9800GTX vs 3870 Crossfire???

[savagEKei05]

Hi there,

I am building a new PC but dunno how to choose between the video card

my mobo is Gigabyte P35-DS4, so there are 2 PCI-E 2.0 for crossfire, not Sli tho

9800GTX 300$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339

3870 in Crossfire 280$ (After MIR with combo discount)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102719

I did alot of goggle-ing, can't find a straight answer, but
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rd,1923-5.html
said that "Performance is also comparable to a pair of 9600 GTs in SL" then "Two 9600 GT cards in an SLI configuration will offer performance similar to that of a dual-GPU 9800 GX2, for a bit more than half the price."

If that is true, it would be the best bang for the bucks for crossfire! but the Evga has the step-up program, when 9900gtx comes out, the 9800gtx will drops like hot cake i predict, then can switch to a new card by the time it comes out.

As of right now, please tell me what you think, and what would you choose?

THANKS!

 

[ther00kie16]

9800gtx can be had for about $260 now and will keep pace and probably beat 3870 crossfire and 9600 SLI in some scenarios. With that said, best option right now is to get a 8800GTS 512mb for ~$200 ($230 for evga) because it's just a 9800gtx with lower factory clocks. Or you can wait a month and see what the new video cards will bring. The new ATi card is supposed to be around $230-$250 and could potentially be better than the 9800gtx.

 

[firewolfsm]

The 9600GT is almost as fast as an 8800GT, which is almost as fast as the 9800GTX, there's maybe a 20% difference between the 96 and 9800. Instead of the crossfire setup you can get an X2 which will be faster than the 9800GTX in about 75% of games and lose horribly in the other 25%.

I would get an eVGA card so you can step up when the new ones are released. Get an 8800GT.

 

[Pelu]

I have a Crossfire settup... and believe me when say that is one of the most troublesome things ever....

one card works so stable and reliable... with the two... its a bit faster... but you can get some visual glitches from now and then...

starting with your desktop trying to overtake your game lol...

 

[taihuia13]

I wouldn,t crossfire read this http://www.geekstogo.com/forum...80459.html&pid=1113480

I nearly did that. then people wonder why it doesnt scale well on their setup. If you want two cards much better to get 3870x2 or better 9800x2.I would just by 9600 or 8800 and wait for next generation

 

[JPB]

Some benchmarks here

 

[TC91]

i would recommend waiting till late june / mid july for the graphics card. maybe grab a cheap 8400gs or 2400pro or whatever to get you by until then.

 

[Tempered81]

i say 8800gts 512 or 3870 xfire, or 9600gt sli if you get an sli board.

 

[taltamir]

release dates for G200 and 48xx series are june 18th and 16th respectively. Waiting 3 weeks is advised.

 

[musicetime101]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
The 9600GT is almost as fast as an 8800GT, which is almost as fast as the 9800GTX, there's maybe a 20% difference between the 96 and 9800. Instead of the crossfire setup you can get an X2 which will be faster than the 9800GTX in about 75% of games and lose horribly in the other 25%.

I would get an eVGA card so you can step up when the new ones are released. Get an 8800GT.

Yes I agree that get a 8800gt is a good idea, 8800gt has good performance and they are with good prices now, a recent deal on the XFX GeForce 8800GT 256MB DDR3 Video Card with a Call of Duty 4 is $100. I think this is a good choice, you can save a lot. But if you do want to choose between those two, I think 9800GTX should be better.

 

[ROEHUNTER]

Originally posted by: Pelu
I have a Crossfire settup... and believe me when say that is one of the most troublesome things ever....

one card works so stable and reliable... with the two... its a bit faster... but you can get some visual glitches from now and then...

starting with your desktop trying to overtake your game lol...

I "had" a 3870 crossfire setup until I got so disgusted one night and impulse bought a GTS 512 and have been extremely happy ever since.

 

[taihuia13]

You need 38 northbridge to get 2 x 16 . 35 northbridge reverts to 1 16x and one 4x with two cards as on link above on my other post. Im pretty happy with mine on my Ga-x38-dq6 . But when i brought in New Zealand 8800gt etc where quite a bit more. Single n-vidia cards very good performance and value now.