Firstly, my PC spec:

Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6700 overclocked to 3GhZ
Intel Rampage Formula Motherboard (Intel X48 chipset)
2X 1GB Kingston DDR2 800 memory (2GB total)
XFX Geforce 8800GT 512MB (Extreme Alpha-Dog Edition)
Seagate 500GB SATA2 32MB cache HDD
LG DVD-RW
LG 22" LCD (1680X1050 resolution)
Logitech G15 Keyboard & G5 Mouse
Aerocool Gaming Chassis
600W Omega Mega-Power (modular) PSU
Windows XP PRO (SP2) & Windows Vista (SP1) dual boot.

I am wondering if I should purchase an ATI X4870. I currently have a Geforce 8800GT. I don't have any problems playing games at max or close to max settings using my rig (with the exception of Crysis). I want to buy another GFX card because we all know we are like children when it comes to these things i.e. mine is bigger/better than yours. Anyway.... will there be a significant performance increase over the card I currently own? I would have gone for another 8800GT in SLI as a good option but the mobo I have supports XFIRE only. Any Suggestions?

Yes, the 4870 is much more powerful than a 8800GT.
Stick with what you have now as it plays everything just fine for you.
Wait until the winter product update and see what is available then.

Even in AMD's official PR data, the 4850 beats the 8800GT by at least 10% , while most third party comparison benchmarks show it as much as 30%. Even encrouching into the 9800GTX's territory.

Since since by most benchmarks makes the 4870 exceed the GTX260's performance.... It's a no brainer that the 4870 is MUCH faster than the 8800GT.

I just want to know if its worth it to upgrade to that specific model. I always buy and sell GFX cards on a 6 months basis so that I can still get a good price for the one I am selling so that I don't have to pay in a lot of money in order to do the upgrade (trying to keep updated as much as possible before falling too far behind which means forking out a lot of cash if you don't keep up to date). Another concern I have is the temps of the ATI X4870 though!

most of the heat should be exhausted to the rear of your case though, so you should have little to worry about... if anything you can always get an aftermarket cooler

and f.y.i. they dont use the X before the name anymore, its HD
HD 4870

I am aware of the "X" and "HD". I just wasn't thinking before posting. Stupid me

When overclocked and watercooled or with the best cooling on the market 8800GT 1GB beats 4870 by large margin.

I just upgraded from a evga8800gt to a HIS4870. The 4870 IS much faster then the 8800gt. From the benchmarks I read and from what I saw in games I play I would say the 4870 is about 50 to 100% faster.

About the heat issue, there is a solution here http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=456350 it works great. I put mine at 30% and it idles @ 50.

Hope this helps and happy gaming !!

When making a statement like that ..... could you provide numbers ? Every benchmark have the 4870 way ahead of the 8800gt and every benchmark I saw with the 8800gt 1gb model show they are not faster (sometimes even slower) than the 512mb model. So what do you base your statement on ?

Thanks for the info. 50 degrees sounds a lot better than 70 to 80. Well here I venture off into the unknown land of ATI. the last ATI card I owned was an ATI RAGE FURY MAX. (I know thats like decades ago). Personally I have been a fan on nVidia, but lately I am going for the best bang for your buck. Now take it easy, deep breath and take small steps towards the red flag, looking being I see the green flag looking at me making me feel guilty. Goodbye my old friend, you served me well....

I have both 8800GT 512 and 1G models and there is absolutely no performance advantage in 1g. Have done many real world tests on same computer setup and it just ain't there!

Don't feed the Nvidia troll, people. He has ATI envy.

That is easily one of the most ridiculous statements I have read in a long time.

fanboi alert?

I envy that what provides me the best bang for my buck at the time of upgrade. If its ATI its ATI, if its nVidia its nVidia. Simple as that. But it does kinda feel odd to say I will be owning an ATI soooooooooo long after my only other ATI RAGE FURY MAX.

I must agree there. The only way a 8800GT 1GB will outperform a 8800GT 512MB is @ ultra high resolutions. The watercooled 8800GT will perform well, maybe even on par with a 4870, but not overkill it with massive margins as stated.

It all depends on if you really need to upgrade or not. The 4870 definitely blows away the 8800GT though if thats all your comparing it too. But given the price drops you can find the GTX 260 for the same price as the 4870 online, and for the resolution your gaming at, the Toms graphs show the GTX 260 and the 4870 virtually tied at 4xAA/4xAF when they average all the games frame rates together. Depending on the games you want to play, that may be the better buy for you. There's definitely nothing wrong with the 4870 though. Im personally not upgrading my 8800GT until at least the next cycle of cards are released.

The OP mentioned that he only has a Xfire board, so SLI is out of the question. But that would definitely be the best option if he had an SLI board.

As someone who has a 8800 GT and a HD 4870, I will say this even though the 8800 GT played everything fine other than that whore of FPS's Crysis at 1680x1050. Everything I run now seems smoother and more responsive with the HD 4870 with more AA and AF thrown in, other than that previously mentioned GPU whore.

As for the Trolls... Here's a cookie

How about when underclocked and the fan set to 45% the HD4870 beats a 8800GT 1GB by a large margin while running around 50' degrees on air. If not satisfied with that, when overclocked and the fan set to 65% the HD4870 whips the 8800GT so bad, it might as well be a S3 Virge reincarnated with the 3dfx Voodoo sitting across the table.

Honestly I am tired of people with "if you overclock X and then watercool X then it will beat X." Well what happens if you do the same with the item you are comparing it to? <- I have no issue with people comparing their overclocks to what performance they achieve compared to another card but don't try to sale a card based on what it overclocks to, not all cards overclock the same, it is a bonus you get.

I do know some items are notorious for good overclocking Core2Duo, Celeron 300, HD4870, and it is good to know to help sway the buyer, but biased stupidity and simplemindedness does more damage with the claims than good. BTW I heard that liquid nitrogen cooled Phenom at 5GHZ is totaling kicking the Intel Quad into the dirt. <- Example of BS

Back to the OP - Honestly 8800GT is a good card and will be fine for 98% of the games that come out rest of the year, you will see a difference if you upgrade but it will not be huge, with the next refresh coming in Q4 you might want to wait and see if the NV has a Ace in hand or if ATI pulls out the 5800's out a bit early.

I'd sell the 8800GT and grab 2 4870's... that's just me tho >,>

Good points for a noob

I couldn't agree with you more on that bonus thing. My evga 8800gt did not oc very well ..... never been able to get it past 670 core clock. And I had a Zalman vf-900 on the card ! My friend could easily get his Leadtek 8800gt to 750.