Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > GTX280 in SLI or 4870's in Crossfire. which is better?

GTX280 in SLI or 4870's in Crossfire. which is better?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - GTX280 in SLI or 4870's in Crossfire. which is better?

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MikuMiku   09-25-2008 at 02:14:08 AM

This seems to be a contraversy that i have seen and from what i've seen so far the 4870 is the best single slot card out there right now. but my question is what would happen if i put 2 4870's in my comp. would that wup 2 GTX280's or will the GTX280's come ahead for the better. the reason why i ask this is because i wanted to make a BA comp for myself, but i think this conversation will help out alot of people on this forum. Post your thoughts on this.

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dagger   09-25-2008 at 02:18:45 AM
- 0 +

2 4870s are faster than one gtx280, 2 gtx280 faster than 2 4870.

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
MikuMiku   09-25-2008 at 02:21:38 AM
- 0 +

thats wat i was thinking and 2 GTX280's are probably on the cheaper side

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to MikuMiku
dagger   09-25-2008 at 02:23:14 AM
- 0 +

MikuMiku wrote :

thats wat i was thinking and 2 GTX280's are probably on the cheaper side



Why would 2 gtx280s cost less than 2 4870s?

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
MikuMiku   09-25-2008 at 02:27:49 AM
- 0 +

on newegg the price for 1 GTX280 is $499. for 1 4870 its $549

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to MikuMiku
dagger   09-25-2008 at 02:31:29 AM
- 0 +

MikuMiku wrote :

on newegg the price for 1 GTX280 is $499. for 1 4870 its $549



Are you sure? Or did they raise prices while I wasn't looking? :sweat:

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
invisik   09-25-2008 at 02:34:07 AM
- 0 +

the 4870 is much cheaper then the gtx280. i guess depends where u live. newegg has a gtx280 for 380$ and 4870 for 240$. the 4870 in cf will perform about the same as the gtx280 in sli or slightly less but its not worth the extra expense.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] rder=PRICE (4870)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814500053 (gtx280)


Message edited by invisik on 09-25-2008 at 02:38:09 AM
------------------------------ intel core 2 quad q6600 @3.2ghz msi p6n diamond (X-FI Extreme sound) 6gig of OCZ+CoRSAIR oc 900mhz Nvidia gtx 260 sli @ 730/1465/1250
Lite-On Blue-ray Western Digital 7200rpm 500gb Antec 500 Earthwatt Window vista 64-bit
Reply to invisik
MikuMiku   09-25-2008 at 02:36:28 AM
- 0 +

but is that 4870 an X2? send me the link of both of those cards at that price i want to see for meself

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to MikuMiku
MikuMiku   09-25-2008 at 02:37:36 AM
- 0 +

is X2 even worth it?

Reply to MikuMiku
dagger   09-25-2008 at 02:41:51 AM
- 0 +

MikuMiku wrote :

but is that 4870 an X2? send me the link of both of those cards at that price i want to see for meself



Lol, you didn't mention the x2, only 4870.

Benchmarks:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3372&p=5
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3372&p=6
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3372&p=7
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3372&p=8
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3372&p=9

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
MikuMiku   09-25-2008 at 02:43:42 AM
- 0 +

i also looked at those prices on the GTX280's and no. the cheapest one i see is MSI for 389.00 and i dont know too much about MSI GPU's.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to MikuMiku
dagger   09-25-2008 at 02:46:18 AM
- 0 +

MikuMiku wrote :

i also looked at those prices on the GTX280's and no. the cheapest one i see is MSI for 389.00 and i dont know too much about MSI GPU's.



There is no difference. They all buy the chips from Nvidia. Those "manufacturers" don't actually do much manufacturing, they're more like distributers. Early reference cards are literally a matter of pasting on different stickers.

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
kazuya-kun   09-25-2008 at 02:46:18 AM
- 0 +

I would just get a 4870x2 and be done with it. You save alot more $$ than buying two 280gtx for sli.

Also I've noticed that in most of the reviews out there for the 4870 shows with resolutions at about 19x12 or even 16x10 resolutions with the AA and AF all set to the max do better than 260gtx and are close/equal/better than the 280gtx but it really varies with games. Besides, most games don't even support sli let alone quad-xfire. If you're going to buy a board with the gfx card get a P5Q and a 4870x2 or 4870.

Reply to kazuya-kun
wonderingwhatis   09-25-2008 at 02:48:22 AM
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Your first post was slightly misleading as it wasn't clear you were talking about 4870X2's.
Is your Computer already built? If so you only have a crossifre or SLI board; not both so you need to find out if you have what you can even put in your system if you want to use 2 cards.

As of now it seems for a single card (dual GPU) solution the 4870GX2 is the best; above a GTX280.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to wonderingwhatis
dagger   09-25-2008 at 02:53:42 AM
- 0 +

wonderingwhatis wrote :

Your first post was slightly misleading as it wasn't clear you were talking about 4870X2's.
Is your Computer already built? If so you only have a crossifre or SLI board; not both so you need to find out if you have what you can even put in your system if you want to use 2 cards.

As of now it seems for a single card (dual GPU) solution the 4870GX2 is the best; above a GTX280.



If it's single card, also consider 9800gx2 for performance on the cheap.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=13
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=14
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=15
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=16
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=17
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=18
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=19

It's only $275 on newegg, no mail in rebate, free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130338

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
 Reply to dagger
wonderingwhatis   09-25-2008 at 03:07:34 AM
- 0 +

^
Very true the 9800gx2 are pretty much a steal right now and preform awesome!

Reply to wonderingwhatis
MikuMiku   09-26-2008 at 04:38:03 AM
- 0 +

cool no its not built yet.

Reply to MikuMiku
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