Video Card Thread (Mostly Gecube x1950xt)

The HD3870 was a pain in the arse for ages, but now they have finally sorted the drivers it's quite good. The HD4850 already seems to be performing well.

Shaff: omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg epic want!

 

this review was done a month after the one you posted:

Call of Duty 4

1920x1200

Difference to 4870
9800 GX2................. +23.69%
GTX 280.................. +20.03%
GTX 260 (OC)............. +10.99%
GTX 260.................. +0.92%
HD 4870.................. 0%
HD 3870 X2 .............. -24.63%
HD 4850 ................. -29.27%
9800 GTX ................ -32.41%
HD 3870 ................. -115.82%



Crysis

1920x1200


GTX 280.................. +13.33%
GTX 260 (OC)............. 0%
HD 4870.................. 0%
GTX 260.................. -15.38%
HD 4850 ................. -30.43%
9800 GTX ................ -36.36%
9800 GX2................. -42.86%
HD 3870 X2............... -50.00%
HD 3870 ................. -87.50%


UT3

1920 x 1200


9800 GTX........... +10.20%
9800 GX2........... +8.16%
GTX 260 (OC)....... +8.16%
GTX 260 ........... +5.10%
HD 4870 ........... 0%
GTX 280 ........... -7.69%
HD 4850 ........... -10.11%
HD 3870 X2 ........ -25.64%
HD 3870 ........... -30.67%


Half-Life 2: Episode Two
1920x1200


HD 4870 ........ 0%
9800 GTX........ -6.62%
GTX 260 (OC).... -9.73%
9800 GX2........ -11.61%
HD 3870 X2...... -16.43%
GTX 260 ........ -22.77%
HD 4850 ........ -27.57%
GTX 280 ........ -76.39%
HD 3870 ........ -118.31%

(something must have gone wrong here HAHA, the 9800GTX is whopping almost everything, got any more HL2:E2 benchies?)

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/589/1

 

I KNOW.....I WANT IT NOW, PLEASE HURRY RETAIL AND GET IT NOW

 

You know what mate, despite those more favourable results for the 280, my point still stands, look - the only game where the 280's performance matter is Crysis. Spending £100 for Crysis is basically like spending £100 solely to get more 3dmarks.

 

i agree with you. BUT FOR E-PEEN TRI SLI GTX280s with a 790I ASUS mobo, with 2000MHx DDR3 (8GBs) and a QX9770) FTW

 

Then the motherboard breaks because it's an nvidia chipset... lol

 

and the nuclear reactor i had to power it explodes, and then we have S.T.A.L.K.E.R in london instead

 

Does tri-SLI work? For e-peen or not? How does it compare to 2 4870x2. Is that on your chart, Sam? Gobs of electricity - and nvidia chips on mobo that sam says won't last!

 

So, it seems that GTX 260 in SLI is about the same as 4870cf from the reviews I have read. This makes the GTX 260 a better deal.

 

Why would it? The GTX260 is more expensive than the HD4870, and you have to use a crummy old SLI motherboard to be able to use two of them.

Full Benchmark listing of the cards to follow shortly (this time, from Driverheaven.net)
Ok, the full benchmark is done, but very extensive. (Will be imageshacked at some point)

Worthy points of note:

COD4 - Maxable single player(30+) with GTX260, HD4870, 9800GX2 and HD4850CF, plus SLI/CF of those. Also maxable with HD4850 and HD3870X2 but with minor lag. Maxable multiplayer(50+) with HD4870CF and GTX280SLI only, but playable with HD4850CF, 9800GX2, GTX280, HD4870 and GTX260 with minor weak points. Game is maxable both online and offline at 1920x1200 with all current gen cards, but with minor frame drops for HD4850. 8800GTS G92, 9800GTX and 8800GTX/Ultra will also be able to cope with same caveat. Triple SLI seems to show promise for this title, but for the GTX280, even two cards are at the CPU limit of 110fps.

GRiD - Crossfire is bugged for HD4870, but not for the HD4850, at least at 2560x1600. Game only maxable perfectly smooth with GTX280 or SLI of a GTX200 series card, but HD4870 can also handle the game well.
At 1920x1200, the game can be maxed on any current gen card, but no 8/9 series cards will max the game without lag of some kind. Triple SLI is not supported.

World in Conflict - Triple SLI functions well for this title. To max the game smoothly at 2560x1600, a GTX280, or multiple GTX200s, or two HD4870s must be used. Crossfire for the HD4000 series is only functional with the latest drivers, but with these, the game runs well enough maxed out at 2560x1600. If you're willing to put up with lower frame rates, solo GTX260 and HD4870 can cope, but the HD4850 and 8/9 series cards are very slow. At 1920x1200, the game can be maxed without incident on any current gen card. The 8800 Ultra and 9800GTX will also suffice if you're willing to put up with a lower frame rate.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 - Can only be run at 1680x1050 without a hack of some kind, and no Anti-Aliasing can be applied by default. As a result, even the 8800GS and HD3850 can max the game smoothly, so it's not a valid test of current gen cards.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - no AA was applied for the tests, but it can be maxed on all current cards at 1920x1200, as well as with the 8800GT/GTSG92/GTX/Ultra. The HD3870X2's results are rather mediocre, but almost identical for both 2560x1600. At the latter resolution, the game can be maxed out on all current cards except the HD4850, which lags a bit. An overclocked 9800GTX or 8800 Ultra will also pull this resolution off, but very little else from last gen. SLI scales well with this title, with two GTX280s making over 100fps maxed. Crossfire also appears to work well, as while one HD4850 is unplayable, two of them are smooth as silk. Triple SLI is not supported.

Lost Planet - Colonies - only tested at 1920x1200, but even at this res, the only cards that can max the game smoothly are the GTX280, 9800GX2, and multiples of the GTX200 series, perhaps also the GTX260 if you set your sights a little lower. SLI performs exceptionally well here, and Triple-SLI also functions - three GTX280s manage nearly 150fps maxed out. Due to the poor performance of the singular card, despite Crossfire scaling superbly here, two 4870s only manage 74fps and will have noticeable laggy sections.

Half Life 2 Episode Two (Tested with 8xAA instead of the usual 4) Driverheaven's tests included one odd section which had a low minimum frame rate for all cards (less than 35fps even for two GTX280s) - not having encountered this in the real game, I don't feel it worthy of note. Average frame rates at 2560x1600 are acceptable for all current cards, and the HD3870X2. Having done so, I also know the game can be maxed out at this res on an HD3870, but will run rather juddery. It's therefore pleasing to see two HD4870s make an average of over 100fps, even with 8x AA. Unsurprisingly, anything not prehistoric can max the game at 1920x1200, also with 8xAA.

Driverheaven tested Crysis at 1280x768, sticking with 'Very High' settings with no AA. 'Playable' is different for Crysis than for other games. If we set the bar at 25fps, all current cards, and most G80/G92/R600 based stuff can pull that off, but only current nvidia stuff can keep above that frame rate at all times, along with two 4870s. SLI scales reasonably well, but crossfire does not. Triple SLI, as with the previous title, is not supported.

Oblivion, rather surprisingly, is maxable both at 1920x1200 and 2560x1600 with all cards tested without incident. Maybe they didn't try hard enough? Triple SLI is not supported.

Assassins Creed runs well at 1920x1200 on all cards tested, but at 2560x1600 most of them drop to 25-30fps ish for most of the time. To keep the frames above 35, you need HD4000 Crossfire, or a GTX280 (or two of them...) Triple SLI is not supported.

 

Dude, just give me a summary. Which one performs better? I just woke up, I can barely read

GTX 260= 230 dollars
4870= 275 dollars

 

You know as well as I do it's not that simple, it depends on which games you play.

COD4: GTX260 13% faster (not visible at 1920x1200)
GRiD: HD4870 20% faster (not visible at 1920x1200)
World in Conflict: HD4870 6% faster
Vegas 2: HD4870 4% faster (not visible at 1920x1200)
Lost Planet Colonies: GTX260 41% faster
HL2 Episode Two: HD4870 17% faster (not visible at 1920x1200)
Crysis: Evenly matched
Oblivion: HD4870 27% faster (not visible even at 2560x1600)
Assassins Creed: HD4870 15% faster


As you see, on the whole the 4870 is on top, unless you play Lost Planet. However, Lost Planet is also one of the only games that actually runs below 60fps at 1920x1200 and therefore you would see a difference. At 2560x1600 though it's a different story.

Oh, the 4870 is also much faster in Tiger Woods '08, if you play those sorts of games, but since the game only runs at 1680x1050, you're not going to see the difference there.

 

Are these SLI vs CF scores or single card scores?

So I mean even though the 4870 performs better in some cases and GTX 260 is still like 50 bucks cheaper. Seems like the better deal to me. Especially since it would probably OC more than a 4870.

 

This is solo cards. Unfortunately I've still yet to find a benchmark of any worth that gives SLI scores of the GTX260, people have only SLI'ed the 280. You can't really extrapolate the scores at this end of the market, as the scores reach the CPU limit too often, which means it's difficult to make any estimations.

Long and short of it though, the 4870's cheaper, and even with nvidia's performance-enhancing driver updates, it's still ultimately the better card.

Here are Driverheaven's overclocking results for the cards:

HD4870 Stock: 750/900 (COD4 45fps average, 26 minimum)
Sapphire overclocked: 830/1080 (COD4 53fps average, 31 minimum)
Visiontek overclocked: 828/1090 (COD4 52fps average, 32 minimum)

GTX260 Stock: 576/999 (COD4 51fps average, 26 minimum)
GTX260 Overclocked: 655/1136 (COD4 54fps average, 28 minimum)

Better at overclocking? The GTX260 comes out worse...

 

But it's NOT cheaper. It's 50 dollars MORE expensive.

Anyway, I might be doing a build with SLI GTX 280. This guy wants the fastest money can buy. He like ready to spend 6 grand if that's what it takes.

 

Ah yes of course, I forgot nvidia cards are much cheaper in the US. In the UK market at least, the HD4870 is cheaper. Even in the US though, the 4870 is only $30 more, not $50.

One thing you need to be aware of Abuzar, is that SLI doesn't scale as well as Crossfire. Since the HD3000 series that's been the case, and the 4000 only takes that further. For two GTX260s to be equal to two HD4870s, the HD4870 would have to be quite a bit slower than the GTX260, and it isn't. Furthermore, you're putting your faith and dollars into an nvidia chipset board to run SLI. Using Crossfire means you can use a better board. On top of that, if you wait for the 4870X2, you don't even need to use two slots (or, given the extensive budget, use two X2s).

On top of all this, if he wants fast, why did the GTX260 even come to mind? The GTX280 is its faster brother. If he's spending several thousand though, wait for the HD4870X2, get two of those and an X48 board.

Add to this the following:
The GTX280 is 29% faster than the HD4870 in Episode Two, yet two GTX280s are 19% faster than two HD4870s. If the GTX260 is only 5% faster in this test, it's not looking good for SLI, especially if you overclock the cards.

If we take it a step further, two HD4870X2s in Age of Conan run a full 31% faster than two GTX280s. This permits an average frame rate of 49 in Age Of Conan, Maxed out at 2560x1600 with 8x AA. I can tell you now, AoC is the second most demanding game on my PC behind Crysis.
The figure remains 31% for one HD4870X2 versus one GTX280.

 

But hay, shouldn't you look at production-costs or something?
Instead of default list-prices and store-prices and all...

Because not all stores sell for the same price.
Over here in The Netherlands for instance, we have a lot more chance that many smaller stores would have these kind of things cheaper than the bigger and better known stores.
And you might as well find it a lot cheaper in some other store you don't know of.

I also don't get talking about the prices.
Shouldn't you just look which one is better and then see if you can afford it.
And to compare in costs, shouldn't you just look at the production-costs or whatever?

Cause like you can already see, it's not the same to everyone all over the place.
So it's kind of talking about different things.

 

Newegg prices are used almost exclusively, as they seem to usually be the cheapest for graphics cards.
In the UK, OverclockersUK and Ebuyer are typically the cheapest, but you can sometimes get some surprises from smaller stores.

 

I personally hate SLI boards. I was going to suggest the 4870X2 to him as well, but I think he is in a hurry.

When is it coming out?

 

August I think. Tell him he waits for that, or buys two 4870s now...