What's the Best SLI or Crossfire combination

[MraK]

Good afternoon everyone,

I am in a little dilemma, in regards to choosing what's the best 2-way SLI or 2-way crossfire. I need to buy these cards very soon (during the first week of July) for a new i7 build. I know their may already be a topic dealing with this kind of thing, but I'm just looking for the best 2-way combos, and not the 3-4way combinations.

If the price is worth it, but the performance has to match to its price, what's the best videocard (2-way) combo to get, till the new cards come out this fall-winter??

2-way SLI GTX260s / (896 or 1792MB)
2-way SLI GTX275s / (896 or 1792MB)
2-way SLI GTX280s / (1GB)
2-way SLI GTX285s / (1GB or 2GB)

or

2-way Crossfire HD4870s / (1GB or 2GB)
2-way Crossfire HD4890s / (1GB)

I just want the best combo that would match up with a good x58 board and an i7 950 with some nice DDR3 memory. The cards will be running with a 24"inch monitor.

Price doesnt really matter as it is the best performance for price that I am looking for. But if anyone feels that from now till then (when the new cards come out) that I should just wait till the cards come out and settle for sticking with my 8800GTX, please lend me your advice.

Knowing that their won't be any DX11 games coming out any time soon (maybe last part of 2010), I feel that sticking with some good DX10 for now will do be justice.

THANKS in advance!

 

[Sylvanas]

4890 Crossfire

/thread

 

[vj8usa]

Dual 2GB 285s would be quite nice.

 

[Blazer7]

4890 CF

I think that you should have added a poll.
It would have made things simpler.

 

[dug777]

I would have thought that a single 4890 would be quite sufficient for 1920x1200...?

 

[MraK]

wow its really nice how some of you guys mentioned have a pair of 4890s in CF, thought some people would say go for Nvidia, lucky enough I've decided to be open minded and not side to only one brand, but stay open with options. While "vj8usa" recommended getting DUal 2GB 285's, in return I know I would have a killer rig, but having 2 2GB (2GBx2=4GB) wouldn't that be overkill for a 24" inch monitor?? And since so far it was only mentioned about Dual 285s and Dual 4890s, which of the two combos is better in terms of performance with today's games??

oh btw I just need a beef of a combo to last me till the next generation cards become really popular, say sometime before the summer of next year perhaps. I just need enough power to last or satisfy me till that time comes, for I wont be getting the next cards right away, when they finally come out.

thanks for the tips guys!

 

[MraK]

Originally posted by: Blazer7
4890 CF

I think that you should have added a poll.
It would have made things simpler.

sorry about that =) felt that a poll wasn't the way I was looking for, I was meaning to just get an in depth opinion that's all.

 

[Blazer7]

Originally posted by: MrAK
While "vj8usa" recommended getting DUal 2GB 285's, in return I know I would have a killer rig, but having 2 2GB (2GBx2=4GB) wouldn't that be overkill for a 24" inch monitor??

There 're not too many games out there, if any at all, that can take advantage of 2GBs of video mem and since you are looking to upgrade in about a year-year and a half from now, I don't see any reason to spend big on 2GB cards. Have also in mind that once DX11 parts hit the shelves the retail price/value of whatever you're gonna get now will plunge and DX11 parts should start appearing in the next 3-4 months.

And since so far it was only mentioned about Dual 285s and Dual 4890s, which of the two combos is better in terms of performance with today's games??

285s hands down.

I had 2 factory oced GTS 512 in SLI until recently (that's about as powerful as a single 285) and everything was fine for me @1920x1200. I believe that any dual GPU setup in your list would be adequate unless you are in for games like Crysis and you want all the eye candy and then some.

I suggested the 4890 CF because I believe that it's more than enough for the next year-year and a half and has very good performance/price ratio.

 

[Eureka]

295 SLi is probably best in pure performance... 285 SLi is decent too.

Best price/performance is 4890 CF... but you're better off sticking to one 4890 if you're upgrading soon.

 

[Denithor]

Just keep in mind that we are about 3-4 months from the next generation of hardware from both camps. Should be a very nice jump in performance - most stuff I've read suggests at least 50% more power over current top end cards. So I would actually recommend getting enough GPU to "get by" until the new cards are released.

Single GTX 285 or 4890 should do the trick for 19x12.

 

[nitromullet]

For $300 with no rebates you can pick up two 4870 1GB cards. Out of your cards, I'm pretty sure the best bang/buck ratio ranking would be like this:

1 - 4870 1GB CF
2 - 4890 CF
3 - GTX 260 SLI
4 - GTX 275 SLI
5 - GTX 280 SLI
6 - GTX 285 SLI

Ranked for performance (stock clocks/cooling):

1 - GTX 285 SLI
2 - GTX 280 SLI
3 - GTX 275 SLI*
4 - 4890 CF*
5 - 4870 1GB CF
6 - GTX 260 SLI

*275 SLI and 4890 CF are probably pretty much tied in this category.

edit: added the GTX 280 to the rankings.

From my own personal experience with GTX 280 SLI, I wouldn't really recommend spending any more than what is needed for a 4890 CF setup for a dual gpu rig. Sure, the GTX 285 SLI rig will be faster, but the only game you might notice the difference in at 1920x1200 would be Crysis/Warhead. I personally sold my second GTX 280, bought an Xbox 360 with the money, and kept the first GTX 280 for my PC.

I think if I was building a multi-gpu rig from scratch today I'd probably look into 4890CF or GTX 260 3-way SLI. Although, quite honestly it's a little late in this generation of cards to be building a mutli-gpu powerhouse IMO. I'd suggest picking up a single 4890 and playing on that until the next gen from both NV and ATI come out.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
For $300 with no rebates you can pick up two 4870 1GB cards. Out of your cards, I'm pretty sure the best bang/buck ratio ranking would be like this:

1 - 4870 1GB CF
2 - 4890 CF
3 - GTX 260 SLI
4 - GTX 275 SLI
5 - GTX 285 SLI

Ranked for perfroamce:

1 - GTX 285 SLI
2 - GTX 275 SLI*
3 - 4890 CF*
4 - 4870 1GB CF
5 - GTX 260 SLI

*275 SLI and 4890 CF are probably pretty much tied in this category.

Lies, my 280s in SLI are faster than 285s in SLI due to some tweaking

 

[MraK]

Since I have noticed from the posts that probably a single 1GB GTX285 or especially a single HD4890 would do the trick till the new cards come out, I guess maybe the best time to get a dual setup is when the new cards come out in November or December of this year. That being said, since I'm using a 1920x1200 monitor wouldn't a 2GB GTX285 do the trick rather that 2 1GB HD4890s in xfire, since I read that the more vmemory a card has the better the performance on that size screen??

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: MrAK
Since I have noticed from the posts that probably a single 1GB GTX285 or especially a single HD4890 would do the trick till the new cards come out, I guess maybe the best time to get a dual setup is when the new cards come out in November or December of this year. That being said, since I'm using a 1920x1200 monitor wouldn't a 2GB GTX285 do the trick rather that 2 1GB HD4890s in xfire, since I read that the more vmemory a card has the better the performance on that size screen??

No, 1GB video memory is plenty for 1920x1200 with high levels of AA, AF, and triple buffered if you wish.

 

[dug777]

As I kinda squawked early on, wouldn't a single 4890 be fine for you at that res, at least from most of the benchmarks I have seen?

Heck, I'm finding my 4850@790/1013 more than adequate for my 1920x1200, granted I'm not playing crysis but it's quite capable enough for FarCry2 at that res, especially with the slight oc