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Yes, another generic PC hardware topic.
After just about 4 years my 8800GTS (G80) dies and I have to replace it. As of right now Im using a crappy 7600GS. 
Since these 2 cards are quite similar in price and well of course the 4870 is better performance wise...(Is the performance boost a large margin?) But the biggest obstacle I have currently is the heat and cooling of the cards. As of case size and other requirements such as power I have no problem with; since the 8800 was about 9+ inches (9.25in.).
I plan only to use the stock fan/heatsink of the card and my case only has 140mm/2-3 40mm fans. Any other TLers' using these GPUs would like to give some imput? 
Specs: E6420@stock/3GB DDR2 800/MSI P6N
4870 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150436
4850 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351
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If u can afford the twenty bucks just buy it. whats the dilema.
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On October 02 2009 10:06 SanguineToss wrote:
If u can afford the twenty bucks just buy it. whats the dilema.
On October 02 2009 10:00 Disregard wrote:
the biggest obstacle I have currently is the heat and cooling of the cards.
????
+ Show Spoiler +Do you actually need the extra performance of the 4870? What games do you plan on playing with it?
Unless you actually really think it would be beneficial to get the 4870, I would just stick with the 4850, especially since you said the card size isn't an issue.
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I say get the 4870. You probably want to get it too :D
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I would get the 4850 if you have problems cooling.
The 4870 does make a difference in gaming though, but the 4850 should be able to pull through for most games.
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On October 02 2009 10:10 Grobyc wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2009 10:06 SanguineToss wrote:
If u can afford the twenty bucks just buy it. whats the dilema. Show nested quote +On October 02 2009 10:00 Disregard wrote:
the biggest obstacle I have currently is the heat and cooling of the cards. ???? + Show Spoiler +Do you actually need the extra performance of the 4870? What games do you plan on playing with it?
Unless you actually really think it would be beneficial to get the 4870, I would just stick with the 4850, especially since you said the card size isn't an issue.
I play/plan to play the high-end demanding games so yea... I would purchase the 4870 if the performance boost is a notable difference. Unfortunately Im not sure about it since the biggest complaint about the 4870 is the amount of heat it generates.
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Looking at the specs of the cards.... the 4850 memory speed is twice as fast as the 4870's, which makes not one bit of sense at all. O_o
Also, the NewEgg reviews kinda say it all: go with the 4850.
As long as you're sure it will fit in that case, go for it. Neither card will give you heating problems as long as your other fans are providing proper air flow and you're taking care of dust regularly, unless you plan on overclocking it.
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On October 02 2009 10:16 Disregard wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2009 10:10 Grobyc wrote:On October 02 2009 10:06 SanguineToss wrote:
If u can afford the twenty bucks just buy it. whats the dilema. On October 02 2009 10:00 Disregard wrote:
the biggest obstacle I have currently is the heat and cooling of the cards. ???? + Show Spoiler +Do you actually need the extra performance of the 4870? What games do you plan on playing with it?
Unless you actually really think it would be beneficial to get the 4870, I would just stick with the 4850, especially since you said the card size isn't an issue. I play/plan to play the high-end demanding games so yea... I would purchase the 4870 if the performance boost is a notable difference. Unfortunately Im not sure about it since the biggest complaint about the 4870 is the amount of heat it generates.
Probably a good idea to get an additional fan(s) if you end up getting it, despite your initial plans :o
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The 1gb 4850 should be able to run Crysis at max settings. I believe it clocks better than the 4870 512 mb until very high resolutions.
I would really invest in a better gpu fan and I don't understand why you don't want one :<
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4870, the difference is significant so if u're considering it then the choice is obvious to me. Like someone said 4850 would work fine if you were short on cash, but 4870 is definitely faster.
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On October 02 2009 10:41 nttea wrote:
4870, the difference is significant so if u're considering it then the choice is obvious to me. Like someone said 4850 would work fine if you were short on cash, but 4870 is definitely faster.
No, it isn't. The memory speeds on the 4870 are slower by 50%. It's core clock is only 125 mhz faster.
The difference between the two probably won't be noticeable.
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On October 02 2009 10:16 Disregard wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2009 10:10 Grobyc wrote:On October 02 2009 10:06 SanguineToss wrote:
If u can afford the twenty bucks just buy it. whats the dilema. On October 02 2009 10:00 Disregard wrote:
the biggest obstacle I have currently is the heat and cooling of the cards. ???? + Show Spoiler +Do you actually need the extra performance of the 4870? What games do you plan on playing with it?
Unless you actually really think it would be beneficial to get the 4870, I would just stick with the 4850, especially since you said the card size isn't an issue. I play/plan to play the high-end demanding games so yea... I would purchase the 4870 if the performance boost is a notable difference. Unfortunately Im not sure about it since the biggest complaint about the 4870 is the amount of heat it generates.
The heat is really negligible at 50% fan speed (barely audible) the card will hit around 65 degrees max. All of the heat is funneled out of it. Also the 4850 is just as hot, actually it's cooling is less effective. The 4870 also has a really nice envelope for overclocking, you can get it up to around ~800 and ~1100 before it starts to artifact, which is actually over 4890 performance memory wise.
On October 02 2009 10:45 VorcePA wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2009 10:41 nttea wrote:
4870, the difference is significant so if u're considering it then the choice is obvious to me. Like someone said 4850 would work fine if you were short on cash, but 4870 is definitely faster. No, it isn't. The memory speeds on the 4870 are slower by 50%. It's core clock is only 125 mhz faster. The difference between the two probably won't be noticeable.
This is terribly wrong. The 4870's memory is clocked at 900mhz ddr5, which is 900x4. Thats 3600mhz, as opposed to the 4850, with its ddr3 at ~1ghz, so its ~1000*2, or about 2000mhz. Also superclocked editions of the x1900XT were coming out at around 700mhz a few years ago, really clock speed means nothing unless you have the processors to back it up (which the 4870 has! 800 of them! The 4850 has quite a few disabled.) The 4870 is the obvious choice in this case, because of the added performance. Really, considering you'll be playing games like crysis, a 4870 at 1920*1080 performs at around 22-27fps at crysis, while a 4850 at the same resolution performs at around 15-20. This is a pretty big difference, and that performance decrease is seen in all games.
Also, when going for the 1gb edition, it's all about bandwidth. The 4850 just doesn't have enough muscle to effectively USE its 1gb framebuffer, while the 4870 has shown capability to use it nearly to its entirety. However the only card which can really max out its memory is the 4890, which is obviously out of your price range.
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performance wise does it really make a difference? i have a 9600gt (512mb) and i can run almost any game on the market on high (for now). if cooling is a major issue, then get the one that is more realiable
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4870 slower than 4850 LOL?
this really depends on what resolution / quality you want to play at. the 4850 should handle most 1680x1050 games at fairly high settings while the 4870 will do the same at 1920x1200.
a recent article showed very little difference in most games 512mb 4870 vs 1gb 4870 at 4x AA 16x AF highest settings in games under 2560x1600 and only mildly different at that res; the largest difference being with farcry2. i would also look for a video card that vented air out the back similar to the 4850 you have linked.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-ram-4870,2428.html
oh nevermind 512mb is more expensive than 1gb on newegg anyway wtf?
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Oh right I forgot to mention Im only using a 19" Widescreen LCD monitor as of now (So native resolution should be 1440x900). Probably upgrading to 24" when the price hits below the $200 range, since 19" is still *considered "standard" IMO.
Hanns-G HW191D 19"
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1 gig vs 512mb for video ram makes a shit of difference most cases.
Unless you run something like 2560x1600 where the game wont even post unless you run 1 gig.
at 1680x1050 and 1920x1080/1200 i'd just go with
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102853
4770 with an artic cooling aftermarket cooler already on it.
It's more powerful then you G80 and just about = and better in most cases compared to a 4850
I mean that 4850 should be the same price as a 4770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253
again 1 gig vs 512mb make little difference in games
Also unless you are running at 1024x768 your AA and AF should be always AAx4(multi sampling not super sampling) AFx8
People that run 8xAA and 16xAF really are going for a massive slow down for a more placebo effect then better imange quality.
Personally i'd just get a 4850/4770 at 512mb for 100
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On October 02 2009 10:45 VorcePA wrote:Show nested quote +On October 02 2009 10:41 nttea wrote:
4870, the difference is significant so if u're considering it then the choice is obvious to me. Like someone said 4850 would work fine if you were short on cash, but 4870 is definitely faster. No, it isn't. The memory speeds on the 4870 are slower by 50%. It's core clock is only 125 mhz faster. The difference between the two probably won't be noticeable.
Also are you blind?! and _insert insult_
The 4870 is GDDR5 memory bus 256 |115.2 (memory bandwidth GB/s)
the 4850 is GDDR3 256 |63.55
A 4770 is GDDR5 128 |51.2
The power of the card in the GPU chip in it. And memory bandwidth is much more important then speed.
Bandwidth is determined by memory interface/bus and the speed of the memory.
Specs alone can never tell you how well a card will do only benchmarks are reliable enough to make speculation.
My vote is still to him getting a 4770 at 512mb for 100 bucks
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4870. I have one and it's pretty rocking.
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Now Im thinking if I should OC my E6420. Ive seen people going all the way up to 3.2Ghz or higher and its still stable (Maybe not on the stock coolers). Unfortunately I have never overclocked anything before, considering myself a noob.
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WCS
