Same price....GTX260 or HD4870

330$ ?

Visiontek HD4870 for 250$

HD4870 outperforms the GTX 260 in most games, and especially when it comes to AA settings. In some cases it even comes extremely close to matching the GTX 280.

The downside however is that the HD4870 is a very power hungry card and an extremely hot card as well.

HD4870 outperforms the GTX 260 in most games, and especially when it comes to AA settings. In some cases it even comes extremely close to matching the GTX 280.

The downside however is that the HD4870 is a very power hungry card and an extremely hot card as well.

SSJBen

That's true. By default, it comes hot but you can "fanfix" it. Another inconvenience but you wont have to be paranoid about it overhearting. HD4870 is more optimized for other games. But when it comes to Crysis, the Nvidia cards are going to show slight performance over the HD4870. I wouldnt worry too much about it. I run Crysis all Very High 1680 res and I get no lag. It's smooth. I cant wait for the HD4870x2 benchmarks and quadfire. If you want to go ATi, I really suggest you wait for the HD4870x2.

What is the FANFIX?

[QUOTE="SSJBen"]

HD4870 outperforms the GTX 260 in most games, and especially when it comes to AA settings. In some cases it even comes extremely close to matching the GTX 280.

The downside however is that the HD4870 is a very power hungry card and an extremely hot card as well.

Elann2008

That's true. By default, it comes hot but you can "fanfix" it. Another inconvenience but you wont have to be paranoid about it overhearting. HD4870 is more optimized for other games. But when it comes to Crysis, the Nvidia cards are going to show slight performance over the HD4870. I wouldnt worry too much about it. I run Crysis all Very High 1680 res and I get no lag. It's smooth. I cant wait for the HD4870x2 benchmarks and quadfire. If you want to go ATi, I really suggest you wait for the HD4870x2.

What is the FANFIX?

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="SSJBen"]

HD4870 outperforms the GTX 260 in most games, and especially when it comes to AA settings. In some cases it even comes extremely close to matching the GTX 280.

The downside however is that the HD4870 is a very power hungry card and an extremely hot card as well.

digitalman42

That's true. By default, it comes hot but you can "fanfix" it. Another inconvenience but you wont have to be paranoid about it overhearting. HD4870 is more optimized for other games. But when it comes to Crysis, the Nvidia cards are going to show slight performance over the HD4870. I wouldnt worry too much about it. I run Crysis all Very High 1680 res and I get no lag. It's smooth. I cant wait for the HD4870x2 benchmarks and quadfire. If you want to go ATi, I really suggest you wait for the HD4870x2.

Wesker made a fanfix guide for the HD4870. I dont have the link on this computer but you might want to pm Wesker or ask around. It's on this forum. I think the thread title was titled Ati catalyst 8.7 hotfix or something like that. And look through the thread, and there will be Wesker with a link to his fanfix guide.

The fanfix basically allows you to manually control the fan of the HD4870 so that it will run cooler. The default fan is low so the HD4870 runs hot @ 80C idle. The Ati Catalyst 8.7 driver hotfix was suppose to fix it but apparently it didnt.

[QUOTE="digitalman42"]

What is the FANFIX?

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="SSJBen"]

HD4870 outperforms the GTX 260 in most games, and especially when it comes to AA settings. In some cases it even comes extremely close to matching the GTX 280.

The downside however is that the HD4870 is a very power hungry card and an extremely hot card as well.

Elann2008

That's true. By default, it comes hot but you can "fanfix" it. Another inconvenience but you wont have to be paranoid about it overhearting. HD4870 is more optimized for other games. But when it comes to Crysis, the Nvidia cards are going to show slight performance over the HD4870. I wouldnt worry too much about it. I run Crysis all Very High 1680 res and I get no lag. It's smooth. I cant wait for the HD4870x2 benchmarks and quadfire. If you want to go ATi, I really suggest you wait for the HD4870x2.

Wesker made a fanfix guide for the HD4870. I dont have the link on this computer but you might want to pm Wesker or ask around. It's on this forum. I think the thread title was titled Ati catalyst 8.7 hotfix or something like that. And look through the thread, and there will be Wesker with a link to his fanfix guide.

The fanfix basically allows you to manually control the fan of the HD4870 so that it will run cooler. The default fan is low so the HD4870 runs hot @ 80C idle. The Ati Catalyst 8.7 driver hotfix was suppose to fix it but apparently it didnt.

just google 4870 fanfix you will find everything you need to know

problem about manually controlling the fan to make it spin at a higher speed in order to cool the 4870 will only ensure that the fan life span shorten in other words, it not only will make more noise but the fan will die out sooner, so if you are looking for "futureproof" go with the GTX 260 it runs the GPU like 20-30 degrees cooler compared to the 4870 and the fan isnt turned up at a very high speed. XFireCrossX

Most GPU fans are designed to run at 100% all the time and most cards have a lifetime warrenty (the fan is covered).

You do bring up a good point with the noise factor. I have a single slot 8800GT that runs at 80% and it's sounds like a jet. If you have speakers then you definately want to go for the cooler, power efficient nivida card because the 4870 running at 100% will probably ruin a good sound system (I have a headset so I could care less).

HD4870 outperforms the GTX 260 in most games, and especially when it comes to AA settings. In some cases it even comes extremely close to matching the GTX 280.

The downside however is that the HD4870 is a very power hungry card and an extremely hot card as well.

SSJBen

The 9800gtx had a fan speed problem for a while too, up untill the 175.16 drivers came out. My evga 9800gtx ko stock speeds hit over 80c before I changed the fan speed. Im sure there will be an offical fix soon for the 4870 its no deal breaker.

HD 4870 fan fix

It takes like 30 seconds to fix the fan problem. I set the fan speed at 30% which is quite and my idle/load temps are around 55C/70C.

[QUOTE="XFireCrossX"]problem about manually controlling the fan to make it spin at a higher speed in order to cool the 4870 will only ensure that the fan life span shorten in other words, it not only will make more noise but the fan will die out sooner, so if you are looking for "futureproof" go with the GTX 260 it runs the GPU like 20-30 degrees cooler compared to the 4870 and the fan isnt turned up at a very high speed. Swiftstrike5

Most GPU fans are designed to run at 100% all the time and most cards have a lifetime warrenty (the fan is covered).

You do bring up a good point with the noise factor. I have a single slot 8800GT that runs at 80% and it's sounds like a jet. If you have speakers then you definately want to go for the cooler, power efficient nivida card because the 4870 running at 100% will probably ruin a good sound system (I have a headset so I could care less).