GPU. Which one can run UT3 better?

[ThaMarine]

I'm sick of setting all of the settings on UT3 to low in order to squeeze 10 frames per hour out of my machine. So I'll be buying a new PC in 2-3 months. It's pretty hard to decide what Graphic Card I'm going to use, so I am asking you guys and gals to help me out with this one.

295 GTX is completely out of the question, because it's 800$ (!) (in Croatia) and it's 25% more expensive than the 4870X2 and not much faster. Other than that, the new PC is already playing Onslaught against my wallet and owning hard.

First option is Sapphire HD 4870 X2. It's 600$ in Croatia. It's pretty damn fast, but it lacks compabitibility with some games due to the fact it's actually 2 cards in one. Other than that, I have always been Radeon biased.

Second option is BFG GeForce 285 OC. 550$ in Croatia. It lacks DirectX 10.1, but that's not too important. It's the most advanced GeForce GPU. The bad thing is... the heat it generates and the power consuption. And another thing that may not be neccesarilly bad: I'll have to buy an AMD CPU and the MBO, because of the compatibility problems with Intel I have heard of.

The third and the weirdest option is... waiting for DX11. This means I'll have to wait longer. Due to the fact it's ATI that's gonna make the card first, it means I'm going to buy it instead of the DX11 GeForce. It will most likely be HD 5870/5850 (but not X2.)

Please, don't be biased in voting.


My Future Rig most likely:

CPU: Intel i7 920 - 400$
Monitor: 24' Samsung T240 - 475$
Blu Ray: Pioneer BDC 202 - 150$
RAM: Corsair 3x2 GB 1600 mhZ - 150$
Power Supply: Corsair TX 650W - 150$
GPU: Not decided yet - about 600$
CPU cooling: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 - 90$
Speakers: Logitech Z4i - 125$
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green (I'm a liberal) 1TB SATA II - 150$
MB: not decided yet - 300$
PC case: Thermaltake VG7000BWS (no integrated power supply - haha I'm cheap) - 80$
Mouse: Logitech MX518 - already have it

2670$

Note that I'm not ordering from far abroad because I think it's unreliable to do that when in Croatia and becuse I have no credit card for that. We (Croatians) have a different currency (not Euros), but I converted it to dollars. All of the prices are the ones that are in Croatia.

[Zeus...]

Beware of input lag wit that monitor m8 here

as for which GPU to go for this may help

[jomi294]

Most reviews I've read deem Sapphire as a pretty terrible manufacturer

[bclagge]

Stay away from multi GPU setups, imo. They nearly all have issues with microstuttering. Article here. You can get the new Radeon 4890 pretty cheap these days, and it's probably all you'll need for UT3. I run mine at 1920x1200 and the only reason I drop below 60 fps at all is because of my CPU bottleneck. I have a 60 HZ LCD monitor, so I capped the frames.


Flak, I voted on this poll and it redirected me here:
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=348366

[ThaMarine]

Most reviews I've read deem Sapphire as a pretty terrible manufacturer

Lol, I had mine for 5 years now (9600 XT), no problems except it's slow as **** now, but that's just because it's old.

But guys (and gals,) what do you think 'bout waiting for DX11?

[Count_de_Money]

It redirected me too.

OT:
I'm always for the most powerful single chip card, with dual it can run pretty smooth, but when it fails because of the driver support it can run worse than single one.

And don't wait for DX11 you won't gain anything with that. As I read so far DX10 cards will run it too since it will have backward compatibility.

[bclagge]

Lol, I had mine for 5 years now (9600 XT), no problems except it's slow as ****.

But guys (and gals,) what do you think 'bout waiting for DX11?

I don't use DX10 yet, so I have to say I wouldn't wait. But I'm probably the wrong person to ask for that same reason.

[Count_de_Money]

Here is one fantastic card for you if you prefer ATI. It hasn't been officially announced yet. OC-ed 4890 with ~30 C lower temperature than stock.

4890 Cyclone

[i_hax]

Any card (even 8800GT) will get 100fps in UT3 at 1920x1200 as long as you don't run AA... It's the processor that counts, and you're more than fine with the i7.

Even my processor will run 130+fps in every map.

[gwenthar]

^ what above poster said.Oc'ing your cpu with a few 100 mhz.. can already increase framerate by 25.Hell even my 4830 does 99fps in that test with balanced settings

[ThaMarine]

And don't wait for DX11 you won't gain anything with that. As I read so far DX10 cards will run it too since it will have backward compatibility.

You've prolly read that VISTA will be backwurdz compatible with DX11.

[Masaai_Warrior]

You mean forwards-compatible with DX11...

[gwenthar]

You mean forwards-compatible with DX11...

I'm pretty sure vista is a backward operating system .

[ThaMarine]

Lol, it seems I should choose between HD 4890 and GTX 285. 285 is faster, but it's 40% costier (lol in Croatia) than the 4890.

What do you think?

[ThaMarine]

Any other ideas for my setup?

[Sincreator]

Most reviews I've read deem Sapphire as a pretty terrible manufacturer

Both of my cards are sapphire. I have always heard the exact opposite actually. I also believe that sapphire may be ATI's main OEM.

Anyway back on topic. Go for a HD4890. They offer real good performance at stock clocks, and they can be OCed through the roof. In some games, the HD4890 even beats a gtx285 for about half the price.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...d4890cf_9.html
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,6...eviews/?page=8


In all honesty though, it would probally be better to wait for the HD5000 series or GTX300 series, since they are right around the corner now. ATI says there will be a huge jump performance wise going from a 4000 series GPU to a 5000 series, and if this link is correct, it's easy to see why: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/12014/...led/index.html

[ThaMarine]

In all honesty though, it would probally be better to wait for the HD5000 series or GTX300 series, since they are right around the corner now. ATI says there will be a huge jump performance wise going from a 4000 series GPU to a 5000 series, and if this link is correct, it's easy to see why: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/12014/...led/index.html

I hope there's no big jump in the price, because I can't pay much more than 500$-600$ for a video card. Let's all hope I save more money till then.

Have you got an idea when is it gonna be released?

[Masaai_Warrior]

My advice to you is that if you want to go top-end, wait for the next-gen cards.

If you want excellent value for money, then go for a GTX260/275 or a ATI 4890. How much do these cost in Croatia?

[ThaMarine]

Sapphire HD 4890 - 350$
XFX HD 4890 - 300$, but it's a little bit slower.
Asus HD4890 - 400$
Zotac GF GTX260 - 250$
Zotac GF GTX275 - 400$.
Gainward GF GTX275 - 400$

[Masaai_Warrior]

It depends on what you want at the end of the day. A top end product lose value much quicker than a midrange.

Here is an article that should help you decide:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/geforc...iew-31608.html