3870 upgrade

[imported_Ivan244]

Have two comps, both have single 3870. On my online gaming rig I'm getting 35-45 fps in L4D at 1920x1200.

I was going to wait but the recent price drops have started the urge to upgrade. My thought process right now is that if I picked up a 4870 I could move the 3870 to my second comp that I do offline gaming on (HGL, Fallout3) and xfire it with the 3870 currently in there.

However several scenarios to consider. First off is it even wise to invest in 4870 right now with the potential of a refresh hitting in April causing further price drop? Of course one could argue that there is always something better "just around the corner".

Next is which size to get 512 or 1gb? Currently Sapphire on New Egg is about $45 difference. I'm all about bigger/better but if I game at 1920x1200 online and 1680x1050 offline will the extra memory really even come into play? Online comp has E6750 core2 duo and offline has quad Q6600 cpu. Both have 2gb or more mem. Online gaming comp is running Vista and offline gaming comp is running XP.

For those that have upgraded to 4870 how much better overall experience are you having from your previous card?

Thanks

 

[kmmatney]

The new NVidia cards come out March 10, I beleive, and there should be price adjustments then. I would wait a few days and see what happens.

 

[Denithor]

Take a look at 4870 512MB vs 1GB performance in Fallout 3. While that's not the game you specified, it showcases the real difference VRAM can make once you need more (max reached either through high resolution or heavy AA use typically).

There are lots of games that are going to crap with only 512MB and the list is only growing. On the first chart on this page compare the 1GB/512MB GTS 250 cards in FC2 to see what I'm talking about.

The second chart on that page shows L4D - which was optimized for older gear and doesn't seem to care how much VRAM you have. For that specific game the 4870 512MB would be an excellent value - but I personally wouldn't spend that kind of money on a new GPU for a single game, without at least considering the other stuff out there.

 

[imported_Ivan244]

Wow, prices on Newegg really shot up on the 4870. Wonder how long before ATI brings them back down. Hopefully Nvidia price cuts gets ATI to do the same again.

 

[saiga6360]

I have a thread here just an FYI, you may be able to learn from my experience. I was basically happy with the fps I was getting (60-65 @ 1920x1200 on Furmark) but there were issues with the fan noise and excessive heat so I had to return it. Some things to consider if you have a smallish case with little room as the 4870 fan and heat sink run the full length of the card.


http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2270760&enterthread=y