I've been amazed by the price drops in ATI hardware recently. I recently came across these four cards:
HD-485X-YDDC XFX 4850 512mb = £86.22 (XXX edition: 650MHz core / 2100MHz GDDR3)
11133-03-20R Sapphire 4870 512mb = £109.12 (standard clock)
11133-04-20R XFX 4870 1gb = £137.40 (standard clock)
11139-01-40R Sapphire 4850x2 1gb = £148.90 (standard clock)
The 4770 held my interest for a while until I found that £30 more could get me a 4870. Also, the 4770 takes up two slots whilst not exhausting out the back of my case - another reason why I chose the above three cards to compare.
The main reason that I'm here is because of the 4850x2. If I had not seen that, I would have bought the 512mb 4870 at £109.12, a fantastic price! Now that I have seen it, however, I'm wondering if it's of greater value at £148.90. I decided to include the cheapest 1gb 4870 I could find just in case the jump from 512mb to 1gb in a 4870 is really worth it.
My pc:
ASUS P5KC motherboard
Core2Duo E6750 2.66GHz 1333FSB
Sapphire x1950pro 512mb
Corsair TwinX 2GB DDR2 6400 C5
Coolermaster eXtreme Power 650W PSU- ATX 12V V2.01 120mm Fan 20+4pin
250gb WD2500AAKS
22" 1680x1050 monitor
Running Vista Ultimate 32bit
I'm new to this forum but have been reading Anandtech for a long time now. After browsing the forum, it's clear that the expertise and professionalism here is similar to that displayed in the front page posts.
If you'd be so kind - considering my current specs and (more importantly) dual-gpu drivers from ATI for current games, which card is the best choice?
EDIT: Just found a factory overclocked 4850 for CHEAP! Mind you, all of these cards cost less than my ticket to Glastonbury festival this summer. I've no idea of the value of these cards and whether the jumps in price are worth it. My base choice is the XXX 4850 512mb, but if the £23 gap to the 4870 512mb is worth it then I'll take that. However, if the 4850x2 1gb at £148.90 is a fantastic deal, I might take that instead. The longevity of the purchase is my primary concern.
HD-485X-YDDC XFX 4850 512mb = £86.22 (XXX edition: 650MHz core / 2100MHz GDDR3)
11133-03-20R Sapphire 4870 512mb = £109.12 (standard clock)
11133-04-20R XFX 4870 1gb = £137.40 (standard clock)
11139-01-40R Sapphire 4850x2 1gb = £148.90 (standard clock)
The 4770 held my interest for a while until I found that £30 more could get me a 4870. Also, the 4770 takes up two slots whilst not exhausting out the back of my case - another reason why I chose the above three cards to compare.
The main reason that I'm here is because of the 4850x2. If I had not seen that, I would have bought the 512mb 4870 at £109.12, a fantastic price! Now that I have seen it, however, I'm wondering if it's of greater value at £148.90. I decided to include the cheapest 1gb 4870 I could find just in case the jump from 512mb to 1gb in a 4870 is really worth it.
My pc:
ASUS P5KC motherboard
Core2Duo E6750 2.66GHz 1333FSB
Sapphire x1950pro 512mb
Corsair TwinX 2GB DDR2 6400 C5
Coolermaster eXtreme Power 650W PSU- ATX 12V V2.01 120mm Fan 20+4pin
250gb WD2500AAKS
22" 1680x1050 monitor
Running Vista Ultimate 32bit
I'm new to this forum but have been reading Anandtech for a long time now. After browsing the forum, it's clear that the expertise and professionalism here is similar to that displayed in the front page posts.
If you'd be so kind - considering my current specs and (more importantly) dual-gpu drivers from ATI for current games, which card is the best choice?
EDIT: Just found a factory overclocked 4850 for CHEAP! Mind you, all of these cards cost less than my ticket to Glastonbury festival this summer. I've no idea of the value of these cards and whether the jumps in price are worth it. My base choice is the XXX 4850 512mb, but if the £23 gap to the 4870 512mb is worth it then I'll take that. However, if the 4850x2 1gb at £148.90 is a fantastic deal, I might take that instead. The longevity of the purchase is my primary concern.
