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Power Color HD 4870
Final Thoughts:
I tested this card after borrowing Nitro's GTX 280 for a week or so, and I figured I'd throw out a comparison of the two. While using Nitro's GTX 280, I noticed the fans running really loud, and I got a few BSODs during gameplay of Call of Duty 4. This was surprising, since I knew the card could handle the game. I then realized that the GTX 280 was overheating.
After switching to the PowerColor HD 4870, I noticed the card runs a lot quieter, and doesn't give me BSODs during COD4. One thing I do notice, is a strange reaction the card has with its new Catalyst Control Center drivers. Occasionally, my Envision 22" LCD monitor will, for the lack of better words, jiggle. It becomes very hard to read, and literally seems like the screen is shaking. It will also black out a few times and display a yellow yield sign in the taskbar, after which I get a Blue Screen of Death relating to atikmdag.sys. There are many forums online with people working out answers, but I just wanted to give a heads up with the current drivers.
The bottom line out of all that:
The HD 4870 seems to run quieter and cooler than the GTX 280, and doesn't give me BSODs for some strange reason with Call of Duty 4. This may relate to the card directly, or just to a set of bad drivers on either end, but the PowerColor HD 4870 is awesome.
Conclusion:
Today we've run synthetic benchmarks as well as a few real world benchmarks on the 4870. We've seen the PowerColor card beat the Palit card, as well as get beaten by it. So many current games require a high memory clock, and lots of video memory. If you want a quiet, awesome gaming graphics card for under $300, check out Directron.com for the PowerColor HD4870.
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