Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 770MHZ 512MB GDDR5 2XDVI PCI-E Video Card $169.99 afte MIR

[Brewmeanie]

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=35521&vpn=AX4870%20512MD5&manufacture=PowerColor

This seem like a very nice 4870 Video Card for the price of 179.99 w/ $10 MIR.


Seem to run cooler then the normal 4870

[Spensa]

lovely, i bought the sapphire version of this for 279.99 around new years. /sigh

[etherboy]

So... I need a card to replace my 8800GT (although the little sucker did me proud by playing Zeno Clash with 16x AA and 16x AF @ 1680x1050)...

I'm thinking this or a GTX260 Core 216 (want to keep my costs below $200)...

Should I wait for the 275s/4890s to drop or jump on this deal?

(I just got my tax return!)

edit: only 512MB... shouldn't be a big deal at 1680x1050, but I might look out for a 1GB model instead :/

edit2: link shows $289.99 and looking at NCIX shows cheapest price being $224.99

[Brewmeanie]

I'm drooling over this too.

I've been waiting for the ASUS ENGTS250 1GB to drop in price cuz I wanna build a quiet machine. without the use of liquid cooling, but I might damn the wait and jump on this and damn the quiet/liquidless machine build cuz this deal seem really nice.

[etherboy]

Where's the $169.99?

Link or lock please.

[shawn99]

What about the power consumption and noise level compared to the GTX260 Core 216?

[pipegrep]

Where's the $169.99?

Link or lock please.

Wow settle down. Maybe you're doing it wrong.

[etherboy]

Wow settle down. Maybe you're doing it wrong.

I'm just asking for a link to the "hot deal" otherwise this is in the wrong forum?

Maybe it was a price-error? Maybe it was a surprise special?

I'm not blaming the OP, but the fact that his link doesn't include a promocode in the URL makes me wonder...

So maybe you're doing it wrong?

Unless you can share the link that I seem to be unable to find ;)

edit: working now... I stand chastised and corrected...

(I did try about 5-6 times to get the link to work :P)

[Brewmeanie]

wow, I go away to play a few rounds of SF IV and I come back to see this.

lol, the link shoudl work, I just clicked on it, and I got there just fine.

[etherboy]

Link was bugging out...

First couple of times I clicked and it came up as $289.99

Then I clicked and it came up for the sale price... I closed the window, came back and clicked again and it came up as $289.99 then the page changed to show the sale price...

So what are people's thoughts on the 512MB vs 1GB... I'm gaming at 1680x1050, so I don't think it's a huge difference?

Might pull the trigger on this tonight :twisted:

[Brewmeanie]

here's a couple of reviews

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_4870pcs/16.htm

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&id=2684

http://hothardware.com/Articles/PowerColor-PCS-HD-4870-1GB-GDDR5/

[OxBaker]

Here's a Sapphire version for ~$168 after rebate. Any thoughts on which is the better card?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810

[bigredlemon]

thks ordered!

[bigredlemon]

Here's a Sapphire version for ~$168 after rebate. Any thoughts on which is the better card?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810

DOH! wish i got that instead... better brand and better cooling

[Hallandale]

DOH! wish i got that instead... better brand and better cooling

And you've been on RFD for 7 years?

[Brewmeanie]

from the look of it, both cards are great, but shipping should be cheaper with ncix

[bigredlemon]

from the look of it, both cards are great, but shipping should be cheaper with ncix

Saphire card has 80% 5 stars
PowerColor has 50% 5 stars

Hmmmmm....

[sephiroth99]

Link was bugging out...

First couple of times I clicked and it came up as $289.99

Then I clicked and it came up for the sale price... I closed the window, came back and clicked again and it came up as $289.99 then the page changed to show the sale price...

So what are people's thoughts on the 512MB vs 1GB... I'm gaming at 1680x1050, so I don't think it's a huge difference?

Might pull the trigger on this tonight :twisted:

I think 512MB is ok for 1680*1050. I'm running a similar card right now at that resolution, and I don't see any problems from the GPU (I have low FPS because I only have 1GB of RAM)

I think 1GB is more for people playing on 24"+ Monitors at insane resolutions

lovely, i bought the sapphire version of this for 279.99 around new years. /sigh

ditto, I bought a similar Gigabyte before Christmas for 300$ >:(

It's an awesome card and at that price, an awesome deal

[Brewmeanie]

Did you try reading those reviews?

the powercolor one got only 8 reviews, while the sapphire got 300 reviews.

anyway, the 3 bad eggs in the powercolor reviews all had issue with heat which seem to be a result of bad air flows in the case.

[bigredlemon]

Did you try reading those reviews?

the powercolor one got only 8 reviews, while the sapphire got 300 reviews.

anyway, the 3 bad eggs in the powercolor reviews all had issue with heat which seem to be a result of bad air flows in the case.

Some of it had to do with the card being lower clocked than advertised.

In any case, full heatsink + heat pipe vs ordinary heatsink + overclocked.

Its not hard to see which one is hotter. And it isn't because of the case.

[bahasad]

Good card. Good price. Powercolor as a brand though isn't so good. Sapphire or MSI is a better idea.

512MB is good for now, but the primary reason why I didn't get a 4870 is because I think 1GB will be the standard pretty much a couple of months from now.

Remember when 256MB cards were widely available, and after 512MB got released, people said it wasn't worth it? Well the same situation applies now I think.

[Brewmeanie]

I personally like XFX and ASUS, then everything else follow after that.

[Homer Jay Simpson]

Check out this 4870 roundup:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/751-1/roundup-which-radeon-hd-4870.html

It actually talks about the 512MB vs 1GB subject, and also talk about Powercolor and Sapphire.

It doesn't have this exact Powercolor card variant, but the HSF seems to be the same. The review pretty much calls the Powercolor card "average" for a 4870.

It does talk about what appears to be the Sapphire card from this thread (as it appears to be the Lite version), and states:
"Unless you’re deaf, we do not advise you get this Sapphire card because of its overly high noise levels. True the Sapphire bundle is the most complete of all those we have tested, but the bundle only comes with the standard versions of the card. Watch out for the online boutiques that only sell the Lite version without specifying this to be the case. The Lite version does come at a very low price but we prefer the stock model, which is of better quality."

Based on this review, I would probably go for the Powercolor card.

[Homer Jay Simpson]

I personally like XFX and ASUS, then everything else follow after that.

+1 (althought HIS ICEQ is a close 3rd to me)

[bahasad]

I personally like XFX and ASUS, then everything else follow after that.


XFX is good. Asus ... meh. I just don't like their video cards.

[Brewmeanie]

Check out this 4870 roundup:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/751-1/roundup-which-radeon-hd-4870.html

It actually talks about the 512MB vs 1GB subject, and also talk about Powercolor and Sapphire.

It doesn't have this exact Powercolor card variant, but the HSF seems to be the same. The review pretty much calls the Powercolor card "average" for a 4870.

It does talk about what appears to be the Sapphire card from this thread (as it appears to be the Lite version), and states:
"Unless you’re deaf, we do not advise you get this Sapphire card because of its overly high noise levels. True the Sapphire bundle is the most complete of all those we have tested, but the bundle only comes with the standard versions of the card. Watch out for the online boutiques that only sell the Lite version without specifying this to be the case. The Lite version does come at a very low price but we prefer the stock model, which is of better quality."

Based on this review, I would probably go for the Powercolor card.


thx for the link, it's a very good read, you're right, if given the choice, I'll probably pick the HIS ICEQ out of that pack.

[Kellaen]

Sapphire / Powercooler warranty is ass, XfX is the best of the addin partners right now in terms of warranty. That's what matters in this age of cards hitting 85 degrees normal,etc.

[Hallandale]

I've heard BFG has terrific warranties. My friend's dealt with their customer service a few times, every time a card breaks, they send him a better one. I guess it wouldn't be happening if the cards were well built to begin with. Apparently he fries them via a crappy PSU or something.

[superfigz]

I've heard BFG has terrific warranties. My friend's dealt with their customer service a few times, every time a card breaks, they send him a better one. I guess it wouldn't be happening if the cards were well built to begin with. Apparently he fries them via a crappy PSU or something.

BFG and EVGA have awesome warranties (EVGA requires you to register their products in some cases, BFG does not) but they only do NVidia.

In terms of ATI, I think XFX has the best warranty.

[Brewmeanie]

The only Video card that ever fried on me is a Sapphire 9800 pro which I had years ago, but in a way, that's my fault too, I had too much clutter inside the case, and there was a serious lack of proper air flow going thru it.

[mahjongmaniac]

I've heard BFG has terrific warranties. My friend's dealt with their customer service a few times, every time a card breaks, they send him a better one. I guess it wouldn't be happening if the cards were well built to begin with. Apparently he fries them via a crappy PSU or something.

if it's a crappy PSU, your friend should consider himself lucky that it only fried his GPU... sometimes it can fry your mobo too (or so i hear)