(2) hd3850's OR (1) hd4850

(all cards at 512mb)

which setup would deliver better all around performance?...the 2 hd3850's would be running at x16 & x16 not 8&8.

running:
-790fx chipset (crossfire)
-4gb RAM
-AMD 64 x2 6000


thanks!

Crysis, Doom3, half life 2 series and the next HL when it comes out..etc etc


and I'm hoping the single 4850 is the better way to go because it should be here in a couple days haha....I just started thinking that linked 3850's might perform better...thats what they used on the amd/ati spider (with 4 though) and it was awsome

As an owner of the 3870x2 since February, I'll advise you to go with the 4850. Every site that reviews the 4xxx series says that the 4850 is just as fast as the 3870x2 or two 3870's in Crossfire, but does not have issues with games that don't support Crossfire. So, the single card solution is better.

That said, anyone that has two 3870's in Crossfire or a 3870x2 does not have to upgrade in this generation. It's close enough in performance that waiting for DX11 parts in 2009 makes sense.

Tom's Hardware - Benchmark World in Conflict v1.05

It might not even be worth it to upgrade to a 4870x2, as it would be CPU limited with anything below a 3.0 gigahertz quad core at resolutions under 1920 x 1200

http://www.legionhardware.com/docu [...] id=770&p=0