4870 512mb to GTX 280 a worthwhile upgrade?

[Ging9]

Sorry if this has been asked already...too lazy to scroll back through pages of threads.

With the recent price drops on the 280s, I'm considering selling my 4870 and rejoining the Nvidia camp once again. Either that, or wait for a bit and take a good look at the 4890s when they come out.

I'd love to go crossfire with my 4870, but my creaky old P5NE SLI won't allow it. Now if I was to possibly come upon a brand new P45 board (Gigabyte EP45 DQ6...hint, hint, nudge nudge wink wink contest judges ) I could skip the 280 idea and stay with ATI. However, given my track record for contests, I'm not going to hold my breath on that idea.

So back to my question...worthwhile upgrade or waste of money?

P.S. Right now I'm gaming on a 22" Syncmaster 226 BW, but have been seriously considering jumping up to a 24" + monitor.

[SugarJ]

SKYMTL's GPU roundup he did at Xmas does the direct comparisons for you. Just ignore the pricing info.

The Games of Christmas '08: GPU Performance Part 1

[SKYMTL]

Please wait a few days.

[Phobia]

how handy will these charts be, eh? Thanks to all who is/has working on the charts

[Ging9]

Thanks for that link SugarJ...I'd say by the look of those charts, it's not worth the extra dough. Especially at the resolutions I'm currently playing at.

[Oversized Rooster]

A GTX 280 1GB is indeed an upgrade from the Radeon HD 4870 512MB however at resolutions of 1650 or below, the performance upgrade is way too small.

I have been toying with the same idea myself but based on my own research I have concluded that it is not worth it even at the $290 Newegg price.

[aviduser]

Personally, Ati's drivers for crossfire are what made me switch to a gtx280. I've never owned an Nvidia card before and have always owned amd/ati components.

I tried for 8 hours or more to get crossfire working properly on my two hd4850's. After installing every driver version available, and re-installing vista 4 times I was able to get the 8.10 drivers working. But it made crysis glitch out like crazy. Tried every patch/update I could find. Still no luck, so after that I said screw crossfire.

So to conclude I purchased a gtx280 because I want stable performance in as many games as possible (unlike dual gpu cards). Plus I figured the initial prices for the 4890 would be the same if not more. I guess we'll find out in a few days when its released if I made the right decision.

Btw- I also currently game on a 22" 1680x1050, but I also am planning on a monitor upgrade soon. I think the gtx280 has lots of life left performance wise.

[lemonlime]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

Please wait a few days.

So much said in few words. I eagerly await the meaning behind this sentence

[magictorch]

Same here I'm beginning to wonder if there is more to this card than its "redesigned" power distribution and large OC. When you look at a 4870 around the VDDC chips etc it has a big "gap" on the PCB that could be used for improved power regulation? I guess they have made full use of that-as for the rest Im looking forward to the review!!!

Originally Posted by lemonlime

So much said in few words. I eagerly await the meaning behind this sentence