gtx 470 2 and 3 way sli review.

[happy medium]

So playing with yourself makes you giggle? :hmm:


Sorry dude, I couldn't resist.

I didn't deserve that.

 

[Skurge]

I didn't deserve that.

true, true.

but you were like a sitting duck with that post

 

[MagickMan]

An OCed HD5850 even at 1GHz does not slap a GTX480. It might equal in some games, but the 480 still pulls ahead.

A $300 card matching a $500 card, even in some tests, is a definite "slap". My max "normal" OC is 1050 at a toasty 1.3v (it does get warm up there), and at that speed it's very quick.

 

[Shmee]

Good points from both sides, but keep in mind, AFAIK, fermi will use A LOT more power, especially at load. Now, consider them OCed :O

 

[Cookie Monster]

A $300 card matching a $500 card, even in some tests, is a definite "slap". My max "normal" OC is 1050 at a toasty 1.3v (it does get warm up there), and at that speed it's very quick.

Yes, they might be even in average fps for some games, but in the minimum fps department, the GTX480 will win hands down. Not to mention the fact that most people with GTX480s aren't using stock frequencies. Contrary to popular belief, the GTX480s OCes even better than GTX470s.

Sure this results in a large increase power consumption and heat but those aren't the really problems for enthusiasts who's main priority is performance. If you you net another ~18% performance for 20%OC (Fermi scales really well compared to Cypress parts) while keeping the temps down by using watercooling, extra 120mm fan, Reapplying TIM etc, no overclocked HD5850 is going to get close.

 

[MagickMan]

Woot, new 5870 hacked BIOS in and running, memory is testing fine at 1300 now. Ran some OCCT and now looping Heaven 2.0. Seems another .05v to the memory works wonders. So, if this pans out, which it looks like it is, that's 1050/1300 1.3v @74C. That's warmer than I like, it usually sits around 64C at my regular gaming OC of 925, but it's still not too bad.

 

[Kenmitch]

Woot, new 5870 hacked BIOS in and running, memory is testing fine at 1300 now. Ran some OCCT and now looping Heaven 2.0. Seems another .05v to the memory works wonders. So, if this pans out, which it looks like it is, that's 1050/1300 1.3v @74C. That's warmer than I like, it usually sits around 64C at my regular gaming OC of 925, but it's still not too bad.

Remember it takes water to put out a fire

Mine at 1000/1300 1.275v is 40* core v-regs in the 60's during Furmark stress testing!

 

[MrK6]

Yes, they might be even in average fps for some games, but in the minimum fps department, the GTX480 will win hands down. Not to mention the fact that most people with GTX480s aren't using stock frequencies. Contrary to popular belief, the GTX480s OCes even better than GTX470s.

Sure this results in a large increase power consumption and heat but those aren't the really problems for enthusiasts who's main priority is performance. If you you net another ~18% performance for 20%OC (Fermi scales really well compared to Cypress parts) while keeping the temps down by using watercooling, extra 120mm fan, Reapplying TIM etc, no overclocked HD5850 is going to get close.

As MagickMan said, the fact that a $300 can take on and even outperform a $500 card is fantastic in itself. And if you have to spend another $200 in water cooling gear to get that $500 GTX 480 a decent overclock, well, it just further points out what a value the 5850 is, which can overclock to GTX 480 performance and above on stock cooling. Oh, and it'll use less power while doing so.

 

[Kenmitch]

As MagickMan said, the fact that a $300 can take on and even outperform a $500 card is fantastic in itself. And if you have to spend another $200 in water cooling gear to get that $500 GTX 480 a decent overclock, well, it just further points out what a value the 5850 is, which can overclock to GTX 480 performance and above on stock cooling. Oh, and it'll use less power while doing so.

With the $200 price diff you could even throw one under water if you shop wisely and find some good deals on the parts. Of course that wouldn't include the CPU but for a little more you could include it also.

Oops....It's running at 1000 core 1300 memory with 1.275v to the core in the screenshot....Currently idle at 27* core and v-regs

And not even break a sweat

 

[happy medium]

Woot, new 5870 hacked BIOS in and running, memory is testing fine at 1300 now. Ran some OCCT and now looping Heaven 2.0. Seems another .05v to the memory works wonders. So, if this pans out, which it looks like it is, that's 1050/1300 1.3v @74C. That's warmer than I like, it usually sits around 64C at my regular gaming OC of 925, but it's still not too bad.

Hmmm at STOCK voltages my 5750 runs 900 core 1365 memory stable.
Your memory is not so good ha?
ANd has never seen the 80's in temps. Gets to about 77c 60% fan.
Not bad for 85$ ha?

Edit: anyone know the stock voltage of a gtx 470? There is a guy with one for sale that does 802 core at 1.012v for 340$.

 

[Kenmitch]

Hmmm at STOCK voltages my 5750 runs 900 core 1365 memory stable.
Your memory is not so good ha?
ANd has never seen the 80's in temps. Gets to about 77c 60% fan.
Not bad for 85$ ha?

Edit: anyone know the stock voltage of a gtx 470? There is a guy with one for sale that does 802 core at 1.012v for 340$.

Stock voltage is aroun .095v I believe.

 

[happy medium]

Stock voltage is aroun .095v I believe.

Thanks...

 

[Skurge]

Stock voltage is aroun .095v I believe.

is that 1.095? incredible considering a 5870 is what, 1.2v?

 

[happy medium]

is that 1.095? incredible considering a 5870 is what, 1.2v?

Well MSI Afterburner only lets you go to 1.087v with a 470gtx ,so I guess he's right.

 

[Kenmitch]

is that 1.095? incredible considering a 5870 is what, 1.2v?

Oops a typo it's 0.950v stock voltage....gotta keep the heat and power consumption down somehow.

Stock 5850 is I think 1.087v
Stock 5870 is I think 1.165v

I'd say for the power they produce they are all pretty damn low voltage. Kinda amazing how they produce so much heat out of such low voltages

 

[3DVagabond]

Oops a typo it's 0.950v stock voltage....gotta keep the heat and power consumption down somehow.

Stock 5850 is I think 1.087v
Stock 5870 is I think 1.165v

I'd say for the power they produce they are all pretty damn low voltage. Kinda amazing how they produce so much heat out of such low voltages

Voltage is just part of the equation. There's resistance as well.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Voltage is just part of the equation. There's resistance as well.

There is ALOT more than just resistance. But that being said, GF100 chip has 3.2billion transistors compared to 2.15 billion for RV870. Thats an extra 1billion transistors.

 

[Kenmitch]

There is ALOT more than just resistance. But that being said, GF100 chip has 3.2billion transistors compared to 2.15 billion for RV870. Thats an extra 1billion transistors.

Hmm....So the xtra 1 billion transisters gets you more heat than performance?

Wondering what another billion transisters would get you from ATI

 

[happy medium]

Hmm....So the xtra 1 billion transisters gets you more heat than performance?

Wondering what another billion transisters would get you from ATI

Tessalation performance?

 

[Sylvanas]

Tessalation performance?

Is that like how +1 billion transistors equates to +5fps minimums with tess enabled? Comparing Tesselation performance on this generation of games is pretty useless considering most games use a set mesh and there is no extreme upscaling or any at all unlike what we see with Unigine.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Hmm....So the xtra 1 billion transisters gets you more heat than performance?

Wondering what another billion transisters would get you from ATI

You forget that nVIDIA spent alot of transistor budget on GPGPU side of things. They have an elavorant cache structure, much more efficent DP, CUDA specific hardware setups etc.

There is a reason why Fermi outpaces Cypress in many GPGPU/compute applications.

 

[happy medium]

Is that like how +1 billion transistors equates to +5fps minimums with tess enabled? Comparing Tesselation performance on this generation of games is pretty useless considering most games use a set mesh and there is no extreme upscaling or any at all unlike what we see with Unigine.

I see you cant take a joke.

Ahh a stealth ATI fanboy? nice gts 250..................:awe: J/K

 

[Cookie Monster]

Is that like how +1 billion transistors equates to +5fps minimums with tess enabled? Comparing Tesselation performance on this generation of games is pretty useless considering most games use a set mesh and there is no extreme upscaling or any at all unlike what we see with Unigine.

Its going to get interesting once games start to use different tessellation scaling. Seeing as nVIDIA is really pushing this feature, this might happen alot sooner than we might think.

 

[shangshang]

Happy Medium,
do you own stock in NVDA or something? Judging from all your recent posts, sounded like you're trying to get people to buy NV, I'd say you have money vested in NV. Did you buy NV stock just before it dipped??? You sound like a salesman trying to hype up a stock so you can unload. Seriously you're trying toooo hard!

I know you sprinkle some pro-ATI posts here and there, but overall i'm beginning to think you have an agenda.

 

[happy medium]

Happy Medium,
do you own stock in NVDA or something? Judging from all your recent posts, sounded like you're trying to get people to buy NV, I'd say you have money vested in NV. Did you buy NV stock just before it dipped??? You sound like a salesman trying to hype up a stock so you can unload. Seriously you're trying toooo hard!

I know you sprinkle some pro-ATI posts here and there, but overall i'm beginning to think you have an agenda.

No agenda bro....just not much news being spread about ATI cards at the moment. They have been out for some time now.

There is just more going on over at the green side. Don't look now but Nvidia is going to launch 3 new cards in the next month or so, so you are going to see alot of the green teams threads.