Steviekid Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Now I'm running my PC throught the TV at 1080p my 8800GT is stuggling a bit so I've been having a look at some graphics cards. I'm interested in the 4870X2 but I don't understand the wild differences in prices. This one branded as an XFX is £240 whereas this one branded as a Gigabyte Radeon is £370. I know these are two different retailers but it it not essentially the same card? Why would some be worth far more than others? Dabs' price for the XFX is still £50 cheaper than the Radeon one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra joe Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 m8 radeon are crap for high spec gaming, have a look on goldchip computers website in newcastle-upon-tyne my brother builds all his gaming machines with parts from there and they've been spot on il ask him what the best cards are at the moment and get bk 2 u. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviekid Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 m8 radeon are crap for high spec gaming, I thought the exact opposite was true. In the tests I've seen none of the nVidia cards come close to the fps of the 4870X2 at high res except the GTX295 which is around £400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 The 4870X2 is the most powerfull card on the market thus far, but you can see why due to the shear size of the thing (make sure you have a big case) and plenty of ventilation as it gets VERY hot. I run my TV media centre with full 1080p content on a Nvidia 8800 GTX which used to be a top end card but can be bought cheaply these days, why not give that a go rather than spending big bucks Edit, oh, in answer to your question. all brands usually modify a OEM board, so essentially there all the same, but maybe with a higher clock speed and slightly different heat sink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviekid Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 I run my TV media centre with full 1080p content on a Nvidia 8800 GTX which used to be a top end card but can be bought cheaply these days, why not give that a go rather than spending big bucks Edit, oh, in answer to your question. all brands usually modify a OEM board, so essentially there all the same, but maybe with a higher clock speed and slightly different heat sink Cheers for that, I thought they must be pretty similar. I do play games on the PC (I don't have any consoles) so I don't mind spending £250 on a card if it's going to run everyghing that's out just now (and for a while in the future) maxed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 They are the same. Different brand sometime fit different coolers/branding/overclock them for you. Any GTX275 is the same as any other GTX275 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 m8 radeon are crap for high spec gaming, have a look on goldchip computers website in newcastle-upon-tyne my brother builds all his gaming machines with parts from there and they've been spot on il ask him what the best cards are at the moment and get bk 2 u. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 When i put my computer through my 47" LCD tv, it wouldn't run on anything but 1080 resolution. I thought it 1080 was standard on LCD monitors? Why does it struggle more on a large TV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 The 4870X2 is the most powerfull card on the market thus far, Our survey says. Neh erghh! GTX 295 - but not by far. The 4870X2 does offer good value for money compared to the 295 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviekid Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 When i put my computer through my 47" LCD tv, it wouldn't run on anything but 1080 resolution. I thought it 1080 was standard on LCD monitors? Why does it struggle more on a large TV? My monitor was 1280x1024 which is standard for non-widescreen. I don't think you get 1080p resolution on any TV or monitor smaller than 32 inch. The 8800GT runs Blu-ray and the desktop at full res but games like COD5/crysis/assassins creed are unplayable due to the low FPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Stick with Nvidia based cards, to me ATI cards are like choosing AMD over Intel chips, seems like a good idea at the time but you will regret it in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra Size Me Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Stick with Nvidia based cards, to me ATI cards are like choosing AMD over Intel chips, seems like a good idea at the time but you will regret it in the long run. As an additional to that make sure your motherboard has both nvidia and ati support before switching cards ! as if it's nvidia only then forget ati altogether unless you get an ati mobo/ both supported mobo ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseys Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 My monitor was 1280x1024 which is standard for non-widescreen. I don't think you get 1080p resolution on any TV or monitor smaller than 32 inch. The 8800GT runs Blu-ray and the desktop at full res but games like COD5/crysis/assassins creed are unplayable due to the low FPS. You can get monitors at 23-24' that run a resolution of 1920x1200 (Higher than 1080P standard) for about £210 nowadays. For instance Samsung 2443BW Syncmasters, or Apple Cinema displays and such. There's plenty out there now. Yes not much point for them for television, but plenty for graphical/game use. Your low frame rate is probably due to the GPU having to do more work. Yes it can project a slow moving low textured picture at 1080P, but a game has rapid changes, textures coming in and out of memory so GPU or the ram is bottlenecking. Turn off Anti-Aliasing or lower your resolution if the frame rate's too low, or buy a new card To the OP : Looking at thermals, costs and build quality go for a 4870. Try looking around for the one with the most onboard ram too whilst you're at it if you want good 2x / 4x AA on your games. The 295 is nice but isn't terrific value for money imho.. also if you read up on the 8800GT (or maybe 8800GTX) from NVidia when they put them in the Apple Macbook Pros a while ago they have a design flaw. Done a recall? Naaahh.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 i just asked my manager at work about your query:- he replied:- 'Graphics cards are like condoms, they do the same bloody thing but some just feel different' hes had tooooo much coffee this morning.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 i just asked my manager at work about your query:- he replied:- 'graphics cards are like condoms, they do the same bloody thing but some just feel different' hes had tooooo much coffee this morning.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angarak Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 The difference in price between differerent manufacturers selling the same chip-based graphics card is down to: :: What software/cables/manuals are packaged with it :: The Amount/Type of memory (512mb DDR5 or 1gb DDR3 for example - is it overclocked?) :: The Cooling Mechanism used The latter one will determine the noise and temp at rest/under load. The latter one will also determine how the hot air generated by the card is expelled, for example it will either be directed out the back of the case and thus lowering the internal temp of all components in the box, or it may just push hot air around inside the box and increase the temp of all internal components such as chipsets and hard drives (best avoided) Here is a great article comparing 4870 based cards by different manufacturers: :: http://www.behardware.com/articles/751-1/roundup-which-radeon-hd-4870.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 It seems strange to me that you are having issues with your 8800gt card for running 1080p. My media centre setup contains a 2gig dual core processor, 2 gig ram & a 8600gts graphics card. I run bluray & HDDVD though my 46" plasma at full 1080P and have no issues at all. Unless you have a problem with either your card or software on your pc then I dont see why you need to upgrade it as it should be more than adequate for a media centre setup. Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steviekid Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 It seems strange to me that you are having issues with your 8800gt card for running 1080p. I run bluray & HDDVD though my 46" plasma at full 1080P and have no issues at all. As I've already said, I have no problems at all with the desktop/internet/blu-ray etc at 1080p. It's just high performance games I can't run at full res. Cheers for the other replies guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 1080p video playback is miles apart from 1080p or higher game play, the GPU has a lot more work to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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