3870 or 4870

[wake4x4paintball]

should i buy 3870 512mb now cuz its cheaper now for 179.99 or should i wait for 4870 but it will be more expensive and will be different performance? i have 1950pro PCIE now i juz got new mobo K92A platinum 790fx......

will my video card 1950pro last longer for one more year or suggest me to get new video card soon like 3800 or 4800? ATI

 

[randomizer]

The HD3870 will wipe the floor with the X1950 pro (my 9600GT did) but the HD4870 might make the X1950 pro part of the floor.

 

[yadge]

but the HD4870 might make the X1950 pro part of the floor.

That's my plan. I can't wait to upgrade.

 

[randomizer]

An 8800GS or 9600GT would make a good intermediate upgrade while you wait for the (inevitably high) launch price of the HD4870 to fall.

 

[royalcrown]

Hey randomizer, I'll race you with my 8800gts....lol

 

[doomturkey]

If you have the money, 4870 no doubt!
I'll be upgrading my aged X800pro (AGP >_<) to either a 4870 or 4850 this summer.

 

[royalcrown]

If you have the money, 4870 no doubt!
I'll be upgrading my aged X800pro (AGP >_<) to either a 4870 or 4850 this summer.

And what if it sucks like the 3xxx series...all you ppl talk about how great is HAS to be.

Reminder..2xxx hyped...really sucked !

3xxx super hyped....sucked worse !

 

[evilshuriken]

^ I don't know what you're talking about.
The 3k series didn't seem like an overly hyped product. From the beginning we we're told it would be a more energy efficient redesign of the 2k series.

 

[doomturkey]

Well you know the cards going to have to be good, AMD can't make it worse than Nvidias current offerings or that would be a massive fail.
If you google "4870 benchmarks", you can find some that show it killing the 9800GX2.

I do, however, remain skeptical as to the accuracy of these so called benchmarks.

 

[romulus47plus1]

+1 to Evilshuriken.
But I hope the hype this time really, like pays.
Or else..... nVidia will bash ATI again

 

[runswindows95]

An 8800GS or 9600GT would make a good intermediate upgrade while you wait for the (inevitably high) launch price of the HD4870 to fall.

If you can wait, see what the 48XX ATI's will offer. However, I do agree with randomizer

 

[mactronix]

And what if it sucks like the 3xxx series...all you ppl talk about how great is HAS to be.

Reminder..2xxx hyped...really sucked !

3xxx super hyped....sucked worse !

? I take it you dont like ATI then. Yes the 2 series was a dissapointment but to call the 3 series anything other than aexactly what it was meant to be takes some serious twisting.
Mactronix

 

[randomizer]

If you look at Nvidia's frequent bashing of ATI/AMD/Intel recently, they are one of two things:

1) Scared out of their minds because GT200 is underperforming and they think RV770 will rock.
2) Uber confident because GT200 is already kicking buttocks.

EDIT: Typo.

 

[yipsl]

should i buy 3870 512mb now cuz its cheaper now for 179.99 or should i wait for 4870 but it will be more expensive and will be different performance? i have 1950pro PCIE now i juz got new mobo K92A platinum 790fx......

It all depends on your budget. If you can wait a few weeks, a 4870 Pro will arrive at the end of May with GDDR3, but a GDDR5 won't arrive till July (reported shortage of GDDR5 memory modules just gearing up for production).

The 4870 Pro (I assume that will be it's name) will still be around 40-50% faster than the 3870. Nordic Hardware reported 50% for the GDDR5 version last February from AMD sources in Europe, so it's reasonable the GDDR3 will be just below that. That places the first 4xxx part to arrive in the same range as my 3870x2, but without the need for Crossfire support.

So, it's up to you based on patience and budget. We can always wait for the next thing but have to weigh cost and waiting time. It's close enough to the GDDR3 version of the 4870 that it's worth waiting. The GDDR5 version is a bit farther away.

For anyone with a 3850 or 3870, I advise waiting for the GDDR5 version, as their card's still viable for the next 3 months. For anyone with a lesser ATI card, especially an X1950, I recommend going 4870 Pro by early June.

 

[yipsl]

And what if it sucks like the 3xxx series...all you ppl talk about how great is HAS to be.

Reminder..2xxx hyped...really sucked !

3xxx super hyped....sucked worse !

That's a troll message if there ever was one. The 3xxx series is quite good. Nvidia doesn't beat it by much with their fastest cards and doesn't beat it in every game with their lesser priced cards. The 9600 is basically equivalent to the 3870, and Nvidia had to rush out a lousy dual PCB monster to beat the well designed 3870x2.

Both ATI and Nvidia make good cards at all price points and they leapfrog in performance. The only problems with the 2xxx series was the overheating and high midrange performance of the X2900XT (= to an 8800gts 320 only). Both ATI and Nvidia had mainstream gaming cards in that generation: the X2600 and 8600 were designed for video, not gaming, and Nvidia had lousy DX10 drivers.

So, you got a response, be happy about it. The big thing with trolling is that when there's data to back up a response, then it helps to respond so that those who haven't studied the issue aren't misled by fanboyism.

Fact: Nvidia and ATI both make good cards. They leapfrog in most generations and even when one "wins" by sheer benchmarks, the other still wins in some games, at some price points and with overall image quality and video playback features.

 

[royalcrown]

I like ATI actually, just their last 2 cards have benn so-so honestly..I mean come on, whether ot not I like ATI has no bearing in the fact that they have been getting stomped. Same goes for AMD againt Intel.

The difference is that with AMD, their stuff is a lot cheaper in the midrange than a comparable core 2 duo. My X2 5400 plus does a great job, and for 88 bucks, intel had NOTHING in that price range that could touch it.

With ATI the problem is that everything they have at a certain price, Nvidia has a card that flat out spanks it. I realize that the 3870 wins in a few benches and depending on AA settings and all that, but MOSTof the time Nvidi just matches them or flat out crushes them on the higher res and settings at the same price. Take the 8800gs, gt, and gts for example. My gts cost 220 BEFORE rebate to be fair and nothing ATI has will touch it.

Also I coulda got a gt single slot for 147 that easily matches and beats in most games the 3870. Where is ATI's performance ? I just have a feeling that the 4000 series is not gonna be this great leap over Nvidia that everyone thinks it will be; over itself sure over the current gts, gtx ...nope.

Guess I'll have to wait and see, I actually hope it is awesome, I like ATI too..and it'll just make good cards from both camps cheaper.

 

[royalcrown]

It all depends on your budget. If you can wait a few weeks, a 4870 Pro will arrive at the end of May with GDDR3, but a GDDR5 won't arrive till July (reported shortage of GDDR5 memory modules just gearing up for production).

The 4870 Pro (I assume that will be it's name) will still be around 40-50% faster than the 3870. Nordic Hardware reported 50% for the GDDR5 version last February from AMD sources in Europe, so it's reasonable the GDDR3 will be just below that. That places the first 4xxx part to arrive in the same range as my 3870x2, but without the need for Crossfire support.

I sure hope this isn't another "Barcelona will be up to 40 percent faster" source this time and that the 4000 series does rock..either way it's good cause Nvidia is gettn lazy with their fake 9 series.

 

[doomturkey]

It all depends on your budget. If you can wait a few weeks, a 4870 Pro will arrive at the end of May with GDDR3, but a GDDR5 won't arrive till July (reported shortage of GDDR5 memory modules just gearing up for production).

The 4870 Pro (I assume that will be it's name) will still be around 40-50% faster than the 3870. Nordic Hardware reported 50% for the GDDR5 version last February from AMD sources in Europe, so it's reasonable the GDDR3 will be just below that. That places the first 4xxx part to arrive in the same range as my 3870x2, but without the need for Crossfire support.

So, it's up to you based on patience and budget. We can always wait for the next thing but have to weigh cost and waiting time. It's close enough to the GDDR3 version of the 4870 that it's worth waiting. The GDDR5 version is a bit farther away.

For anyone with a 3850 or 3870, I advise waiting for the GDDR5 version, as their card's still viable for the next 3 months. For anyone with a lesser ATI card, especially an X1950, I recommend going 4870 Pro by early June.

I should probably upgrade my X800pro then 0_o...
AGP ftl.
Hell I've waited many years to upgrade, I might as well wait longer for the GDDR5.

 

[royalcrown]

That's a troll message if there ever was one. The 3xxx series is quite good. Nvidia doesn't beat it by much with their fastest cards and doesn't beat it in every game with their lesser priced cards. The 9600 is basically equivalent to the 3870, and Nvidia had to rush out a lousy dual PCB monster to beat the well designed 3870x2.

Both ATI and Nvidia make good cards at all price points and they leapfrog in performance. The only problems with the 2xxx series was the overheating and high midrange performance of the X2900XT (= to an 8800gts 320 only). Both ATI and Nvidia had mainstream gaming cards in that generation: the X2600 and 8600 were designed for video, not gaming, and Nvidia had lousy DX10 drivers.

So, you got a response, be happy about it. The big thing with trolling is that when there's data to back up a response, then it helps to respond so that those who haven't studied the issue aren't misled by fanboyism.

Fact: Nvidia and ATI both make good cards. They leapfrog in most generations and even when one "wins" by sheer benchmarks, the other still wins in some games, at some price points and with overall image quality and video playback features.

Oh really, please back up exactly what "price point" ATI is winning at now...and speaking of rush jobs..ATI had to have a 3870 xr just to compete with a SINGLE Nvidia card at the moment; it has nothing to do with fanboyism, it's just how it is right now, if the 4000 series kills Nvidia for awhile, it's fine by me because they have their stuff that sucks too...like the whole 9 series (a tweaked 8 series that is overpriced at the top end )

 

[yipsl]

I don't see Nvidia bashing ATI. I see them as neck and neck.

Note that some of the early 9600 benchies that had the 9600 in SLI beating the 3870x2 were on boards that boosted the PCIe bus, that were later found to be as dodgy as the Crysis demo fudging of water image quality to get a few more fps prior to that game's release.

Right now, both companies are fudging Futuremark's Vantage with driver optimizations that just don't look right when the benchmarks are returned. I wish they'd both stop that sort of behavior and just get drivers that worked fantastically in every game for Crossfire or SLI and at all resolutions and with both operating systems and DX editions.

Right now, I don't get the performance I want in LOTR Online because it seems Crossfire's not working. Guess what? People have told me the game doesn't like SLI either (so much for TWIMTBP). If the 4870 is 50% better than the 3870, then that's great.

Nvidia will wait for ATI's card to be released and then release something that's 2% faster and will put out a few dodgy drivers for benchmarks, then fix the image quality with other drivers once the benchmarks are out in the wild of game review sites.

When all is said and done, I prefer ATI image quality and AVIVO video playback to Nvidia 'wins by a few extra fps in a FPS' but charges for Pure Cinema's less than stellar quality. I play games on my PC's but I also do video and graphics work, which is why I've always liked ATI more than Nvidia.

In my experience, Nvidia wins in FPS, ATI ties in CRPGS and RTS, and ATI wins by a wider margin when it comes to video playback. Both ATI and Nvidia's IGP's, on the other hand, are generally comparable and both beat Intel's IGP's by a longshot.

 

[royalcrown]

Well,Inever disagreed with you on whether or not ATI was good, they're good but not at games right now as compered with Nvidia, and I also agree that AVIVO is better and Nvidia's charging for purevideo is bs, also that ATI has always had the upper hand on precision and color rendering. I just hope this 4000 series is as good as they hype says, but I have a feeling it won't be, that it will just beat ortie a gts.

 

[yipsl]

Oh really, please back up exactly what "price point" ATI is winning at now...and speaking of rush jobs..ATI had to have a 3870 xr just to compete with a SINGLE Nvidia card at the moment; it has nothing to do with fanboyism, it's just how it is right now, if the 4000 series kills Nvidia for awhile, it's fine by me because they have their stuff that sucks too...like the whole 9 series (a tweaked 8 series that is overpriced at the top end )

The 3870x2 is not a rush job. The 9800gx2 was. The 3870x2 is an evolution towards a dual core GPU. It's a radically new design that works very well. The 9800gx2 might win right now, but the 4870x2 will also be a single PCB design.

When will Huang get it? When will you get it? Either company can tweak their drivers to win a benchmark by a few fps. Overall, those benchmarks don't relate to real world performance because people don't always have the high end CPU's the benchmarking sites use.

In most games, they're neck and neck. Nvidia wins in some, ATI wins in others. Prices are also very similar. IMHO, ATI wins with the 3870 over the 9600gt right now on price, image quality, video playback and some games.

I could be wrong on this, because I haven't checked it out, but Crossfire still scales better than SLI, so two 3870's or a 3870x2 scales better than two 9600gts that aren't on a boosted PCIe bus on particular Nvidia boards.

Why don't you tell me, in something other than hyperbole, how ATI loses to Nvidia right now? At what price points and with what cards? We know the 8800gt is a great deal and the newer 8800gts 512 is even better, but those are two cards out of a whole lineup, and I pity anyone who wasted money on the 9800gx2 because Nvidia's not behind dual GPU cards and will probably be slow to move to dual core GPU's in the future.

Right now, Nvidia suffers from the same loss of vision that AMD's CPU division is experiencing. They better get in gear, because if Intel does a half decent job with discrete GPU's and continues to use Crossfire as their board's standards, then Nvidia will be in trouble.

If AMD failed, then ATI would go independent again because they're the one part of the company that innovates in chipset IGP's and in discrete GPU's. Nvidia's been too complacent for too long, else we would not have rants from Nvidia's CEO that come across as rather nervous and even silly.

 

[royalcrown]

Personally, I'd love for ATI to get back in the game and AMD because I think AMD makes awesome chipsets. I love my 780g and I'd love it if crossfire would be worth it. Still waiting for AMD to up their game too because I love my gts, but I don't like their chipsets and I'd rather stay AMD for boards, and if ATI was tied at the same price, I'd switch back too.

Catalyst does suck tho but so does Nview...

 

[yipsl]

You mean you want Nvidia to up their game because you love your gts? IMHO, some Nvidia fans haven't forgiven AMD for buying ATI. Rumors were that AMD wanted to merge with Nvdia, but Huang wanted to be in charge of the new company but Ruiz wouldn't go for it.

What I miss are my All in Wonder cards. I stayed with AGP too long so I never got an AIW X1900. Back in the AIW 8500 and AIW 9800 Pro days, the video cards were as good as ATI's gaming cards. Now, you need a TV Wonder on PCIe x1 or PCI, which isn't as good as a single card solution.

How I'd love to have an All in Wonder 4870!.

 

[lameness]

How i see it is the 4870 will be the fastest single core gpu available at time of launch. I reckon about the same as the 9800gx2.


9900 will then be launched and be even quicker.

You can argue all you want but that is the most likely situation.