best budget hd4870 upgrade...twins!!!???

[oldswab]

hi folks,

I just spent eighty bucks to go 4870 512mb crossfire from a 1090t, asus crosshair iv 890fx, 16 gb mostly data but sometimes gaming 1080p sys. My current 4870 will have to be refitted w a stock cooler to accommodate a twin, but otherwise I wanted opinions on this upgrade now that i've panned 2 40nm upgrades. I play lotro and bfbc2 as time permits.

happy new year!!!

current 4870 is cooled by thermalright hr03gt plu vrm cooler for sound

edit psu is a 3yr old antec trio 650

 

[Modular]

I can't really say other than to chime in and say I think I may go the same route with my 4850's.

A pair of these 4800 series cards is more performance than most people on one monitor need, let alone buying one of the new behemoths that are coming out from both camps. I'm sure you'll be very happy!

 

[Termie]

While it's an inexpensive upgrade, I think the 512MB will hurt you at 1080p. Also, that's a ton of idle power and heat for a system you mostly use for data. You put good money into a Thermalright to limit the noise, and now you'll have to lose that advantage and add some more noise. Consider selling both cards and buying a GTX460 1GB or HD6850, which will give you at least 50% higher performance than your single card with less heat, power, and noise. Obviously more money ($160-$170), but you could probably get nearly that much for your two cards. In memory-limited games (which are becoming more common), the cards I mention will be faster than crossfired HD4870 512MB cards.

 

[oldswab]

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ty for the input. I will try cxfr and if the noise is s killer then I will probablt rebay the twin and wsit for a process shrink. I wear headphones for gaming so it will be interesting for me.

 

[toyota]

in many cases your 512mb of vram will be the limitation at 1920x1080 more than the gpu itself. pretty much any game that having an additional 4870 is beneficial will also need more than 512mb. in other words many of your settings and/or performance will be no better with that second 4870 then they are with just one.