3-way Multi-GPU roundup

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,400
1,076
126
Nice settings and a slew of games. It's nice to know which games are scaling well with my 4870 1GB cards in 2x Crossfire.
 

brblx

Diamond Member
Mar 23, 2009
5,499
2
0
some crazily different results between games there. seems the nvidia cards are scaling a little more consistently, though.
 

vj8usa

Senior member
Dec 19, 2005
975
0
0
Whoa, I wonder what part of Mass Effect they used for their benchmarks. Their results have the single 4890 averaging 24FPS and dipping to 16 at 1680x1050. I'm pretty sure I was getting much higher framerates at those settings on my puny 4850.
 

Hauk

Platinum Member
Nov 22, 2001
2,806
0
0
Thanks for posting OP. A good 3-way review includes analysis of how effective a third card is over a two card system, which the review included. Bang for the buck kinda goes out the window on the third card but it does help on average.

I admit my third 285 yields little return on investment (if we can even call it that); but it helps smooth out overall gameplay in most situations. Benchies are a snapshot. But smooth gameplay through various scenes is the real world application. It's playing those games maxed and them remaining smooth through tough scenes where I appreciate the extra horsepower.

Kudos to 4890.. it kicks good ass and offers excellent bang for the buck when buying two or three cards. I'd gladly have spent $199 times three over what I spent.. :eek:
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,400
1,076
126
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Nice settings and a slew of games. It's nice to know which games are scaling well with my 4870 1GB cards in 2x Crossfire.

I'll add one more benchmark.

Dawn of War 2 - 29 min, 48 avg, and 92 max FPS with adaptive AA, 4x AA, and 16x AF at 1680x1050. Their setup is pretty much verbatim what I have setup for the 4870 2x.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
i'll add 15 more benchmarks at the weekend; and i am also showing FrankenFire CrossFire-X scaling they don't; but i am not bothering with SLi this time

4870-X2 + 4870
4870-X2 + 4890
4890 + 4870
4890 + 4890

i have completed testing 11 Crossfire configurations with different clock speeds of the video card pairs, compared. Our conclusions are similar
rose.gif
 

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
7,165
824
126
Thanks for the link OP.

As soon as i get my 4890s benched tonight, I'll post some results compared to a 4870x2.

 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
it eats X2 alive

and if you OC them to 975/1050 you will not care so much for X2 anymore
-Heck a pair of Overclocked 4890s are sometimes faster than TriFire
 

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
7,165
824
126
Originally posted by: apoppin
it eats X2 alive

and if you OC them to 975/1050 you will not care so much for X2 anymore
-Heck a pair of Overclocked 4890s are sometimes faster than TriFire

Sweet. That's what I was hoping for. I only benched 4 games before I sold my X2 but it should be interesting nonetheless.
 

Schmide

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2002
5,745
1,036
126
I just got another 4870 512 for $120 to run in crossfire. I feel bad for my power supply, but I'll feel better running anti-aliasing at 1920x1200.