Worth upgrading 3870x2 to 4890?

ArizonaSteve

Senior member
Dec 20, 2003
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I run Morrowind and Oblivion on a 30" monitor (2560 x 1600). My 3870x2 does OK, but I cannot use any AA, and the games occasionally stutter even if the FPS is showing 60 (I set the max FPS to 60 in the .ini files, and I am running with vsync off).

I have a few games that don't like crossfire and rather than having to turn Crossfire off, I'd like to run a single GPU.

I also run large texture upgrades, and wonder if a 2GB card would work better than a 1GB card.
 

McRhea

Senior member
Apr 2, 2001
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You will need something with a little more power than just a single 4890 to run games at 2560x1600 with decent AA and AF enabled. Two 4890's in Crossfire or two GTX275's in SLI would work out great... but since you want a single GPU, that narrows your options. There aren't that many cards that can handle that res with any kind of decent AA and AF enabled... the GTX295 can obviously, but that's fairly pricey, especially with DX11 cards just around the corner. There is also the 4870 X2 card, but that's pretty much the same as your current card, just faster.

So your options are: 1.) wait until next generation cards get launched and pick up a cheaper 4890/GTX275/GTX295, 2.) wait until next generation cards and pay a huge premium for new hardware, 3.) pick up a GTX295 now.

Toms Hardware July Graphics card roundup

That guide above recommends two 4890's or two GTX 275's for 30" monitors at the 2560x1600 resolution instead of a single GTX295... and if I had a 30" monitor I would do two 4890's (only because I already have a 4890).

What's your budget look like? If you don't care about price, then get the GTX295 now, and upgrade in another year to a DX11 card once all the kinks have been worked out.
 

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
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Considering he's currently using an HD3870x2, even a single HD4890 1GB will be a good upgrade from this at this resolution in that he should get more consistent framerates (probably better minimum framerates). And he should be able to use some AA, thanks to the HD4xxx series improved AA performance (the HD3xxx series had very poor AA performance) and the increase in VRAM size.
 

McRhea

Senior member
Apr 2, 2001
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Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
Considering he's currently using an HD3870x2, even a single HD4890 1GB will be a good upgrade from this at this resolution in that he should get more consistent framerates (probably better minimum framerates). And he should be able to use some AA, thanks to the HD4xxx series improved AA performance (the HD3xxx series had very poor AA performance) and the increase in VRAM size.

Oh no doubt that a single 4890 would be a decent upgrade for him, but I didn't want him to think that he'd be able to max out everything at that resolution and expect it to run super smooth. Just setting expectations so he doesn't get disappointed if he gets the 4890.
 

TemjinGold

Diamond Member
Dec 16, 2006
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Originally posted by: McRhea
Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
Considering he's currently using an HD3870x2, even a single HD4890 1GB will be a good upgrade from this at this resolution in that he should get more consistent framerates (probably better minimum framerates). And he should be able to use some AA, thanks to the HD4xxx series improved AA performance (the HD3xxx series had very poor AA performance) and the increase in VRAM size.

Oh no doubt that a single 4890 would be a decent upgrade for him, but I didn't want him to think that he'd be able to max out everything at that resolution and expect it to run super smooth. Just setting expectations so he doesn't get disappointed if he gets the 4890.

He's only running Morrowind and Oblivion, not Crysis, so he should be fine.
 

Gikaseixas

Platinum Member
Jul 1, 2004
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for those games a 4890 will be a decent upgrade

if you have a xfire capable MB you could consider getting two 4870's as they're cheap these days.