Thinking of a 4870 over a 4850...

[kenratboy]

...have a 19" LCD now (1280x1024) and obviously either card will work fine. However, I will probably get a 24" in the next 6 months.

Biggest issue is noise. I don't care if its a manual or automatic utility, but I really want the card to be quiet at the desktop/doing 2D, and I don't care if its loud during games or 3D apps. Is the 4870 going to produce less noise in 2D use than the 4850?

I want the card, but am a little nervous about the noise.

Thanks!

 

[doomturkey]

Noise is a non issue, especially for a double slotted card. I have a 4870 and its dead silent when you don't mess with the fan speed. I took it up to 45% and its now the loudest thing in my computer. If you let the fan be on auto, it stays at 20% or so, very quiet.

 

[kenratboy]

When you say auto, is this the card itself controlling the speed, or drivers?

My friend got an ATI 4850 and I played with the bundled utility with a 'smart' setting and it seemed to work well.

I like the idea of the fan being at ~20% in Windows (Word, Excel, /b/ (j/k), etc.) and as high as it wants during games.

Thanks!