I can't believe I am saying this, but the 280 is starting to look good

[AAArDvArK]

So I just read Anandtech's (God I love Anand) review of the 4850, which I was hoping would be my choice, and it seems their 1000W PSU could not handle crossfire 8450 So I guess my 600w Cooler Master eXtreme will definately not be able to. And overclocking is out too I guess. Unless I upgrade a bunch of my components and live with the added noise from the big PSU plus the noise from two cards.

I did not like the 280GTX because of its reported noise and high price. But it seems slashes are coming soon and then there is this:

http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgrgtx2801024h2ocwe.aspx


Water cooled GTX 280 at highest factory OC!


I have 600 USD to burn and one week to decide. I was thinking crossfire but its requirments and the fact that a single card is just scales a lot better than two are changing my mind.

I have an Asus Rampage MB so its either one card or crossfire, SLI is out.

 

[nukemaster]

There is no way a 1000watt psu would not handle 2 4850's. Many reviews show the power use of a single card around 100 watts (114 from page in my sig).

the 280 GTX takes more power then that, but it does perform better too.

A factory overclocked card is going to take quite a bit of power.

Do not get me wrong the 280GTX as far as i see is still extremely powerful(more so once the drivers are optimized more), but the 4850 offers great performance for the price.

Personally i am going to see how the 4870 does first. let them price war it a bit and see how the nvidia drivers improve for vista 64.

 

[spathotan]

That power supply they had was a piece of trash then, that simple. Youre going to be paying $800+ for that water cooling block card, not to mention the price of the pump, resovior.......

Is a $1000 video card setup really worth a few more FPS against a card that cost $150-$250?

 

[AAArDvArK]

Did not know the water cooled version is 800K!

OK so I got 600 USD to spend, having money left over would be great. What do you guys suggest? I have a 600w PSU.

 

[nukemaster]

600 watts is a total rating of the power supply, you need to find out how much of it is on the 12 volt rail(thats the important one now days).

If there are multiply rails you can not always just add them, there should be a total combined 12 volt rating somewhere on the unit.

Exact psu model would help.

 

[Shaihalud9]

That power supply they had was a piece of trash then, that simple. Youre going to be paying $800+ for that water cooling block card, not to mention the price of the pump, resovior.......

Is a $1000 video card setup really worth a few more FPS against a card that cost $150-$250?

My $299 video card setup is working dreamily.

Maybe in 88 or 89 days the GTX260/280 will be an easier pill to swallow for my Step-Up.

 

[ovaltineplease]

save your money and see what the 4870 is like

Unless you have a very, very old video card the 4850 even in crossfire isn't a substantial upgrade from anything modern released in the last 6 months

So in other words, if you are running like a radeon 3850, a GF8600, gf7000 series - it will be worth getting CF 4850 upgrade

if you are running any 8800 Series or 9000 series nvidia card, or any 3870 series ATI - you should just wait for the ATI 4870 if you want a substantial upgrade. The 4870 should be a good jump ahead of the 4850 for a single slot, and then you have the option of Crossfiring it with another 4870 or 4870x2 later

4850 really didn't knock my socks off, its not an inherently bad video card but its not really that much better than anything currently available in its price range like the 8800 GTS 512 or 9800GTX

Soooo as I say, go a little higher on the scale to the 4870 when its out and you'll be happier in the longrun

 

[kelfen]

Just wait menz... Let ATI and NVIDIA do thier price wars. We only benifit from compitition as a buyer.

 

[acid]

how aboud this????
http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=11871

 

[Avenger_K]

So I just read Anandtech's (God I love Anand) review of the 4850, which I was hoping would be my choice, and it seems their 1000W PSU could not handle crossfire 8450 So I guess my 600w Cooler Master eXtreme will definately not be able to. And overclocking is out too I guess. Unless I upgrade a bunch of my components and live with the added noise from the big PSU plus the noise from two cards.

If I'm recalling correctly, they said that their 1KW PSU couldn't handle two GTX 280s, but.......

There is no way a 1000watt psu would not handle 2 4850's. Many reviews show the power use of a single card around 100 watts (114 from page in my sig).

^...it did fine with two 4850s.

 

[WR2]

Avenger_K is right. That OCZ 1000W PSU that was used for the GTX 280 SLI review didn't get the job done there either.
It also had problems in part of the 4850 CF testing.
More of an issue with that one PSU probably. They might have a marginal model or perhaps abused it during testing for a review.

 

[rangers]

look at it this way yes the 280 looks good on paper but it over priced, loud and needs a nuclear power supply
its up 2 you it depends what affects your buying decisions price v performance or do you like a cool running computer
and yes 600 watt is fine for crossfireng the 4850 plus if you crossfire/sli the 4850/280 there is only 1000 points between them in 3dmark06, looks like ati got the scaling right