- Feb 16, 2007
- 558
- 0
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Hey guys,
I'm trying to decide which card to get. And I'm completely torn! I currently have an eVGA 9800GTX and I can step up to a GTX280 (I'm actually in the queue right now) for $325.00 after shipping.
However, I'm having thoughts of canceling my step up and going with an HD4870 instead. I know the GTX280 beats the HD4870 in terms of performance but the HD4870 seems to have a lot of more useful features.
GTX280:
- Best performance
- Step up makes it cheaper
- PhysX Support
- nVidia cards do better in nVidia sponsored games (which there seems to be more of than ATi games)
- 1GB of RAM for future games' high res textures
- CUDA
- eVGA is a good manufacturer
HD4870:
- DirectX 10.1 Support
- Havok Physics Support (is this on-card support like PhysX?)
- Don't have to wait for step up queue
- I'll have an extra 9800GTX lying around if I don't step up
- Seems to be less heat problems than the GTX280 (a lot of issues related to temps)
- AMD's CUDA equivalent (don't know which is better, CUDA or AMD's CUDA)
So I'm kind of thinking about all these things and more. I've been with nVidia since the 9700 Pro AIW that I owned so I'm comfortable and familiar with a set up with one of their cards. At the same time, I'm kind of angry that they charge so much for the GTX280 and even the GTX260 and think they can get away with it. That makes me want to buy from AMD, who need the market share more anyways.
The only thing that really worries me about buying an HD4870 is the 512MB of RAM. I know for now it doesn't affect things too much but later on games will start needing even more memory for large textures. I game at 1920x1200 and while it's not the highest resolution, it's certainly not the lowest either.
Now I could wait for the 1GB HD4870 but NCIX said they won't have stock on those for at least 8 weeks. I don't want to wait that long.
So based on the info I've given, what should I get? I'm worried that if I get a GTX280 they will just refresh it with DX10.1 support in 2 months + a die shrink like they've been doing with the G80 and G92 lately.
Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated.!
I'm trying to decide which card to get. And I'm completely torn! I currently have an eVGA 9800GTX and I can step up to a GTX280 (I'm actually in the queue right now) for $325.00 after shipping.
However, I'm having thoughts of canceling my step up and going with an HD4870 instead. I know the GTX280 beats the HD4870 in terms of performance but the HD4870 seems to have a lot of more useful features.
GTX280:
- Best performance
- Step up makes it cheaper
- PhysX Support
- nVidia cards do better in nVidia sponsored games (which there seems to be more of than ATi games)
- 1GB of RAM for future games' high res textures
- CUDA
- eVGA is a good manufacturer
HD4870:
- DirectX 10.1 Support
- Havok Physics Support (is this on-card support like PhysX?)
- Don't have to wait for step up queue
- I'll have an extra 9800GTX lying around if I don't step up
- Seems to be less heat problems than the GTX280 (a lot of issues related to temps)
- AMD's CUDA equivalent (don't know which is better, CUDA or AMD's CUDA)
So I'm kind of thinking about all these things and more. I've been with nVidia since the 9700 Pro AIW that I owned so I'm comfortable and familiar with a set up with one of their cards. At the same time, I'm kind of angry that they charge so much for the GTX280 and even the GTX260 and think they can get away with it. That makes me want to buy from AMD, who need the market share more anyways.
The only thing that really worries me about buying an HD4870 is the 512MB of RAM. I know for now it doesn't affect things too much but later on games will start needing even more memory for large textures. I game at 1920x1200 and while it's not the highest resolution, it's certainly not the lowest either.
Now I could wait for the 1GB HD4870 but NCIX said they won't have stock on those for at least 8 weeks. I don't want to wait that long.
So based on the info I've given, what should I get? I'm worried that if I get a GTX280 they will just refresh it with DX10.1 support in 2 months + a die shrink like they've been doing with the G80 and G92 lately.
Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated.!