Hi all,

We have just published our *Winter 2008 Graphics Performance Update* -
if you could post a link on your site that would be very much appreciated.

*Link:*
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/11/10/winter-2008-graphics-performance-update/1


*Picture:*
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/11/winter-2008-graphics-performance-update/fp_img.jpg


*Quote:
*/If you are looking for more performance than that, the GeForce GTX 280
looks to be a good option now and we¡¦d dare say it¡¦s a better option
than the Radeon HD 4850 X2, especially as a stock GTX 280 is a good ¢G50
cheaper. Admittedly there are times when the 4870 X2 will completely
blitz the GTX 280, but there are just as many examples where the
dual-GPU behemoth will suffer from performance inconsistencies like
those we saw in our Far Cry 2 DirectX 9.0 tests thanks to unoptimised
drivers or engine limitations. The bad news is that official driver
support from AMD isn¡¦t coming until January, so 4870 X2 owners may well
feel a little let down by AMD's drivers here.

The other interesting thing we¡¦ve learned from our new testing is that
the GeForce 9800 GTX+ is now a much more compelling option compared to
the Radeon HD 4850. OK, so it¡¦s not as clear cut as, say, choosing the
4870 1GB over either the 4870 512MB or GeForce GTX 260+ and there are
times when the 4850 is quite a lot faster than the 9800 GTX+, but there
are now some scenarios where the 9800 GTX+ is notably faster ¡V we just
couldn¡¦t say that just a few short months ago.

Looking at both Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 shows that Nvidia is now
offering at least comparable, if not better performance than the
competition from AMD in the latest titles. I¡¦m sure AMD has its own
optimisations to do in these games as well, but things are looking a lot
more promising for Nvidia at the moment.

A driver update can¡¦t turn the world upside down though and AMD still
holds a clear performance lead with the Radeon HD 4870 X2 when the
drivers and game engine allow ¡V that¡¦s unlikely to change any time soon
as well, based on what we¡¦ve been hearing. In short then, the Radeon HD
4870 1GB is still the card we'd spend our own money on at the moment,
but the playing field isn¡¦t quite as clear elsewhere as it used to be ¡V
that¡¦s a good thing for consumers though, as there¡¦s now not really a
bad buy in sight any more./*

*Cheers guys!

Tim Smalley
www.bit-tech.net