Comments on Crossfired 4830 *1GB* cards?

[cremefilled]

Zipzoomfly has an MSI Radeon 4830 1GB for $89 AR (about $97 shipped), leaving it just barely more expensive than the current best deal on a 4830 512MB. User reviews on this board show that it might be an especially good overclocker.

Could a graphics guru comment on the possibilities of running a pair of these Crossfired? I've read numerous reviews on 4830's Crossfired, on 4850's Crossfired, on the 4850X2 1GB and 2GB versions, etc. Running a pair of these would be cheaper than a 4850X2 1GB, and the same price as the cheapest 4870 1GB or GTX 260. Is the extra memory going to make a difference at extreme resolutions, or will it be bandwidth starved? Any guesses on a 4850X2 1GB (so, 512MB per core) comparison?

I'm aware of the drawbacks of running two graphics cards, so for the sake of argument, assume that I don't care about power consumption, noise, Crossfire compatibility with older games, etc., and that I have a motherboard and PSU ready for Crossfire.


http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...9648&prodlist=celebros

 

[Tempered81]

I'd say the 1GB would be great compared to the 512mb. In fact - the 512mb cards are hard to put in bandwidth starved situations in the first place... like cod4 max detail 4xAA 2560 30" res, and crossfire 4830 512 at stock speed are still faster than a 1GB gtx280 OC. Where the card should shine would be games/situations where 4870 1gb outshines the 4870512.

You should be on an x38, x48, x58, or p45 chipset though. I'd rank the chipset's crossfire performance like so: 1. x48, 2. x58, 3. x38, 4. p45
all the lesser chipsets, p35, 965, etc... won't give crossfire it's full potential.

 

[nitromullet]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...-hd4830-crossfire.html

AT discussion about the above: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...d=31&threadid=2273443&

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...-hd4830-crossfire.html

AT discussion about the above: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...d=31&threadid=2273443&

Yeah, but that's pertinent to the 512MB versions. We already know 1GB makes a fairly significant difference at higher resolutions with the 4870 (and 4850 I think). Stands to reason a pair of $89 1GB 4830's in Crossfire would make for one hell of a budget setup.

 

[nitromullet]

Stands to reason a pair of $89 1GB 4830's in Crossfire would make for one hell of a budget setup.

...without question.

The link was really more for benchmarks of 4830 CF, which clearly shows that between a 4870 1GB and 4830 512MB CF the only drawback on the CF setup is CF itself for the games tested up to 1920x1200. If memory was the issue, you would see the CF setup run fine at lower resolutions but tank at 1920x1200.

Based on this, it's doubtful that most current games at resolutions 1920x1200 and lower would see much benefit from the 1GB cards. That being said, that may change in the future and considering the price of these 1GB cards there is really no reason not to get the additional RAM.