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4850x2 or 4870 1gb

M

moullas

Junior Member
what you guys think?

the price difference is minimal on newegg, like 10 bucks or so.
i read some comments around on the x2 that if a game doesnt support CF then you are stuck with a 4850 but on the other hand the reviews show that a 4850x2 > 4870


so what you guys think?

 
4850x2 will be up to twice as fast (probably more like 1.2-1.8x as fast) as a 4850 if the game supports crossfire. Otherwise, it will perform about the same as a 4850.
I'd go with the 4870 though, personally. Crossfire (and sli) tend to have more stuttering than single card setups, and additional vram also helps to eliminate stuttering and may even improve framerate significantly in a few games.
 
Originally posted by: Fox5
4850x2 will be up to twice as fast (probably more like 1.2-1.8x as fast) as a 4850 if the game supports crossfire. Otherwise, it will perform about the same as a 4850.
I'd go with the 4870 though, personally. Crossfire (and sli) tend to have more stuttering than single card setups, and additional vram also helps to eliminate stuttering and may even improve framerate significantly in a few games.
Click to expand...

I would never go dual card because imo the negatives outweigh the pluses even though most new games do support dual cards.
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Originally posted by: Fox5
4850x2 will be up to twice as fast (probably more like 1.2-1.8x as fast) as a 4850 if the game supports crossfire. Otherwise, it will perform about the same as a 4850.
I'd go with the 4870 though, personally. Crossfire (and sli) tend to have more stuttering than single card setups, and additional vram also helps to eliminate stuttering and may even improve framerate significantly in a few games.
Click to expand...

I would never go dual card because imo the negatives outweigh the pluses even though most new games do support dual cards.
Click to expand...

get the x2.

Nvidia's and Ati's flagship cards are all going to be dual-gpu.
 
4850 X2 packs a LOT of punch. Now this is odd, Newegg has a 1GB and 2GB Sapphire listed for the same price?? Be sure to cart the 2GB.

Wow, this thing was $400+ at lauch. Nice card for the money now. Man two of these in CF would kick arse!
 
$280 wow. Talk about dropping price.

OP this is a though choice. Guess it really depends on if you can wait for CF profiles, when new games come out or if you can deal with MS. If so throw a little OC on it are your right next to the 4870x2 for the most part.
 
combine the 2GB with today's (12/15) 15% off PayPal/Newegg promotion, and you get that card for $238!!
 
thx for your reply guys

but what about tho that some games might not support cf or even dont scale well with it?

am i stuck then with a simple 4850?
 
yeah but think about it. almost any game now that needs more horsepower than a 4850 will support crossfire. ATi usually makes pretty decent drivers.
 
Originally posted by: moullas
thx for your reply guys

but what about tho that some games might not support cf or even dont scale well with it?

am i stuck then with a simple 4850?
Click to expand...
You can always try renaming the exe to get cf to work. Worst case is you'll have to wait for the next driver release which is every month, so it shouldn't take long to get a CF profile.

Here's the latest review
http://www.firingsquad.com/har...radeon_4850_x2_review/
 
running 2 4850s in crossfire now and it's pretty good. i do get some odd things happening now and then that i never experienced with my single 8800 though. soem odd graphical glitches, but it's not too often and not in all games.
 
Originally posted by: SteelSix
4850 X2 packs a LOT of punch. Now this is odd, Newegg has a 1GB and 2GB Sapphire listed for the same price?? Be sure to cart the 2GB.

Wow, this thing was $400+ at lauch. Nice card for the money now. Man two of these in CF would kick arse!
Click to expand...

Is that a misprint on Newegg, or is the 1GB memory really 240MHz slower then the 1GB version? I would think that would hurt performance a decent amount in a lot of situations.
 
IT would hurt a little bit but then again the 1 gig of memory should counter the performance hit. You can always try your luck in overclocking. I would choose the 2x1gb over the 2x512mb one either way.
 
Originally posted by: Adam8281
combine the 2GB with today's (12/15) 15% off PayPal/Newegg promotion, and you get that card for $238!!
Click to expand...

Please explain as that is GREAT price!

Stability wise and temp wise, would a 4870 be a better choice for a mid tower than the 4850x2?

 
Originally posted by: Stugotz
Originally posted by: Adam8281
combine the 2GB with today's (12/15) 15% off PayPal/Newegg promotion, and you get that card for $238!!
Click to expand...

? Please explain as that is GREAT price!
Click to expand...

See this thread. Basically, Newegg is having a 1 day promotion where you get a 15% discount for paying with PayPal.
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Originally posted by: Fox5
4850x2 will be up to twice as fast (probably more like 1.2-1.8x as fast) as a 4850 if the game supports crossfire. Otherwise, it will perform about the same as a 4850.
I'd go with the 4870 though, personally. Crossfire (and sli) tend to have more stuttering than single card setups, and additional vram also helps to eliminate stuttering and may even improve framerate significantly in a few games.
Click to expand...

I would never go dual card because imo the negatives outweigh the pluses even though most new games do support dual cards.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
Anyone that posts a negative about a product should be required to tell us if they are just repeating what they have heard and/or read or if it is actual experience.

I have had numerous x2 cards and have not had a single issue.

If you want ATI then I would grab that $238 x2 while you still can.
 
Originally posted by: sgrinavi
Anyone that posts a negative about a product should be required to tell us if they are just repeating what they have heard and/or read or if it is actual experience.

I have had numerous x2 cards and have not had a single issue.

If you want ATI then I would grab that $238 x2 while you still can.
Click to expand...

I've read plenty of problems about CF/SLi, but I've only tried SLi once back in the GeForce 6800 days. I try not to comment to much on multi GPU as I have very little experience with it, but from what I read it sounds like it's still not ready for the mainstream user, it's still an enthuisast option, for those willing to tweak and deal with some headaches from time to time.
 
The sapphire 4870 512mb is going for $150 after $20 MIR on the egg right now with the Paypal 15% off special. I mention it because it's so cheap and there really isn't that much performance gained by moving to the 1 GB version, especially for the price imo. I'm not a dual card fan, and really can't comment on the 4850's as I've never SLI'd/Crossfired.

Link in the Hot Deals thread if you're interested.
 
Originally posted by: Stugotz
Given the size, noise, and heat issues in regard to 4850 X2 2GB, what are your thoughts on the GeForce GTX 260 since frame rates on http://www.firingsquad.com/har...50_x2_review/page4.asp seem very close on the bottom of the page?
Click to expand...

They're close in Crysis, but if you look at the rest of the games benchmarked you'll see that the 4850X2 beats out the GTX280 pretty handily. Plus the 2GB 4850X2 is about $40 cheaper than the least expensive GTX280.
 
From what I've read, the main difference between 512 and 1GB on the 4870 comes out in high AA (8x) on high resolutions (24" and above).
 
Originally posted by: sgrinavi
Anyone that posts a negative about a product should be required to tell us if they are just repeating what they have heard and/or read or if it is actual experience.

I have had numerous x2 cards and have not had a single issue.

If you want ATI then I would grab that $238 x2 while you still can.
Click to expand...

Or link to significant issues that a potential buyer should be aware of so they don't have to actually experience it themselves. That way they can avoid potential issues if they feel they'd be adverse to them.

CrossFire Problems with Vista 64

To the OP: I'd go with the single card as it will always have fewer issues than any multi-GPU solution. The only time I would even consider a multi-GPU solution is if the fastest single GPU solution isn't fast enough.
 
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