upok Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 Okay, here's the scoop. I had 2 Visiontek hd4870 512mb crossfired for 8 or 9 months. I really loved that setup, good frame rates, GREAT image quality, etc. I had an opportunity to sell them for almost $200/each. I couldn't pass up selling 9 month old video cards for 80% of what I paid for them new. Besides, the 512mb was starting to be a limiting factor in some of the newer games I'm playing(1920x1200). So I got a 4870x2 and kept running into the "Disabled Video Adapter" driver error. The only usable workaround I had was to use the Cat 8.11 drivers, and I really don't want a $450 video card that only works with 6 month old drivers. So I returned the x2 and got the EVGA gtx295. Now, the framerates with this card are spectacular, but I [OPINION ALERT] think the crossfire ati 4870s had better image quality. I notice mostly in the smoke, water, and especially shadow effects. So, I really like the performance of the gtx295, but I like the image quality of my old ati rig. So, here's the question. Should I just quit my whining and keep the gtx295? Or, should I return it and get 2 4890s and crossfire them? btw: what's everyone's experience with HIS brand cards, that's what my local Microcenter has in stock. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAlex Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 Ok, In every single test, except 1, 2x4890>GTX 295. Which is weird because the GTX 275 is better than the 4890, and the GTX 275 is half the GTX 295? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkrow21 Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 Ok,In every single test, except 1, 2x4890>GTX 295. Which is weird because the GTX 275 is better than the 4890, and the GTX 275 is half the GTX 295? Huh? I thought the GTX260 was half the GTX295? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 In my opinion a graphics card is meant to deliver satisfactory frame rates but more importantly deliver astonishing "graphics". If game play is smooth your next variable to look for is image/lighting quality. Here are two sources to a 4890CF review: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/2704/ati...fire/index.html http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/HD_4890_CrossFire/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 Huh? I thought the GTX260 was half the GTX295? Correct, somewhere between a GTX 260 and a GTX 280. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAlex Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 Correct, somewhere between a GTX 260 and a GTX 280. GTX 275...? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aritchey Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 ya i have heard multiple times that a 275 is half a 295. so i am lost when people tell me that two gtx275's are equal to one gtx 295 but a 4890 in crossfire is better than a gtx 295. why is this if the gtx 275 out performs the 4890? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
upok Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 In my opinion a graphics card is meant to deliver satisfactory frame rates but more importantly deliver astonishing "graphics". If game play is smooth your next variable to look for is image/lighting quality. Here are two sources to a 4890CF review: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/2704/ati...fire/index.html http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/HD_4890_CrossFire/ I completely agree. And I appreciate your links, but they kinda solidify a minor complaint of mine. It's easy to find benchmarks that only compare framerates, but harder to actually compare image quality. And IQ isn't just about anti-aliasing and anisatropic filtering. I guess it's just really subjective about image quality. My observations have been that I get better image quality(shadow, smoke, water, better color accuracy) with ati. It also seems that the ati cards are doing remarkably well with anti-aliasing even at higher resolutions. Maybe I just really miss having 2 video cards in my case-- I know that the 295 is really 2 cards on one board, but it's still only 1 board. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) GTX 275...? heh, I hadn't even read the GTX 275 review. BUt yes specification wise. It's even on the front page of the GTX 275 review so essentially you have half of a GTX 295! http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/nvidia_gtx_275/ Edited April 5, 2009 by damian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
upok Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 ya i have heard multiple times that a 275 is half a 295. so i am lost when people tell me that two gtx275's are equal to one gtx 295 but a 4890 in crossfire is better than a gtx 295. why is this if the gtx 275 out performs the 4890? I think that statement really depends on the game or benchmark. It seems that more games get significant performance boost from crossfire than sli. If that's the case then it makes perfect sense that 2 4890s would scale better in more games than 2 275s. This is a case of the total being greater than the sum of the parts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krieg1337 Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 Talk to battery. He seems to know about image quality(He said ATI has better IQ). And I have an HIS HD4870, only for about 5 days though so I can't say anything about tech support, all I can say is the card is great Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Water_Hazard Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) ya i have heard multiple times that a 275 is half a 295. so i am lost when people tell me that two gtx275's are equal to one gtx 295 but a 4890 in crossfire is better than a gtx 295. why is this if the gtx 275 out performs the 4890? The ati cards scale better in crossfire than the nvidia cards do in sli.. that is supposedly why you get better frame rates between the x2 4890's compared to the gtx 295 (this is what I have been told by a few people) And yes the gtx 275 is half the gtx 295 Edited April 5, 2009 by Water_Hazard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now