Having alot of trouble choosing a graphics card

Here are my choices....READ first before you tell me to get an ATI, i did alot of research.

Also, I can't get 2 cards...DON'T TELL ME TO GO CROSSFIRE.....

GTX260

-Better drivers

-Better manufacturer support

-Better warranty

-More VRAM

-Fan blows air into case (not a problem, I bought a case with alot of air vents and fans)

-Much cooler

-$30 cheaper then ATI in my situation

-5% less performance then the ATI (Not really a problem, 5 FPS won't make a difference)

HD4870

-Drivers aren't as good

-Runs incredibly hot (I don't want to manually change the fan speed every 10 minutes)

-Louder fan

-Performs slightly better then the nvidia

-Blows air outside the case

-Support and warranty are inferior

It sounds like you've already decided on the GTX 260. To be honest, at those price comparisons I'd probably choose the Nvidia, too, mainly for the much lower idle power consumption. And I didn't know that there was a version of the 260 that didn't exhaust out the back?ajkalan

Actually, I read that the 200's suck air in, instead of blowing it out. Again, that's only a problem for small cases....

Yea, looks like u've already decided tbh...

I don't agree with your support/warranty inferior for the 4870, because the VisionTek comes with a lifetime warranty.

I'm not sure where you got the idea into your head that drivers are better on the GTX 260 than on the HD4870 - I've had equal number of problems with both Nvidia and ATI drivers.

Manufacturer support and warranty I will say are better for Nvidia, I dont' think anyone will argue that.

More VRAM doesn't appear to help the GTX 260 that much - and there are 1GB versions of the HD4870 scheduled, if not already released.

Much cooler? Not really. You can get the HD4870 to run with a good balance of noise and cooling performance. The stock fan profile is crap, but that should be fixed very soon, and can be fixed by editing the fan profile to something acceptably loud but reasonably cool.

Bottom line, I'd say it's about what you want more - DirectX 10.1 with the possiblity of PhysX support, or PhysX support without the possiblity to go with DirectX 10.1. Both cards have their ups and downs, but since it sounds like you're already biased towards the GTX 260, I'd go ahead and pick it up. Performance difference is minimal.

I'm not sure where you got the idea into your head that drivers are better on the GTX 260 than on the HD4870 - I've had equal number of problems with both Nvidia and ATI drivers.

Manufacturer support and warranty I will say are better for Nvidia, I dont' think anyone will argue that.

More VRAM doesn't appear to help the GTX 260 that much - and there are 1GB versions of the HD4870 scheduled, if not already released.

Much cooler? Not really. You can get the HD4870 to run with a good balance of noise and cooling performance. The stock fan profile is crap, but that should be fixed very soon, and can be fixed by editing the fan profile to something acceptably loud but reasonably cool.

Bottom line, I'd say it's about what you want more - DirectX 10.1 with the possiblity of PhysX support, or PhysX support without the possiblity to go with DirectX 10.1. Both cards have their ups and downs, but since it sounds like you're already biased towards the GTX 260, I'd go ahead and pick it up. Performance difference is minimal.

RayvinAzn

I see the DX10.1 point...Only thing is that it's completely useless. There is not much difference, even between DX9 and DX10...look at crysis. This DX10.1 is just marketing.

the Evga GTX 260 FTW costs the same as the 4870, and performs the same as the stock GTX 280. citizen-zero

Your search skills need improvement... There's no way you can find the GTX 260 ftw that costs the same as this 284$ HD4870 or this 290$ Visiontek HD4870 (sold out too bad for you). The GTX 260 never beats the 280, but the hd4870 sometimes does. And about the drivers, monthly WHQL drivers are better than beta drivers...

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/evga_gtx260/

This review....The 260 FTW (It's factory overclocked) owns the ATI in most situations. Comes really close the 280....Seems like a winner in my books, plus the overclock is covered by the warranty.

GTX260 = Physx, Step-up (EVGA)- 329.99 (asus)

HD4870 = DX10.1, HDMI 7.1 Surround Sound, GDDR5, Smaller, 1.2Teraflops - $294.99 (Visiontek, lifetime warranty)

I am tempted by the 260 for it's ability to stepup, but I know in my heart I should get a HD4870 ;)

alright, im not trying to bash on you or anything. But it seems like all this topic was made to do it bash on the 4870? I haven't seen one word from you that supports the 4870, so i dont see how your topic "having alot of trouble choosing GFX card" could be true. Thats the way i see it anyway.

back to the topic.... If you can find a 260 that it the price you claim, by all means pick it up. It does have more matured drivers, but that is to be expected considering the 4870 is only a few weeks old.

Honesltly, I dont know nothing about GPUs or the new ones in the market, didnt see GPU benchmarks for about a year but I dont think your having trouble selecting a GPU.

How come your having trouble selecting the card you want since your decision was already made right in the first post.

I would rather go with the Nvidia because i think they are just plain and simply better than Ati.. Plus rather get a card with Dx10 because most games now days require the newer versions to run properly eg CRYSIS.joncoh101

You're an idiot. Plain and simple.

[QUOTE="joncoh101"]I would rather go with the Nvidia because i think they are just plain and simply better than Ati.. Plus rather get a card with Dx10 because most games now days require the newer versions to run properly eg CRYSIS.tequilasunriser

You're an idiot. Plain and simple.

I was hoping someone would flame this poster so I didn't have to. DX10 isn't exclusive to nVidia. As of right now, DX10.1 IS exclusive to ATI.

[QUOTE="joncoh101"]I would rather go with the Nvidia because i think they are just plain and simply better than Ati.. Plus rather get a card with Dx10 because most games now days require the newer versions to run properly eg CRYSIS.tequilasunriser

You're an idiot. Plain and simple.