Can't decide between 1GB 4870 and 260 core 216.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Tom's Hardware says 4870 is faster across the board. Anandtech says it's a toss-up depending on the games you play. Other sites say 260 is faster across the board, even at high res where the 1GB 4870 SHOULD be faster.

I mean, I don't know what to do.

I guess... uhhh...

1. Which reference fans are quieter?

2. Which benefit most from SLI/CF?

3. SLI has to use nVidia mobo chipsets while CF can use Intel chipsets. Are Intel chipsets generally better than nVidia ones?

4. The 260 is longer than the 4870 but the 4870 uses less power, correct?

5. Which cards can overclock the most? Any crazy voltmodding potential around?

 

[Special K]

Get the XFX GTX 260 Core 216 Black Edition for $199 AR:

link

It's a factory overclocked GTX 260 Core 216 and beats a standard clocked 4870 1 GB in every benchmark I could find for it. It's performance is almost to the level of the standard GTX 280.

Although XFX also makes a factory overclocked 4870 1GB, but I haven't seen a head to head comparison between the card and the Black Edition 260 I mentioned above.

 

[SunnyD]

Well, there's also the 4890 now which kicks the GTX260 in the nuts a few times...

Basically, if you have no preference - I'd say it comes down to CF or SLI for "future" use between the two. If you have a CF board, go ATI. Vice versa. If you prefer PhysX or CUDA, go NVIDIA. Basically, I'd say get whatever tickles your snorgle.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
1. Which reference fans are quieter?

Both are good although the GT200 reference cooler is certainly superior in every way.

2. Which benefit most from SLI/CF?

SLI tends to scale better in non-CPU limited situations and more consistently across a variety of games.

3. SLI has to use nVidia mobo chipsets while CF can use Intel chipsets. Are Intel chipsets generally better than nVidia ones?

3a. Yes, although Intel's X58 supports both SLI and CF. 3b. Yes, imo.

4. The 260 is longer than the 4870 but the 4870 uses less power, correct?

Yes the 260 is longer, no the 4870 uses more power - especially idle.

5. Which cards can overclock the most? Any crazy voltmodding potential around?

4870 doesn't overclock particularly well, 260 is a great overclocker. This doesn't change much even with voltmods although there is some improvement. The 4890 looks to have more promising OC'ing results for AMD.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Special K
Get the XFX GTX 260 Core 216 Black Edition for $199 AR:

link

It's a factory overclocked GTX 260 Core 216 and beats a standard clocked 4870 1 GB in every benchmark I could find for it. It's performance is almost to the level of the standard GTX 280.

Although XFX also makes a factory overclocked 4870 1GB, but I haven't seen a head to head comparison between the card and the Black Edition 260 I mentioned above.

YUP! I hoped on that deal for the gtx black gtx 260 with 640gb hard drive and 4gb usb drive for 200 AR.

I have been doing some research and your CPU may be a bottleneck.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Tom's Hardware says 4870 is faster across the board. Anandtech says it's a toss-up depending on the games you play. Other sites say 260 is faster across the board, even at high res where the 1GB 4870 SHOULD be faster.

Well this pretty much sums it all up to: they're equal.

 

[Leyawiin]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Tom's Hardware says 4870 is faster across the board. Anandtech says it's a toss-up depending on the games you play. Other sites say 260 is faster across the board, even at high res where the 1GB 4870 SHOULD be faster.

Well this pretty much sums it all up to: they're equal.

So grab the best deal OR which ever way your brand preference blows you (and everyone has a preference to one degree or another - whether they admit or not).

 

[SlowSpyder]

This 4870 has been very well reviewed and is $199 after $20 MIR.

I have a similar one and love it. I've maxed out CCC @ 820MHz on the core for a decent 10% OC. That's a very good card for the money. They are whisper quiet (even with the fan speed turned up pretty high) according to the reviews.

Also above that GTX260 is a great bang for the buck card... I wouldn't put the GTX260 above (or really below) the 4870, they're pretty even, but that card is factory OC'ed and comes with a game.

Power is close, the GTX260 has better idle power charactoristics for sure... from what I remember seeing it's generally around 30 wattls less at idle. I belive under load they're very close. I think the 4870 has maybe a 10 watt advantage, really not much there.

Flip a coin. Go with whatever the best deal is you can find. I don't think you'll notice a major difference while gaming one way or another.