Which 4870 card?

[Steel]

Got my indecisive head on and I'm not sure which 1GB 4870 card to go for. I know they perform pretty much the same but I've read XFX may have cooling concerns. I currently have a 3850 so I'm after a decent performance boost.

I have pre-ordered a Sapphire brand 4870 from Play for £126 (which I can cancel) but I noticed an XFX version is in stock at over £10 less from eBuyer. Novatech are selling the Sapphire for £114 but not sure about this company. All are free delivery.

I'm not desperate for the card but can anyone recommend which one to get. Or is an nVidia 260 a viable alternative?

Cheers

[spoon_]

Gainward GTX 260 @ £125

Good card with whisper quiet cooling, pretty much equivalent of 4870 but from nvidia.

[alsenior]

if you can push yourself upto about £135 you can get your hands on a 5770 which is a massive upgrade over your 3850 and better than the 4870 and the gtx260 in almost every test. but if you have your heart set on a 4870 just get the cheapest going there all reference designs anyway

[Champman99]

Yeah a 5770 would be definitely worth it imo. Especially if you have a crossfire enabled MB, because in the future you can grab a second one and you have awesomeness:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=20684

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would wait a few weeks more for the availability of the HD5770 to improve and for the cost to go down a bit. There were some at launch for under £120 so if you can one in this price range it would be worth it IMHO.

Edit!

This Asus HD5770 maybe worth a look:

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-at...ml?q=HD%205770

[Steel]

I'm tempted with that 260 spoon has recommended. I've never really looked at a 5770 as being an option as from what I've read elsewhere it slightly under performs compared to the 4870 & GTX260.

I have a 20" monitor with a res of 1680x1050 if that makes a difference.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Novatech also has some cheap GTX260 cards:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...NM216Core.html

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...833606123.html

However the HD4870 1GB is better value:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/175914

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...s/48701GB.html

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...33-16-20R.html

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...1GBD5-PPH.html

The HD5770 has quite low power consumption and seems to be a pretty decent overclocker too!! Also since it is a DX11 card it is better supported for future games where it may start to pull ahead of an HD4870. Also it is likely that with newer drivers the performance of the HD5770 will improve over time too.

[Steel]

Thanks for the replies fellas but I've gone for the Sapphire 4870 from Play for £125. Was going to cancel it because of the 260 option but it is in 'packing' status now so too late. From doing some comparisons there isn't much difference between the 2 cards in performance & price anyway.