Graphics card choice.

[bobcram]

Hi everyone
I'm building a gaming system, using a 22 inch monitor 1680 x 1050. It should last me a year and a half or so before upgrades. (E8500 CPU, Antec BP550 PSU, COOLER MASTER HAF 932- Full Tower Case, Intel BOXDP45SG P45 DDR3 Motherboard, G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 SDRAM) No SLI or CF, No system overclocking

It's my understanding this EVGA 896-P3-1267-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail will have a significant advantage over any HD 4870. Is that correct?

Thanks for your help

 

[rawsteel]

You must be kidding me

Get the 4870 and don't listen to any nVidia fanboys.

4870 is faster in 99% of the cases than GTX260 216 and even in the few cases its not the diff is negligible.

However you get DDR5, DX 10.1, and a potential as with every new or newer game I think ATI have advantage.

Dont even mentioning the picture IQ on ATI.

(If you are somehow bothered by the 512 MB ram on the 4870 I will tell you that on 1680x1050 it doesnt matter at all)

And if you want the best of the best you can get 4870 1GB superclocked also

 

[rawsteel]

if you are mentioning
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130400

then its totaly not worth it. You get about 10% perf for about $70 more bucks.

For the same mone better get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131120

or if you ask me get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103064

for 269 you cant go wrong, you even have MIR

 

[bobcram]

Yeah that's the right card, but my info mainly came from this page:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/compare,794.html?prod%5B2114%5D=on∏%5B2062%5D=on

 

[rawsteel]

I dont rely on Toms tests from a long time . Take a look at this - http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3437&p=1

They test the new 4830 but in the tests there are 260 GTX (both vers) and 4870 and the tests are made using mostly 1680x1050 4xAA, the one you will be playing at.

4870 is almost equal to the GTX 260 (216 core) in some of the games and in the rest it beats it with a big margin

 

[bobcram]

Your convincing me, so what do you think of this. It's new but it caught my eye as I was researching!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

 

[eklipz330]

instead of that 1gb, which will have absolutely no benefit at your resolution, how bout this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102796

the sapphire vct chambers are known for their excellent cooling potential.... good overclocker =]

 

[bobcram]

Thanks eklipz330, I take it you agree with rawsteel - ati over the nvidia

 

[aevm]

Good choice, that Sapphire HD 4870 1GB.

I would dump that Intel MB and the expensive DDR3 and get a P5Q Pro (or GA-EP45-DS3R) and some Mushkin 2x2GB DDR2-800. That will save you a lot of money.

Dump the BP550 ($81.42 after rebate and shipping) and get the 650TX instead ($79.99). It's $1.43 less, top quality, and it can actually support two of those video cards if you change your mind about Crossfire or want to sell the PC to a gamer later. Or get the 750TX for $100 from newegg.

 

[xxcoop42xx]

bobcram, the Core 216 and the 4870 are very close to each other in benchmarks. but what i did (i actually did this) is bought the GTX260 Core 216 stock card for $280 and just overclocked to match the superclocked core 216. that is the first way to save money. i never buy factory overclocked cards because if a "factory" can get the card to run fine at those clock speeds, so can i. but the Core 216 is faster than the 4870 in most games/resolutions. now that said, i do have to say when you use AA the 4870 will slightly pull ahead of the Core 216 so its really up to you. AMD cards always win with AA turned on, always. but the difference between the Core 216 and the 4870 is small but the Core 216 comes out on top. so look for some deals on the 4870 and Core 216. then search for benchmarks for those cards and dont refer to toms charts, again i say dont use toms charts. i chose the Core 216 over the 4870 and i dont regret it. one last thing, if you decide for the Core 216 get EVGA, for 2 reasons one is the step-up program and two is they give lifetime warranties. good luck.