4870x2 vs GTX295 vs GTX280 sli

[faridakoi]

I know there have been hundreds of these threads, but its a big decision. I keep coming back to wanting a 4870x2 - cheaper, quadfire, cheaper Mobo compared to tri-sli.
GTX295 - saw this article http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/ [...] index.html espousing the brilliance of the 295, but again, I'm not sure.
GTX280 - sli has great results, but to upgrade requires tri-sli mobo, and they are going to stop making these (replacing it with 285). Can't afford 285, in UK the price is insane, dont want to buy a 280 then find no others around for sli...

Please help, there is another thread in the forum about a guy having trouble with the AA on his 4870x2...http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-259663_15_0.html

HELP ME OBI WAN KENOBI - YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE!!!


Subjective speculation welcomed.

 

[L1qu1d]

Power:

280 GTX sli (285)> 295 GTX > 4870 X2

Price/Power:

4870 X2 > 295 GTX > 280 GTX sli (285)

the 280(285)s will require a motherboard change, it doesn't need to be tri sli, but it does if you want to eventually put in 3.


If your computer matches the specs in your members configuration page, none of these card setups will work in your computer, and if it does, the CPU will be right there to bottleneck.

I would suggest either upgrading CPU first, or grabbing a less poweful card.

What resolution do you play at?

 

[faridakoi]

Thanks dude, no the set up these cards are for are an i7 rig.

 

[L1qu1d]

oh alright, well then you have a red head, a green head and a headache

 

[faridakoi]

And you'd go for the single card/sli, but if pushed for performance, ATI cause of the price/performance.
Also for a tri sli fun time, do you need a mobo that does true x16 on each lane, or will the reduced speeds as on MOST boards be ok (i.e. x16, x8,x8)???

 

[L1qu1d]

Most ppl prefer all 16. I mean if your 16 8 and 8 for example your better off running all of them 8.

Its alright, there are games that don't scale but it performs well love seing high numbers ahaha, enthusiasm costs.

 

[faridakoi]

Also is there a means through the bios that you can allocate which card gets how much?

 

[L1qu1d]

There should be I mean I can lower the times on my old asus board, though I haven't tried it on my current 1 since it runs 3 16x slots, I'm sure it could.

 

[rescawen]

you don't need more than 4870x2, GTX295 is a waste

 

[L1qu1d]

lol 295 GTX is only 10-15% faster...its not quite Price/performance, but I mean at 2560x1600 or 1920x1200 in general is def not a waste. Only thing I don't like about the 295 GTX is the low Vram count compared to a 6 month old card like the 4870 X2. 6 months later and still no dx 10.1 atleast if your not going to do 1 gig

Even in games with 1680x1050 if AA is killer like 16 x it could stress a card even like a 295 GTX (Crysis again, and stalker ahahaha)

 

[faridakoi]

Liquid, you've got good banter. I started another thread lamenting the GPU set ups of today. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-260247_15_0.html#t1907891

Let me know what you think.