4870cf or 4870x2

asapp82

Distinguished
Sep 20, 2008
18
0
18,510
right now i have two 4850s in cf at 1920x1200. although it is fine or more than fine for most games im experiencing some trouble with frames while playing RvR in WAR. im just wondering what would be the better solution if anyone knows, two 4870s in cf or a 4870x2? system specs are as follows...q9450 stock speeds, dfi lan party ut x48, 4gigs of muskin, pcpc750w, velociraptor300, antec1200.
 

dagger

Splendid
Mar 23, 2008
5,624
0
25,780
Benchmarks:
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-X2--AMD-Back-On-Top/?page=6
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-X2--AMD-Back-On-Top/?page=7
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-X2--AMD-Back-On-Top/?page=8
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-X2--AMD-Back-On-Top/?page=9

At 1920x1200, the 1gb vram per core in x2 is not useful over single cards' 512 mb. Still, assuming they cost the same, pick one 4870x2 and save the 2nd pcie slot for later.
 
I'd say those issues are going to be solved in the near future.

Remember that XFire as well in SLi are managed by profiles to get the most juice of your cards. I know that XFire runs at a certain "default" mode when there's no profile, but meh.

Don't panic yet, like you said, that set up is quite powerful right now. Just wait for a release/hot fix on the drivers and you'll be fine.

Esop!
 

dagger

Splendid
Mar 23, 2008
5,624
0
25,780


Fix ram? :p
 

eklipz330

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2008
3,034
19
20,795
dagger, what? lol... and you should do a mild OC on that q9450, you can prolly hit 3.0ghz without chaning voltages, which might actually yield the performance increase your looking for, and won't really change the lifespan of your processor, or add heat to it
 


If I understand correctly... U mean the VRAM, right? XD

At that res, those 512MB are enough IMO.

Besides, he doesn't lack video horse power, i think he might need to OC his Q9450 to 3.2GHz or something to get the full juice out of his cards.

Besides, like i already said, he should wait for an updated XFire profile for Warhamma' Online, lol.

Esop!
 
Generally two 4870s cost more than a single 4870X2. Also the latter only takes up one slot and actually uses slightly less power along with having more RAM per core. On the other hand if you were going to go with two overclocked 4870s, such as the overclocked diamond ones, you mighnt get more performance with them in crossfire than a single 4870X2 since even it seems that a 4870X2 does not overclock that well. Even so that performance will pale in comparison to having two 4870X2s.
 

asapp82

Distinguished
Sep 20, 2008
18
0
18,510
thanks very much for the info, and yeah im going to overclock a bit just reluctant because im new to it. ill probably just end up getting a 4870x2 overclock to a 3 or 3.2 and call it good.
 

sciggy

Distinguished
Apr 15, 2008
318
0
18,780



OC'ing that CPU is soooo easy. Go into BIOS -> Advanced settings ->PCIE Frequency to 100mhz ->FSB change to 400mhz ->ensure that ram is running in a 1:1 ratio (setting name varies by mobo) = 3.2ghz on that CPU. Most people I've seen can hit 3.2ghz on stock voltages so you shouldn't have to worry too much about it. I've gotten up to 3.3ghz on stock voltage and might have been able to go higher but I didn't have the time to push it and didn't see much of a performance increase. Just make sure you have a good heatsink to cool that puppy.
 

Foxholecharlie

Distinguished
Sep 20, 2008
2
0
18,510
I run the game fine with only one 4870. 1920x1200 all sliders max, forced vsync-2xaa-supersampling-4xAF.

By the looks of your system you should only need to overclock your cpu.

I just switched earlier today from a 8800gt and 20" monitor and even that combination would push 2xaa and 4xaf with vsync and only experience a little stutter when entering high populated area's till everything was loaded.

q6600@3.2
Asus maximus formula
4gig ram
4870 512mb
Vista64bit



 

asapp82

Distinguished
Sep 20, 2008
18
0
18,510
well i messed around with the bios and oc'd to a 3.2 with a 4x8, but when i load up core temp it reads it at first as a 3.2 then jumps down to a 2.4 with a 4x6. still bios reads it as a 3.2. confusing, i guess its my fault for going with a dfi board with no knowledge of overclocking. anyways im off topic in this forum so time to read up i guess. thank you again.
 

dagger

Splendid
Mar 23, 2008
5,624
0
25,780


Go into bios and disable C1E(speedstep).