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DampCat

DampCat

DampCat

Soldato
Joined
26 Feb 2007
Posts
14,215
Location
Leafy Cheshire
Ok guys, it's crunch time!

EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB Superclocked Edition GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail - £164.99

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (21133-04-20) - £165.59

Currently running an 8800GT - so these would both be worthwhile upgrades. But which is better? Also, if i had to wait a few weeks for pay day, the 4870 might be back up to £200... and is it really £50 better? I'm reluctant to spend £200 but if it's *really* worth it then...

I've not been paying attention to graphics for some time so i could use some pointers here! :)
 
DampCat said:
Ok guys, it's crunch time!

EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB Superclocked Edition GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail - £164.99

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (21133-04-20) - £165.59

Currently running an 8800GT - so these would both be worthwhile upgrades. But which is better? Also, if i had to wait a few weeks for pay day, the 4870 might be back up to £200... and is it really £50 better? I'm reluctant to spend £200 but if it's *really* worth it then...

I've not been paying attention to graphics for some time so i could use some pointers here! :)
Click to expand...

It's not worth the extra £50, but it shouldn't jump back to £200 as there have been official price cuts so around £160 will be the official price soon enough.

While it's at the same price though, the 48701GB takes the lead, so I'd recommend that.

Here's some benches to help you decide.

Bit-tech
 
Aaaah i see that now, i hadn't spotted that. so 55nm 216 core is a better buy than the EVGA i've linked. If i can get an EVGA though i'd like one, they have excellent CS and RMA procedures, + warranty... but if the 4870 remains around that price then it's tips the balance slightly.

What do you mean by system memory Huddster? Ram? I'm rocking 4gb at the mo and will probably fling it up to 8gb eventually :)
 
DampCat said:
Aaaah i see that now, i hadn't spotted that. so 55nm 216 core is a better buy than the EVGA i've linked. If i can get an EVGA though i'd like one, they have excellent CS and RMA procedures, + warranty... but if the 4870 remains around that price then it's tips the balance slightly.

What do you mean by system memory Huddster? Ram? I'm rocking 4gb at the mo and will probably fling it up to 8gb eventually :)
Click to expand...

He thought you may be on 32 Bit, so the GPU RAM would further eat in to the maximum allocation of 4GB, I'm assuming you're on 64bit though so you'll be fine.

The GTX260 192 is quite a bit slower than the 4870, in the bit-tech benchmarks, it's a GTX260 216 versus a 4870.

Keep away from the GTX260 192 version.
 
Ah i see. Yeah i'm on 64bit :)

Alright thanks guys. I'll see what the prices are like when i get paid. If those 260's drop a little more i'll grab the 216. Otherwise i'll swing with the 4870 if the prices remain as they are :)
 
Nothing soul destroying right now. I avoided Crysis like the plague... everything else is Source driven or EVE. I like to keep on top of my upgrades though in case something awesome comes out that i want to play :)

Im aware my current rig is fine for what i play, but if i dont try and claw back some cash from my 8800GT now it really wont be worth anything in a few months :)
 
The 4870 is probably the better card, and there's nothing wrong with ATi drivers, problems with drivers I say are generally down to bad overclocks and what not.
 
i doubt there is going to be any price drops soon as 260 just made one and 4870 had one couple a weeks ago there might be few more price cuts when. 4890 comes out but that is just a guess.
 
If you're buying this week, this is the 260 card you should be comparing with:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-008-ZT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=927

I personally would recommend the 4870 at that price, but if you don't buy this week, take a look at this card:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-079-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=927

This is the same price as the cheapest 4870 1GB (not including offers), and as far as I know, beats it most of the time (although only slightly). I think BFG is also a more reputable brand than XFX.

Also, what mobo system are you running? I'd say the best way to decide would be to see whether your mobo is crossfire or SLI capable. If it's both (X58), then I don't know what to recommend.
 
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