EVGA 470 vs Sapphire 5870 ~ $400

[midd2006]

I just had the pleasure of having to RMA a XFX 5870 that seemed to suffer from the Grey Screen of Death issue. At first I thought it may have been a driver issue, but now I think it may just affect certain cards.

I'm willing to give the 5870 another chance, but I'd like to buy from better quality manufacturer. I'm also willing to give Nvidia a chance, because I've never had a problem with them and their drivers are reliable.

I want to pay around $400, so that leaves me with either the Radeon 5870 or the Geforce 470. I know that performance/temperature wise the 5870 is better. I'm not sure about drivers, but Nvidia has a better track record (Important because I'm using Win7 64bit). I chose Sapphire and EVGA, because from what I can tell they are two of the best manufactures. So which would you recommend? does the performance difference justify the price difference? I really just want a solid 60fps at 1920x1080. Thanks.

Links:
Sapphire Vapor-X 100281VX-2SR Radeon HD 5870 1GB PCIe DDR5
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6046431&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

EVGA 012-P3-1475-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked+ 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130554

P.S. Those are the specific models that I am looking at because of their improved design features (ie. backplate + highflow bracket of 470 & Vapor-X cooling of 5870).

 

[midd2006]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I am in no way shape or form interested in overclocking, except a factory overclock. So, I dont think voltages matter as much for me.

 

[redechelon]

If you're not gonna OC, I see no point in getting anything but a reference card... but that's just me. Would save the $50 for a little higher temps.

 

[redechelon]

^+1 OC monster. Could easily run like a 480.

EDIT: Oh nvm... no overclocking?

 

[midd2006]

How can I tell if it is a reference card or not?

 

[midd2006]

Almost every reference card is unavailable or selling for $500. I just want a reliable, affordable (~$400) card that is not going to give me any more Grey Screens of Death. Am I going to notice the difference between a 470 and a 5870?

 

[redechelon]

Almost every reference card is unavailable or selling for $500. I just want a reliable, affordable (~$400) card that is not going to give me any more Grey Screens of Death. Am I going to notice the difference between a 470 and a 5870?

Reference cards are cheaper, the $500 ones are most likely "Eyefinity" and what not... meaning they have more memory. Honestly, I would've just bought that XFX one since it seems newegg doesn't have any reg-o cards. Too bad you had bad luck with it =/

That one Timop posted is $420 so just a tad more, and it's got an aftermarket cooler and a *slight* overclock.
I think it's a waste to buy a factory OC'd card, even if it is just for the warranty... it's always like a 25MHz increase WOOHOO, can just do it yourself.
But hey, that ones cheap and is well built, so the OC is a plus.

 

[tehdrizzle]

I have the Sapphire card that you are looking at coming tomorrow. I'll let you know what I think of it and if I have any issues with it such as the GSOD or black lines.

 

[SevenSacredSins]

Get the 5870, much cooler, faster and eats up less power. I have it and it's a great card, GTX470 might only catch up or slightly beat it in DX11. The Vapor-X is easily out of the range of the 470, OC'ed enough it can catch up to the 480 nearly and is still way cooler and uses less power.

 

[tehdrizzle]

Well now that I've had the card for a little over 2 weeks I can say that it is OUTSTANDING. My card is maxed out in ATI Overdrive with 900Mhz core clock and 1300Mhz on the memory and the card will idle at 29-31c all day long. Under load with the fan on auto I have not seen any temps while running Furmark stress test above 65c and with the fan manually set to 50% I have not seen temps above 55c. The only thing that I cannot do with this card is max out the Heaven benchmark with all settings on max but I don't think any single card can at this point.

 

[ekg84]

If i was you i'd go for GTX470, i agree it gets pretty hot, but u can get one for like $320-$330 now. Since card is pretty close to 5870 in terms of performance i think its good bang for the buck. Just get one with lifetime warranty, EVGA PNY or ZOTAC

 

[sabot00]

If you want better performance the 5870 simply gives more stock.

 

[midd2006]

Best answer selected by midd2006.