GTX 295 vs Radeon 5870

[Panthur]

I am 90% done getting a new high end gaming rig assembled for me but can't seem to get access to the final component....yes the Radeon 5870. Usually I have been an Nvidia guy in the past. Cost aside, should I just go for the 295? Isn't ATI's driver support far worse than Nvidia's historically anyways? Thanks.

 

[MarcVenice]

Piecing together a new high-end gaming machine, and putting in a GTX 295 instead of a HD 5870 seems pretty stupid to me. And if you don't mind dual-gpu, you could always opt for 2x HD 5850.

As for driver support, not sure where you heard that, but it's bullshit. ATI's drivers have been just fine for months, heck, years now ...

 

[bunnyfubbles]

It's been since pre Radeon 8500 (ie 8 years-ish) that ATI driver support could be truly classifiable as sub par or even terrible.

 

[dflynchimp]

5870 pros:
Lower power consumption at around the same performance.
DX11, displayport and all the 5XXX goodies

295 pros:
PhysX
no "blown up cursor" problem.

As far as driver support goes I gotta say both ATI and Nvidia has been pretty good about it lately so that's not really a deciding factor.

 

[MrK6]

I sold my GTX295 to get a 5870, and I would do it again in a second. What resolution are you playing at OP? If you're overclocking, a 5850 is more than sufficient for 1920x1200 and below.

 

[bryanW1995]

where are you looking? newegg is not the only game in town. Heck, I saw a 5850 for sale yesterday at zzf. check out the 5870/5850 availability thread, you'll find one.

one of the missing pros/cons:

5870: current gen, will have max driver support for year + until new gen comes out

gtx 295: old gen, will not receive as much driver support going forward b/c it won't be benchmarked much in the future. when it is benchmarked, nvidia will want gt300 to look as strong as possible in comparison so will most likely focus their optimizations on that instead of gt 200 series. This can be more of a problem in sli/crossfire as newer games come out over the next couple years because some of them are bound to have sli/crossfire issues. And yes wreckage, this argument applies against ALL dual gpu solutions including 5870x2.

 

[distinctively]

The drivers are a long dead issue and are only rumors held onto by a few stubborn people. I've been running a steady supply of both Nvidia and Ati cards since my AIW Radeon. Since then, the only driver problems I've had from either company would be from Nvidia for a few months on Vista. That's been cleared up now as well. These observations of mine are based on at least 50 different systems and at least 20 different cards from each manufacturer over the current decade. Maybe Linux is a different issue but I have no qualified experience with the OS.

Probably an important thing to consider is whether you want DX11 or Physx. Batman is pretty cool right now, compelling, but the future of Physx is still uncertain. However, DX11 is guaranteed to stick around. DX11 also has quite a few new titles coming out over the course of a year.

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
It's been since pre Radeon 8500 (ie 8 years-ish) that ATI driver support could be truly classifiable as sub par or even terrible.

yeah because nothing could have possibly changed in the past 8 years, right?

 

[Qbah]

Originally posted by: IlllI

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
It's been since pre Radeon 8500 (ie 8 years-ish) that ATI driver support could be truly classifiable as sub par or even terrible.

yeah because nothing could have possibly changed in the past 8 years, right?

bunnyfubbles meant that the drivers were bad in pre-8500 days. They are very good now. They've been good since the 9700 launched (with a trip here and there, but nothing major).

As for the OP, I'd get the HD5870 and not worry about scaling, profiles or other issues and still have plenty of performance available for high AA.

 

[Hauk]

5870 for:

-more future-proof, DX11
-lower power consumption
-single, powerful gpu
-avoid scaling issues with single, powerful gpu vs. multi-gpu
-ATI single gpu driver performance is good (nV in general offers better multi-gpu scaling)
-exceptional performance, including noise and thermal

I'm not pro ATI, I simply choose the highest performing single gpu. I may run them in multi-gpu setups, but for now, a single 5870 offers stellar performance across the board.

I'm betting a resupply will surface this week. Check daily, every couple hours. Do "in stock emails" from multiple vendors. Newegg, ewiz, Tiger, ZZF, check em all this week. If you have a Fry's local, check them too. Avoid premiums, you want one, but don't pay more than going rate..

 

[bryanW1995]

don't hold your breath on newegg, a lot of them got up to 389.99 before they got OOS. Their algorithm is designed to prevent OOS, unfortunately video card buyers are like sharks who smell blood when 58x0 pops up somewhere.

the way they keep going OOS so fast we're lucky they aren't charging $450 for them and $350 for 5850.

 

[jrphoenix]

Originally posted by: dflynchimp
5870 pros:
Lower power consumption at around the same performance.
DX11, displayport and all the 5XXX goodies

295 pros:
PhysX
no "blown up cursor" problem.

As far as driver support goes I gotta say both ATI and Nvidia has been pretty good about it lately so that's not really a deciding factor.

What is the "blown up cursor" problem??

 

[dflynchimp]

Originally posted by: jrphoenix

Originally posted by: dflynchimp
5870 pros:
Lower power consumption at around the same performance.
DX11, displayport and all the 5XXX goodies

295 pros:
PhysX
no "blown up cursor" problem.

As far as driver support goes I gotta say both ATI and Nvidia has been pretty good about it lately so that's not really a deciding factor.

What is the "blown up cursor" problem??

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2344709&enterthread=y

 

[Panthur]

I will be using a 22" lcd @ 1920x1080. I was afraid you all would opt for the 5870. I will keep looking for availability. Thanks.

 

[AzN]

Definitely 5870. You just get more for the price.

 

[hectorsm]

If you prefer Nvidia it will make more sense to wait for fermi. Otherwise, try to find a 5870 since it's a much better value than the GTX295. I own nvidia cards but I would buy the 5870 over the GTX295 without much thought unless I could find the GTX295 well below the 5870 prices.

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: Panthur
I am 90% done getting a new high end gaming rig assembled for me but can't seem to get access to the final component....yes the Radeon 5870. Usually I have been an Nvidia guy in the past. Cost aside, should I just go for the 295? Isn't ATI's driver support far worse than Nvidia's historically anyways? Thanks.

I've always found that ATI and Nvidia both supply reliable drivers. Out of a GeForce 295 and Radeon 5870 I would pick the 5870.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: Panthur
I am 90% done getting a new high end gaming rig assembled for me but can't seem to get access to the final component....yes the Radeon 5870. Usually I have been an Nvidia guy in the past. Cost aside, should I just go for the 295? Isn't ATI's driver support far worse than Nvidia's historically anyways? Thanks.

I have to agree that the driver support is worse, even though I am an ati fan. They just dont have it together in the driver area like Nvidia does, despite the fact that they have far superior hardware. However choosing between a 5870 and 295 is a no-brainer. It's a single GPU that performs about 90-95% of the NV dual GPU card for $100 less. If you've ever used a crossfire or sli rig and then a single card that does about the same performance, you should know that the single card gives a much more enjoyable experience. Things are more fluid, minimums are higher, etc.

I mean would you rather X1900xt 512 crossfire or a 8800GTX 768? The X1900 CF might be 10% faster, and more expensive, but an experienced gamer would choose the 8800GTX.

Availability will be your biggest problem.

 

[Tempered81]

So far about 8 or 9 people recommend the 5870 and zero recommend the 295 to you, so it's pretty obvious unless the next 10 replies say get the gtx295.

 

[EarthwormJim]

Wasn't Nvidia responsible for something like 30% of all crashes in Vista?

And you're worried about Ati drivers?

 

[SingJsong]

5870 price is $390. GTX 295 is anywhere from $460 to $500. And they're practically on par with each other. The choice is obvious.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Tempered81
So far about 8 or 9 people recommend the 5870 and zero recommend the 295 to you, so it's pretty obvious unless the next 10 replies say get the gtx295.

wreckage just hasn't gotten here yet.

@OP: if you're only gaming at 19x10 then you should probably go after a 5850. the one I saw the other day was only $244, link in hot deals.

here's the link: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2344802&enterthread=y

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995

wreckage just hasn't gotten here yet.

One single man can't change the course of the war. :laugh:

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Tempered81

Originally posted by: Panthur
I am 90% done getting a new high end gaming rig assembled for me but can't seem to get access to the final component....yes the Radeon 5870. Usually I have been an Nvidia guy in the past. Cost aside, should I just go for the 295? Isn't ATI's driver support far worse than Nvidia's historically anyways? Thanks.

I have to agree that the driver support is worse, even though I am an ati fan. They just dont have it together in the driver area like Nvidia does, despite the fact that they have far superior hardware. However choosing between a 5870 and 295 is a no-brainer. It's a single GPU that performs about 90-95% of the NV dual GPU card for $100 less. If you've ever used a crossfire or sli rig and then a single card that does about the same performance, you should know that the single card gives a much more enjoyable experience. Things are more fluid, minimums are higher, etc.

I mean would you rather X1900xt 512 crossfire or a 8800GTX 768? The X1900 CF might be 10% faster, and more expensive, but an experienced gamer would choose the 8800GTX.

Availability will be your biggest problem.

I disagree,ATI drivers are excellent,as a beta games tester myself I have been using both Nvidia and ATI drivers for years and find ATI drivers good as Nvidia drivers if not better,my recommendation is 5870 if he is buying right now.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Mem

Originally posted by: Tempered81

Originally posted by: Panthur
I am 90% done getting a new high end gaming rig assembled for me but can't seem to get access to the final component....yes the Radeon 5870. Usually I have been an Nvidia guy in the past. Cost aside, should I just go for the 295? Isn't ATI's driver support far worse than Nvidia's historically anyways? Thanks.

I have to agree that the driver support is worse, even though I am an ati fan. They just dont have it together in the driver area like Nvidia does, despite the fact that they have far superior hardware. However choosing between a 5870 and 295 is a no-brainer. It's a single GPU that performs about 90-95% of the NV dual GPU card for $100 less. If you've ever used a crossfire or sli rig and then a single card that does about the same performance, you should know that the single card gives a much more enjoyable experience. Things are more fluid, minimums are higher, etc.

I mean would you rather X1900xt 512 crossfire or a 8800GTX 768? The X1900 CF might be 10% faster, and more expensive, but an experienced gamer would choose the 8800GTX.

Availability will be your biggest problem.

I disagree,ATI drivers are excellent,as a beta games tester myself I have been using both Nvidia and ATI drivers for years and find ATI drivers good as Nvidia drivers if not better,my recommendation is 5870 if he is buying right now.

IMO ATI has way more problems with new release games than Nvidia. Red Faction Guerrilla and Resident Evil 5 certainly come to mind. I personally got fed up with ATI last year because I waited for months for a couple of different issues to get resolved. Nvidia is far from perfect but I at least can play every game I know of right when it comes out.

that being said I would still recommend the 5870 over the gtx295. the 5870 is a much better investment for gaming than the gtx295.