4850x2 or GTX 280

I want to start playing crysis, but I still play older games like WarRock. Which one would be better for these games? Will older games like warrock benefit from 2 gpu's? I'm kinda a ati fanboi, but I am considering the GTX 280.

I also like to play in 1900-1200 res

at higher res, the 4850X2 should shine.. does anyone know whether the 4850x2 or the 280 scales better with AA?

Hey L1qu1d!

I was thinking of either getting a 4850x2, 4870, or 4870x2 but now the GTX285 entered my head. I was thinking of getting a 285 and buying another to go SLI for my i7 build. I want this build to last me a while which is why Im doing a total revamp now.

well we can't predict the gaming market. BUt it should last you a long time.

Out of all of those choices the 4870 X2 is the best bang for the buck. Though Drivers lately haven't reflect ATi's dedication to stable drivers. 9.2 actually lowered frames.

Personally I feel safer running 1 strong GPU than 2 weaker ones. Especially since some games don't scale the way they should, others don't scale at all.

Quad fire and sli are something I avoid ever since my quad 9800 GX2 setup, which lowered my frames in general.

4850 X2 is made only by sapphire, so really I wouldn't touch it personally because drivers wil prob be hard to come across. Especially in quad fire. I would feel safer with quad 4870 X2, than quad 4850 X2.

what resolution do you play at?

I've see 285s for 300-350$, and 4870s 1 gigs as low as 200$. So really you have a lot of good choices

Im probably going to go with a 24" LCD monitor. I saw a nice LG 24" LCD monitor that got high ratings.

I was at first looking at the x2's but then yeah, I heard of the scaling issues. I hear the 285 is easy to overclock; I was looking at the SSC or FTW edition. I am more inclined to O/C the i7 than the video card. This is why I am probably going to get the EVGA mobo because of its ease at O/Cing.

I plan to get Sims3 and Jumpgate Evolution but I can't predict what's coming out in the future that I might like. I play City of Heroes but I might jump to the "updated CoH which is not crossing my mind...DC something. Plus, I have FSX

thats wrong, seeing as Crysis itself scales with mostly 3 Video cards from what I read.

Crysis Warhead doesn't scale as well for some reason, might be general CPU bottleneck. But 2 cards will help for either game thats for sure.

I went from from 50 to 80 with a 2nd card....(just an idea, those aren't actually the numbers, but I can't remember, but the idea is the same).

Is getting a 285 when I start my build (I'm also watching to see what's going on with ATI's new card for April) good then; buy another to go SLI? I want to make sure I will take advantage of the i7. I see the FTW 285 is $414 and the SSC version is $384ish yest ATI is dropping it's prices so much. I remember when the 4870x2 was over $500 and the 4870 was $250. Part of me is eyeing the 4870 or the new card in April (if it's any good). Im torn, do I get the new kid (4870) or go with the 285. LoL what a headache! Im probably going to start my build at the end of this month.

I see the 1GB 4870's are at or lower than $200. There memory clock, core clock speeds, and streaming processors look so much higher than the 285. I can get 2 4870's for the price of one GTX285. Im wondering if my system will suffer with a 285. On paper it looks like the 4870 beats it hands down. I see also that the 4870 is dx10.1 but the 285 is dx10. Also, the 285 has 512 bit GDDR3 vs. 256bit GDDR5.

why would you risk getting something that can perform as low as a 4850 (comparison to the 285 I'm saying).

If both cards are par, or the single GPU is slightly under, I would never go for the 2 weaker cards. It just doesn't flow for me

Remember the 285s can be found for 300$ if your lucky enough, and like you said they run quieter, can OC like a beast, runs very cool, and has the ability to run sli and tri sli, which is alot safer than the 4850s quad Fire.

Both these cards have seen to exchange blows, and for some reason the 4850 doesn't perform as well as 2 4850s from what I've seen.

that isn't a key selling point for some users. Remember why risk having a raid 0, when the possibility of the 2nd drive dieing or not functioning at the time, when you can pay a little extra and have a concrete foundation.

I would much rather put the 4870 X2 vs the 285 GTX on the line for choices of buying, than the card made only by sapphire and risk the drivers not being supported in the near future.

Remember SLi/Crossfire means that your going to depend on both drivers, and the game to support it.

I don't like those odds. I would much rather have the strong single card, and see what happens when I add a 2nd one I'll have those reallly good frames Plus 80% extra frames (give or take)

Wow, I really dont know where you get that information from. Benchmarks say totally opposite from what you stated in your last four posts.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/ [...] xxx/7.html

Look at this, the 285 GTX pretty much doubles the 4850 in these tests. And trust me CrossX of 4850s won't double your frames...and Don't forget that 2 4850s perform better than a 4850 X2.

"For those that are looking for the best bargain in this performance class, right now picking up a pair of HD 4850's is pretty tough to beat (or going with the Sapphire HD 4850), both of which cost roughly $300. On the Nvidia side of things, GTX 280 cards, which offer very similar performance to stock-clocked GTX 285 cards, are also selling for $300."

-neoseeker.

For a bit more you can have a solid foundation

I'm arguing solid foundation for a couple of extra bucks. For futur proofing, thats the smarter choice in this case Thats with 2 4850s, not with 4850 X2 so the performance is higher

read the previous post I put

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

And Cat 9.2 actually lower frames.

2 4850s can be found cheaper, and performs better. I'm not saying is a crappy card, I'm just saying I would bite the bullet add a couple extra bucks, and have the solid structure. What pisses me off about the 4850 is that they added 1 gig, yet the bus width is still 256, and the Memory wasn't even upgrade to GDDR4 atleast, or something to make that 1 gig useful. Its like adding 1 gig to a 9800 GTX or 9800 GT, doesn't help much.

Plus i dont see the hd4850 X2 in your benchmark.
Oh yes... there is no such thing as "future proof", other than a marketing gimmick

In canada they can go for 300 after MIR And usually our prices suck compared to US

100$ is worth future proofing I mean my 285 GTX OC go for 375$ with no MIR from BFG I believe last I checked

324.99 after MIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814143168



211$? thats like what it costs for 1 4850s here in Canada (well not all, but there are a couple that go for around that price).

Don't forget that only Saphire makes the 4850 X2. Drivers might be a factor in the future

for 211$ thats a good price, but thats no longer the case now

Too bad Canada's Newegg isn't as good as the one in US, I mean retailers sell the cards for cheaper!

Again wrong, the cheapest hd4850 on Newegg is 134.99 * 2 = $269.98 + 10.55 shipping = $280.53

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814140097

HD4850 X2 = $259.99 Free shipping

Its like you close ur eyes and choose 1 at random.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127401

120$

That is after rebate....

I do not count rebates as they seem not to payback all the time.

I did not get a rebate on my two 9600GTs also I did not get a rebate on some other equipment I purchased, although I got one on my memory, so I found it as 20% reliable.

actually not so much, users have been getting the 4830s for under 100$ which is pretty close the 4850 in some tests, to date the 4830 is the best P/P.

I've always gotten my rebates, granted sometimes 2 months later, but I always got them.

1st qestion, why are you going from 2 9600 GTs to 1 4850 X2 and talking about p/p ? and 2nd you have an sli board.... why?

oh yeah and for the record grab a better review site than Planet X I personally never heard of it and I've been on the web and these forums for a long time, and no1 has ever posted from them or mentioned them

OK guys another battle in ATI/Nvidia war...back to titdoctor and mikeny

to titdoctor, your resolution (1920x1200) is good enough for both cards, here I must agree with L1qu1d - one strong GPU is better then 2 slower but if 4850x2 is really cheaper than GTX280/285 about + 100$ (I don’t live in USA or Canada) and it’s better in games and you don’t plan any CF/SLI in future, it is good choice.

to mikeny…definitely GTX 285, there is no other clever choice for you now (ATI 4890 could change it hence). Core i7 gaming build needs SLI (or CF) and good monitor at 1920x1200. CF/SLI GTX295 or 4870x2 is not generally recommended because of many issues. If you plan to put one GPU (whatever, even 4870x2 or GTX295) you don’t really need any i7 build and solid overclockable C2D or C2Q on P45 mobo and 4GB DDR2 will deliver good performance in games for much less.

Only sapphire offers it at the moment......

Don't forget that there will probably be 8 GPU support for crossfire in the future and more and more games are coming out with CF support.

8 gpu support? And these cards have what exactly to do with that? lol I doubt these will support 8, and I don't want to see what train wreck 8 will be if we can't even perfect 3 or 4

Exactly, it isn't These two technically aren't even in the same price range, not even the 2GB 4850x2 is in the GTX285 range. So why exactly are you trying to compare them? Because they offer similar performance? Basically L1qu1d is proving our point that it is the better value and the card of choice between the two.

If you could get the GTX285 at $270-250 you may have a point. But you cant right now.

Yeah I also just ordered the HIS 4870 1GB card for $189.00 at new egg, and the Accellero Twin Turbo Cooler so I'll have this card running cool and quiet at 825MHZ GPU

I'll cross fire it in a year or two as hd 4870 drop in price.

The only reason I am returning my HD4850 X2 is because I got the 512MB card, and the 1GB was $90 more expensive and IMHO I do not think that I'll ever pay $300 for a graphic card.

Cheers!

Let me answer you with another question:

Are there any 3870s available now?