The only problem with the ATI cards is that they do not perform as they should do in a few games, unfortunately, crysis is one of them.
When you look at the benchmark results its clear that the nVidia cards fair a lot better at that game, which is annoying when the ATI beats it on just about everything else.....and if its a game that works well with crossfire, the ATI normally slaughters the nVidia card. I recently bought the 4870x2 myself and I am very happy with the card, no heat issues (but I did slap an EK full-cover waterblock on it :P ) and performance is great. I can run most games at either 1920x1200 or 2560x1600....although crysis does drop to ~20fps at times @ 1920x1200 to give you an idea of just how hard this game can cane a system. As for drivers, both nVidia and ATI have their fair share of issues....Especially on Vista. My Catalyst Control Centre crashes 50% of the time on windows startup for instance and my 8800GTX never used to re-initialise after a system suspend, plus when installing a new driver version there is a chance of losign display during the install....etc etc... As for the ATI fan issues....They are still there (or so I have been told - I obviously removed mine) but there is a VERY simple XML fix available for it where you can set your own fan options. Jason Tozer > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > maccrawj > Sent: 24 September 2008 12:12 > To: hardware@hardwaregroup.com > Subject: Re: [H] New video card - GTX 260 or HD 4870? > > Well no dual cards means you're not constrained by chipset support of SLI vs. > Crossfire. Not going dual I think is a mistake, and not getting an X2 model a > bigger > mistake given how demanding new games like Crysis are. This also leaves an > option to > go with a second X2 down the road. > > Personally for gaming I'd be getting a 4870X2 over anything from NV, like > I've > already did buying the 3870X2 a few months back. The VisionTek model I have I > can not > hear since it's internally cooled, caveat is you need a well ventilated case. > Since I > have 24cm side fan on a roomy TT Armor case I have no noise nor cooling > issues. > > ATI fan issues are still around AFAIK, not everyone has 'em and seem to be > related to > non-certified designs that copied a flawed BBA model. Since Visiontek has no > issue I > switched to them from Sapphire. > > > Brian Weeden wrote: > > I'm upgrading the video card in my gaming rig and have the choice narrowed > > down to two in my price range, the Nvidia GTX 260 or ATI HD 4870. Both seem > > to score fairly identical in most benchmarks so I guess the decision might > > come down to extras. For me, noise and cooling are a big issue. My PC case > > is right next to my desk in my office and I can't stand loud fans. What's > > the experience from the group with either of these cards and fan noise vs > > temp? > > > > I am leaning towards the 260 because I have heard better things about their > > drivers as opposed to ATI's. My last 3 cards have all been ATIs and while > > they have served me very well in terms of hardware I've always had some sort > > of issue with the driver. For example, x1950 I currently am using doesn't > > seem to be able to control the fan speed properly using the ATI Tool so I > > have to manually set it high for gaming and low otherwise. > > > > I don't plan on going dual cards if that makes a difference between the two. > > > > ---- > > Brian > > > > [CC]Personal[/CC] [CC]Personal[/CC] This message and any attachment are confidential and may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, please telephone or email the sender and delete this message and any attachment from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy this message or attachment or disclose the contents to any other person. Clifford Chance LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England & Wales under number OC323571. The firm's registered office and principal place of business is at 10 Upper Bank Street, London, E14 5JJ. For further details, including a list of members and their professional qualifications, see our website at www.cliffordchance.com. The firm uses the word 'partner' to refer to a member of Clifford Chance LLP or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications. The firm is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The Authority's rules can be accessed by clicking on the following link: http://www.sra.org.uk/code-of-conduct.page Clifford Chance as a global firm regularly shares client and/or matter-related data among its different offices and support entities in strict compliance with internal control policies and statutory requirements. Incoming and outgoing email communications may be monitored by Clifford Chance, as permitted by applicable law and regulations. For further information about Clifford Chance please see our website at http://www.cliffordchance.com or refer to any Clifford Chance office.
