4870 brands......or a gtx 260?

[bluzman32]

I'm leaning towards getting a single 4870 1gb card. I'm relatively unsure of which card to go with. Here are my 2 top choices, but feel free to suggest another ones.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801 Sapphire $189 (free shipping)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127400 MSI $199 (including rainbow6 and a $25 rebate)

I like the 2 coolers, Sapphire seems to have a ton more reviews, but MSI just has a really nice deal. Which ones would you guys get and why?
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The reason I'm choosing a 4870 over a gtx260 is that I have a crossfire board (asus p5q pro). I think I want to leave that option open, but I'm not sure I would really take advantage of that b/c of my resolution that I'm running on would be 1680*1050 on a 22' monitor. Would crossfiring ever really be advantageous at this resolution?

I think I read somewhere that nvidia is more optimized with the games that I play: Crysis, COD4/5, GTA4. Is this true? At my resolution, should I just stick to one video card?

Specs:
e8400 @ 3.6
6gb ddr2
vista 64
asus p5q pro

 

[fullmetall]

GTX 260 and the 4870 1gb are equal in basically every resolution, they are a tangle.

at higher resolutions 4870 does seem to over take the 260 but, both do it by 1-2% or not even.

since its a crossfire board, Sapphire 1gb 4870 is the way to go IF you have the money, look at the sapphire "Toxic" 4870 but, the regular version is fine.

 

[bluzman32]

Thank you for your comment. Would crossfire ever be useful at 1680*1050. Would I ever be able to even utilize crossfire?

 

[jaguarskx]

Of the three games you list, only GTA IV shows a significant difference between the two cards; +10FPS. Otherwise they are even; click following link for benchmarks:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/evga-geforce-gtx260-216-55nm.html

 

[jaguarskx]

Thank you for your comment. Would crossfire ever be useful at 1680*1050. Would I ever be able to even utilize crossfire?

I depends on the game. Also based on benchmarks, a few games could see no increase or there is actually a small decrease in performance. See following link:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd4870-crossfire.html