Zotac GTX 260²
Conclusion
Nvidia’s second revision 260 core and ATI’s 1gb 4870 really couldn’t get much closer. In some games, the frame rate difference was simply too close to call, with tenths of a frame in it. Unfortunately for ATI, the card we tested came pre-overclocked, so squeezing any extra juice out of that will be pretty fruitless. The GTX260 on the other hand had quite a lot of headroom, and the extra clocks enabled it to beat the 4870 hands down in most of the games tested.
Based on the card alone, it seems Nvidia/Zotac have won this round. To better this, if you’re not satisfied by the gaming results, there is also CUDA and PhysX to consider. This may be of particular interest to folders. Although we didn’t have a chance to get any meaningful data comparison, a quick search on the web will show you just how powerful and fast these things are at folding, especially compared the the 4870 and other ATI cards. All in all, we are very impressed with todays results, and the card is avaliable for £222.39 from Yoyotech, making it a very tempting upgrade for avid gamers and folders alike.
The Good
+ Very fast in all our test games.
+ Responds well to overclocking
+ Matches or out-paces an overclocked 4870 in our test games
+ Far Cry 2 Included in the Box
+ Extended Warranty
The Mediocre
* Fairly hot running
The Bad
– Zilch
Overclock3D would like to thank Zotac for supplying todays review sample.
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