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Nvidia 280 and ATI 4870

valerian

valerian

valerian

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ive currently got a 8800gtx, but have never really rated it because, the next gen games at the time,
crysis
ut3 etc
never ran how i expected, now the question is this
if i buy a 280 or a 4870 will i be satisfied running vista 64 again and getting the 'benefits' (stop laughing) of dx10, or option 2
dont bother
rational input please and preferably no vista fanboys, which i personally think is ****

thanks
 
Yes, get whichever you can afford. For Crysis you get better performance with a 280, in other next gen games you get better or closer perf from a 4870.

But you are paying £100 at least over the odds for a 280, but then you are a Nvidia user already so it might be easier for you if you can swallow the price pillage :)
 
Biffa said:
Yes, get whichever you can afford. For Crysis you get better performance with a 280, in other next gen games you get better or closer perf from a 4870.

But you are paying £100 at least over the odds for a 280, but then you are a Nvidia user already so it might be easier for you if you can swallow the price pillage :)
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i had been ATI for a long time this is my first nvidia since a gf4200 a while ago, had many ATIs, 9600, 9800, x800, x1900xtx (stil in the boys PC), i
always found the colours more vibrant on ATis
 
dont buy a graphics card
you will eventually have to choose a side and then people will criticise your decision
 
Running Vista 64 and 4870, no driver problems, sublime performance, best card purchase ever. Grid at 1680x1050 8xAA = 80 average, but best for me is BF2 with 8xAA, on the 8800GT it would slow to a crawl in places probably because of VRAM, but its 100fps constant on 4870 even with the same memory size as the GT.
 
I went from an 8800GTX to a GTX280. I was very impressed with the results. I'd held off playing a few games (Crysis, Bioshock, COD4 etc) and they ran extremely well.

The 4870 is the better value option, but for me the extra grunt of the GTX280 was worth it when considering the increase from a 8800GTX. Plus I kind of need a nvidia card for when I work at home (using CUDA) so, meh
 
You're not gonna run crysis on very high no matter what realistic option you go for. However what you have is the 280, which is a fantastic, albeit pricy upgrade of the GTX which will be a good upgrade to the GTX. On the other hand you have the cheap and extremely effective 4870, which will be a great upgrade as well for a fantastic price. In the end you're choosing between a significantly larger investment for 15-20% extra speed or a very nicely priced card that isn't a steal in terms of price.

Or you could wait to see what effect the 55nm shrink of the 280 has :)
 
If you can wait a little longer the 4870x2 will be arriving sometime in august and will offer you the best card money can buy. In some preview benches it was beating the gtx280 in sli. When its released it will probably be a little faster with more up to date drivers than they had in the preview benches. You can't go wrong with the 4870 or gtx280 though both nice cards but as said they are releasing a 55nm version of the gtx280 pretty soon.
 
If you're planning on playing dx10 games such as crysis, be very wary as ATi dx10 drivers are flakey (as usual). Crysis & Assassin's Creed are currently experiencing a form of graphics corruption (white/black dots) related to a driver issue in DX10 mode only. Knowing ATi from the past I very much doubt this will be fixed quickly.

Wish i'd gone for the 280 over the 4870 purely on driver issues i've already experienced.
 
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games at the time,
crysis
ut3 etc
never ran how i expected
Click to expand...

? games not as good or frame rates slower or graphics not as 'vibrant' as expected ?

Overall if your gaming at 1680x1050 does not look much of an upgrade - personally would keep the gtx and upgrade to 24" & 1920x1200 and then consider gpu upgrade.

Moved from 20" to 24" myself not long ago - brilliant !!!! ,cannot over praise this REAL upgrade:D
 
flamey said:
If you're planning on playing dx10 games such as crysis, be very wary as ATi dx10 drivers are flakey (as usual). Crysis & Assassin's Creed are currently experiencing a form of graphics corruption (white/black dots) related to a driver issue in DX10 mode only.
Click to expand...


DX10 crysis and AC running perfectly fine here on 8.7 drivers, looks like your PC is fubar.;)
 
Basically, using the cheapest prices for both 280gtx (Was OCUK for gtx!) and 4870 the GTX is 52% more expensive for what is assumed upto 25% more performance.

If we look at other places that don't have as good prices for the gtx (but still good), then the price difference is 72% for 25% -assumed- performance improvement.

So basically you can see why people are saying 4870, because it terms of value for money it demolishes the 280GTX.

Still... lets not get on our high horse and claim at this moment in time ATI victory... the 280GTX is STILL the single card leader right now regardless of price, it just depends whether you want to pay 51% + more for the card or not. Some peeps find that ok.

I'm certainly interested in how the two cards square up once the 'average' overclock is factored in.

Also, I have never noticed dots in Crysis.... will have a look :D

Matthew
 
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TheRealDeal said:
If you can wait a little longer the 4870x2 will be arriving sometime in august and will offer you the best card money can buy. In some preview benches it was beating the gtx280 in sli. When its released it will probably be a little faster with more up to date drivers than they had in the preview benches. You can't go wrong with the 4870 or gtx280 though both nice cards but as said they are releasing a 55nm version of the gtx280 pretty soon.
Click to expand...

Agree with this poster. If OP can wait until the 4870X2 is released then probably get, that otherwise currently the 4870 is the best bet imo.
 
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