Video Card Comparison

[jhmdds]

Hello,
I need to choose between the NVIDIA GeForce 470 and the Radeon 5850 for my new gaming computer build. I realize this is a complex question... but which one gives the better performance?

 

[Timop]

The 470 outperforms the 5850 in most titles, but draws alot more power and runs hotter.

With the GTS450/HD6000 coming out in a month though, I don't recommend buying any high-end cards ATM.

 

[jhmdds]

The 470 outperforms the 5850 in most titles, but draws alot more power and runs hotter.

With the GTS450/HD6000 coming out in a month though, I don't recommend buying any high-end cards ATM.

Thank you for the response. Its odd that most of the statistical data favors the HD (ie more memory, faster this and that) but I also saw where the 470 was a better performer. Thanks again.

 

[Timop]

Huh? Where?
The GTX470 has more memory (1280MB vs 1024MB); a wider bus (320bit vs. 256bit) and has a different architecture compared to the HD5850 so I dont know where you got the "statistical data".

 

[jhmdds]

Huh? Where?
The GTX470 has more memory (1280MB vs 1024MB); a wider bus (320bit vs. 256bit) and has a different architecture compared to the HD5850 so I dont know where you got the "statistical data".

Check out GPUreview.com. You can compare the two cards' statistics side by side. Honestly I don't know what most of the stats mean especially in terms of performance but from a very "lay" point of view the HD card looks better in most of the catagories. I'm certainly not in a position to argue, I was just trying to get the best card for the money and was finding conflicting information.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Timop]

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I'm doubting your information, was just pointing out "statistics" isn't a very accurate way of comparing GPUs from different companies nowadays and the GTX470 is superior stats wise on the only stats that you can really compare fairly, the Vram.

Checking GPUreview, You probably meant the fill rates and OP/s. The fact is with modern GPUs and how different they are architecturally its not really relevant.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Graphics & Displays by Mousemonkey

 

[jhmdds]

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I'm doubting your information, was just pointing out "statistics" isn't a very accurate way of comparing GPUs from different companies nowadays and the GTX470 is superior stats wise on the only stats that you can really compare fairly, the Vram.

Checking GPUreview, You probably meant the fill rates and OP/s. The fact is with modern GPUs and how different they are architecturally its not really relevant.

That's a great answer and makes a lot of sense especially with the proprietary way most companies do business these days. Few if any meaninful apples to apples comparisons keeping me ( the average buyer) in the dark. Thanks, you have been very helpful.

 

[Glacier]

My opinion, the 470 is too hot and power hungry to be worth buying. Sure it's more powerful, but those temps and idle power use are too high. On the other hand, the 5850 runs cooler and sips power at idle.

 

[smile9999]

what really comes down to is price tbh, extra heat and power draw isnt gonna kill your card or blow your power bill, I was going to buy the GTX 470 but at the time in my country it was priced more near the 5870 than 5850 so I went for the 5850 and I dont regret it,

the 5850 is a great card, most of my games are 60+ and the ones that arent like metro 2033 is very much playable at 30-40 frames all very high but DOF disabled all that on 1920x1080 res, also dont worry about things like heavily tessilated heaven test and all that, it will be a long time before games actually use that much DX11 technology in their games at least till the next generation of consoles which is predicted at 2012.

so take my advice both cards are great and really they both perform similarly that your only consideration should be about price, btw SLI on the GTX 470 is much better than 5850 crossfire but I am not a big fan of either SLI or CF, I prefer to buy new tech every two years than be stuck with the same tech for more than 4 years

 

[jhmdds]

Best answer selected by jhmdds.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey