Undecided on which card to choose

[d3moliti0n]

Hi

I have been thinking about buying a new GPU recently and was dead set on buying the GTX 260: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-151-LT&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=927, but now I'm wondering whether it would be worth going for the 512MB 4870 instead: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-137-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=939

I was also looking at the much cheaper XFX 4850 512MB: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-127-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

I generally want something that is as future proof as possible, basically making sure I am able to play the PC games of the next year or so at as high settings as possible, so what would you recommend? The resolution I use for gaming is 1680 x 1050 (on a 19" LCD) btw.

Thanks for your help.

 

[95thrifles]

If you have no plans to buy new/bigger moniitor then the cheaper 4850 will be fine

 

[Kennysevenfold]

on a 19" 512mb will do you fine, imo i would go for the 4870, will blow every game away at decent fps, and slightly faster than the 260

 

[elpedro]

I used to have a 1680x1050 monitor and the older GTX 260 with 192sp - they went hand in hand. Played everything on that setup comfortably. I also had a 4870 512mb on that resolution and the 260 was a definate improvement!

i would go for the 4870, will blow every game away at decent fps, and slightly faster than the 260

Factor in the 260's overclocking headroom and its quicker in 90% of games.

 

[95thrifles]

Factor in the 260's overclocking headroom and its quicker in 90% of games.

Why? are you not allowed to OC the ATI's? lol

 

[elpedro]

Why? are you not allowed to OC the ATI's? lol

Hah, pretty much. May get 25MHz OC on the core. Hence Rv790 aka 4890, redesigned RV770 to allow higher clock speeds It was the 4870's flaw vs the GT200 cards

GTX 260 on the other hand, stock clock 576MHz - most people are running 700MHz+ Had mine 27/7 stable on 720MHz core, and that was the older 65nm one. The one OP linked it the new 55nm model.

 

[95thrifles]

mine clock 50-75 just using autotune, and 100-150 on the memory clock too

 

[elpedro]

mine clock 50-75 just using autotune, and 100-150 on the memory clock too

Auto tune in CCC was useless, a lot of the time it will give you unstable clock speeds. Dunno if they fixed that but tht was an issue when I had a 4870.