GTX 260 or 4870 1 Gig

U

uB3rn00b3r

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
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I have been researching cards the past couple days and have been back and fourth between cards but I think I have narrowed it down to these two cards.

About $185 total with rebate and cashback.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4037096&sku=D10-4874

About $205 with a $15 dollar code
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

I have a 22 inch Samsung monitor so i would be at a resoultion of 1680x1050.

The GTX260 comes with Far Cry2 and has EVGA's lifetime warranty and the step up program.

The 4870 is a cheaper price .

Which one of these cards preforms better and would be the better deal and investment for me?
 
Well it is rumored that the 8.12 drivers for ATI will bring a performance jump for their cards. I would expect the 4870 to be neck and neck with the core 216 again. Coming from that and the fact you can get a 4870 1GB for 185 vs a old GTX 260 for 205. The 4870 1GB seems like a no brainer to me.

I would only look to the benefit of having FC2 if you were playing on actually getting it. I think the 4870 is still a better deal. It is almost a steal at that price imo.
 
wait until 8.12 benchmarks

FC2 sucks so don't think of it as a discount
 
260 for better drivers, customer service, lifetime warranty, similar performance, lower power consumption, and you don't have to mess with rebates to get a good deal.
 
The 1GB you linked to is $270 before rebate & shipping. If you think it's worth the price premium, go for it.

*oops didn't see the cashback, carry on haha.
 
The best way to decide is look at the benchmarks and see which card does the best at the games you play. It also depends on if you want PhysX support, something ATi doesn't offer. ATi's cards also run HOT in comparison to NVIDIA's offerings, and draw slightly more power.

Personally my vote is for the GTX260 core 216, but again, it does the best in the games I play. Do your homework and you'll walk away from your purchase much happier in the end.
 
The GTX 260 he is looking at is the old 192 core version. Not the 216 core version. Is the older one beating the 4870 1GB since the new drivers have came out? I haven't seen any comparisons.

I don't think PhysX is even worth considering at this point. There isn't no games in sight that will be making use of it for the foreseeable future. It is about as redundant as DX10.1 for ATI. You can easily turn the fan up if you don't like the temps on the card. The last thing I would think about is power usage also. It makes little to no difference in the price of running the card if that is what you're thinking about.

And to answer you're question OP http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=415547&t=1047169
 
Good god, WWR again?!

I wouldn't even bother counting that as rebate.
 
I didn't even notice that. I would contact TD to see what would happen if that wasn't honored. Ouch...
 
4870 1gb...even if the prices were reversed I'd say go with the 48701gb. Having sound through HDMI might come in handy, and you'll like the Image qaulity on the ati card.
 
xBanzai89 said:
The GTX 260 he is looking at is the old 192 core version. Not the 216 core version.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't catch that... Whoops. :eek:

I don't think PhysX is even worth considering at this point. There isn't no games in sight that will be making use of it for the foreseeable future. It is about as redundant as DX10.1 for ATI.
Click to expand...

Mirror's Edge is taking an upcoming title advantage of it, and apparently it will "enhance" gameplay. That's the only AAA title I've heard of though coming out with it in the near term, though. I feel it does deserve a little thought, since more titles may implement PhysX in the future. Again, it's deciding what's important to you in terms of card characteristics and features depending on the games it will be running in your system.

You can easily turn the fan up if you don't like the temps on the card. The last thing I would think about is power usage also. It makes little to no difference in the price of running the card if that is what you're thinking about.
Click to expand...

Power may be a "moot" point, but personally I can't stand a noisy PC. I know full well that the Radeons were designed and certified to run hot, but cool and quiet computer is a prerogative for me. Having an FX5800U back in the day cured me of that. (Yes, I actually owned a dustbuster before selling it and buying a 9800 Pro...)
 
If the HD 4870 1GB is cheaper, there is no point of buying a more expensive GTX 260 core 192 especially when the performance of the 1GB HD 4870 is higher.

Regarding the noise, if you have an XBox 360 in the house and can tolerate with the noise, then everything else should be quiet compared to the 360, even my HD 4870 X2 while gaming. ;)
 
alg7_munif said:
If the HD 4870 1GB is cheaper, there is no point of buying a more expensive GTX 260 core 192 especially when the performance of the 1GB HD 4870 is higher.
Click to expand...

Ive heard Ati drivers don't have fixed aspect ratio scaling like Nvidia. If thats true the 260 is the better choice for sure. stretched images are terrible even if u get more fps. But i haven't had an ati for awhile.. have they added this feature yet?
 
ah nice didn't know they added it finally. Will have to consider Ati cards now when i purchase cards. Then yes the Ati is the better card to get atm. But to me that feature is a must since my monitor doesn't have a scaler. Stretched images ruin the experience for me. And i currently have Nvidia and have zero scaling problems.
 
Dion said:
ah nice didn't know they added it finally. Will have to consider Ati cards now when i purchase cards. Then yes the Ati is the better card to get atm. But to me that feature is a must since my monitor doesn't have a scaler. Stretched images ruin the experience for me. And i currently have Nvidia and have zero scaling problems.
Click to expand...
for Nvidia it seems to be hit or miss with the scaling possibly depending on the exact monitor and/or driver. I am trying out several monitors and two of them have let me change the scaling and two didnt. the monitor driver must have something to do with scaling being grayed out in the Nvidia control panel at least in some situations.
 
I've just been testing for the last couple of days the GTX260 216 core and the 4870 1GB. In the end I'm going with the 4870. The GTX was faster overall in FPS. But in IQ in both 3d and 2d the 4870 was better. The Gtx wasn't that much faster anyway if you want to see further check out my thread just below...http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1370268
 
I actually did the same. A few weeks ago I bought the older versions of both cards to try them out from best buy. I wasn't really that impressed. I had a 8800 GTS 512 so I could just about max out every game I play. I didn't really need one anyway since I only play TF2, L4D, and some other games which aren't that graphically intense. I'm buying either a GTX360 or 5870 when it comes out the first day though.
 
If the 4870 is cheaper, whether it be the 512 or 1gig, definitely go with that. There is not any difference in performance that is noticable and ATI has better image quality. The 4870 will only get faster with better drivers too
 
I'd make my purchased based on the sort of motherboard I have. Both cards seems to excel, and despite rampant fanboyism on both sides, little if any fault could be found with either choice.

If you have a crossfire enabled mobo, get the 4870 (1gb) and plan on buying another when prices drop. If your mobo has SLI, get the GTX260 and plan on buying another sometime.

I think the decision should be pretty simple.
 
sorry for the noob question, but what do u guys mean by the ATI card having better picture quality?
 
fe_918 said:
sorry for the noob question, but what do u guys mean by the ATI card having better picture quality?
Click to expand...
it means they have fooled themselves into thinking that one brand looks better than the other. lol

there might be cases where there is a slight difference but overall both companies are almost identical when it comes to image quality.
 
Flip a coin. I wouldn't turn my nose up at either one! The only reason I got my GTX 260 was the 1GB model of the HD 4870 was taking its sweet time hitting the market. I'm very happy with it, but I might have one with the 4870 1GB if ATI hadn't farted around so long.

The whole image quality debate is totally subjective. I've owned both brands and they both look good. Numerous reviews have stated no noticeable difference in IQ between the brands for years. In all my years of gaming I've seen one effect the ATI could do that Nvidia couldn't - the smooth "black marble" effect of sigil stones in Oblivion. Definitely a non-issue.
 
fe_918 said:
sorry for the noob question, but what do u guys mean by the ATI card having better picture quality?
Click to expand...

They're delusional. G80/GT200 cards have better AF quality (shimmers less and is truly angle independent) than any of ATI's offerings. Everything else is identical.

note: I had a 3870 for the past year until I got my gtx260
 
My HIS 3870 just fried itself, and I HATE rebates, so I was checking GTX260 vs 512MB 4870 and felt that the GTX260 was the better deal.

If the 1 GB 4870 had been neck and neck, probably would have gotten that so I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of changing drivers. But at the end of the day, they're so close in performance that you'll be happy either way.

BB
 
I had the same choice facing me a few weeks ago and went with the GTX 260 216 over the 4870 1GB as it is the better card in most of the games that I play, and in most recent reviews/benchmarks out in the last few days (since the launch of the 180.xx driver set), it seems to win a majority of the faceoffs.

Oh, and when you factor in the extensive overclocking capabilities of the GTX 260 (like a beast in many cases), then it helps to separate itself from the 4870 by a few more frames in quite a few games.
 
I just purchased a Sapphire HD4870 1GB. It was a tough choice over the GTX 260 216. In the end it came down to personal preference and a few things I like about the ATi drivers.

The big thing was aspect ratio scaling. When I had a 8800GT no matter what setting I chose in the nvidia control panel the image would still stretch across my monitor, not pretty at all. I had a 4850 for a very short time and as soon as I enabled aspect ratio scaling in the drivers it worked perfectly.

The other big thing was AA, I just prefer ATi's AA modes over nvidia's.


In the end it comes down to personal preference or whichever is cheaper. I got my HD 4870 1GB for $240 shipped from newegg.com

If you must purchase now toss a coin, if you can wait a few weeks see how the new ATi drivers that are supposed to provide a nice boost to performance do.
 
Good choice. ATI and you can just search and read most anywhere has had better IQ for years. And anyone that has both will most likely tell you the same. As for PhysX well wasnt much of a hit before NV took it over and its going to be a while before it becomes a hit. Like two more GEN's of graphic cards I'd say..

ATI and drivers lol well just not as fast as Nvidia. In the end you cant go wrong with NV or ATI.
 
Someone show me proof of differing image quality between ATI and Nvidia.
 
skadebo said:
Someone show me proof of differing image quality between ATI and Nvidia.
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placebo (plə-sē'bō)

n., pl. -bos or -boes.

1.
a. A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a
patient's expectation to get well.
b. An inactive substance or preparation used as a control in an experiment or test
to determine the effectiveness of a medicinal drug.

2. Something of no intrinsic remedial value that is used to appease or reassure another.
(plä-chā'bō) Roman Catholic Church.

3. The service or office of vespers for the dead.
Click to expand...
http://www.answers.com/topic/placebo


placebo effect

A placebo effect occurs when a treatment or medication with no therapeutic value (a placebo) is administered to a patient and the patient's symptoms improve. The patient believes and expects that the treatment is going to work, therefore it does. The placebo effect is also a factor to some degree in clinically effective therapies, and explains why patients respond better than others to treatment despite similar symptoms and illnesses.
Click to expand...
http://www.answers.com/placebo effect



I've owned both an HD 4870 and a GTX 260/280. and there are no perceivable differences in terms of image quality between the two.

There are a plethora of reviews out there which will corroborate my sentiments as well.
Anyone who tells you otherwise, well....allow me to refer you to the above two dictionary entries. :eek:
 
heres a quote from AVS
HDGT said:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2008/ecs/N9600GT-512MX-P-with-Accelero-S2/b7.htm

"With a score of 82 out of 100, this card has outperform the previous generation cards in terms of HD display. The card had exceptional clarity when playing back HD HQV test in areas of video resolution, jaggies, film resolution test and stadium test."

HD HQV
9600GT - 82/100

HD3870 - 55/100

The new 174.xx drivers will help improve things for older 8 series cards. ATI's noise reduction has so much issues with image quality even in the HD2000 threads here people recommend to disable it, making it pretty useless.

Why would anyone buy an inferior product? If AMD/ATI can't release anything thats significantly better than Intel or Nvidia, they don't deserve your money. It's not about frames per second, turn on Anti-Aliasing and the 3870 is slower than the 9600GT, let alone the 8800GT. And thats pretty embarassing for their flagship single gpu card with more bandwidth and more stream processors versus a mid-range card from the competition. Also there's blurring in their AA implementation, see Beyond3d's R600 IQ article.

Nvidia's Anistropic Filtering is much better than ATI in the 8 and 9 series, even Rage3d, the ATI fansite praises it in their 8800GTX review. Again rather embarassing for a company that touts their so called image quality as being better than the competition when they have not changed anything in the RV670 GPU to improve their IQ.
Click to expand...

edit: reading further seems like they screwed up the test, but everyone agrees that at least nvidia's csaa/AF quality is better. af regards to 2d and color, i am still looking, where most people say ATI without tests
 
Well i can get 30% cash back on eBay plus another 10%

I can get the gtx 260 core 216 for about $167
I can get the 4870 1 gig for about $168

I am probably gonna go with the 260 because I can get a free copy of Far Cry2, evga's step up program and lifetime warranty, and as of now from what I understand the 260 is better unless the 4870's drivers increase its performance.

I have two quick questions thought. I still get Far Cry2 even if the site doesn't say it comes with it by registering online and then they will send me the game.

Also I know evga doesn't let you use the lifetime warranty if you buy the card off of eBay. But does this still count if it is an ebay store like buy.com and they have their own site?
 
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