4870 X2 or GTX 280

Should I get a 4870 X2 or GTX 280?

  • 4870 X2

    Votes: 18 30.5%
  • GTX 280

    Votes: 27 45.8%
  • Wait for the price to drop on the X2

    Votes: 7 11.9%
  • I don't care what you do :P

    Votes: 7 11.9%

  • Total voters
    59
  • Poll closed .

mep916

Administrator
Staff member
So, I'm beginning to believe that the 4870X2 is a bit overpriced at the moment, and I don't believe I need that much horsepower in my rig. I'll be gaming at 1680x1050, so I know I won't benefit from the 2GB of RAM that the X2 provides. I'll additionaly run F@H and I'm concerned that the stock cooling will not handle both cores running at 100%.

The GTX, on the other hand, performs very well at my monitor's native resolution, is a monster with the F@H client, and is reasonably priced, IMO.

I'm not interested in a multi card setup, so that doesn't really need to be considered.

What should I do? Vote! :D
 

Scubie67

Active Member
So, I'm beginning to believe that the 4870X2 is a bit overpriced at the moment, and I don't believe I need that much horsepower in my rig. I'll be gaming at 1680x1050, so I know I won't benefit from the 2GB of RAM that the X2 provides. I'll additionaly run F@H and I'm concerned that the stock cooling will not handle both cores running at 100%.

The GTX, on the other hand, performs very well at my monitor's native resolution, is a monster with the F@H client, and is reasonably priced, IMO.

I'm not interested in a multi card setup, so that doesn't really need to be considered.

What should I do? Vote! :D


Well I just checked Newegg and all the Hd4870 X2's are allready sold out so I guess Ati wont drop the price on them much with that type of demand.I thought they were supposed to retail for $499 but oh well :( . I game currently at 1680 x 1050 also but plan on 1900 x1200 with my new build.When was the 1 Gb card supposed to be out I am sure it would be alot cheaper?

I guess the 280 could work but that would come with a side order of crow :D

The Hd 4870 I dont think is too bad of an option for cost/performance,can max most games except cysis and can be had for as little as $ 260 now
 

mep916

Administrator
Staff member
When was the 1 Gb card supposed to be out I am sure it would be alot cheaper?

I'm not even sure if that will be released.

I guess the 280 could work but that would come with a side order of crow :D

lol. The XFX model comes with Assassins Creed... :D

The Hd 4870 I dont think is too bad of an option for cost/performance,can max most games except cysis and can be had for as little as $ 260 now

Praetor is currently kicking my ass in the F@H stats, so I'm gonna have to do better than that. :p

I almost purchased the GTX 280 when it was initially released. I've had my eye on that card for awhile, so I'm not really interested in a single 4870. If a 1GB version was available, I'd consider it. :)
 

maroon1

New Member
I would get GTX 280 because it is cheaper and consume less power

And GTX 280 can run every game on high settings, so you won't really notice any difference between GTX 280 and HD4870 X2
 

Scubie67

Active Member
I'm not even sure if that will be released.



lol. The XFX model comes with Assassins Creed... :D



Praetor is currently kicking my ass in the F@H stats, so I'm gonna have to do better than that. :p

I almost purchased the GTX 280 when it was initially released. I've had my eye on that card for awhile, so I'm not really interested in a single 4870. If a 1GB version was available, I'd consider it. :)

If a 1 Gb version is to be released theres no telling when it will.I would wait a bit to see what new benchmarks and prices settle at then decide.Course dont get caught in the "technology purchase loop" like i am in .Haha


*edit I guess the ones you could look at are the 260,280,Hd4870 1gb if it comes out .You dont need to max games to have fun but I guess you could check the price points of those cards till another generation of new cards come out.If something is sell great I dont think the will drop the price on it much.The Hd 4870 x2 i think should have been priced from $425 to $475 to been fair cost/performance .I guess the Gtx 280 would be best for high end card that is still cost effective but since it performs about 10 to 15 % better than a HD 4870 maybe at a upper $300 price range would have been more fair
 
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mep916

Administrator
Staff member
If a 1 Gb version is to be released theres no telling when it will.

Not really interested anyway.

I would wait a bit to see what new benchmarks and prices settle at then decide.

Yeah, I also want to see how the F@H client performs for other users. Especially how it handles the heat.

Course dont get caught in the "technology purchase loop" like i am in .Haha

I've been in that loop for a year, brotha. That's why I'm more careful about my purchases. I mean, whatever I buy can always be resold, but I still like to know that I've made a good decision.
 

Scubie67

Active Member
Not really interested anyway.



Yeah, I also want to see how the F@H client performs for other users. Especially how it handles the heat.



I've been in that loop for a year, brotha. That's why I'm more careful about my purchases. I mean, whatever I buy can always be resold, but I still like to know that I've made a good decision.


LOL ...thats why I am still playing with a P4,Agp 7600 Gs comp.I keep on waiting for the next big thing and dont buy at all :D
 

just a noob

Well-Known Member
if you wanna kick someone's ass in F@h the gtx 280 will do it, ati cards got the short end of the stick in terms of the way F@h is programmed, and from what i've read the 4870x2 has to mirror the ram between the cores(i can't exactly remember what they said) but essentially you only can use about 1gb of ram, unless you have two of them in crossfire at which point it will show as 2gb's
 

Scubie67

Active Member
Whoa omega must have spent some of that money .A hd4870 X2 ,Q9550 and a rampage MB ! What happened to the E8400? I thought you liked it..hehe :D...j/k

Please post benchies with new setup as that is what I am thinking of getting ;)
 
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Geoff

VIP Member
if you wanna kick someone's ass in F@h the gtx 280 will do it, ati cards got the short end of the stick in terms of the way F@h is programmed, and from what i've read the 4870x2 has to mirror the ram between the cores(i can't exactly remember what they said) but essentially you only can use about 1gb of ram, unless you have two of them in crossfire at which point it will show as 2gb's
Meh, F@H is a bit overrated IMO, I've never heard of any real results that have come from personal computers folding.

Whoa omega must have spent some of that money .A hd4870 X2 ,Q9550 and a rampage MB ! What happened to the E8400? I thought you liked it..hehe :D...j/k

Please post benchies with new setup as that is what I am thinking of getting ;)
Indeed I did :)

I am currently using the rig I used to have in my sig (I couldn't wait to post the specs :p), I'm going to sell the E8400 and 3870.
 

mep916

Administrator
Staff member
Well all I know is that Maximum PC voted the GTX 280 the best card yet so that's what I'd get :D

Well, they haven't yet reviewed the final 4870X2 product, although they seemed very impressed with the preliminary specs. If nVidia allowed the GTXes to run in SLi on the Skulltrail, I'm certain they would've selected them for their 2008 Dream Machine.

[-0MEGA-];1047140 said:
Just because I'm a fan of ATI and Intel motherboards, I'd like to have a 4870 and the option to add a second.

I'm usually the same way, so I can understand that. In fact, I think it would be kinda cool to run an X2 with a single 4870. You know, just to try it out. :p

[-0MEGA-];1047283 said:
Meh, F@H is a bit overrated IMO, I've never heard of any real results that have come from personal computers folding.

I'm only interested in compiling stats. :p Besides, this is a long term project. In ten years, who knows...
 

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
For low-mid res, 8800GTX or equivalent is more than sufficient. If you're insistant, a GTX 260/4850 is more than enough. Between the 280 and the 4870, I'd take the 4870.

....besides, it changes nothing. :p
 
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