Cannot choose between these cards!

[xperator]

hi all,
i am planing to buy dell XPS 630 this month but i cant define best graphic!
here are the options :

SLi, Dual nVidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB [Included in Price]
CrossFireX, Dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB [add $100 or $3/month1]
nVidia GeForce GTX 280 – 1024MB [add $150 or $5/month1]

i dont know which graphic option perform better!? i want to play all modern games on maximum setting and resolution possible. my budget dont let go for XPS 730.
can i upgrade my XPS 630 later ?
can i add or change VGA later ? or sli Geforce GTX 280 ?
i dont know how game graphic are growing, so let me ask how many months this XPS can run games at maximum setting ?

 

[anarchy4sale]

What is the "Maximum Resolution" that you are shooting for? I always prefer single card solutions so with what you have given IMO I would take the GTX 280. But Maybe with your resolution maybe the 4850 would do better for you?

 

[xperator]

sorry i forgot!
2560*1600 - max details or 1920*1200 - max details
i prefer the 2560*1600.

 

[meodowla]

I think 'CrossFireX, Dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB' would be better than the others..

 

[anarchy4sale]

I was leaning that way also. Especially if your going for such a high res.

 

[turboflame]

+1 HD4850s in crossfire

 

[xperator]

GTX 280 should be more powerfull than 4850s, isnt it ?
but all you say 4850s ! how the two ati perform better than a GTX 280 ?

 

[romulus47plus1]

I'd go with single card solutions anytime.

 

[anarchy4sale]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/sapphire-hd4850x2_18.html#sect0


An example of why the 4850 x2, this is the single card solution I believe but still relevant.

 

[xperator]

i cannot understand, your review link related to 4850 X2 but my option was Dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB!
what does X2 mean ? 2 GPU in one card ? or 2 card in crossfire ?

lol i dont know what i am going to buy xD! some one explain me, i am not familiar with Radeon series and Crossfire or Dual GPU tech's !

 

[coozie7]

@xperator; It means two GPU chips on one card, which is slightly easier to install and set up than a crossfire/sli configuration.
Read the sli/crossfire FAQ at the top of the forum page for info on both systems.
Either way, you`re going to run into memory problems with 512Mb cards at such a high resoloution so I`d suggest the GTX280.

 

[gamerk316]

A GTX 280 would beat 2x 4850's any day, plus you don't have to worry about bad CF scaling with two cards...

 

[xperator]

omg! now i cant really choose the best option!!
lets ask another time : i want play latest games at maximum details setting and best (not highest) resolution possible.
there is another problem about memory and cpu that i am not sure to pick them!
i picked 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs for memory
and Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.40GHz,1066FSB) for cpu

here are all cpu options :

Intel® Core™2 E8400 (6MB,3.0 GHz, 1333FSB) [Included in Price]
Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.40GHz,1066FSB) [add $50 or $2/month1]
Intel® Core™2 E8500 (6MB,3.16 GHz, 1333FSB) [add $100 or $3/month1]

i read somewhere that QuadCore cpu's are weak than DualCores. which cpu from above options are best for gaming ?

 

[coozie7]

Your memory/CPU selections (4Gb 4X1Gb, Q6600) is fine, the E8500 is fine for now, but more and more games are using all 4 cores of the Q6600, so it would make sense to get one to give you nice, new, shiny rig a longer lease of life.
And, expensive as it seems, the GTX 280 is still, to my mind the best choice for such high resoloution monitor. I`m using a 512Mb HD4870@ 1920x1200 and it is struggling to play the later games at this resoloution and high quality graphics because it is running out of video (graphics) memory, resulting in short, but annoying `glitches` as data has to be loaded during gameplay.

 

[anarchy4sale]

omg! now i cant really choose the best option!!
lets ask another time : i want play latest games at maximum details setting and best (not highest) resolution possible.
there is another problem about memory and cpu that i am not sure to pick them!
i picked 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs for memory
and Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.40GHz,1066FSB) for cpu

here are all cpu options :

Intel® Core™2 E8400 (6MB,3.0 GHz, 1333FSB) [Included in Price]
Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.40GHz,1066FSB) [add $50 or $2/month1]
Intel® Core™2 E8500 (6MB,3.16 GHz, 1333FSB) [add $100 or $3/month1]

i read somewhere that QuadCore cpu's are weak than DualCores. which cpu from above options are best for gaming ?

When you put it that way, go with the 280

I am a fan on 1 card solutions. The 280 will rock at HD resolution.

 

[rangers]

im a fan of one gpu solutions but if that means getting a motherboard with an nvidia chipset, i would go dual ATI, its faster than the 280 anyway

 

[xperator]

sorry guys to ask again :
my new monitor resolution is 1680x1050 . so now which choice is the best ?
another question :
does HD 4850 in CrossfireX have anything like Nvidia PhysicX Accelerator ?

 

[coozie7]

If you can afford it, overbuild, the system will last longer, so the Q6600 and 4Gb of RAM is a good base.
At that resolution I`d sill look the the GTX280 for a new build, it`s overkill now, but in 18 months or 2 years time it`ll still be working well when a lesser build will need to be upgraded.
No, the ATI cards do not, as yet, have any dedicated hardware support for physics acceleration such as PhysicX. (but I could be wrong here).