4850 or 4870

[renapd]

I was just wondering if there would be much of a difference between a 4850 and 4870 at 1680x1050 resolution. I'm trying to figure out if the price difference is worth it.

 

[gamerk316]

at 1680x1050, probably not. Above that though, the extra RAM on the 4870 helps a ton.

Also, the 4870 should do better with AA on, so theres another thing to consider.

 

[homerdog]

In my opinion the 4870 is worth the extra $100. Not only is it a fair bit faster, it has a nice dual slot cooler to vent the copious amount of heat produced by the little RV770 out of the case.

 

[homerdog]

at 1680x1050, probably not. Above that though, the extra RAM on the 4870 helps a ton.

What extra RAM???

 

[Nik_I]

What extra RAM???

i think he means the GDDR5 memory, which can transfer twice as much data per cycle compared to GDDR3.

 

[renapd]

thanks, i was leaning towards the 4870. I just needed that extra nudge.

 

[homerdog]

Good choice.

 

[blackened144]

I was just wondering if there would be much of a difference between a 4850 and 4870 at 1680x1050 resolution. I'm trying to figure out if the price difference is worth it.

The 4870 will allow you to increase the IQ with less of a performence hit. If you can afford it, get it.

 

[gamerk316]

i think he means the GDDR5 memory, which can transfer twice as much data per cycle compared to GDDR3.

Yeah, i meant faster as opposed to more...sry bout that. Same point though, the better/more RAM you have, the better off you are at higher resolutions/AA settings.

 

[concrum]

at 1680x1050 resolution 2x 8800GT SLI OVERCLOCKED should be more than enough. you could get 2x 8800GT for 1 4850.

8800GT super OC is close and even faster than 4850 in some games.

 

[cjl]

at 1680x1050 resolution 2x 8800GT SLI OVERCLOCKED should be more than enough. you could get 2x 8800GT for 1 4850.

8800GT super OC is close and even faster than 4850 in some games.

No 8800GT, no matter how overclocked, will match a 4850. Dream on.

 

[3Ball]

Definitely the 4870. Make sure to set your fan custom in the overdrive profiles. For reference I set mine to 32% because that seems to be the lowest noise level that still has very effective cooling. I was going to change from the stock cooler after all the reports I had read about how bad it was, but after a weekend of playing with the card and finding the settings that I wanted. I think I will just keep it. Good luck on your endeavor.

Best,

3Ball

 

[jaguarskx]

Just make sure you have a good enough PSU; 500w to play it safe since no one knows your PC setup.

 

[alfrido]

but which video card is good in the long run?

i have a 22" monitor.

And my choices are 4870 and the gtx 260
whats the best choice in the long run?
thats the only thing thats holding me back from getting a video card and plus the price.

When the 4870x2 is going to release will the rest of the cards get cheaper?

 

[3Ball]

but which video card is good in the long run?

i have a 22" monitor.

And my choices are 4870 and the gtx 260
whats the best choice in the long run?
thats the only thing thats holding me back from getting a video card and plus the price.

When the 4870x2 is going to release will the rest of the cards get cheaper?

I wouldnt expect the prices to drop to much when the x2 releases (if at all), so I wouldnt base much on that. The 4870 would be better in the long run as on average it is marginally faster than the 260 and supports DX10.1 and shader model 4.1. Hope this helps!

Best,

3Ball

 

[concrum]

I would stay away from 4800 series for now, most users got problem with the cards, many shows artifacts problem ( seems like heat problem) if you like ATI i suggest to wait for ATI to solve this problem.

i hope ATI would downclocked their 4800 to much lower speed so people wont have heats problem. better cooler isn an option but it would skyrocket the price.

so i would rathe rATI to downclocked their 4800 serie

 

[Nik_I]

I would stay away from 4800 series for now, most users got problem with the cards, many shows artifacts problem ( seems like heat problem) if you like ATI i suggest to wait for ATI to solve this problem.

i hope ATI would downclocked their 4800 to much lower speed so people wont have heats problem. better cooler isn an option but it would skyrocket the price.

so i would rathe rATI to downclocked their 4800 serie

problems with the 4800 series?!?! i've heard no such thing. i have a 4850 and it runs beautifully. also, the heat is only because the fan is set to run at 20% speed when idle and the card only underclocks itself to 500Mhz.

 

[smartel7070]

I think concrum is an Nvidia employee going in forums to spread lies about the 4800 series and try and get people to buy Nvidia cards. Either that or he is the ultimate nvidia fanboy !!!

 

[sailer]

I would stay away from 4800 series for now, most users got problem with the cards, many shows artifacts problem ( seems like heat problem) if you like ATI i suggest to wait for ATI to solve this problem.

What artifact problem?? Haven't had any problems with my 4870 in the weeks I've had it, and I've been loading it down pretty heavy.

I did choose the 4870 over the 4850 both for the fact of GDRR5 instead of GDRR3 ram and that it had a better fan than a 4850. I'm not a bit sorry for the decision. There was one minor driver problem, but ATI had a fix at its site the day I installed the card, so there was no wait involved, except for downloading the new driver. That was a lot better than the Nvidia 8800 GTS I have in a different computer. Nvidia first denied there was a problem, and then took a long time to fix it.

 

[ainarssems]

I have 4870 overclocked to 790 core and 4400 memory runs without any probs, probably it can get higher but it is max ccc allows to set me, waiting for new rivatuner, i am sure it will do even better. no probs sio far, very happ. definatly get 4870 if you have extra cash

 

[omicron_15]

I have a 4870 and am using a 1650x1050 display, I personally bought the 4870 because it was way cheaper then the 260 at the time but now with them the same price I still think the 4870 is a better deal. I belive the 4870 will perform better with future games do to its architecture, or atleast thats what I get from reading reviews, the 260 beats the 4870 mainly on older games.

There is no need to underclock the card just set the fan setting higher, I use 35% in at idel which took my card down from 80 to 45 degres and I set the fan to 50% when I am playing games which took the card down from 85 to 50 degres.

ATI needs to adjust there driver to run the fan higher at default settings, my fan was only running at 30% under load.

 

[3Ball]

I would stay away from 4800 series for now, most users got problem with the cards, many shows artifacts problem ( seems like heat problem) if you like ATI i suggest to wait for ATI to solve this problem.

i hope ATI would downclocked their 4800 to much lower speed so people wont have heats problem. better cooler isn an option but it would skyrocket the price.

so i would rathe rATI to downclocked their 4800 serie

There is a very simple fix to this, which is in the forum linked below. Stop spreading this crap about the 4800 series. It is just not true. There is absolutley no problem with the cards. I have never been more pleased.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=296594&highlight=4850+fan+fix

I actually prefer this method of setting the fans speed to a constant all the time rpm instead of the highering and lowering that a driver update will most likely do. Either way...problem solved, which wasnt even the huge problem that you seem to make it out to be.

Best,

3Ball

 

[concrum]

There is a very simple fix to this, which is in the forum linked below. Stop spreading this crap about the 4800 series. It is just not true. There is absolutley no problem with the cards. I have never been more pleased.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=296594&highlight=4850+fan+fix

I actually prefer this method of setting the fans speed to a constant all the time rpm instead of the highering and lowering that a driver update will most likely do. Either way...problem solved, which wasnt even the huge problem that you seem to make it out to be.

Best,

3Ball

maybe geeks like us know how to do this, but average joe that bought complete PC from the store dont know a jack about it. and they just get frustated when their system cooler run like crazy even though they they a brand new PC.

so on the save side, ATI should just underclock their 4800 series

 

[iceblast_01]

whats with the underclocking u want? it can even go higher clocks if u want to,
its just the fan settings, ATI just wanted to minimize the noise level, adjusting the fan setting would fix the problem. and the card can handle the heat so if they can't follow simple instructions how to change the settings its ok.

 

[3Ball]

maybe geeks like us know how to do this, but average joe that bought complete PC from the store dont know a jack about it. and they just get frustated when their system cooler run like crazy even though they they a brand new PC.

so on the save side, ATI should just underclock their 4800 series

How many average joes buy a 4870? Lets be honest here, if they do buy one it is most likely out of recommendation from someone who knows more about the situation and can solve their problem. This issue will be fixed in the coming driver releases, so even the fix will not need to be done for much longer. Even though I will still do it because of my preference.

Best,

3Ball