[wiggy2k7]

Hi OCN,

Ive been thinking about his for about 2 weeks now and its doing my head in

I cant decide which graphics card to upgrade too, its either....

Sapphire HD4870 512MB - £166 or a Sapphire HD4870 Toxic - £213 or a Sapphire HD4870 1GB - £230 or a BFG GTX260 OC Maxcore - £225.

The GTX260 is £60 more than the HD4870 512MB but it has better performance and a lot better warranty, is this worth the extra money ?

The HD4870 1GB is probs the best performing card but i game at 1680x1050 so would i see enough performance increase over the 512MB version to justify the £65 price jump ?

I really like the HD4870 Toxic and ive read excellent reviews but is this worth the extra £47 over the standard 4870 ?

I do like NVIDIA cards and im slightly leaning towards the GTX260 but my previous card was a ATI Sapphire X1950 Pro 512MB and i really liked it.

I just cant decide which one to buy, at this rate i'll still wont have made my mind up by christmas.

What card would you buy ???

Thanks for reading

wiggy

 

[low strife]

Too be honest, a 1GB 4870, even at 1680, would be a bit better than the normal 4870 (though that increase is noticeable more at 1920x1200 or higher).

However, I would go for the GTX 260 solely because you have a DS3L motherboard. That thing certainly can't handle a 4870 with it's PCI 1.1 x16 slots... You'd need a 2.0 board to see it truly shine.

 

[Lukeatluke]

If you'll upgrade again in next 6 month take 4870 51MB, if you'll buy 24" monitor go with 4870 1GB, if you just want cooler card to oc more, go with toxic.
If you're nVidia fanboy and just want to have it, go with gtx260.

 

[A Russian :D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by low strife Too be honest, a 1GB 4870, even at 1680, would be a bit better than the normal 4870 (though that increase is noticeable more at 1920x1200 or higher). However, I would go for the GTX 260 solely because you have a DS3L motherboard. That thing certainly can't handle a 4870 with it's PCI 1.1 x16 slots... You'd need a 2.0 board to see it truly shine.

what no you don't need a PCI 2.0 MB thats crazy, a 4870 will run perfectly fine on his MB. If i was you I'd get the 4870 1GB its just the perfect card for the money right now, or if you want to save some cash get the 512mb version either way you can't go wrong. the GTX260 not wroth it at that price

 

[wiggy2k7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by low strife However, I would go for the GTX 260 solely because you have a DS3L motherboard. That thing certainly can't handle a 4870 with it's PCI 1.1 x16 slots... You'd need a 2.0 board to see it truly shine.

I find that hard to believe... do you have any links to back this up ???

 

[vi3t_boy]

I would get a hd4870. it's better than other options if you plan on playing with high resolutions.

 

[Acoma_Andy]

HD4870 1GB hands down. It will help in demanding upcoming titles to have that little extra vram.

 

[Cheex]

The 4870 1GB card is currently the card to get. Slightly outperforms the GTX 260 as well as having 128MB more VRAM

 

[wiggy2k7]

Another thing to mention is just lately ive seen lots of threads about people with 4870's having problems in games, thats putting me off a bit getting a 4870

 

[hout17]

I would go with the 4870 512 unless you are planning on getting a 24" monitor anytime soon.

 

[-iceblade^]

don't get the Toxic, that's for certain. i'd say it's a pretty clear choice to get the 512mb card. it doesn't really have THAT much of an improvement over the 1GB verison and £60 is a lot to cough up for 512MB more ram, tbh. you should be pretty sorted at that res with that card...

UK prices, eh? not great sometimes

...

 

[NrGx]

HD4870 1GB = GTX280.

Do it.

 

[Anth0789]

Get the Sapphire HD4870 1GB!

 

[wiggy2k7]

Look at this review:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...ew/default.asp

The 1GB HD4870 is almost the same performance as the 512MB HD4870

 

[wiggy2k7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by -iceblade^ don't get the Toxic, that's for certain. i'd say it's a pretty clear choice to get the 512mb card. it doesn't really have THAT much of an improvement over the 1GB verison and £60 is a lot to cough up for 512MB more ram, tbh. you should be pretty sorted at that res with that card... UK prices, eh? not great sometimes ...

Whats wrong with the toxic ???? it get great reviews and the cooler keeps it very cool and quiet. I thought heat was a problem with the standard HD4870 so this offers a good solution but its an extra £45

 

[Clinic]

Sigh, does no one remember the whole 1gb 8800GT? The memory (for the most part) is bottlenecked by the 256bit bus. For greater than 1gb memory on a video card (to be utilized correctly) you need a larger bus. The X2 gets around this by having 2 of them.

Just get the 512gb 4870. It will make you very happy.

 

[FallenFaux]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiggy2k7 Whats wrong with the toxic ???? it get great reviews and the cooler keeps it very cool and quiet. I thought heat was a problem with the standard HD4870 so this offers a good solution but its an extra £45

There isn't a heat problem anymore with the new driver, since you can adjust the fan speed manually. If your going to be keeping your monitor for a while, get the 512mb 4870. If you plan on upgrading soon or before you get another video card, get the 1Gb.

 

[NrGx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clinic Sigh, does no one remember the whole 1gb 8800GT? The memory (for the most part) is bottlenecked by the 256bit bus. For greater than 1gb memory on a video card (to be utilized correctly) you need a larger bus. The X2 gets around this by having 2 of them. Just get the 512gb 4870. It will make you very happy.

Did the 8800GT have GDDR5? The HD4870 1GB is a lot faster than the 512MB version especially at high resolutions.

 

[FallenFaux]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NrGx Did the 8800GT have GDDR5? The HD4870 1GB is a lot faster than the 512MB version especially at high resolutions.

Agreed.

 

[Acoma_Andy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clinic Sigh, does no one remember the whole 1gb 8800GT? The memory (for the most part) is bottlenecked by the 256bit bus. For greater than 1gb memory on a video card (to be utilized correctly) you need a larger bus. The X2 gets around this by having 2 of them. Just get the 512gb 4870. It will make you very happy.

I agree on the 8800GT 1GB. But DDR5 is much faster.