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Denithor

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,298
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I saw that too this morning and thought the 9800GTX+ in SLI would actually be a better deal (assuming you have an SLI board). I've seen those cards go for as little as $120AR (like the one in my rig) and a pair of them will kick any single GPU setup at 1920x1200 and below, with one exception - FarCry 2 at Ultra High settings, where the 9800GTX+ stumbles.

If you tally up the performance (1920x1200):
SLI 9800GTX+ vs singleGPU - Wins 6 out of 7 benchmarks (convincingly in many cases)
SLI 9800GTX+ vs 4850X2 - Wins 5 ouf of 7 benchmarks (but uses more power)
 
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imported_wired247

Golden Member
Jan 18, 2008
1,184
0
0
Great article... most of all I appreciate they included the 9800GX2 which has disappeared from a lot of GPU reviews lately...

I obviously overpaid for this card but I appreciate seeing that it's still quite competitive with today's latest, and I'm more than satisfied with my card's performance in 1680x1050 resolution.


 
Elfear

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
7,168
826
126
That was a nice article. Anyone know why the Xfired 512MB 4870s generally performed better than the 4870X2?
 
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aka1nas

Diamond Member
Aug 30, 2001
4,335
1
0
Originally posted by: Elfear
That was a nice article. Anyone know why the Xfired 512MB 4870s generally performed better than the 4870X2?
Click to expand...

?? It looks like the other way around in most of the games. Which would make sense, as the X2 should have a bit of an edge with a dedicated interconnect between the GPUs.
 
T

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,065
2,278
126
Originally posted by: Denithor
I saw that too this morning and thought the 9800GTX+ in SLI would actually be a better deal (assuming you have an SLI board). I've seen those cards go for as little as $120AR (like the one in my rig) and a pair of them will kick any single GPU setup at 1920x1200 and below, with one exception - FarCry 2 at Ultra High settings, where the 9800GTX+ stumbles.

If you tally up the performance (1920x1200):
SLI 9800GTX+ vs singleGPU - Wins 6 out of 7 benchmarks (convincingly in many cases)
SLI 9800GTX+ vs 4850X2 - Wins 5 ouf of 7 benchmarks (but uses more power)
Click to expand...

Do they have 1GB 9800GTXs? That would make more sense than putting 2x512 versions in SLI.
 
Elfear

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
7,168
826
126
Originally posted by: aka1nas
Originally posted by: Elfear
That was a nice article. Anyone know why the Xfired 512MB 4870s generally performed better than the 4870X2?
Click to expand...

?? It looks like the other way around in most of the games. Which would make sense, as the X2 should have a bit of an edge with a dedicated interconnect between the GPUs.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I guess I shouldn't have used the word "generally". But GRID@1920x1200, L4D@all resolutions, Crysis@all resolutions, and COD5@1680x1050 & 1920x1200 show the Xfire solution ahead of the X2. Some of the results could be attributed to margin of error but still looked kinda weird to me since the X2 has the dedicated interconnect as you mentioned.
 
C

chizow

Diamond Member
Jun 26, 2001
9,537
2
0
Originally posted by: aka1nas
Originally posted by: Elfear
That was a nice article. Anyone know why the Xfired 512MB 4870s generally performed better than the 4870X2?
Click to expand...

?? It looks like the other way around in most of the games. Which would make sense, as the X2 should have a bit of an edge with a dedicated interconnect between the GPUs.
Click to expand...
There's also the shared PCIE bandwidth to consider, which was also pretty evident when comparing 1GB 4870 CF and 4870X2 in some earlier reviews.

Originally posted by: thilan29
Do they have 1GB 9800GTXs? That would make more sense than putting 2x512 versions in SLI.
Click to expand...
9800GTX+ 1GB Review
Its actually enough difference that it overtakes the 512MB 4870 in some games and resolutions, but still clearly slower than the 260 and 1GB 4870. The problem is pricing, if its $160-180 it'll compete with the 512MB 4870 which still beats it in most games. If its more than that, there's the 260 and 1GB 4870. Maybe an interesting if its $150 or less.

Overall Derek did a really nice job with this review, although there's some things I'd like to see added or followed up on. Looking forward to the rest of the articles they're prepping for sure.
 
Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster

Diamond Member
May 7, 2005
5,161
32
86
Originally posted by: FireChicken
Stay tuned to see how three cards changes the landscape.
Click to expand...

are they hinting at new cards coming out soon?
Click to expand...

Im guessing these are the rebranded GTS series cards from nVIDIA (GTS240/250) and maybe the rumoured HD4700 series (RV740) from ATi.

edit - nice article by AT, would've been nice if the partners or AMD themselves pushed the HD4850X2 SKU instead of it being a custom made solution.
 
Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster

Diamond Member
May 7, 2005
5,161
32
86
Originally posted by: AmberClad
Originally posted by: FireChicken
Stay tuned to see how three cards changes the landscape.
Click to expand...

are they hinting at new cards coming out soon?
Click to expand...
I think he literally means three cards on the board. As in tri-SLI, FrankenFire, etc.
Click to expand...

Or this. But Triple SLi costs so much I doubt it would change any landscape.
 
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AmberClad

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2005
4,914
0
0
I'm guessing he means, "let's see how adding a third card changes the performance equation". Just speculation though :D.

If he were hinting at upcoming products, I tend to think that he'd say "stay tuned to see how three cards will change the landscape".
 
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mhouck

Senior member
Dec 31, 2007
401
0
0
Great article. I'm glad for the state of the multiple gpu nation address. Looking forward to the tri and quad setups. Prediction- still not worth it! anybody want to go 2:1 on it?
 
Elfear

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
7,168
826
126
Originally posted by: chizow
Originally posted by: aka1nas
Originally posted by: Elfear
That was a nice article. Anyone know why the Xfired 512MB 4870s generally performed better than the 4870X2?
Click to expand...

?? It looks like the other way around in most of the games. Which would make sense, as the X2 should have a bit of an edge with a dedicated interconnect between the GPUs.
Click to expand...
There's also the shared PCIE bandwidth to consider, which was also pretty evident when comparing 1GB 4870 CF and 4870X2 in some earlier reviews.
Click to expand...

I wondered about that possibility but I thought that modern graphics cards were still a ways off from saturating a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot.
 
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