 in your case, the statement that the 4850 and 4850xfire is best price to performance ratio is still true.

It does assume you have a 16x pci-e 2 xfire mobo and a suitable psu but that applies to every review.

Some people haven't got enough juice to run a single GTX280.

Two 4850's in xfire still cost about £50 less than a GTX280 and is slightly faster so wins the bang for buck contest (framerate/price)

However, there are issues as they have stated about heat and setting up two cards with their power requirements.

sushi_fiesta_57 · 18 Jul 2008 at 12:39

The PhysX page is interesting. If more games start using it it could be a big advantage for Nvidia?

The power consumption of the 260 is better, and they seem to think it's quieter as well. Now I really don't know whether to get a 4870 or a gtx 260...

Greebo · 18 Jul 2008 at 12:46

sushi_fiesta_57 said:
The PhysX page is interesting. If more games start using it it could be a big advantage for Nvidia?

The power consumption of the 260 is better, and they seem to think it's quieter as well. Now I really don't know whether to get a 4870 or a gtx 260...

Err ATI Physx drivers due out shortly since Nvidia released the code to them so it will be a level playing feild again.

There's a screenshot on here with a 4870 running beta ATI physx drivers on 3dmark it it gets the same boost as the Nvidia cards do.

Jono8 · 18 Jul 2008 at 22:45

Greebo said:
Although everything you say about your setup is true and it would make sense to get a GTX280 in your case, the statement that the 4850 and 4850xfire is best price to performance ratio is still true.

It does assume you have a 16x pci-e 2 xfire mobo and a suitable psu but that applies to every review.

Some people haven't got enough juice to run a single GTX280.

Two 4850's in xfire still cost about £50 less than a GTX280 and is slightly faster so wins the bang for buck contest (framerate/price)

However, there are issues as they have stated about heat and setting up two cards with their power requirements.

Well yes literally it is is faster for less money when all you are talking about is the card. But in the real world the gtx280 is quite clearly the more sensible option.

Alpherah · 19 Jul 2008 at 00:27

apples and oranges.

For someone who already has a good crossfire board then the CF 4850's wins out.

For someone with an SLI board, or a P35/45 board then the GT280/60 wins.

Since the nvidia price cuts at least theres one good thing about the current market - theres something good to fit almost everyone's needs atm, and for reasonable pricing for the first time in years.

Jono8 · 19 Jul 2008 at 00:32

Alpherah said:
apples and oranges.

For someone who already has a good crossfire board then the CF 4850's wins out.

For someone with an SLI board, or a P35/45 board then the GT280/60 wins.

Since the nvidia price cuts at least theres one good thing about the current market - theres something good to fit almost everyone's needs atm, and for reasonable pricing for the first time in years.

Or if you were building from scratch.