BF2S Forums Gonna get a 4870

LOL @ golden shower.

I am using a 1680x1050 22" screen, and I went with a 1GB card.  For cooing, I got the T-Rad² and some slim 120mm fans (even though you're supposed to use two 92mm fans, I'm using two 120mm fans) so that I can still go Crossfire in the future if I want.  Practically every other aftermarket cooling option is going to prevent you from going Crossfire due to size (even a reverse HR-03 GT mount, unless you have a fulltower case).  The brands are practically all the same, although Zotac, Palit, and ASUS both make some pretty nice cards when it comes to a cooling option different than the stock fan.  Out of those three though, ASUS is the one I would go for.

If you don't want to spend upwards of $60 on just cooling (like I did - $110 here), then just go with a fan that has an aftermaket HSF already installed.

As for the last question - don't wait.

Edit: The Accelero S1 option will not allow Crossfire, although it is very good cooling (I would have gone that route if I didn't want Crossfire).

Last edited by haffeysucks (2008-12-08 11:50:10)

Dauntless wrote:

4 Questions:

1. 512MB or 1GB? I have a 20" screen, and my desktop is at 1680X1050, but I don't know what res I'll run games at until I get the card.

512MB should be enough for that res. Also the 512MB tends to OC a little better

2. I'm thinking about buying an aftermarket cooler for it, but which one?

Thermalright, Accelero or water

3. Which brand? I've always brought Saphire and had no problems with them, but I've heard there is a problem with the Saphire 4870 and GTA4. So I was thinking about getting the Gainward Golden Shower Edition Which also might solve question 3, as it has quite a nice cooler already.

doesn't matter. If it's a non-standard design it's worth looking at closer. Some are great, others are terrible

4. I don't mind waiting until after Christmas if it will be cheaper in the new year sales, but will the price even go down that much?

I wouldn't count on it. ATi just dropped the prices, I don't think another drop will come

Dauntless wrote:

Gainward Golden Shower Edition

Golden Sample, what the fuck is on your mind?!

Freezer7Pro wrote:

And Sapphire basically make nothing but reference boards, so there won't be any problem that's related to their specific cards.

That's what I thought, but alot of people here had problems with their sapphire card and GTA 4,

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview. … did=104274

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums … p?t=118448

A problem with the VBIOS apparently, although it looks like there is an update out now that fixes the problem. (Something to do with the text in some games making the card think it was in 2D mode, so it drops the clock speed way down).

haffeysucks wrote:

Dauntless wrote:

Gainward Golden Shower Edition

Golden Sample, what the fuck is on your mind?!

It will be a Golden Shower Edition if I need that little bit extra cooling power.

TopHat01 wrote:

I've heard GTA 4 is a bitch of an install, so good luck with that.

Yeah it is, I've got it installed on my PC atm, and it lags to high hell, this is one of the main reasons for upgrading.

I think I'll go with the 1GB version, wait and see how high the temps are before I get an aftermarket cooler and get it sooner rather than later.

Still not sure about which brand I'll get yet though.

Thanks all. <3

phishman420 wrote:

Golden showers don't cool anything down.

Are you saying they make you hot?

Freezer7Pro wrote:

The price difference between the 512MB and 1GB versions don't seem too big, I would suggest the 1GB. If you do, however, opt for the 512MB, the difference won't be huge.

And Sapphire basically make nothing but reference boards, so there won't be any problem that's related to their specific cards.

As for aftermarket coolers, get an Accelero S1. They're seriously awesome.

I have an S1 on my 8800gs and it idled at 75 until I slapped a  120mm fan on it, you meant with a fan right?

I would buy the Palit right now if:

A) I had heard of Palit before

B) It had an S-Video port (I use it sometimes), for some reason it was replaced with a Display Port.



and

C) The "mascot" or whatever you call it wasn't the gayestlooking frog I've ever seen in my life

Mint Sauce wrote:

I have HD4870 Sapphire 512MB, it's pro.

post here
http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=116291

haffeysucks wrote:

GGF0RCE wrote:

Freezer7Pro wrote:

The price difference between the 512MB and 1GB versions don't seem too big, I would suggest the 1GB. If you do, however, opt for the 512MB, the difference won't be huge.

And Sapphire basically make nothing but reference boards, so there won't be any problem that's related to their specific cards.

As for aftermarket coolers, get an Accelero S1. They're seriously awesome.

I have an S1 on my 8800gs and it idled at 75 until I slapped a  120mm fan on it, you meant with a fan right?

another "of course"

I have an S1 on my 4850 and it's idling at 40 right now, just after some gaming. If your card is idling at 71, there may be other problems.

Not to say a fan won't make the S1 go from a good cooler to a titastic one.

Dauntless wrote:

I would buy the Palit right now if:

A) I had heard of Palit before

B) It had an S-Video port (I use it sometimes), for some reason it was replaced with a Display Port.

http://www.techpowerup.com/img/08-08-20 … alslot.jpg

and

C) The "mascot" or whatever you call it wasn't the gayestlooking frog I've ever seen in my life

http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/n … a_full.png

Palit don't really have the greatest of reputations.  They've made some okay cards, but they've had a few seriously bad ones as well. That, and the frog really is pretty gay.

haffeysucks wrote:

and what the hell is display port?!

An HDMI port, but worse apparently:

Advantages compared to HDMI:

DisplayPort does not require licensing or royalty payments.

Disadvantages compared to HDMI:

No xvYCC color space support.
No Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream support.
No support for Consumer Electronics Control signals.

I don't know what they were thinking putting that on there, the guy here says it's going to be the next big thing (at 0:50) replacing DVI and HDMI but I can't imagine that happening.