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Deciding between 4890 and GTX 260

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Can't decided whether to go for a 4890 or 260...currently running on a E2220 OC'd from 2.4 to 3.2ghz, all running smoothly. VX450W PSU, with 8800GT.

I'm pretty sure the VX450W will be able to power either of these cards so I'm not too worried about changing PSU or anything. However, I'm not sure if either of these cards are going to be held back by my (pretty rubbish) CPU. I'm pretty sure the 260 wouldn't be held back at all, especially with it OC'd to 3.2ghz...however I have no idea about the 4890?

Anybody know anything about this stuff? :(
 
Soldato
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4890, your CPU won't hold it back at 3.2 and if it does it will be by an unnoticable amount.

Don't buy yet though, wait till the 5*** series comes out next week, incase prices drop.
 

AMG

AMG

Soldato
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first off, GTX260 is not really compareable to the HD4890 apart from price :D

HD4890 is faster, I would wait if your 8800 is not dying or starting to lose its grip on gaming, if its not than wait till the next radeon cards come about, and hopefully it will push prices on the current gen down a bit.


or you might be able to snap up a HD4890/GTX275 from mm if you can access it that is, or other soruces
 
Associate
OP
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Alright then defo gonna go with 4890, will wait for the 5 series to come out though.

Thanks a lot for the help.

I'm pretty sure my PSU will handle it, anybody think it won't?
 
Soldato
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Associate
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Have to say, the default fan profile ATI coolers are damn loud. However, once you set up a custom fan profile they can be as quiet as you need them to be. The dual 4890s in my friend's machine were no louder in use than the the 280 I have in my current machine when set up properly, so I guess it might be down to how anal you want to be over the whole sound situation =)
 
Soldato
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Haha, is it really that loud?

No, it isn't.

As Mojo said, as long as you set the fan speed to ~30% which is as much as you really need unless your case is bad or your room is particularly hot, it's not louder than any other card on the market, it's when you go above that it can be a bit loud.
 
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Associate
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Personally, I'd stay away from ATI due to driver problems. Many people claim that ATI's drivers are a lot better these days, but I've always remained suspicious due to the sheer number of reports I've read about multiple monitor setups, game hotfixes and having to wait a month for new drivers whenever a new game is released before being able to play that game.

For example, Need for Speed: Shift is a game I've been looking forward to all year, and now that's it's been released, the performance on ATI cards is terrible. ATI have acknowledged the problem and they're currently working on a fix.

From pcgameshardware.com:
Need for Speed: Shift - Performance estimation

Although we wanted to deliver graphics cards benchmarks of Need for speed: Shift, we have to refrain from doing so. In our version of the game Nvidia's Geforce cards were running without problems,but AMD's Radeons were noticeably slower that usually. AMD is already aware of the problem and is working on optimizations for Shift. As soon as we receive a solution for the problems we will deliver benchmark results for graphics cards and processors.

See this thread and this other thread

More problems for ATI... Maybe we should all rename the exe to Bioshock.exe to see what happens!!

Will there be a time when 4 different games are released and we not need 4 different driver sets...

The above quote especially seems to indicate that ATI owners are familiar with having driver problems with newly released games. I'm really not quite sure where these reports of improved drivers are coming from - they seem to be largely unfounded.
 
Associate
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Utter dross, ATI's drivers may have been a bit wobbly in the past but they have had no more problems than Nvidia do now, if I remember right ATI's last few drivers have been more reliable than Nvidias.

What? I'm trying to give the OP valuable information so that he can make an informed decision based on research and evidence. I've just supplied multiple links and quotes to back up my claims. If I owned an ATI card right now I'd be pretty damn disappointed seeing as I've been looking forward to Shift for so long.

If ATI's drivers are better, why do ATI owners feel the need to say things like:

Will there be a time when 4 different games are released and we not need 4 different driver sets...

It doesn't seem necessary if problems with ATI drivers and new game releases don't exist.
 
Soldato
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It doesn't seem necessary if problems with ATI drivers and new game releases don't exist.

Of course problems exist, no one has EVER said they don't, my point is that ATI's driver problems are usualy grossly over exadurated and more often than not spouted by people who don't own the cards.

Problems are always commented on, the fact that the majority of people who own ATI cards do not have problems never is because people who have things that are fine don't susualy feel the need to say so.

I personaly play dozens of games, new and old, and have never yet experienced driver issues, I update whenever new drivers are out and have yet to have 1 issue.

The majority of "driver issues" usualy arise not due to software but due to peoples stupidity.


If ATI were as unreliable as you seem to think, why would so many enthusiasts of these forums suggest them? blind brand favoritism? or maybe because the "problems" that are reported are such a small percentage that it doesn't matter.
 
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Soldato
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I would say at stock the 4890 beats the 260 in most benchmarks. However, the 260 has much more overclocking headroom (if you don't mind overclocking) and both parts will be equally matched when overclocked.
 
Associate
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Of course problems exist, no one has EVER said they don't, my point is that ATI's driver problems are usualy grossly over exadurated and more often than not spouted by people who don't own the cards.

I personaly play dozens of games, new and old, and have never yet experienced driver issues, I update whenever new drivers are out and have yet to have 1 issue.

The majority of "driver issues" usualy arise not due to software but due to peoples stupidity.


If ATI were as unreliable as you seem to think, why would so many enthusiasts of these forums suggest them? blind brand favoritism? or maybe because the "problems" that are reported are such a small percentage that it doesn't matter.

You're right, error reports are probably several orders of magnitude more likely to be voiced than reports of satisfaction. But when I read quotes like that - that indicate a problem that seems to be endemic to ATI drivers - it's cause for concern. Let the OP decide if he's willing to take the risk.

ps - I don't dispute that you're having a great experience with the games that you play. I'm more concerned about the month long waiting game of ATI driver catch up after a newly released game.
 
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