How much improvment would i get going from 2x 3650's to one 4850?

[aj95]

Alright this is how it is. Right now i have two Radion HD 3650's in crossfire. and in the future i plan on getting one 4850. and i DO plan on going for crossfire with two 4850's. how much improvment would i get when gaming? right now when i play games such as Call of Duty 5 i get around 30-50 FPS. ( maxed graphics with AA off ) how much of an improvment would i get when i get one 4850? then how much better would i get when i buy another 4850 for crossfire?

heres the cards:
( i have two of these in crossfire )
SAPPHIRE 100236L Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102726


here is what im planning on buying:
SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770


thanks

 

[spathotan]

4850 all the way. But I recomend spending another $10 and getting the HIS 4850 with the IceQ4 cooler which is what I have. Idles at around 35c, never tops 48c on load.

 

[mactronix]

Performance will depend on teh game and its support or not for Crossfire, but i guess you know that if you have two cards in CF already. The 4850 will be a good improvement and as long as its working ok/supported properly then two in CF haev been shown to work really well. Of course this depends on the screen size you are using also.

Mactronix

 

[aevm]

Reviewers at Anandtech got 78 fps in CoD4 at 1680x1050 with a single HD 4850.
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14

Other reviews show CoD 4 to be one of the best-behaved games in Crossfire, i.e. adding a second card almost doubles the fps.

I'm guessing CoD5 will behave in a very similar way.

 

[doomsdaydave11]

This is starting to piss me off. Why doesn't anyone use TH's own charts?
=on&prod[2124]=on]http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/compare,742.html?prod[2116]=on&prod[2124]=on

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Definitely go with the 4850, and I agree with spathotan, get the HIS model with the improved heatsink assembly, cooler, quieter, best bet for the 4850.

D, what was that about the charts?
Your link goes nowhere, maybe that helps in the understanding.

As long as the source is a reliable trusted one, it doesn't matter.

I rarely use THG's charts, mainly because they aren't as easy to get a quick picture when describing things to people, but also because they aren't always reliable.

Aevm, yes, I was just putting it a little more mildly.

 

[aevm]

Because they're not reliable??? For example I refuse to believe that they got 121 fps with a HD 4850 and 123 fps with two of them. That would mean no support whatever for Crossfire in CoD4. I've read an enormous number of reviews in other places that show CoD4 supporting Crossfire very well.

Here's another chart. HD 4850 gets 35 fps at 1920x1200 in this review.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/call-of-duty-world-at-war-vga-graphics-performance-test/6
They don't say how a second HD 4850 does. They do show that a HD 4870 1GB gets 45 fps and two of them 58 fps, so I'm guessing a second HD 4850 would also bring a visible improvement over a single card.

Edit: LOL, I was answering to doomsdaydave, but the Ape got there first. Yup, unreliable. Those charts sometimes get totally different results than everybody else. Not a good sign IMO.

 

[doomsdaydave11]

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/compare,794.html?prod%5B2116%5D=on&prod%5B2124%5D=on

My bad, forgot to permalink it.

Perhaps you are right! I have never noticed that actually.

I have always used tomshardware's charts in the past, and they were always far more reliable then this. What happened?

 

[aj95]

thanks for the fast reply. i read them all and i see what you all mean. thanks!

 

[meodowla]

Don't buy 2 HD4850's. Coz it drains lot of power. Better get a single HD4850X2.... That'll help later... if you got money, then go for 2 HD4850X2...

Don't ever go for 2 HD3650 in CF...

 

[aevm]

Well, he's already got those 3650s, too late...

 

[veyron1001]

Because they're not reliable??? For example I refuse to believe that they got 121 fps with a HD 4850 and 123 fps with two of them. That would mean no support whatever for Crossfire in CoD4. I've read an enormous number of reviews in other places that show CoD4 supporting Crossfire very well.

Here's another chart. HD 4850 gets 35 fps at 1920x1200 in this review.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/call-of-duty-world-at-war-vga-graphics-performance-test/6
They don't say how a second HD 4850 does. They do show that a HD 4870 1GB gets 45 fps and two of them 58 fps, so I'm guessing a second HD 4850 would also bring a visible improvement over a single card.

Edit: LOL, I was answering to doomsdaydave, but the Ape got there first. Yup, unreliable. Those charts sometimes get totally different results than everybody else. Not a good sign IMO.

You have to think of crossfire and sli as a twin turbo setup 1 card assisting the other not as x2 the frames with the extra card. When under very complex processing it is able to cope with it much better than with 1 card like eliminating the time before the boost kicks in.