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best card out for £160?

ben_k

ben_k

ben_k

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Joined
30 Dec 2007
Posts
96
Location
England
needs the power, playing some high spec games etc

q6600
4gb ram

whats the best gpu for £160, ive been told ATI are the best ones out atm cuz nvid are stupidly overpriced.
 
just had a look about....its either

1GB Sapphire HD 4870, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 3600MHz GDDR5, GPU 750MHz, 800 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV, HDCP

or

896MB XFX GTX 260, 2000MHz GDDR3, GPU 576MHz, 216 Cores, 2xDL DVI-I/ HDTV
 
ben_k said:
bit of a silly question probs but how come the nvid out does the ati with all its high numbers :p
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Marketing spin tbh. :p

Personally i'd have the 4870, I think the drivers are a lot better. But at the end of the day there's no way to predict what experience you'd have with either card, I have friends who have had nothing but problems with ATI drivers.

So just go with whatever one looks best or has the best package (warranty, extras, cooler etc.).
 
Now that you know which 2 cards to consider you should read some reviews. Jump straight to the performance numbers and you will be able to pick the best card for the games you play at the resolution and settings you use.
 
The Sapphire with the custom cooler, mines just arrived today, and its a bloody cracker, well quiet, and the temps are great.

On my old 4850 with the fan speed set to 35%, it idled at around 77-80, now same speed set for the 4870, thats idling at 47-48, so probably wont have to increase it when i go to game. :D
 
Having owned a 4850, 4870 (512mb), 3x GTX260 and 1x GTX280, I would vote for the 260. At stock speeds it is close to the 4870 in terms of performance and price, but when overclocked it easily overtakes the 4870 (overclocked) and more than matches a stock GTX280.

For £100 get the 4850 (great card and easy ATI win).
For £160 get the 260 (NVidia win if you overclock).

I found that the 260 also provides smoother frame rates with less "trough's" than my 4870 (admittedly a 512mb version). The 4870 was not really any better than my 4850 which overclocked massively.
 
If you play Source engine games often (Counter-Strike:Source for me), go for Nvidia.

I regret getting my 4850 due to graphical bugs in my most played game :(

(It applies to all ATI cards not just the 4850)
 
555BUK said:
Having owned a 4850, 4870 (512mb), 3x GTX260 and 1x GTX280, I would vote for the 260. At stock speeds it is close to the 4870 in terms of performance and price, but when overclocked it easily overtakes the 4870 (overclocked) and more than matches a stock GTX280.

For £100 get the 4850 (great card and easy ATI win).
For £160 get the 260 (NVidia win if you overclock).

I found that the 260 also provides smoother frame rates with less "trough's" than my 4870 (admittedly a 512mb version). The 4870 was not really any better than my 4850 which overclocked massively.
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Which was the quieter card, 260 or the 4870?
 
KelticDaz said:
Which was the quieter card, 260 or the 4870?
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I had both a 4870 and now a GTX260 216 55nm (as of last week)

I can say that overclocked the Nvidia ia a lot better and cooler and quieter.

At 720/1543 and fan at 40% it never goes above 60C

At 780/1572 the fan needs to be at 55% to keep it below 70C.

AT 780/1572 it is noticable faster than my 4870 which I had overclocked at 750 anyway.


Overall I am impressed more by the 260 than I was with the 4870.
 
reflux said:
This - custom cooler and overclock for £160.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-101-GW&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=927

Bought one last week to replace my GTX280 on a budget and it's a good performer.
Click to expand...

I'm actually really tempted by this now. I suppose the only downside is its not 55nm. But honestly I don't know what practical difference that makes. Something to do with the infinitesimalness (new word for you there, I think) of the wavelength of signals buzzing around the card. Something like that. But then I heard the 65nm OCs better. So *shrug*. Is it really something that's worthy of consideration?

And that custom cooler. I can't find any information about it. Does it have two fans compared to one on the stock cooler? Or am I being really thick and there's one on the underside of the stock? Presumably one sucks air in and another blows it out (once again I could be revealing my stupidity).

Strikes me as a really good buy....
 
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