9800 GX2 for $360, HD4850 X2 for $400, or GTX 280 for $470?

[Kadence]

The new Nvidia price drops have changed things a bit - I was thinking of getting two HD4850s for Crossfire for $400, but now the GTX 280 isn't that much more at $470. And the 9800 GX2 is $360.

If I get one of these I'd be using it on a new comp, Q9550 with XP Pro. I'd rather get an Intel motherboard instead of SLI (do the Nvidia cards both require an SLI board? I'd think the 9800 does), but I suppose that's not much of an issue. I hear that the 9800 GX2 might have issues with games that don't support SLI well, would that be true for the 4850 and Crossfire support as well?

Don't really know what the best choice is here, was a much easier call when the GTX 280 was incredibly overpriced

edit: hmm, don't know why the links keep inserting https:// in there [fixed now]

 

[tuteja1986]

Well GTX280 is go path :! save the trouble of SLI and Crossfire problem and also no shuttering issue.


I think 4870 is a better buy for $300

http://www.computerbase.de/art.../#abschnitt_benchmarks here is MSI oc 4870 mini review.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Your links aren't working but the 4850's would require an intel board but if you use only 1 a Nvidia board would work... a single nvidia card doesn't require a nvidia board... best bang for the buck maybe a 4870. the vision tek at newegg just dropped to 299.

 

[Kadence]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
Well GTX280 is go path :! save the trouble of SLI and Crossfire problem and also no shuttering issue.

What do you mean shuttering?

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
Your links aren't working but the 4850's would require an intel board but if you use only 1 a Nvidia board would work... a single nvidia card doesn't require a nvidia board...

I couldn't figure out this morning why it kept putting https:// in there, it's because I clicked the https button instead Is not needing SLI the case for the 9800 GX2 though, as I read it's dual GPU?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Maybe you should search the forums about issues regarding multi GPU setups. Some of those drawbacks might make you think twice before considering a GX2, X2 type cards.

 

[vgkarthik88]

i think what Cookie Monster is saying is games have to be profiled in the driver for Crossfire to work efficiently. if they arent profiled you will effectively get 0% scaling from 1 to 2 card. that is the big advantage of single GPU solutions. However, dual GPUs are being so common that driver profiling is a key priority for ATI and NV. you may see issues for the first few days after a games release but a patch will be out quite soon. also, ( i seem to say this often LOL ) rem the 4870X2 is on the way. i think fud sed it wud be around $500. 2 x 4870s with 2GB GDDR5 for $500? beats a GTX 280 to the middle of next month!

 

[nib95]

Neither. Get a 4870, not far off the performance of a 280 GTX (especially after OC'ing) and a hell of a lot more bang for buck.

 

[vgkarthik88]

c again nib95 makes an excellent point. also if u wait a bit ( arrrgh waiting!! hate it!! ) partners will launch custom coolers for 4870 which will let u OC like mad!! u can take a GTX 280 at stock with that!

 

[hans007]

the dual 4850 is the best buy.

its no where near $400 either. theres tons of deals with rebate that take it to $150-160. if you get a 10% best buy coupon from the post office (available all the time) even best buy carries it for $180.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

the GTX price drop has to be the fastest drop i've seen in history!

 

[Sentry2]

Originally posted by: vgkarthik88
c again nib95 makes an excellent point. also if u wait a bit ( arrrgh waiting!! hate it!! ) partners will launch custom coolers for 4870 which will let u OC like mad!! u can take a GTX 280 at stock with that!

If he's willing to do a vmod. Even with an aftermarket cooler a 4870 is likely to top out at 800MHz maybe a bit more. Stock vgpu from what I've seen on the 4870's is around 1.26v. The memory on the other hand....overclock away with stock voltage...

Don't get a GX2. If you're gonna run dual gpu's get 2x 4850's and a X38/X48 board. If not get a GTX 280 and an X38/X48 but for crying out loud don't get an nvidia board. :beer:

 

[Kadence]

I think the 4870 is a good buy at X2 but for my needs, a great amount of that performance would probably go to waste.

Just getting a single 4870 would be good, but because 4870X2 would be a waste (potential untapped) that limits that path for me. Also the 4870 is only 15%-20% faster than the 4850 right? I can accept that.

I think maybe I'll just get a single 4850 for now, and then later I can either Crossfire with another one - or simply wait for new cards to come out and get something better than what's out now.

Do people report games having more problems with Crossfire or SLI, in general?

 

[Kadence]

Originally posted by: Sentry2
Don't get a GX2. If you're gonna run dual gpu's get 2x 4850's and a X38/X48 board. If not get a GTX 280 and an X38/X48 but for crying out loud don't get an nvidia board. :beer:

Thanks. What about P45 boards like the P5Q Pro?

Do Nvidia boards have a bad reputation, and if so why?

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: hans007
the dual 4850 is the best buy.

its no where near $400 either. theres tons of deals with rebate that take it to $150-160. if you get a 10% best buy coupon from the post office (available all the time) even best buy carries it for $180.

sapphire 4850 is now $145 AR using the coupon code from hot deals section here...$290 total for 4850 CF is just plain stupid. I've been out of pocket for my move, but if 4850 is ~ $150 nvidia has nowhere to go on their prices...

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Kadence

Originally posted by: Sentry2
Don't get a GX2. If you're gonna run dual gpu's get 2x 4850's and a X38/X48 board. If not get a GTX 280 and an X38/X48 but for crying out loud don't get an nvidia board. :beer:

Thanks. What about P45 boards like the P5Q Pro?

Do Nvidia boards have a bad reputation, and if so why?

p45 mobos don't run CF as well as x38/48. the jury is still out on whether that is due to immature p45 drivers or a limitation of the x8/x8 pci-e 2.0 path getting saturated somehow.

yes, nvidia boards in general have a bad rep. the new 790i are probably as good as anything intel has, but they're also all $300+. A better way to put that would be that nvidia mobos are generally inferior to intel mobos until you get up into the $300+ price range.

 

[Kadence]

Thanks Bryan, if that deal code works I might end up getting CF with 4850's after all.

Is there somewhere I can find out more about P45 boards not running CF as well as X38/X48? Just how much is the difference - is it noteworthy, or trivial?

And are there any known problems with Crossfire gaming on XP Pro? (due to driver support etc.)

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: Kadence
Thanks Bryan, if that deal code works I might end up getting CF with 4850's after all.

Is there somewhere I can find out more about P45 boards not running CF as well as X38/X48? Just how much is the difference - is it noteworthy, or trivial?

And are there any known problems with Crossfire gaming on XP Pro? (due to driver support etc.)

Not that I know of as far as the driver issues on xp pro.

I think your making a pretty good decision on CF 4850's..they are a good bang for the buck. The only problem being that the occasional game will only recognize 1 card.

The jury is out on the motherboard..I'd think if you want some "future" proofing as far as the cards go, I'd invest in the x38/x48. P45 isn't a bad deal either..but i'd rather be sure I'd be getting the best performance out of my CF'd cards.

 

[dakels]

2x 4850's for about $300 would be the biggest bang for the buck but with the huge factor of no scalability. If you don't intend on needing more GPU power until buying a whole new generation of cards a while from now, I think dual 4850's is the best move in the sub $500 category. It also depends on what you will be doing though, some apps and games don't scale with SLI/Xfire. In those situations a single card solution would be the best. If you want a 4870 I personally would wait a few weeks to see some discounts pop up. I expect to see 4870's for $250ish in a month (personal speculative opinion). Even at $290 the 4870 is really an amazing deal and SLI that would just be overkill for most situations.

 

[Gikaseixas]

out of your choices i would get 4850 CF

but i think 4870 is a better deal for you. Enough performance at a fair price

 

[RussianSensation]

I would say 4850s in CF is pretty impossible to beat for $300 after MIRs and I was never a proponent of SLI/CF.

 

[DaveSimmons]

My suggestion is if you game at 16x12 / 16x10 or lower, get the 4850. If you want to game at 19x12, get the 4870.

The 4850 plays many games well at 19x12, the 4870 just changes "many" to "almost all" and makes them all play a bit smoother.

 

[Kadence]

This would be overkill for my needs so I wouldn't get it, but it occurred to me that one could actually get three 4850's for not much more than what a 280GTX costs.

Has any site done benchmarks on Tri-Crossfire setups to see how well they scale? And what would be necessary for a setup like that (mobo, power supply etc.)?

 

[sgrinavi]

Personally I would do a mid-range x48 board (w/ddr2) and a single 4870... buy.com is selling them on Ebay for $279 w free shipping and CompUSA had them for $275 when I stopped in yesterday. At 1900x1200 that should do just fine. If you need to, or just want to play, you can add a second 4870 (or even a 4870x2) sometime down the road.

 

[Kadence]

I'm probably going to get two 4850's, but I was curious on benchmarks and stuff for a Tri-Fire setup. As well as if you need any sort of special power supplies or anything.

There's also a chance I might get 2 4850's, and then in another year or two add another newer Crossfire-compatible card to go with them, so I'd like having a setup that makes that an option.

 

[User5]

I actually planned to add another 4850 in crossfire, but decided against it, for now anyway. Theres no reason to be honest.. i'm playing EVERY game, 4X/16X, 1680x1050 or 1920x1080. I wasn't expecting a $175 card to perform anywhere near this!

So I think I'm gonna wait for it to drop to $99.99 to crossfire it, but theres a possibility I will have this single 4850 for longer than any other card I have owned.