4850 X2 or 4870

[bknight]

Hi,

Hoping someone can help me.
I am currently looking to upgrade my 3850 to either a 4850 x2 or a 4870.

What would people recommend?

Note:
I would consider going for 3850 1 gig or NVidia 260

 

[mactronix]

Well personally i dont like dual card solutions as they leave you more dependant on driver support/profiles.
What kind of set up are you running ? Just seems to me that for an upgrade from a 3850 that a single 4850 would do, never mind a 4870 or a 4850 x2.
But that assumes the same monitor etc, so if you could post your system specs we can give you a better answer.

Mactronix

 

[bknight]

3850
q6600
20" LCD (Main Monitor)
32" Used for streaming HD movies
2 gig Ram (4 soon)

My 3850 just cannot cut with the new games coming out like Fear 2

 

[billiardicus]

I've only seen a Saphire 4850x2. The reviews are not so great on Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102809

20% are unhappy with the card. Only 75% give it 4 stars or above. Most of the complaints are driver related. If you've ruled out the GTX 260/280/285, I'd go with the HIS 4870 1gb. You can get it on the Egg for $185 shipped after rebates. Checkout http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/900282/

 

[salabarria]

well if your only gonna play games like fear 2 then a 4870 1 gb would be perfect but if you wanna play high end games on high resolutions i think a 4850x2 2gb would be even better

 

[mactronix]

Yes i know what you mean about cutting it im running one (3850 myself) I would go with a 4870 single card myself and probably a iGB card as well.
Although personally im going for a single 4850 when i upgrade.

Mactronix

 

[bknight]

Thx for the advice.

What brands would you recommend for a 4850/4870?

 

[mactronix]

My personal preferance is the HIS ICEQ range of cards i have owned 3 now and never had any issues with them. There are a lot of posts about these cards running hot which is true, they do but its all within spec. The ICEQ cooler is very good and exhausts the hot air out the back of the PC, they are also very quiet cards.
They are more expensive though, take a look at whats out there and check warranties what comes bundled with them and what type of cooling solution they have.
If you can let us know where you will shop if its on line we can give some exact recomendations based on prive/performance.

Mactronix

 

[mrbobc]

ive got a 4850x2 2G and it pretty much kicks ass! fallout3 maxed out @1920/1080 without a problem, crysis maxed @1680/1050 too.

definately way faster than my 4870 512mb. the 2G really does make a difference at higher res.

 

[mactronix]

^ you do know thats actually only 1GB right ? Its still crossfire so you still only get effectivly 1GB as it cant access both Ram banks at the same time.

Mactronix

 

[Onus]

+1 @Mactronix. Faced with this exact same decision myself, last night I ordered a HIS ICEQ4 4850: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161244. I considered a 4870, but didn't think I really need the added power, and don't want to CONSUME the added power, which is also why I didn't seriously consider nVidia around the same level, as they drink more juice.
I installed a HIS ICEQ card in my father's PC last year, and noticed how quiet that cooler was, and I also would prefer the heat to be exhausted, so I chose the HIS IceQ4 model of 4850 for myself.

 

[naroth]

ive got a 4850x2 2G and it pretty much kicks ass! fallout3 maxed out @1920/1080 without a problem, crysis maxed @1680/1050 too.

definately way faster than my 4870 512mb. the 2G really does make a difference at higher res.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but what case are you using mrbobc? I bought the 4850x2 and now in search of a new case to fit the beast ><.

 

[coozie7]

NAROTH has a point, the 4850X2 is huge being some 28.5 C.M. long overall and the Sapphire cooler dumps its heat into the case so you`re going to need very good ventilation to make it work, if you can stand the driver issues.
I`d go for the 1Gb 4870, despite the performance penalties.

 

[mrbobc]

lol it is super huge but i got a basic akasa case and it fits nicely (in the case) except it takes over some of my sata ports on my mobo

yes! i did know its 1GB effective but if i got a 1G 4850x2 then it'd be 512mb effective right? and i use higher res's so i think the 2GB was definately warranted.

 

[bknight]

thx for all the help.

since i have a monitor of 1440 * 1050 after all the comments 4850 x2 is a bit of an overkill.

I probably just going to pick up a HIS HD 4850 IceQ if i can find somewhere is Australia that sells them.

 

[meodowla]

I think 4850X2 will do much better than a 4870 with Catalyst 9.1.
Catalyst 9.1 support dual GPU's.

 

[roolander]

thx for all the help.

since i have a monitor of 1440 * 1050 after all the comments 4850 x2 is a bit of an overkill.

I probably just going to pick up a HIS HD 4850 IceQ if i can find somewhere is Australia that sells them.

The 4850 will not run any demanding games such as crysis/warhead with any anti-aliasing settings without substantial lagging, even at a low resolution like 1440x900. The 4850x2 1gb may be a good choice. It's only 259.99 on newegg.