Holiday 2008 GPU Guide: Price Cuts Galore
by Derek Wilson on December 18, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
To the East Side: $220 - $300 Graphics Cards
This price point brings solid playability to 2560x1600 resolutions with 4xAA possible in many cases. I throw my plug out there that 2xAA is all you need on 30" monitors, but that's definitely going to vary depending on taste. These cards are slight tweaks of hardware offered at a lower price point. We are looking at highly overclocked GeForce GTX 260 core 216 hardware and Radeon HD 4870 1GB cards.
The RV770 chip on the Radeon HD 4870 is much more suited to a 1GB framebuffer, especially at high resolutions with AA enabled. The advantages over the 512MB version are more apparent at higher resolutions, and necessary to get the most out of the hardware on 30" monitors. Highly overclocked GeForce GTX 260 core 216 hardware is available that could offer a great performance boost over stock hardware and over the Radeon HD 4870 1GB in some cases. In the cases where the 4870 beats the GTX 280, the 4870 will still pull out ahead, but in many other cases the super high overclock of some of these GeForce GTX 260 cards is going to be a better option. In fact, for $250, you can pick up an XFX GTX 260 core 216 clocked at 666MHz core (~15.5% increase), 2300MHz memory (~15% increase), and 1440MHz shader clock (~15.9% increase) bundled with Far Cry 2. This will provide some good increases in performance, as no matter where you are limited you have a potential theoretical maximum performance increase of about 15%.
This is another tough one and it really does depend on the games that will be played. When shopping for an overclocked GTX 260 core 216, you have to do a little more work to make sure you get the best deal, but the best deal there could be a better deal than the Radeon HD 4870 1GB. Then again, the Radeon HD 4870 1GB is a great deal at $250 and you know exactly what you are getting when you pick one up. The continuum is much more convoluted with NVIDIA hardware, but giving manufacturers a chance to differentiate themselves does add another level of competition to the market and has made highly overclocked GTX 260 hardware a viable alternative to the highest end AMD single GPU solution. In the end though, we've really got to give the nod to the super cheap $220 PowerColor Radeon HD 4870 1GB. Top that off with the fact that the PowerColor card is an overclocked version of the 4870 1GB, and that really seals the deal.
PowerColor's Radeon HD 4870 (Image From newegg.com)
Recommendation: ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB
| Newegg | ZipZoomFly | TigerDirect | Buy.com |
PowerColor Radeon HD 4870 1GB | ASUS Radeon HD 4870 1GB | Not Available | Gigabyte Radeon HD 4870 1GB |
| $280 | Not Available | $322 |
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SiliconDoc - Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - link
How about " if you do FOLDING at Home " trying to find a cure for cancer, the price points being so close, and Nvidia cards EXCELLING at 5-10 times the performance of ATI cards for folding at home, your choice is CLEAR - Nvidia is the way to go.NO - no chance of it, huh.
One recommendation comes for HTPC concerning size and heat - for ATI of course from you, but when it comes to the GTX260 that has BETTER power and heat characteristics... don't mention that.
Whatever. Total SLANT.
SiliconDoc - Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - link
I see, when the Nvidia wins in performance, you cite a non existent price advantage ( like on the 130-180 page).You recommend the 512 ram version of the 4870 - never even mentioning the superior 896 ram on the GTX260/192 WHICH HAS BEEN $200 AT NEW EGG SINCE THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER....with A FREE GAME
But your text says before November you would have never recommended the GTX260 (even 192 apparently) ... when the 4870 512 WAS MORE EXPENSIVE - WAY MORE EXPENSIVE.
So, when it's lower performance you want to save 5 bucks, you recommend the ATI card....
I am so sick of it. Before November the 8.12's were not out- so the 10% performance increase wasnt there.
You've ENTIRELY ignored CUDA and PHysX - why don't let that influence ANYONE....
What a CROCK of a review.
How about " if you already have an 8 series nvidia card and another pci-e slot- we fdefinitely recommend going with the NVidia choice in ALL CATEGORIES, because you can use your current NVidia card as a dedicated PhysX processor...."
NO - NO CHANCE of ever mentioning it.
SiliconDoc - Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - link
At newegg RIGHT NOW the lowest 4830 is 89.99, and the lowest 9800GT is 89.99I see where you MENTIONED the 9800GT and decided PRICE favored the 4830.
Whatever. You're bleeding red.
Am I supposed to comclude there's just 1 NVidia I should buy, or did I miss 1 other, since you also listed them SECOND in your entire piece no matter what ?
Why didn't you name the piece " Why only ATI should be purchased! " ?
SiliconDoc - Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - link
So the 9800GT for around $105 is not mentioned... LOLYou pretended it doesn't exist.
You managed to ignore it by picking the EXACT dollar categories that would allow you to. rofl
Tell me what does the 9800GT do for gaming - what card do you compare it to with ATI ? lol
Shame, shame.
SiliconDoc - Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - link
The 9800GT whips the 4830http://xtreview.com/images/HD4830vs9800GT.PNG">http://xtreview.com/images/HD4830vs9800GT.PNG
High rezz and plenty of AA and AF.
Oh well, only red cards will do.
Schmide - Thursday, December 18, 2008 - link
Before I went to bed it pointed to the MSI gtx 280. Looks good to me now.mlemboyo - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
*touches ground* this was a place of much cultural heritage, no doubt the scene for some grand event