4890 vs GTX 275

[cor1346]

Hello, I have a question regarding 2 graphics cards. Right now I have a Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 and lately I have not been very happy with its performance as of late. I have had it since around May 2009, and lately it just does not seem to be performing like it used to. I have noticed a drop in FPS in the the game I mainly play, TF2, and I have noticed that the card has been running a lot hotter than it used to. CCC says it is idling around 65 degrees Celsius. And in the newest game I play, Aion, my friend who is running a computer with an 8800 GTS playing at all settings max and AA at 2x he is getting 80-100 FPS whereas with everything on max and AA off I am struggling to get 50.

I was just wondering that maybe my card has gone bad, if that even happens, and I was just wondering as to what suggestions people might have for a new one if that is the case. I was thinking of getting a GTX 275 because they are about the same, but I do not know. I would like to keep the price below $300, and I would like to see how the NVIDIA side of the market lives. I have not been happy with the 2 ATI cards I have purchased last and I think it might be time for a change.

Thanks for any replies.

My system specs are:
AMD Phenom X3 720 3.0 ghz
4 gigs of DDR2 SDRAM
750 watt corsair psu
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX (not worried about CF or SLI)
Win7 64bit

 

[redwine01]

I dont know ur resolution but if ur fps is that low comparing to 8800gts then there must be some problem. U just cant compare the 4890 to 8800gts.. 4890 is a monster to the 8800gts. and 4890 is generally compared with the gtx275. These two cards generally produce around the same framerates in most of the games. Ofcourse gtx275 sometimes get bit better framerates but those increased framerates are for nothing but only for bragging rights. U wont see the difference. The card should perform close to the gtx275 and in some games beats gtx275. and when u overclock it it beats the gtx285 also. Anyways what i think is there is a problem in ur system that is keeping ur framerates down. Update ur Catalyst and dx version. Check out the pcie power pins. Check out the clock speeds of ur cards if it is running in default. If ur internet speed is slow u may experience lagging.

 

[cor1346]

I am running at 1920x1080 in pretty much all the games I play, and I did forget to take into account that he was most likely running that game at a much lower resolution than I was.

I have updated my drivers to the newest Catalyst ones, and I am pretty much sure my dx is the newest version, my clock speeds are at default, and I am just concerned as to why it is idling so hot and why my FPS is seeming kind of choppy in TF2, and it is pretty much non-existent in Aion.

 

[skolpo]

Do you keep your videocard and your entire PC clean of dust? Sounds like dust is gathering if you're beginning to see increase in temperatures. Try cleaning it out. Cards tend to stutter when it gets too hot. Your PC sounds like it should handle a lot better than your friend's 8800 GTS, regardless of resolution differences (unless he's running 800x600 or something).

 

[metalweenis]

If you're 4890 is running like that, something is seriously wrong with your card or another part in your PC.

 

[jamesgoddard]

Do you keep your videocard and your entire PC clean of dust? Sounds like dust is gathering if you're beginning to see increase in temperatures. Try cleaning it out. Cards tend to stutter when it gets too hot. Your PC sounds like it should handle a lot better than your friend's 8800 GTS, regardless of resolution differences (unless he's running 800x600 or something).

Second that ^^^

 

[cor1346]

I also checked to make sure everything was connected well, and there was not a huge dust buildup on any of my components or anything so I dont know what is up.

I just asked my friend what resolution he plays Aion at on his 8800gts, and he said 1980x1020 everything on max and 2x AA. He is getting over 80-100 FPS pretty much consistently. I have also started crashing just like a whole number of other ATI users in that game, so I am not sure what is going on. Could a game really be able to utilize NVIDIA cards so much better than ATI? That just seems crazy to me.

So I am not sure what I want to do. I really want to play Aion, and NCsoft really has not been able to give support to all the ATI crashing problems, but I really am not sure if I want to buy a new graphics card just to play 1 game =/

 

[JeanLuc]

You should be more open minded about these things, just because your frame rate has dropped you shouldn't automatically assume your video card has gone bad.

When was the last time you cleaned your CPU HSF free of dust? Have you tried an older driver? Are your clock rates on your video set at reference speeds?

 

[yannifb]

I also checked to make sure everything was connected well, and there was not a huge dust buildup on any of my components or anything so I dont know what is up.

I just asked my friend what resolution he plays Aion at on his 8800gts, and he said 1980x1020 everything on max and 2x AA. He is getting over 80-100 FPS pretty much consistently. I have also started crashing just like a whole number of other ATI users in that game, so I am not sure what is going on. Could a game really be able to utilize NVIDIA cards so much better than ATI? That just seems crazy to me.

So I am not sure what I want to do. I really want to play Aion, and NCsoft really has not been able to give support to all the ATI crashing problems, but I really am not sure if I want to buy a new graphics card just to play 1 game =/

Check the clock speeds you card is running at. I know with Nvidia cards you can use EVGA precision, i dont know the ATi equivalent.

 

[soundefx]

If possible, go back to the drivers which gave you the higher frames rates.
Sometimes the newest isn't always the greatest.