4870X2 > 480

[Robert]

Anyone done this? Worth it?

I'll probably wait until the next batch of cards anyway, but just curious.

 

[MooMoo444]

Also curious, sitting on crossfire 4870's, so just a little tiny bit behind OP.

 

[arc@css]

Think I've read about one or two members going from the 4870x2 to the 480. Remember the general feeling was that it was worth it. Smoother, better minimum frame rates and somewhat faster.

 

[Marine-RX179]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/174?vs=158
Temp and noise wise, the GTX480 is around the same level as the 4870x2. But like others have mentioned better minimum more consistance frame rate and faster in general, but it also has room for overclocking.

But considering you already got a 4870x2, and there's not really many games it can't handle...so wait and see what the HD6000 series and the GTX475/GTX485 are gonna be like is also an option.

 

[Robert]

I was tempted to wait anyway. To be fair nothing in the GPU market has excited me really.

I think my next overhaul will be PSU and storage (had a lot of drives fail recently due to my Galaxy).

I'm also tempted to replace my Silverstone TJ10BW with an 800D as I'm in love with the cable management system.

 

[Duff-Man]

I just made this move. To be honest, there was more of an improvement than I was expecting... I made the move intending to add a second GTX480 down the road, when I've changed my CPU / motherboard, and upgraded the PSU. As others have reported, the main improvement is framerate consistency (better minimums and less microstutter) rather than spitting out more frames. Plus I've been playing starcraft 2 recently, which does not support SLI or crossfire. The difference there is night and day (as you would expect).

I'm not sure exactly what drivers are being used for the anandtech review, but I suspect that there are more mature nvidia drivers around now. I'm seeing a somewhat larger jump in framerates than they show (percentage wise).

But yes - if you can hold off then it's worth doing so. It's unlikely that the ATI 6-series will be much faster than the GTX480, but they may be a lot more power efficient. With a minor miracle, the same might be true of the GTX485 as well!

 

[uv]

I'm making the move from a 4870X2 to a single GTX460, then to SLI 460's down the road.

There's many reasons, but the main one is quite simply that ATI's crossfire drivers have been rubbish ever since I got the card.

 

[Razor Time]

I went from a 4870X2 to a 480. I noticed a very nice improvement in frame rates. The main benifits for me have been.

No Micro stuttering.
Handles High levels of AA (ie 32xAA) with a very little hit to the frame rate. IQ is georgiuos at this setting.
Has TRSAA which is a new type of AA.
Physx.
Overclocks so well (nearly 30% on gpu) and gets a near 1:1 return on percentage overclock to frames. My 4870X2 was crap at overclocking and a 5% overclock would not give me any where near a 5% boost in frames.
DX11.
No flickering textures which is what I was experiencing in some games like BF:BC2.
Overall smoother gameplay.
Increase in frame rates.


Overall I was over the moon moving from the 4870X2 to a gtx 480. I loved my 4870X2 but the 480 is allot better.

 

[Jibber55]

Are there games that are not running smooth or are there features you feel you are missing out on? If the answer is no then you have no need to upgrade unless you have the upgrade bug!