Which card to buy,4870X2 or GTX295?

Duran · 30 May 2009 at 09:27

drunkenmaster said:
the reason your games list stopped there, is because thats where it stops. You know why, physx, a couple of those games use physx to do pointless things, in fairly crap games that are very very short and pathetically easy and dull, some of us even have the audacity to accuse the " clean basic vibrant" style of Mirror's edge, simply a way to make a very quick easy plain game, as a showcase for physx. widely slated, no replay value, low sales, and iirc it was dropped to about 1/3 the price within a couple weeks because it was selling so badly.

Likewise, Deadspace does weirdly run incredibly badly on ati software, even though that "badly" is over 100fps with AA at 1920x1200 on a x2, that 200fps on a 295gtx really really shows the difference, especially in a fairly slow paced horror, thank god.

Now if you stack that list up, against arguably the most popular/widespread games of late, Crysis, Fallout 3, Farcry 2, the 295 is barely faster(if at all) than the 4870x2, for a massive increase in cost. I think its not completely unfair to say its roughly 15% faster card on average, but even when you find the 295gtx for "far cheaper" than ocuk, its not the £270 it would need to maintain price/performance ratio the 4870x2 has, infact its still way way way more than that.

There really isn't a game I can name that isn't playable on a 4870x2, that is suddenly playable on a 295gtx, both cards eat everything up with ease, you wouldn't have any noticeable difference using either card, so paying more for either would be, well, stupid.

barely faster(if at all)? oh wait! its drunkenmaster... i'm still waiting for my gtx 295 to become obsolete since January. am i rite? a year after i'll be still waiting.........

reflux · 30 May 2009 at 12:01

michaelmk86 said:
Yes it is fact. ATI cards have more problems than the nvidia cards. No questions

Haha. You're such a troll.

AMG · 30 May 2009 at 12:05

tbh I seen a lot more threads of Nvidas having dodgy cores or some other hardware fault, than AMD/ATI, most problems for them is the drivers

and I have mirrors edge it runs nice and smooth (if I turn physics off) I acturly like the game

Ronaldo · 30 May 2009 at 12:15

why dont the OP buy 2 x2 and use it crossfire it would cost little bit more then GTX 295 but you would have a massive GPU power!

dmxdex2020 · 30 May 2009 at 12:20

Do you get microstutter from having 2 cards in crossfire? or is it just the x2 based cards?

AMG · 30 May 2009 at 12:30

get a bit with any "dual core GPU" or crossfire/SLI I think SLI in some cases due to better drivers don't do it as much

dmxdex2020 · 30 May 2009 at 12:56

I hope they get rid of it soon.

w3bbo · 30 May 2009 at 13:18

Lol at all the trolling in this thread.

The GTX295 IS the fastest card currently available in the majority of games (I know, I've tested both 4870x2 and GTX295 in single and dual card configurations). However, I wouldn't buy one atm due to the great price on the 4870x2 which is only very slightly behind in terms of performance and is now great value for money.

You get a little microstuttering with both setups but it's very minor and most people can't detect it at all so I wouldn't worry about it.

Personally, I have 2xGTX280's and game on a 30" screen. This setup handles everything I throw at it so any more is for e-peen value only imo.

Ninja Please! · 30 May 2009 at 13:25

Can I ask a question at the risk of starting WWIII?

What if the prices of the x2, and the 295 were the same, as well as all the other corresponding cards? What would be recommended then?

HeX · 30 May 2009 at 13:27

If they were the same price then gtx295 as it is faster.

At current prices however the X2 is considerably better value for money.

Ninja Please! · 30 May 2009 at 13:30

So then is that going to hold true (the nvidia suggestion) for the rest of corresponding cards as well?

I really don't know. I have only had 2 cards ever. My current one, and a 7900gt. The nerd buddy who started me into this hobby just always told me to never buy a radeon.

Until I play on other cards, I only can tell you about the ones I have used.

arc@css · 30 May 2009 at 14:13

w3bbo said:
Lol at all the trolling in this thread.

The GTX295 IS the fastest card currently available in the majority of games (I know, I've tested both 4870x2 and GTX295 in single and dual card configurations). However, I wouldn't buy one atm due to the great price on the 4870x2 which is only very slightly behind in terms of performance and is now great value for money.

You get a little microstuttering with both setups but it's very minor and most people can't detect it at all so I wouldn't worry about it.

Personally, I have 2xGTX280's and game on a 30" screen. This setup handles everything I throw at it so any more is for e-peen value only imo.

I hope those trolls read what you've written w3bbo since you test components and write reviews, though I doubt they will.

p.s.Would love to know how you got such a damn fine o/c on your 6600.

TheRealDeal · 30 May 2009 at 14:36

Ninja Please! said:
So then is that going to hold true (the nvidia suggestion) for the rest of corresponding cards as well?

I really don't know. I have only had 2 cards ever. My current one, and a 7900gt. The nerd buddy who started me into this hobby just always told me to never buy a radeon. Until I play on other cards, I only can tell you about the ones I have used.

All i can say to you is do your own research and you will find that radeons are every bit as good as nv cards. In todays market price is really what you should be looking at in terms of a purchase if its purely a gaming card you want. Nvidia do have better folding speeds than ati but for gaming across the board apart from the gtx260 i think ati is best at every other price point.

TheRealDeal · 30 May 2009 at 14:37

michaelmk86 said:
what is wrong with this forum? is ATI giving you a share of its profits to support it to death?

Nice troll but most people on here won't rise to your flame bait.

Tute · 30 May 2009 at 14:39

TheRealDeal said:
All i can say to you is do your own research and you will find that radeons are every bit as good as nv cards. In todays market price is really what you should be looking at in terms of a purchase if its purely a gaming card you want. Nvidia do have better folding speeds than ati but for gaming across the board apart from the gtx260 i think ati is best at every other price point.

Then again you can get 90-95% of the performance of that card for £98.

arc@css · 30 May 2009 at 14:40

michaelmk86 said:
what is wrong with this forum? is ATI giving you a share of its profits to support it to death?

There's nothing wrong with you not liking ATI products. That would be fair enough but you come across as opinionated and seem to expect others to agree.
Doesn't the fact that some well qualified and experienced PC component testers / article writers who are on the forums might be worth listening to??

TheRealDeal · 30 May 2009 at 15:00

Tute said:
Then again you can get 90-95% of the performance of that card for £98.

Yea that deal on the HIS 4870 is one of the best deals i have ever seen for that kind of performance. Then again the 4870x2 deal is also great its a buyers market atm.

Duran · 30 May 2009 at 15:00

arc@css said:
There's nothing wrong with you not liking ATI products. That would be fair enough but you come across as opinionated and seem to expect others to agree.
Doesn't the fact that some well qualified and experienced PC component testers / article writers who are on the forums might be worth listening to??

well qualified? LOL! I tried both the 4870x2 and the gtx 295 in the last 10 days and i found the gtx 295 significantly faster. all I got with the 4870x2 was post issues and problems with my dual monitor setup.

P.S Its also a coincidence that since the ati deals the forum is populated by posts reporting problems with monitor configurations, drivers etc etc...

arc@css · 30 May 2009 at 15:04

Some people on the forums do test and write reviews and have extensive knowledge. Yes, the 295 is the faster card but I have an X2 and for me it has been well worth the money and eats any game I throw at it. I've not had one driver issue or any microstuttering. I expect you'll tell me next that I have had loads of problems with it.

TheRealDeal · 30 May 2009 at 16:04

w3bbo said:
Lol at all the trolling in this thread.

The GTX295 IS the fastest card currently available in the majority of games (I know, I've tested both 4870x2 and GTX295 in single and dual card configurations). However, I wouldn't buy one atm due to the great price on the 4870x2 which is only very slightly behind in terms of performance and is now great value for money.

You get a little microstuttering with both setups but it's very minor and most people can't detect it at all so I wouldn't worry about it.

Personally, I have 2xGTX280's and game on a 30" screen. This setup handles everything I throw at it so any more is for e-peen value only imo.

Read this quote again the guy writes reviews and tests all cards so he is better qualified to comment on the cards than someone who basically can not get a card working properly. Read all review sites these guys know what they are talking about and the x2 is not far behind a gtx295 no matter what you would like to think you had a bad experience end off but most x2 users are more than happy. Look at some revies sometimes the x2 has minimum frames comparing with gtx285's average depending on resolution.