9800gtx+ vs gtx 260

[thirdshiftdj]

I use whats best for me, i could care less if another card is faster in games, the cards i choose are better for what i want them for.

You don't buy them because of the pretty colors?

 

[ricanflow]

We weren't referring to you Rican. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but it troubles me when there are recommendations given on personal fancy rather than hard facts.

I was just stating in general...

I was under the impression the new gtx260 wasn't a huge performance boost over the old one. But I could be mistaken. The anandtech review is pretty inconclusive and there is that translated one floating around. IMO it doesn't change much, the 4870 looks like a good card still.

It is a nice boost, the 216 sp's make a nice difference.

I would put the new GTX 260 above the 4870 except in AA/AF performance.

remember why they never bench cards at 8xAA lol

Cause ATI has the lead in AA/AF, no doubt.

You don't buy them because of the pretty colors?

Well i like the black pcb, the double lifetime warranty and im addicted to folding. I was gonna buy a couple ATi cards for folding but then the Nvidia gpu client came out and changed everything.

 

[zmatt]

They have an ATI folding client.

 

[ricanflow]

They have an ATI folding client.

I know, but ATI cards are slower at folding.

Thats why i said the Nvidia client changed everything, because i was gonna buy two Hd3850's.

And i was folding with the older GPU1 client, on an X16050GT. But i sold it because the new client
is loads faster and more efficient in terms of points per watt.

 

[zmatt]

I don't know what the development cycle on f@h is, but the ati cards should in theory have more potential since they have far more SPs.

 

[ricanflow]

They have more, but Nvidia's sp's work faster and so the finish they projects quicker.

This changed a bit with the newer projects, but Nvidia cards are still producing more ppd than ATI cards. With the old projects, a 4870 got about 2500ppd while an 8800GT got 5000ppd.

Even higher if you overclock. The newer projects drop ppd down a bit, but theyre being optimized as of now and so they were pulled back.

A GTX 280 can get as much as 8000ppd, GTX 260 7000ppd.

 

[gurusan]

it has to do with the software itself...it's ideal for nvidia architectures...not for ATI, they just lose out

 

[Jtumble2]

Dude..wtf they always come out with something new lol. 24 more processing cores on the new 260.. thats pretty sick. Thought for a second I could send my 260 back and get the new one... guess thats technology for ya.

The 260 works nice for me. A friend of mines getting the 4870, I dont really think it matters so much, but most nvidia cards do have lifetime warranties, which is nice cuz tweakers like me are always messin with stuff so after it breaks I can get another one. woot

But yeah thanks for the input. I'm gonna start folding when my new computer gets built, within the next month. just ordered vista and my antec 900 today so it'll be nice

 

[ricanflow]

it has to do with the software itself...it's ideal for nvidia architectures...not for ATI, they just lose out

Ha, folding has been around for ATI gpu's since 2006. Its not the software, its the shaders. Theres threads all over the place on the F@H forums of gouys asking why the ATI cards get beat out even with more sp's.

They get the answer that as of now, Nvidia cards are just better. It can change later on, or it may not. ATI has better game performance, Nvidia has better F@H performance.....i think its a fair balance.

Oh and the software is the same for both cards, they both use the ATI runtimes. Theres actually only
one client, it just downloads the nvidia or ati core once it verfies what gpu you have installed.

 

[zmatt]

Hmmmm, interesting. I guess you cant have it all. For my purposes ATI works better, i really dont have the resources to put together some great folding machines, but I do have the resources for a decent gaming rig.


Does the 7900GS fold? I have still have my old opty rig, I could put it into folding.

Dude..wtf they always come out with something new lol. 24 more processing cores on the new 260.. thats pretty sick.

Not really when you consider how many the rv770 has on it. the 4850x2 has 1600 SPs. Now that may not make a big difference in folding power (it doesn't) but when it comes to games you cant beat it, and 24 extra cores on the gtx260 doesn't make a dent.