Video Card Buyer's Guide - Spring 2009
by Derek Wilson on March 30, 2009 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
At the $180 - $280 range, we are going to ask our readers to wait until the end of this week to make a decision. If you want a little more power than the 4870 1GB / GTX 260, but you don't want to spend the money required to push up to the next price point, we might have something (or two somethings) for you.
$180 - $280 Recommendation: Almost There ... Stay on Target (Wait a few more days)
I wish we could talk about this a little more now, but all will be clear by the end of the week.
The only real options between $280 and $400 are the 4850 X2 2GB and GTX 285 (we could only find the GTX 280 for a couple bucks less negating the value). Making this choice isn't for the feint of heart though. Yes, the GTX 285 does offer the highest performance of a single GPU solution in many cases. But the fact that the 4870 costs just a little more than half as much, and in some cases performs higher, leaves a sour taste in our mouths.
The fact that the 4850 X2 2GB comes in at the low end of this price range and the GTX 285 requires an investment of at least $50 more dollars tilts our recommendation heavily in favor of the 4850 X2 2GB in terms of value. But at the same time, Sapphire is still the only vendor out there building the 4850 X2. And while current drivers are doing pretty well, we are still reeling from the AMD driver issues we had from the end of last year up through the beginning of this year.
So there are caveats for both options. But our recommendation is the 4850 X2 2GB.
$280 - $400 Recommendation: ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB
| ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB | |
| Sapphire | $279.99 |
At the highest end, there are only two options left. The 4870 X2 and the GTX 295. The GTX 295 is much more expensive, but does outperform th 4870 X2 in most cases. There are some games where the 4870 X2 does top the GTX 295, just like the 4870 1GB sometimes leads the GTX 285. But really it's diminishing returns.
If you want the top of the line, the choice is clear: the option is the GTX 295. If you want top of the line performance without breaking the bank as hard, the 4870 X2 would be the option to go with.
Our recommendation is that there are something like two games where this level of hardware make any difference at all. But if you have the money to spend we're going to go ahead and recommend the part that delivers better price/performance: the Radeon 4870 X2.
$400+ Recommendation: ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
| ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 | |
| Sapphire | $429.99 |
| Diamond | $449.99 |
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Zoomer - Monday, March 30, 2009 - link
http://www.dailytech.com/ATI+RV740+Performance+Fig...">http://www.dailytech.com/ATI+RV740+Performance+Fig...justniz - Monday, March 30, 2009 - link
ATI 's Linux drivers are a joke.If you plan to run Linux at all, go with nvidia.
stmok - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - link
Depends on perspective: I see things in the long term.ATI/AMD is opening up documentation specifications in a gradual manner. (Has to be cleared of legal issues). The result is the ability for the open source community to write their own driver...Which is one less step during installation and set up of a Linux system. (A benefit for the end user).
Ubuntu 9.04 will support Radeons from R100 through R500 families with full 3D Acceleration. There is also X-Video and EXA support for the ATI R600 (Radeon HD 2000/3000) and R700 (Radeon HD 4000) series.
According to this, AMD is helping with the 3D Acceleration code of the R600 series.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&am...">http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&am...
They are also pushing out some R700 series documentation.
http://developer.amd.com/gpu_assets/R700-Family_In...">http://developer.amd.com/gpu_assets/R700-Family_In...
What's Nvidia doing? Intentionally restricting any form of open source contribution down to mere trinkets of code for 2D acceleration only, nothing more. Everything else is all proprietary support. (Which means an extra step during installation of Linux for everyone!)
The Nouveau project is working to address this "proprietary deficiency" with their own open source driver for Nvidia cards. They have a long way to go as they have to "reverse engineer". (No support from Nvidia).
On top of that, there is an effort to shift everything to Gallium3D driver architecture. (Which will simplify future video driver development).
In the short term, you would consider Nvidia.
In the long term, it may be better to look at ATI.
anglesmithtitanius - Monday, March 30, 2009 - link
ATI drivers compile and install without going to single user modeLast time i checked Nvidia drivers did not compile with the latest and greatest kernel, BTW ATI does
stop the FUD.
HelToupee - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - link
Bullshit. nVidia's latest drivers compile everywhere ATI's do.nVidia's drivers DO NOT and HAVEN'T in the past 3 YEARS required you to go to single user mode to install. Jesus Christ in the sky, where do you get this shit?!?!? Yes, if you update your kernel, you have to recompile your kernel modules, just like you would with ATI's stuff.
What ATI's drivers leave out is support for output on all formats (HDMI, TV). nVidia has that. Support for hardware video acceleration of hi-def formats (H.264, so Bluray) is also not available in ATI's stuff yet. (even though it was promised last November. I guess the hooks are there, but they've yet to release any code so it can be used by players) nVidia's H.264 and VC-1 acceleration has been usable in most major players (mplayer, Xine, XBMC video player) for months. Newest builds of Mythbuntu, Boxee, etc FULLY support it.
You stop your own FUD, FUD-tard!
Sincerely, someone who's been running a 7600GT under Ubuntu for 2+ years.
Zoomer - Monday, March 30, 2009 - link
Don't really care since I don't game in *nix environments. Well, if I do, it's nothing that requires serious gfx acceleration.Anyway, their drivers does work in most variants of linux. Sure it's not updated monthly, but so what?
Ananke - Monday, March 30, 2009 - link
So we are going to have news regarding 4890? Is it really that good? I am waiting for that card.XiZeL - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
looking at its spects the only diferences is that its an overclocked 4870 1Gb, and i run my powercolor 4870 at the same clocks as the announced 4890 clocksretrospooty - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Except the 4890 is a much better overclocker. Most early users are claiming at or near 1000mhz core on air, 1000+ easy on water.explicit4u - Monday, April 6, 2009 - link
exactly, the 4890 is a completely different card.