4870 1gb upgrade to Gtx 285

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zod96

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I game at 1680x1050, I like max AF and pretty much max AA. I game at 1680x1050 and currently have a 4870 1 gb. Would upgrading to a Gtx 285 yield any benefit fps wise? I use vsync as well..
 
Yeah I suppose your right :) I hate getting this upgrade itch when it would probably be pointless...
 
Yeah I wouldnt go for that. The very top end cards always show us the most blantent examples of deminishing returns. Assuming you can get your HD 4870 1GB off to someone for $150, a GTX 280 isnt going to cost you anything less than $350, so for $200 your going to get a gain of maybe 15-25%.

a 2nd HD4870 doesnt offer much better, for an extra $200 you have to work with the minor uglinesses of crossfire and get a gain of maybe 40-70%.
 
I could sell my 4870 for about $200, it has custom cooling on it, like an artic cooling twin turbo and it also has custom ram and vrm heat sinks. The Xfx Gtx 285 is now $350 out the door. So it would cost me about $150 to change video cards..
 
If your really feeling the itch to upgrade and you have the money to spare, I say go for it. I'm stepping up to a 285 from my 260 for about $130. I just want the most powerful single card solution. Its going to be my last upgrade for some time.
 
zod96 said:
I game at 1680x1050, I like max AF and pretty much max AA. I game at 1680x1050 and currently have a 4870 1 gb. Would upgrading to a Gtx 285 yield any benefit fps wise? I use vsync as well..
Click to expand...

why? you should be able to max everything. and at that res crossfire is a waste, and the GTX285 is equal to a 4870 1gb. if you were at 2.3mp that would be different but unless your getting a new monitor a GTX285 is not an upgrade to you.

not to mention that a 4870X2 is around the same price as the GTX285 and outclasses it. not that you would see the difference here.
 
I'd wait out that upgrade bug. That 4870 should be plenty for your resolution.
 
At that resolution it's not worth changing cards. Based off Anandtech review the GTX285 only wins by 3% at that resolution.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3501

Age of Conan 4870 wins
Call of Duty - World at War GTX285 wins
Crysis warhead GTX285 wins
Fallout 3 4870 wins
FarCry 2 GTX285 wins
Left 4 Dead GTX285 wins
Race Driver GRID 4870 wins

Avg FPS Total
GTX285 441
4870 1GB 428.6
 
Wow looking at it that way, I'd be an idiot to upgrade :) The 4870 is fine :) Thanks for that link too btw that was a really good review...
 
Valset said:
why? you should be able to max everything. and at that res crossfire is a waste, and the GTX285 is equal to a GTX285. if you were at 2.3mp that would be different but unless your getting a new monitor a GTX285 is not an upgrade to you.

not to mention that a 4870X2 is around the same price as the GTX285 and outclasses it. not that you would see the difference here.
Click to expand...

I just returned my 4870 1gb and bought a EVGA GTX 285 for $329. Most 4870X2's are still well over $400.

Plus when you go with the GTX 285 you get:


Better drivers

Cuda Support

Better power efficiency/heat

OC's to damn near 4870x2 performance without the dual GPU issues/ micro stutter headache.

3D vision if you ever go down that route
 
Mikerocks2112 said:
I just returned my 4870 1gb and bought a EVGA GTX 285 for $329. Most 4870X2's are still well over $400.

Plus when you go with the GTX 285 you get:


Better drivers

Cuda Support

Better power efficiency/heat

OC's to damn near 4870x2 performance without the dual GPU issues/ micro stutter headache.

3D vision if you ever go down that route
Click to expand...

First of all, there's no proof that nvidia driver are any better than Ati. Second, most of these things aren't really that important when all you want is raw performance. Third, the OP is talking about a 1gb 4870 vs a gtx285, not a gtx285 vs 4870x2.

Personally, I think the OP should save his money. Maybe spend it on a new monitor (24" and 30" are pretty popular nowadays). Then he would have a legit reason to upgrade his GPU :).
 
alg7_munif said:
Is there any proof showing that nVidia driver is better?
Click to expand...

no, there isn't. ATI architecture is a little more sensitive to performance from the drivers but as far as issues goes its pretty well six in one hand and half a dozen in the other.
 
alg7_munif said:
Is there any proof showing that nVidia driver is better?
Click to expand...

Well I don't have to use 3rd party programs to gain the options that nvidia has in theirs by default such as:

Game profiles

Forcing Triple Buffering and Vsync ( the CCC option doesn't force Vysnc in some games for me, including Fallout 3)
 
Mikerocks2112 said:
I just returned my 4870 1gb and bought a EVGA GTX 285 for $329. Most 4870X2's are still well over $400.

Plus when you go with the GTX 285 you get:


Better drivers

Cuda Support

Better power efficiency/heat

OC's to damn near 4870x2 performance without the dual GPU issues/ micro stutter headache.

3D vision if you ever go down that route
Click to expand...

you can get a 4870X2 for 370 AR, just slightly over what the average GTX285 is running right now, no the drivers are not better, I use both and both have their issues, does have better power usage, does not match a 4870X2, go read the h review on it, the 3D glass look cool.

And I am still trying to find a good use for physx or cuda for that matter. At least ATI video converter was free.
 
Mikerocks2112 said:
Well I don't have to use 3rd party programs to gain the options that nvidia has in theirs by default such as:

Game profiles

Forcing Triple Buffering and Vsync ( the CCC option doesn't force Vysnc in some games for me, including Fallout 3)
Click to expand...

Again, this does not prove that one driver is better than the other. I'm pretty sure there are features with ATi drivers that Nvidia is not offering. I for one have had problems with aspect ratio with Nvidia drivers (as compare to my old x1400 which did aspect ration perfectly). As far as performance goes, both do their jobs just fine.
 
Mikerocks2112 said:
Well I don't have to use 3rd party programs to gain the options that nvidia has in theirs by default such as:

Game profiles

Forcing Triple Buffering and Vsync ( the CCC option doesn't force Vysnc in some games for me, including Fallout 3)
Click to expand...

I don't need to use 3rd party programs to transcode videos, use GPU scaling, or control the fan speed.

So what is your point exactly? nVidia driver is better because it has features that you use but not features that I use? :rolleyes:
 
If you really want to upgrade, upgrade your monitor to a 24" with 1920 X 1200 resolution. You can get an ACER 24" for like $280.
 
That is one thing I really like about the Ati drivers, the fan control. And as far as vsync goes nvidia has the same problems as ati in regards to this, in vista and windows 7. And as far as CUDA goes well I could care less about that.
 
That looks like a nice LCD. If I could make sure it was glossy I'd get it in a second
 
I currently have an ATI HD4870 512 MB and was wondering if it's worthy to upgrade to a GTX 285. I game at 1680x1050 with filters at maximum.
 
If you search the web you'll come across many more complaints of ati driver instabliity vs nvidia driver instabillity even from fanboi's so maybe no statistical evenidence has been accumulated but it is out there for the statisticians to record. If you already game at 1680x1050 with filters maxed then no need, if you want to then gtx 285 wil come down in price here shortly i'd assume maybe 1month max.
 
Brutus75 said:
I currently have an ATI HD4870 512 MB and was wondering if it's worthy to upgrade to a GTX 285. I game at 1680x1050 with filters at maximum.
Click to expand...

not really, there is very little difference in playability on your screen between the two.
 
Sherloc said:
If you search the web you'll come across many more complaints of ati driver instabliity vs nvidia driver instabillity even from fanboi's so maybe no statistical evenidence has been accumulated but it is out there for the statisticians to record. If you already game at 1680x1050 with filters maxed then no need, if you want to then gtx 285 wil come down in price here shortly i'd assume maybe 1month max.
Click to expand...
Hardly a solid evidence but since you insist...
http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=ati+driver+problem&word2=nvidia+driver+problem

:p
 
LoL, I can't believe we are still on the driver issue. Nvidia fanboy just can't accept that ATi isn't that bad.
 
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