Upgrading from ati 3870 to nvidia 260/280

Hi Guys

I purchased a gecube 3870 X-Turbo III a while ago and to be honest it wasnt all that. It really struggles to play most games with AA turned on and i get unstable frame rates with crysis (lucky to get 30 frames) and thats with AA turned off. I was thinking time for an upgrade! .

Would a GTX260 or GTX280 be a big leap from the 3870?
Here are the cards I had in mind:

260:
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/85947/ [...] 0-9368.asp
280:
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/85946/ [...] 0-9351.asp
(Prices are expensive here in australia)

My specs are:
Intel E8500
Thermal right 14 heatsink
Abit IX38 QuadGT
4gb Corsair dominator series 4-4-4-12
150gb 10000rpm Raptor
Neo power 650

I play at my LCD native resolution 1440*900 at 60hz Vsync. So yeah i'm all ears. Thanks.

Why is it a bad choice?

The 4870x2 is going to spank the GTX280 - Nvidia have a huge problem on there hands

Your a legend thats what I will do get 2 4850 setup in crossfire mode. Cheers

Don't jump the Bandwagon so soon !! The GTXs arent that good for now. Wait till Ati launches thei 4xxx series and then choose.

I, personally, don't think the GTX200 series will be worth anything until the die shrink arrives. IMHO, they're Nvidia's version of the Phenom @ 65nm. They don't provide enough of a boost over the last generation and are horribly overpriced.

The 4850 and 4870 look good, as does the upcoming 4870x2. I'd wait if you can and see how things pan out, but if you must buy now, go ATI and not Nvidia; unless you just get a 9800gtx+ as a stopgap.

4870 easily over a GX2, Close to the same performance and it's one card and not 2 cards. It also consumes less power and costs less. Do i need to make any more points. Same with the GTX 260 and 280. Let's all sit back and use some common sense. If something costs more and delivers less would you buy it over something that costs less and delivers more? Sorry to those that can't utilize the built in common sense feature..............Make the logical choice.

Ahem... Problem is, the GX2 can at times spank the HD4870 and they consume about the same power.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=13
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=22


Plus, it technically takes up one PCI-e slot, and is still one card despite it's dual PCB/dual GPU sandwich design. But I agree for the current prices the HD4870 is very nice and the one I'd buy of the two.

BTW, SLI 8800GT is as cheap or cheaper AR than a 4870, more often than not faster, while consuming no more power. SLI mobo owners have this as a better option IMO. (depending on local price)

And HD4850 Crossfire (edit: oops) is looking promising at current prices too. I'd take two of those over one 4870 or GTX260.

Ok, where do i begin with this one, the 280 blows the doors off of most cards out there,(That includes your janky 4870 ati card ) !! Now lets talk about what is going on right now!!! the 285 and the 295 are the best cards you can get right now hands down!! Ya thats right nvidia is Killing it on the race track of the Graphic WORLD!!! lets be real, if you were to walk up to a Pro gamers rig you would not open it up and see two flat janky, dul and all other manner of ATI things in his pc!! insted you would see two huge cum in your mouth 280s screeming out at you!! put that one in your pipe and smoke it!!!