X1950 Crossfire or HD 4850

[Team42]

Excuse the long post: At the time of writing, it's late and I?m on my 3rd vodka and red bull?

My current rig is in the signature below (hopefully). However, amongst other things (which I shall not ask you, kind reader, about) I want to upgrade my GPU.

Some background: I use my PC primarily for work (MS Office), net-surfing, video and music. I?m happy with the current spec for all of that, and have no need to change anything (except for a few quieter fans and some cunning anti-dust technology).

However, I also use the PC for gaming. Nothing too serious, mind: I?m still playing Far Cry (sue me, it?s a stress reliever?), COD4, Sniper Elite, F.E.A.R, HALO, CS:S, Tiger Woods 2008 and Spider Solitaire, although not always at the same time (have you ever tried taking out a Trigen with a 9 iron in WWII Berlin while using 4 decks of cards? It?s bloody hard, I can tell you?). I will NOT be playing Crysis (did the Demo, didn?t like it), I?m hoping to play DiRT very soon, and I?m eagerly awaiting FarCry 2.

I have a bit of a budget to upgrade my PC, and will be looking to build in the next couple of months. My main aim is to maximise my graphics performance so that game play is smooth and beautifully rendered. And a cheap as possible, of course? I?m not into benchmarking against other people?s rigs (I don?t have enough money to be certain to win) and consequently, I?m not looking to build The World?s Bestest Ever Gaming Computer By Far.

I?m planning on upgrading to an Intel E8400, with a Thermalright Ultra Extreme CPU cooler, but sticking with my current PC2-6400 RAM which I hope to be able to run at 400 MHz to give 3.6 GHz CPU, with 1:1 FSBRAM).

Now, to the whole raison d?etre of this post, and where I start to get a bit confused.

With my current set-up, and using my X1950 Pro, improving my graphics would mean going to Crossfire (which means a new motherboard and, to ensure PCIe bandwith isn?t limited, this seems to means an X38 or X48 board*), as well as an additional X1950 Pro. Total cost £260.26.

However, a PCIe 2.0 card (and I?m thinking Radeon HD 4850 here), using my current (PCIe 1.0) motherboard, would only cost £130.13. Note that is exactly half-price!

So, 2 x X1950 Pro in Crossfire on a PCIe 2.0 motherboard (Option 1) will cost me twice as much as a HD 4850 (PCIe 2.0 card) on my current (PCIe 1.0) motherboard (Option 2). Put that way, I'm begining to see the beginings of a flaw here...

Now, here?s the real (possibly stupid) question: will 2 x X1950 Pro in Crossfire on a PCIe 2.0 interface prove better than a single HD 4850 with PCIe 1.0 interface to the extent that it will offset the double price differential (I?m thinking not, given the reviews I?ve read) or would a single HD 4850 on my current motherboard just make me want to forget I ever owned an X1950 Pro?. Would I see any benefit in real day-to-day gaming terms? If the HD 4850 is the way to go, would upgrading to a PCIe 2.0 motherboard make any significant (and obvious) difference to me?

I?ve tried reading all the reviews (here and on other sites) but I must confess to being a bit slow when it comes to certain aspects of computer technology). And if I understood everything, I wouldn?t be asking for your assistance, would I?

I?m also slow at typing. I?m on my 5th vod and bed rule now?

Cheers.

T42

* If I?m going to change the motherboard, I?m going to go with PCIe 2.0. I can?t see any point in changing to anything less.

 

[bigsnyder]

Unless, you can get a really cheap deal on another X1950, I would definitely go HD4850. Haven't seen any benches, but I would think beyond a shadow of a doubt that the HD4850 will smoke a pair of X1950s. Right now, PCIe 1.0 vs PCIe 2.0 won't be a huge factor, but if go the HD4850 route and plan to crossfire it, then PCIe 2.0 will give a small performance boost. If you change boards give these a look:

Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 (just the plain X38-DS4 is not as feature rich)
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4

These two boards are essentially the same, down to the same PCB. Also, look for the same boards in a DS5 variant, which is probably available in your area for not much more money.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

well, least you didn't click the buy button under the influence : )

The new 4850 + a 8400 would be awesome. And if you want to cut down on the ele bill, get a 80+ efficient PSU, trust me on this. I exchanged my old enermax psu for a 80+ efficiency 500w liberty for my 8400 system and the bill was cut by 20+ dollars!

EDIT: don't worry about the 2.0 interface and all that horseshit, the 1.0 interface won't be saturated for a while.

 

[Team42]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
well, least you didn't click the buy button under the influence : )

Couldn't find the damn thing...

I'll not be buying for at least a month. I like to do my research first.

2 votes for the HD 4850 then? And stay with PCIe 1.0 for the time being? I like the cheaper options, but only if they'll work .

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

take it from a person that arleady has a 1900 with an 8400, i know you said in x fire but you'd be better off with that 4850 (don't forget to use Riva Tuner to max out the fan speed to keep it cool)

 

[Sylvanas]

X1900 Xfire was about the same as a 2900XT when it was released, now the 4850 is at least twice as fast as a 2900/3870 in which case the 4850 will be a massive improvement over X1900 Crossfire, not to mention a hell of alot more future proof. A single card in pci-e 1.0 motherboard will be fine, it's only when you Crossfire two modern cards in a 1.0 motherboard that there's a problem. So 4850 without a doubt.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: bigsnyder
Unless, you can get a really cheap deal on another X1950, I would definitely go HD4850. Haven't seen any benches, but I would think beyond a shadow of a doubt that the HD4850 will smoke a pair of X1950s. Right now, PCIe 1.0 vs PCIe 2.0 won't be a huge factor, but if go the HD4850 route and plan to crossfire it, then PCIe 2.0 will give a small performance boost. If you change boards give these a look:

Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 (just the plain X38-DS4 is not as feature rich)
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4

These two boards are essentially the same, down to the same PCB. Also, look for the same boards in a DS5 variant, which is probably available in your area for not much more money.

Just be aware that the DS4 varient is crippled by Gigabyte. The uncrippled EX38-DS5 is no longer made, and the EX48-DS5 seems unavailable in the US. You can thank Gigabyte for that screwed-up situation.

I'm looking for the EX48-DS5 myself in the US of A and I'm not having any luck.

 

[MagicBoyUK]

4850 - no contest.

I've just upgraded from a pair of X1950Pro's on a P35 board and the 4850 is a good 40-50% quicker.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

HD 4850 would make FOUR X1950s cry.

 

[bigsnyder]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Just be aware that the DS4 varient is crippled by Gigabyte. The uncrippled EX38-DS5 is no longer made, and the EX48-DS5 seems unavailable in the US. You can thank Gigabyte for that screwed-up situation.

I'm looking for the EX48-DS5 myself in the US of A and I'm not having any luck.

Nevermind, I guess you are referring to the two less SATA ports on the DS4

 

[Denithor]

Radeon HD 3850 beats x1950xtx easily.

Consider that statement and those graphs (note that that is the considerably faster XTX card, not the PRO you have). The 3870 is obviously faster than the 3850. Then consider this statement and COD4 benchmark.

Radeon HD 4850 rips the HD 3870 a new one.

Talk about making 4 x1950pros cry...

And you already have a really fast processor, e4300 @ 3GHz is no slouch. If you must upgrade your CPU (and I really don't see any reason why you should--I went from an e6400@3GHz to my e8400 and have seen no differences at all) go for the cheaper e7200 and OC to 3.5-4GHz.

My suggestions: buy a Radeon 4850 and a newer/bigger/faster/cooler harddrive (Western Digital WD6400AAKS) to replace your old GPU and HDDs. Try that setup out before spending any further money, you might be surprised at how much impact those two changes will have on your overall (and especially gaming) performance.

Good luck!

 

[Munky]

Another vote for the 4850, it'll be faster than dual x1950pro by far.