Which 4870?

[mi1ez]

I've just upgraded (finally) my monitor and it's time for the graphics card to follow as I've had to wind down the graphics settings to deal with the extra pixels!

I've decided to go with a 4870 and I'm now in a bit of a pickle between 2 in particular.

There is a £1 difference between either a 1GB veriosn, or a pre-OCd version (50MHz) with better cooling.

http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=860598 -1GB
http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=860600 -Pre-OCd

I was just after some advice as to which one would be better suited to my 1680x150 display. I mainly play FPS- HL2, TF2, bioshock, et al.

Current setup:

P5K-e
Q6600 @3.2GHz
3850 (OCd by about 100MHz/150MHz GRAM)
2GB RAM @ about 1020 or so. (upgrading to 4 at the same time)

Currently thinking more of the cooling setup and higher clocks...

Cheers for your help guys.

 

[spuddyt]

for the games you listed, I think both will run at max everything very smoothly.... and can't you just OC the non oc'd one yourself? its so easy my dog could do it

 

[3Ball]

I personally would go with the one that has the aftermarket cooler and stock OC. The extra memory does not do a whole lot until you get to much higher resolutions. There were a few reviews when the 1gb card released showing that it wasnt worth the wait, so I would assume that has no changed. Just my two cents.

Best,

3Ball

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Go for the 1 gig, if priced the same. Itll eventually come into play, whether you want to use mods, or, as sometimes games can use that extra ram. You can oc a card, but you cant add ram. As far as coolers go, the current one isnt that bad at stock, and Ive heard the PP issue will be solved later this year

 

[homerdog]

The 1GB version definitely.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3415
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ati-radeon-hd-4870-1024mb-review/

Like spuddyt said, you can very easily OC yourself.

 

[grieve]

Go for the 1 gig, if priced the same. Itll eventually come into play, whether you want to use mods, or, as sometimes games can use that extra ram. You can oc a card, but you cant add ram.

I agree %100

 

[yonef]

It depends of the resolution you want to use: if you are about to play at 1920x1200 and above then go for the 1GB, else I suggest you to go for powercolor because it has better cooler with properly working fan speed control and can be easyly clocked to 850/1100 (I have that one). homerdog provided some benches on 1Gig version but there are benchmarks only on high resolutions, if you search the net you'll find that on 1680x1050 and bellow there are no difference between 512Mb and 1GB.
P.S. if you buy form here you can save couple of pounds: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148947

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Anyone have benches on GRID with a 1gig @ 16x10? Thatd tell alot, as for there being good usage for a 1 gig at 16x10

 

[homerdog]

I still think if they're priced evenly the 1GB card is by far the best choice. If the stock cooler isn't good enough you can always replace it, but you can never add another 512MB of GDDR5.

And the extra VRAM doesn't only help at super high resolutions:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3415&p=3

The difference in 40 and 35FPS in Crysis is very noticeable in my experience, and I'd be willing to bet the low score of the 512MB 4870 is caused by really low minimums when the VRAM runs out (very bad).

Having excess VRAM is a good way to ensure a smooth, stutter free playing experience. As any good PC enthusiast should know, average FPS don't tell the whole story

 

[homerdog]

Anyone have benches on GRID with a 1gig @ 16x10? Thatd tell alot, as for there being good usage for a 1 gig at 16x10

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3415&p=7

No real difference at the settings they tested. I want to see what happens with 8xAA

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

or Crysis? heheh I agree, and its becoming obvious that future games are using more ram. Add in any mods, plus same costs, like Annand said, its the one to get

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Exactly, tho some people would argue that all that eye candy isnt important, but this isnt an nVidia thread heheh, and I love eye candy. Sorry nV fans, its my preference