GTX 280/285 vs Radeon 4850/4870 in Crossfire

u just go for 4870X2 that performance as two 4870
the cheapest one cost ($394.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate )in newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

BTW: 1 4870 cos about 190$ so two will cost 380$
But needs to MBOB support two Video card in crossFireX mode (at less most be 8X , 8X).

4870X2 is a bit over budget for me. I'm trying to find the sweet spot between max performance and a decent budget.

The MOBO I had planned to use was crossfire compliant, however it had reviews that showed major problems with my aftermarket CPU cooler (Core Contact Freezer) so now I have to find a new mobo. I'm not partial to either nvidia or ATI, so which card or set of cards gives excellent performance and is below or at 370$ or so is fine by me.

Edit: I was also looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... in SLI as well. How do the 9800GTX's perform in SLI in regards to the 4850/4870?

I think the first question that needs to be asked is, what resolution do you game at? If it's not above 1680 X 1050 the cards you have mentioned are a bit over the top.

My resolution is currently sitting at 1680x1050 heh, so I guess it's borderline.

Yea, I thought I would ask. Currently I have an E8400 and a 4850 running on a 24" Samsung @ 1920 X 1200. Even with only one 4850 I can run the latest games on either high or very high settings. I only experience slow downs in Mass Effect when maxed and obviously Crysis won't run @ max settings. From everything I have seen online, a single 4870 especially 1 gig would simply stun you with quality.

What about in regards to render lag? I currently play a few MMOs (WAR and WoW) and with my 8800 GTS (G92) OC I get dropped below 30 fps in crowded areas like cities... which is why I'm upgrading as I am.

Say I was to get 4850 or 4870 in crossfire, or 9800GTX in SLI. Would my resolution bottleneck performance? Or would it fix my graphical slowdown irregardless.

Hmm... that is an interesting point. I don't play any MMOs so I can't really comment on this. I'm surprised your 8800 GTS OC has issues of dropping below 30 fps... I found a similar thread regarding MMOs and video cards. Take a look at it. They say in the thread that the 4870 does an awesome job. No sense in overbuying a graphics card when you can save and buy a new one in a year or two.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/100821-13-world-warcraft-4870

Sounds to me you might just want to buy one card for now, perhaps a 4870. If you get a MB that supports crossfire, you can add another card when you need. The prices will continue to drop I am sure. You may opt not to buy a second card at all if a new type of card comes out. You would not have too much invested.

8800gts is overkill for WoW (@1280*1024, everything maxed). It's all about CPU. Especially in very crowded areas like Shattrath City, Dalaran or 25/40 man raids, there are too many different events going on. If you want proof, then first oc your graphics card and check your new framerate. Second, oc your cpu and check the frame rate again... you'll see what I mean.

i have a XFX 4850 oc'ed a little using auto-tune and im sitting at 675mhz on core/shader and 1143 on memroy and i play at 1360x768 res on my 26 inch hdtv and my cpu is e8400 oc'ed to 3.6 and i run crysis on all high not very high but high and avg 45-55 fps with 4xaa and 16af. i know my res isnt that big or high but it is a big screen and i get excellent performance out my 4850. everything else like cod 4/waw and grid and GoW run all maxed and dont fall below 50 fps. so mabye find a good 4850 for now and oc it and then upgrade. vsync and triple buffering on of course, and remember you can crossfire any of the hd 4000 series cards so maybe get a 4850 then crossfire with a 4870 later also look for reviews for games you play and how a certain card performs to help you decide

4850 ~ 9800GTX < GTX260 ~ 4870 < GTX280
GTX280 < 4850 crossfire/9800GTX SLi

ive got a 4850crossfire and a q6600@4ghz and i get 21k on 3dmark06 but if you just want to play games stick to just a GTX280 and youl have way less issues