5870 1000 core v GTX 480 850 core

[RavenXXX2]

So here it is, my take on the 5870 v 480 debate, having owned a 5870 and clocked at 1000 core I can safely say a 480 at 850 core easily outperforms the clocked radeon. Games like crysis show a 20 FPS increase with the 480 and overall games feel a lot smoother and IQ is slightly better on the 480, images are clearer and better defined especially when AA is applied.

I was kind of worried going from the 5870 to a 480 but I should'nt have been, once clocked the 480 is a true power house, temps are not a concern either, with a 850 core with no extra volts I hit a max of 77c looping the heaven bench, this with a fan profile that tops out at 70% so when gaming 90c + temps will never happen.

Overall I am very pleased with my 480 purchase and anyone with the cash looking for the ultimate single GPU performance and are willing to overclock you can't go wrong with a 480. I will say that if you keep cards at stock speeds then go 5870. The 480's scaling when overclocked obliterates the 5870's overclocked scaling.

Bench marks below all benched @ 1680x1050

5870 1000 core

jungle

desert

tower

4xAA

Stone Giant

Vantage GPU score 22802
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=13448228

GTX 480 850 core

4xAA

Tower

Desert

Jungle

Vantage, clocked up to 870 core @ 1.1v

GPU score 22802

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=2383261

Crysis comparison top screen no AA bottom screen 8xAA all very high settings @ 1680x1050

Stone Giant

 

[RavenXXX2]

Nice results, what made you change? Surely your oc'd 5870 must have demolished pretty much any game @ 1680x1050?

Try playing metro 2033 all on max, crysis still owns GPU's at my rez, even GTA 4 and just cause 2 when max easily tax my rez so resolution is not an issue, and as for why I changed, I simply got bored with ATI and over the past few months I have grown to like the 480 and decided to get one and overclock it as far as I could.

Have you run OCCT error checker on that 850 overclock?

Games is what I use to test my overclocks.

Wait, what


We all know the gtx 480 is faster than the 5870. It should be, it came out 6 months later and is more expensive.

But how did you come to the conclusion about overclocking vs stock bit? Are you saying don't go for a gtx 480 if you don't oc and go for a 5870 if you don't oc?

Rather odd considering how easy it is to oc on both and again, the price difference.

Are you sure that's not placebo?

At 1680x1050 nether card should feel laggy or low on fps.


Genuine questions, I have no intention of an argument or ati vs nv battle.

The 480 is smoother in a number of games such as split second, crysis and just cause 2, some game on the 5870 felt like lag even though FPS was fine, regarding 1680x1050, as I have said there are many games that will deliver under 60 FPS on a 480 at that rez so a 5870 will fair even worse.

Regarding the overclock statement, yes at stock the 5870 is fairly close to a stock 480, but performance scaling when overclocking a 5870 is poor, on the other hand a 480 shows massive gains when clocked, at this point its performance is far superior to even a highly clocked 5870. That's why I suggest that it you don't overclock the 5870 would be the better card to own.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Nice review. If my 4870X2 went kaput today then I would very likely get the same card. Will you consider putting yours under water or are you satisfied so far, early days I know, with air cooling?

Nah, 870 on the core is high enough for me even with the noise which is not too bad, to go water cooling for maybe 40-60 core extra is not worth it.

 

[RavenXXX2]

4xAA was for comparisons to the 5870 benchmarks done with 4xAA.

Why should I upgrade my screen, it's an IPS model and image quality is stunning, max crysis, justcause 2 and metro out at my rez, noway do you get a solid 60 FPS, so why would I want to go higher in rez and kill my FPS even more.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Go stick crysis/warhead on max, most of the time you're 40-50 FPS and worse on some levels, just cause 2, max it out nowhere near a solid 60 FPS at my rez, so this garbage about overkill for a certain rez is nonsense, you tell that to my 480 maxing out ARMA 2.

I sit one meter away from my screen, it's bigger enough to get the job done.

 

[RavenXXX2]

I challenge anyone to top my numbers with a singe 5870, the 5870 overclock scaling is horrible even with 150 on the core, the 480 with 150 on the core scales amazingly well, the main reason I went for a 480 was the way it was beating a 5870 1000 core with stock clocks in most games, I knew when I clocked the 480 it would easily out gun the radeon and it shows, playing crysis on some levels at 70+ fps is amazing for a single GPU, the 5870 would be doing 40-55 FPS. Spilt second would dip below 30 FPS in some intense action moments with the 5870, the 480 is as smooth as silk no matter what's going on, on screen.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Found some 5870 RE5 variable benchmarks and 5870 xfire, overclocked 480 is up there with xfire for the most part.

Again, for comparison - The "dip" in the third scene is very hit and miss - sometimes you get a dip, sometimes you dont Its just as blokie is climbing up the ladder to the container

Amazing xfire scaling right there, single 5870 below.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[RavenXXX2]

Well doh, the GPU is doing 99% usage in most games with tons of AA, it's not going to get much hotter. Going by your theory if we run furmark at 800x600 rez the GPU will stay nice and cool lol.

 

[RavenXXX2]

LoL you giving me advice on what I should run my CPU clock at, just lol.

 

[RavenXXX2]

I'm sorry you're looking out of your depth on here and your sig is too big.

 

[RavenXXX2]

High FPS makes a difference, take Dirt2 for example, with the 5870 FPS would jump between 60-90 FPS and it did not feel smooth, 480 is 100 fPS all the time and it just feels and looks much smoother, same with NFSS, juddery on the radeon going in to corners, the 480 is butter smooth. Regarding AA, older games look amazing with virtually no performance hit, BF2 looks amazing with 32xAA.

 

[RavenXXX2]

No offense to you guys with the 5870's but you haven't just gone from one to a 480 so you don't know what the difference is like, in a nutshell the gaming experience is smoother on a 480 compared to a 5870.

 

[RavenXXX2]

I don't have to justify anything, the numbers speak for themselves, even if they didn't this thread would have still happened, I was a happy ATI camper a week a go, today I am a happy Nvidia camper out to show the relative performance between the two top GPU's when overclocking is brought in to the equation.