5870 vs gtx 470

[opethdisciple]

Hi guys.

My current rig is a qx9650 stock at 3ghz paired with a stock 3870x2 gpu and 4 gigs of 800mhz DDR2 ram. My motherboard is a x48 Asus Rampage Formula (crossfire support only)


Out of the 4 graphics cards Iv ever owned, only one of them was an Nvidia.

Iv always preffered Ati cards to Nvidia, so have been eyeing up the 5870 ever since it was released, but as Fermi was only months away, I thought Id give my self a choice and so I waited for Fermi.

Based on price, the three cards Iv been looking at are the 5850, 5870 and the gtx 470.

I game at 1920x1200 resolution.... and my 3870x2 is performing remarkably well considering. Im currently playing BFBC2 at native resolution on medium, so its not bad at all.

However, I have the money to upgrade.

I was thinking, this time around Id go Nvidia, just for the sake of it, and see what all this fuss was about, concerning Physx support.

However benchmarks and peoples opinions concerning the 5870 vs the gtx 470 are very sketchy.

Most people tell me the 5870 is over all the better card. But benchmarking sites say the gtx 470 has higher minimums and is probably now the best bang for the buck.

Anyone care to comment?

Additionally my cpu at 3ghz (qx9650) should be fine to run with either a 5870 or a gtx 470?

Thanks

 

[l3g3nd]

Your cpu will be ok, might want to see if you can squeeze a few more mhz out of it though to get the most from the new card.

I would recommend the 5870 over any of the other cards. I currently have a 5850 and recently swapped it out for a GTX480, the difference was just about noticeable, but definitely not worth it. And the noise was very noticeable(I like my peace and quiet ) Suffice to say the 480 is on its way back.

The GTX 470/480 cards are good but they are not worth the extra money. The 5870 is a fair bit faster than the 470 and much more efficient.

5870 gets my vote

 

[Dazboots]

Your cpu will be ok, might want to see if you can squeeze a few more mhz out of it though to get the most from the new card.

I would recommend the 5870 over any of the other cards. I currently have a 5850 and recently swapped it out for a GTX480, the difference was just about noticeable, but definitely not worth it. And the noise was very noticeable(I like my peace and quiet ) Suffice to say the 480 is on its way back.

The GTX 470/480 cards are good but they are not worth the extra money. The 5870 is a fair bit faster than the 470 and much more efficient.

5870 gets my vote

Glad i didnt get 2x 480 cards now and just went 5970 + 5870

 

[AgedIdiot]

Heathen !! Running a Q9650 @ stock ???

Get it clocked !

I'm no expert but my q9650 has been happily running @ 4ghz for mnths! The clock certainly helps in some games.

Am running a 5870 (not clocked - not overly impressed with extra few fps v noise , power usage and possible damage!) with 1920x1200 and no issues at all . Runs everthing I've thrown at it with high (high enough for me anyway!) details etc.

Have not used a 470 so cannot do any personal comparison. The reviews I've read show the 5870 as a bit more powerful overall but ... new drivers etc who knows?

If you partic. want cuda or physx (without a second card/hack) then the 470 may well be the better choice. (@ less than £300 ) Personally would very happily recomend the 5870 for performance + use of less electric, low noise levels.

 

[mr griffin]

Yeah get that QX9650 Clocked... you dont even have to overclock the proper way if you don't know how on that cpu that's why it cost so much new. Just up the volts to 1.3 and change the multi to 11 that will have you clocked in at just over 3.6ghz and give you a nice little speed boost. Or read up on how to overclock properly using the FSB and multi and you should be able to hit 4.0ghz +, in turn this will give your 5870 a nice boost in performance also if you choose to buy one but it will do the same on any other card as well.

 

[opethdisciple]

I think im gona wait untill just after the summer to pick up a new card.

I made the same mistake when I bought my 3870x2 in April 2008, buying at the bigining of summer meant I didnt really get to use it untill september, due to the heat wave that was sweeping the UK at the time.

Plus my computer is in a loft conversion, meaning it gets hot on the coldest of days.

Aditionally, £300 + for technology that has been out since September, doesnt make sense, when (hopefully) Ati will launch some new card by the end of the year either a 5000 series refresh or even better 6000 series cards.

As with the over clocking, well maybe, you make it sound easy.

Is it really neccesary? Will I gain that much gaming performance from a 3ghz vs 3.6ghz cpu?

 

[arc@css]

In some games it will be very noticeable, others less so. In online play it should make a big difference.

 

[el Kuarlos]

Well clocking gcards of the right brand is simple, an asus 5850 will come very, very close to a 5870 if you leave it at stock volts and just move the catalyst sliders up till you get stability issues, costs a hundred pounds less, and as established the 470 doesn't really get a look in.

5850, unless you are dead set on not overclocking.

 

[mr griffin]

I think he was talking about clocking his cpu not gfx card

Yes it is very simple because you have a QX chip which means you paid lots of money to have an unlocked multi that other chips in the range don't have, they would have to overclock the proper way using the fsb. With the QX chips you can clock them by just raising the cpu volts and the multi, obviously you get even better results mixing fsb and multi to find the sweet spot on ur cpu but that takes time and reading up on how to do it.

 

[el Kuarlos]

I think he was talking about clocking his cpu not gfx card

Was referring to the original question

 

[mr griffin]