4870 512MB to 4870 1GB or another card?

[stormvice]

I´m with a Sapphire 4870 with 512MB. I have a buyer for it, but its worth to sell it and buy a 4870 with 1Gb or get a GTX260 c216 ou even a 4850x2 ?

I´m upgrading my machine, but currently i got a C2D E6300@3.2Ghz, Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 and 4GB ram
Don´t have much to spend and i don´t even dream with a dual GPU mobo anymore.


Thx

 

[jitpublisher]

The difference in speed between the 2 is dependant on the resolutions you run at. If you are running at higher resolutions, in certain games, the 1 gig card can improve your FPS buy a few percent. But it is not a big difference and I doubt most people would ever know the difference in the 2 cards.
I would definetly be for stepping on up.
I would go with nothing less than a 4870x2 if I was looking for an upgrade from a 4870. Anything less would not be much of an upgrade....lot of trouble and money for little return.

 

[trinix]

A better question is, do you need it?

Is there a game where you would want more eye candy or more fps. I'm not talking about going from 100 to 115 to show you've got a good system. But from unplayable to playable.

As Jit said, the difference is small. Unless you get a very good price for the card that you almost don't have to pay anything for the upgrade, I wouldn't consider it at all. If you have to pay 50 or more, I wouldn't consider it. The 5k's and 300's are around the corner. Better to wait for them and hope for even better performance from those.

 

[stormvice]

I got a little worried when i saw GTA IV restricting options because the video card has 512MB...that´s why i´m asking.
I know the game still buggy, but i´d really love to known if a 1GB card will perform much better.


I´m running with a 20" 1680x1050 LCD monitor and will probably stick with it for some time. I think the 4870x2 would be a little overkill...and will demand much more gear.

 

[Zenthar]

No point in upgrading for higher memory, the 1GB is really useful at high resolutions when AA/AF are enabled, but that point is also where the 4870 starts to be challenged. IMO the 1GB version is mostly useful for people who want to XFire them.

I even doubt the GTX260 would be worth it. It might give you a little performance boost, but certainly nor worth the money.

If you don't have much to spend, just keep your money for a more meaningful upgrade.

 

[Zenthar]

I got a little worried when i saw GTA IV restricting options because the video card has 512MB...that´s why i´m asking.

If they restrict the options, they might have a good reason . If you were to get a better video card, your CPU would probably start bottlenecking anyway. I'd like to remind you that a triple core system is recommended for GTA IV and I think many people reported dual-core systems being pretty taxed by that game (2 cores close to 100%).

 

[aevm]

The HD 4870 512MB is quite competitive with the GTX 260, it will even beat it in some games. It's also just a few fps behind HD 4870 1GB. Don't bother upgrading to any of those.

If GTA4 is your favorite game, upgrade the CPU to Q6600. You need BIOS version F12 or later for your current MB to accept it.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2314

 

[stormvice]

The HD 4870 512MB is quite competitive with the GTX 260, it will even beat it in some games. It's also just a few fps behind HD 4870 1GB. Don't bother upgrading to any of those.


If GTA4 is your favorite game, upgrade the CPU to Q6600. You need BIOS version F12 or later for your current MB to accept it.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support [...] uctID=2314

Actually I play a lot. GTAIV is just the current heat

My bios is updated, but the board is version 1.0. It doesn´t support last gen C2D ou C2Q CPUs.

I just don´t really know if worths to get the Q6600 and cannot go any further or sell my bundle and invest on a P45 board and a new CPU...maybe a E7300 or E8400.

 

[aevm]

According to that list I linked, revision 1.0 of your board will support the Q6600. It won't support E8400, by the way.

GTA4 works better on quads than on higher-clocked duals, apparently. (TBH I don't have that game so I can't check for myself.) This is a rare thing, actually, because AFAIK only FSX does the same. If you're going to play other games than these two then a P45/E8400 would be better indeed.

 

[Zenthar]

Since the OP already have a CPU running @ 3.2GHz, the E8400, unless OCed by a good margin, won't be worth the upgrade cost. Either switch only the CPU to a Q6600 and OC to the max, or change the MB and get one of the top C2Q (Q9450 or Q9550). Both options should give you at least your current level of performance for things that aren't multi-core optimized, give you a great boost for the ones that do.

 

[stormvice]

Thanks a lot for the advices. I think I will go for the Q6600 and OC it and stick with mine 4870.
It´s a good solution for my short budget until the AM3 platform or the 32nm core i7 releases.

 

[wh3resmycar]

Actually I play a lot. GTAIV is just the current heat

My bios is updated, but the board is version 1.0. It doesn´t support last gen C2D ou C2Q CPUs.

I just don´t really know if worths to get the Q6600 and cannot go any further or sell my bundle and invest on a P45 board and a new CPU...maybe a E7300 or E8400.

get the 1gb version. im saying this because you're playing gtaiv, if you didnt mention that, i'll probably slap you to wake you up . .

Liberty City looks different @ 1gb. i had the same scenario as you but my 512mb card was semidefective and theres an upgrade accomodation, so for the sake of Niko Bellic, i took the 1gb card (mine was 4850 only btw, argh imagine if it was a 4870!).

 

[nerdnic]

GTA4 will perform the same with a 9600gt as it will with a gtx280. Even though you can 'turn' the graphics settings up higher with the gtx280 due to having more video memory, the game itself will not perform any better, unless you have a quad core.
Check this:
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,669595/Reviews/GTA_4_PC_CPU_benchmark_review_with_13_processors/?page=2

I have a 4870 1gb and an E6600 @ 2.8GHz and I run GTA4 at 1680x1050 on medium with all the sliders on 1 and I only get 25-30 fps. If I had a Q6600 my fps would jump 33% instantly. So my advice to you would be forget the 1gb 4870, it will not help you in GTA4. Get a quad core.

 

[nerdnic]

Oh, and I went from a 8800gts 512 to the 4870 1GB and I could not increase the graphics settings on GTA4. All my other games FC2, CoD:WaW, Crysis, benefited from the 4870, but not GTA4.

 

[KyleSTL]

Getting 4 cores is far more important for GTA4 than upgrading from 512MB to 1GB vRam. Get the Q6600 first, and if funds are still left over, take the plunge for the 4870 1GB

 

[Zenthar]

If you are to switch to a 1GB version, wait at least for a better card, 4870 512MB to 4870 1GB, unless the switch end-up costing like 20$, it won't be worth it. Moreover, if you discover that enabling the 1GB features make your FPS drop to an unplayable level it will have been a completely worthless upgrade.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

I wish I could find them but there are some benchmards out there showing the 4870 1GB with noticeable real world game play benefits over the 512mb version.

I don't think the difference between the two is more then 50 bucks so I would get the 1GB verision. I personally don't like the X2 or crossfire/sli setups as they suck way to much power for the benefits they offer.

 

[nerdnic]

The 1gb will often have a higher min fps compared to the 512 little brother as noted here:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTYxMCw2LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

5fps. I don't know how much of a difference that would make, but it is possible that the overall experience would be more consistent, but not by much.

 

[stormvice]

Now I´m sure i don´t wanna do this change unless it costs me nothing

I bought mine 4870 512 on ebay. I´m trying to sell it using the market price in my country...around $400 for a new one. If i can sell it at least for $350, I can buy the 4870 1GB from ebay...it´ll cost me around $300...i´ll do the change and still save some money to get the Q6600...let´s see what i can do.

Thanks a lot for every advice.