GPU advice for 1920x1200 running full AA, AF

[haftarun8]

I'm finally building a new machine soon, and was hoping to get some advice...

I have a 1920x1200 monitor and love to run Anti-aliasing and AF, which I know requires a boatload of Vram.

I'm between three choices right now:

Nvidia GT 260+
ati 4870 1gb version
2x ati 4850 in CF (preferably just the 512mb versions but if the cheaper 1gb versions won't overheat...)

What'll be the best bang for the buck under the torture of 8x AA and 16x AF?

I really can't go any higher price-wise...thanks in advance!

 

[kyeana]

if you want to keep everything on high and max settings you should consider getting a 4870x2, a 4850 x2, or 2 4850's in xfire.

If you want to be able to play most games at high settings but maybe loose some of the aa / af in some titles then a single 4870 would probably be your best bet

 

[Guest]

None of that will guarantee you your settings... the only thing that will really GUARANTEE you to be able to play current games at max is a 4870 x2 crossfire and a 4ghz core i7... other than that the closest you'll come is a 4870 X2... which btw by it self is way out of your price range... you simply don't have enough money to do what you want...

 

[wavebossa]

a single card solution (well, non crossfire sli) wont work to well.

Your real choices are

9800GX2 (a GREAT card that gets no love)
2x 9800GTX+ (great prices!)
2x 4850
1x 4870x2
2x 4870 is not as good as 1 4870x2


honestly, i would go with crossfrire, sli.

 

[kyeana]

from what i hear the 9800gx2 has good average frame rates, but suffers from low minimum frame rates. If you dont want to spend a fortune get the 4870 (with potential to get another later for xfire) or 4850's in crossfire (some of the best bang for the buck right now)

What sort of mobo do you have?

 

[Huttfuzz]

I would personnally go with 2x 4850 in crossfire. Seriously check out Tom's hardware Best Video card for the month, that is actually what they recommend.

 

[cjl]

AA likes VRAM though, so for that resolution, I'd go with a 4870 1GB.

 

[eklipz330]

second on the 4870 1gb, should do great at the resolution btw...


want full aa/af? get a 4870x2...i also heard they're coming out on a refresh, might want to keep your ears open on that one

 

[jerreece]

a single card solution (well, non crossfire sli) wont work to well.

Your real choices are

9800GX2 (a GREAT card that gets no love)
2x 9800GTX+ (great prices!)
2x 4850
1x 4870x2
2x 4870 is not as good as 1 4870x2


honestly, i would go with crossfrire, sli.

Just saw a pretty good benchmark review video on YouTube yesterday that showed results of the 9800GX2 vs 9800GTX+ SLI setup. The 9800GTX+ was a little better for minimum FPS. And I think cost the same amount (granted the review was done in Australia).

 

[emp]

None of that will guarantee you your settings... the only thing that will really GUARANTEE you to be able to play current games at max is a 4870 x2 crossfire and a 4ghz core i7... other than that the closest you'll come is a 4870 X2... which btw by it self is way out of your price range... you simply don't have enough money to do what you want...

This man speaks the truth, the rest of the posts are from people who consider 30fps playable (which isn't playable at all). An HD 4850 X2 (Or CF) is the bare minimum I'd consider and don't expect 8x AA on everything, especially if you will be running CF HD 4850 with 512MB.

 

[cjl]

30fps minimum is playable, the problem with 30fps average is that the framerate will consistently drop below that, which will cause a noticeable lag or stutter. It's true that none of the things in the mentioned price range will fully max out any game with 8xAA at that resolution, but a 48701GB has the best chance of any of the cards in that range, and should pull the highest playable settings.

Of course, if the budget allows, a 4870x2 is definitely the way to go.

 

[eklipz330]

30fps is playable, you just have extremely high standards dude...

consoles run avg on 30fps, it does dip below that, but as long as its max -7fps, its fine IMO

 

[emp]

Yep I do agree with your statement, that's one of the main reasons why I don't own or play any consoles. I can't bear a 30fps average game (except for crysis, which runs surprisingly smooth)

 

[cjl]

That's true actually - I've found that I can tolerate a far lower framerate in Crysis than almost any other game. I think it's a combination of the motion blur and the fact that for some reason, it doesn't seem to have as low of a minimum frame rate at a given average, despite the fact that the average frame rate is miserable.

 

[malveaux]

Heya,

Depends on your budget.

8800gt's (and thus, the 9800gt's) in SLI will do what you are asking for a very good price.

The HD4850 will also do this in Crossfire.

On the upper side of the dollar, the GTX260 in SLI will certainly do, as will the HD4870x2 (no need to go crossfire there, but kiss your wallet goodbye).

Overall, the 9800gt's are so affordable, it's great. As are the HD4850's. The GTX260 though is very quickly coming down in cost, so it's another viable option if you're on a budget still. Overall vote for me goes to the HD4850's in Crossfire.

Cheers,

 

[lioncomputer]

Please do not make your money burn and do not go to crossfire and SLI.actually the most powerful card that I have ever seen in my Life is 4870X2 but I think it is so expensive for you.I personally choose Nvidia to buy but in your situation HD 4850X2 is perfect and works more than 4850 in crossfire and less money you spend,and it have more fram rate than 260GTX.

 

[haftarun8]

Thanks for all the responses everyone!

As far as min. framerate goes, I am sick of watching it dip too low...I'd rather have a more consistent fps, even if it's not incredibly high...that said I think the 9800GX2 is probably out.

I understand I'm not going to be pulling off 8x AA in Crysis unless I slam it with at least a 4870x2, but I just don't have the budget. If I have to make some sacrifices in the top-tier graphic games for playability, that's fine for now. And yes, I prefer pretty pictures to raw fps...so average of 30 is fine as long as it doesn't dip below 24...I'm not a great gamer, just a 3d animator/videophile/audiophile.

For more info, I'll be using a Core i7 920, the Gigabyte X58 mobo, 6gb DDR3 1333 ram from Patriot, 750 watt Corsair PSU, WD 640gb AALS harddrive.

I'll probably upgrade the gpu and cpu at Intel's 32nm die shrink, hence not wanting to spend TOO much on the GPU setup now.


Right now I think it's between three setups:

4870 1gb
2x 4850 512 CF
2x 4850 1gb CF (would the 1-slot sapphire model of these be hell-on-earth for case heat? Some of the 2-slot ones are really pushing my upper bound for price)

Thanks again!

p.s. I do find it interesting that people tolerate Crysis at lower frame rates. Motion-blur is definitely the key there I think...it's how the human eyes work when viewing reality; it's what we see in tv, movies, etc...our eyes use motion blur to interpolate motion between still frames...without it, it's harder for your brain to fill in the gaps.

 

[emp]

The solo-trooper HD 4870 is a no-go for your needs, consider the HD 4850 X2, it's better than trying to run two HD 4850 1GB in my opinion. (1920x1200 8x AA uses a lot of memory)

 

[wavebossa]

The HD 4850 X2 still isn't out unless i missed something.

Guys stop telling him to get a 4870 1gb. It CAN'T do it, not with full AA and AF.

Whatever you do, you need to get crossfire or sli. 2x 9800GTX+ are great adn so are 2x 4850. Best bang for your buck there

 

[kyeana]

^the 4850x2 has been out for weeks now, and it has even recently dropped in price. As of a few days ago was priced only 20-30$ more then 2 individual 4850 1 gb.

 

[emp]

SAPPHIRE 100270SR Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102809&Tpk=HD 4850 X2

 

[haftarun8]

yeah I was thinking about the HD 4850 X2 after I wrote my post earlier...I didn't know it had gone down in price like that. I'd say that looks like the winner in my book. Saves a ton of room in the machine and probably maintains much better case airflow than risking 2x 4850's.

Thanks everyone, the 4850x2 does sound like it has all the right stuff: still cheaper than a GT280 or 4870x2 without much of a performance hit.

Though at this rate ANYTHING would be a huge improvement over my current computer! (see signature)