Upgrade dilemma, want opinions. 2xHD4850 512MBs vs 1xHD4870 1G

[schilbiz]

When I build a system I expect to use it for a year or 2 then upgrade it and use it for another year or 2. When I initially built this one I picked up the GIGABYTE GV-R485-512H-B Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail off of Newegg. It had a decent 30$ mir so I got it for a real good price. It has been an excellent card.

I have the ASUS PQ5-Pro mobo which is crossfire capable and was planning on buying another video card as part of the upgrade. A few days ago I found out that this card has been discontinued. As you can see here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125224

I have found the card for sale elsewhere for around 180$, which is more than I paid for it about a year ago, does anyone know why it is being discontinuing? Would I be better off just paying $200+ and getting a HD4870 1G card?

To re-cap, should I buy another $180.00 HD4850 512MB and crossfire it or just get a $200.00+ HD 4870 1G card? Like one of these here?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%20106792627%201067940678%201068320729&name=1GB

From the benchmarks and reading I have done, seemingly the 2xHD4850 512MBs could do considerably better then 1x HD4870 1G but would the HD4870 do good enough in most current games that I could just delay the upgrade and get another HD4870 1G in 6 months to a year? By then I would probably need new RAM and mobo to keep up.

I plan to play Darkfall and don't want my system to be a liability, not much is worse than a system shortcoming when you are trying to pvp. Darkfall seems to have low-mid system requirements but I like to be beyond the recommeneded.

FYI: I run a Q9400 @ 3.336GHz and have 4G OCZ Platinum 800MHz. - Budget system.

I would like to use this system if possible, and I think I could with a video card upgrade.

Thanks.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

I don't think it has to be the same brand. There are plenty of other 4850's on the market for a better price, I think if you grab one of those you would be good to go.

 

[schilbiz]

Yea, you can find other brand 4850 512MBs for just over 100$ right now with rebates. The thing about this card is that it OC's pretty good and I have liked to stay with the same manufacturer typically on Sli/Crossfire. It's nice not having to deal with the new set of drivers and software that comes along with it. Also OC'ing it to match your current GPU and mem clock.

Does anyone have any idea why it is being discontinued? Is there some flaw with it that I haven't been able to find?

 

[salabarria]

i would get one 4870 1 gb and then later crossfire it...but also it depends on what powersupply you have

 

[efeat]

You won't have to mess with new drivers or software as it is. Once you put the card in, it'll say something about new hardware detected, then it should realize the drivers for it are already installed.

 

[schilbiz]

Thanks.