GTX 260 216 vs Hd4870 1GB

chesirecat1701 · 12-21-2008, 09:15 PM

I understand that there is a good amount of tension between nVidia and ATI fanboys all around. And one of the hottest areas of debate is in the higher end price per dollar segment of the market, hence forth I'm talking about the GTX 260 216 core and the ATI 4870 1GB. Both monsters in their own realm.

And so for those who haven't kept up on their reviews here's a few to wonder over.

Guru 3d: Top 10 games Radeon 4870 1 GB & GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 test

Techgage: Techgage - ATI HD 4870 1GB vs. NVIDIA GTX 260/216 896MB

Bjorn3d: Bjorn3d.com -Nvidia GTX-260 Core 216 VS ATI 4870 1GB 5 Game Shootout, Satisfying Your Daily Tech Cravings Since 1996

And the higher end versions going head to head:

xBitslabs: Reinforcing the Line: ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB vs. Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 (216 SP) 896MB - X-bit labs

As far as pricing goes I'm leaving it at assuming most people shop NewEgg and it also represents some of the best prices around. So here's both base cards
Ati Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H487F1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Nvidia Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Gore 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Now most if not all of these sites are VERY legit and have good reviews all around so I can leave it to them to makes conclusions.

I just wanted to put a good thread up on this steaming feud between ATI and nVidia in what I'd call safe to say their most popular price minded enthusiast card from each side.

EDIT: Just in case I may have this in the wrong spot please nicely move it for me. Thank you mods.

vernong1992 · 12-21-2008, 09:21 PM

No offense, but this is kind of a pointless thread because 90% of the Hardware Experts know this (the other 10% go to the nVIdia/AMD GPU Fanboys)

The way I see it, they are tied in pretty much every game except:

AMD wins in games like GRID, some Source games
Nvidia wins in TWIMTBP games like Crapsis or FC2 or whatnot..

The pick should be based on what you play or get which is cheapest

tastegw · 12-21-2008, 09:24 PM

i agree with the above poster.

since they are very simular in performance, it comes down to price.

chesirecat1701 · 12-21-2008, 09:26 PM

well I do understand that but I figured it'd be a good place for those with questions to explore a little bit more, but with that said close the thread if you like I was just trying to be helpful for the curious that's all no harm done.

vernong1992 · 12-21-2008, 09:28 PM

Its a good point nonetheless. This could help the n00bs who often argue with the regulars... or say "AMD is always crap, they can't touch nVidia because AMD has crap drivers"

chesirecat1701 · 12-21-2008, 09:52 PM

lol we'll see I guess

Nagasama · 12-22-2008, 04:47 PM

this is why reviews should be taken with a grain of salt....
of those 4, maybe guru3d is the most trustworthy. the results vary so much between the 4 that it is impossible to make a decision based on reviews. if you base a purchase decision on reviews only, be prepared to buy whichever card the reviewers like more (or which ever company gives them more money). the numbers from WaW from techgage and bjorn3d make me laugh...i get more frames than that with 8x ED AA @1920 x 1200.
the numbers from guru are consistent with what i see (from my cards), so usually them and anandtech are the only 2 i REALLY pay attention to.
the funny part is that one of the reviews say that the 216 performs 30+% better than a 4870 1gb with WaW (haw haw HAW!). thats funny...its the same engine as COD4 and they perform essentially the same in COD4. lol at magic reviews.
buy both the cards and bench them. i guess thats the only real way to know which one is better for your own needs

.

vernong1992 · 12-22-2008, 04:53 PM

Its quite odd, the results are contradictory with certain reviewers, one review says the HD 4870 loses by a margin in COD4 to the GTX 260 Core 216, in another review, its similar test system, and the HD 4870 wins by around the same margin it lost in the other test (a lot of other games too)

.... annoying crap