Go for HD3870X2 or HD4870 ?

Beerdude26

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Currently I'm using an HD3870X2 (which set me back about 250 euros). While its performance is very good, I often get floating point miscalculations (you know, those gigantic spikey artifacts that sometimes shoot up) whenever a lot starts going in the game.

They'll occur in any game if my card goes at 77C under load, but I almost always (unless I forget lol) use RivaTuner to set my fan speed to 50% (or higher if needed) so it runs at around 45?C under load for Source-based games, and at 52C under load for Call Of Duty 4.

I think that because it uses two GPU's instead of one, it produces floating point errors more often than normal. I am also using an 850W PSU, if that's of any importance. And I'm running the CAT 8.6 drivers on XP.

Anyway, while I usually don't notice the artifacts because they are very, very rare and small, with games such as Call Of Duty 4 that use a lot of shader effects and some scenes in HL2: EP2 it becomes very noticable. I can probably return the card for store credit and get myself an HD4850 or HD4870. Will its performance be about the same?

Also, if returning it for store credit is impossible, should I RMA it? It's around a month or two, three old.

EDIT: Techreport's article seems to give the HD4870 quite an advantage over the HD3870X2. I'll call the store clerk later on.
 
It appears the 4870 and 4850 both pee all over the 3780x2 from a massive height.
 
If you can return it or sell it for a good price then ya go ahead and upgrade. The 4870 is faster and uses less power under load (~ 50watts less).
 
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