4870 1GB, 512MB, or X2 2GB for new system?

[anindrew]

Hi all! Now that all these nice, new video cards are out, I'm planning to build my new PC. It's going to be either a Q9450 or Q9550 with 4GB of DDR2. I have a Gateway FHD2400 24" LCD monitor, which is great. On my old Athlon64 system, I can't play games at 1920x1200. However, the non-native resolutions actually look great on here, too. Still, if I'm getting a new system, it would be nice to be able to play at 1920x1200 with good frame rates.

With which version of the 4870 do you think I should compliment my new system? 4870 512MB, 4870 1GB, or shoot for the top with the 4870 X2 (wish I saw Best Buy's site earlier)?

 

[airhendrix13]

The 4870 512MB just starts feeling memory limitation pains at 1920x1200, but still does a great job at that resolution. It really depends on what you plan on playing, and with what type of AA.

I can't recommend the 4870 1GB right now, because, well, we don't know much about it. I think the only way to give you an accurate recommendation is to wait for some 4870 1GB benchmarks.

 

[Sylvanas]

If you have the budget for a 4870X2 then of course that is an awesome choice and you will have no problems running 8XAA on everything if not more. The question is how long do you intend to keep your PC and can you justify the price vs performance. A 4870 512mb will more than suffice for 1920x1200 so essentially I'd say if budget permits then get an X2, if not then a 4870 will be fine indeed.

 

[anindrew]

You two raise good points. The 4870 512MB does get 30fps in every game at 1920x1200 (except Crysis). I am a fan of eye candy. And my monitor looks great in non-native resolutions. I played COD4 on my old system at 1440x900. It looked beautiful to me. I wouldn't be losing out on anything if I had to play a game at less than 1920x1200.

If the 4870 512MB just starts to feel the memory limitation at 1920x1200, then perhaps the 1GB version would help with that. Maybe it would get similar frames per second to the 4870 X2 when it doesn't scale? I think the 1GB version is supposed to come out in the US by September.

Since I would probably buy another system in a couple years, I don't think the 4870 X2 is the best value. I think either the normal 4870 512MB or 1GB version would be fine for me. If the need (and money) arises, I could always get a second and run them in Crossfire.

 

[bryanW1995]

get the 4870 512 for right now, there are not many instances at all where it runs out of memory at 19x12. If you decide to do a mid-cycle upgrade during the next generation of cards, you should be able to sell the 4870 for decent $$$ and get a newer, faster card for about the difference in price between the current 512 and 1mb 4870's.

case in point: I could have spent extra for some superclocked, supercooled 3870, but instead just got a stock unit. when 4850 came out I only had to pay $40 diff AR after selling my 3870 to upgrade. That was a no-brainer for me, and the 4850 was a much better upgrade than anything I could have done with a 3870.

 

[octopus41092]

4870 is fine for 1920x1200. However, if you have the budget for the 4870X2 then why not .