New System, need some advice

[Netherwind]

Okay, i'm building a Core i7 920, P6T Deluxe V2, OCZ XMP ready DDR3-1600 RAM.

I need some help deciding on a video card. I was looking into the Sapphire Toxic 4870 for $220..but I know that the 4890 is only 260..

Do I take the 4870 toxic, or the 4890? is the 10% performance gain really worth the $40?, I've also been looking into water cooling, is water cooling really necessary for the Vapor-X series?

One more thing before I go, should I just wait to see what the prices are on a Sapphire Toxic HD 4890?

Thanks,
Nick


Edit: Should probably include that I'm running a 23.6 inch Asus monitor full 1080P HDMI yadda yadda 1920x1080

 

[RazberyBandit]

Are you looking for a single-GPU solution or would you consider a dual-GPU solution? Cause also in that $220 to $260 price range falls the 4850x2 from Sapphire, as well as creating your own 4850 Crossfire setup, or GTS 250/9800GTX+ SLI setup. Something to consider...

 

[evongugg]

^+1.

Best PCIe Card For ~$260: Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-gtx,2270-4.html

 

[evongugg]

What is your power supply?

 

[Netherwind]

my power supply will be a 650 Watt Antec EA650

 

[Netherwind]

And does anyone have graphs that will show the 4850 x2 outperforming the 4890, especially once sapphire puts out it's toxic model?

Edit: Again forgot to mention, I DO have a 4850 512mb sapphire card atm, clocked to 700/1090, would performance drop a lot using Tri-crossfire because one card is 512?

 

[orangegator]

Do I take the 4870 toxic, or the 4890? is the 10% performance gain really worth the $40?, I've also been looking into water cooling, is water cooling really necessary for the Vapor-X series?

The whole point of these cards is that they come with much better cooling than the standard design. That is what you are paying for. So, water cooling them would be just plain stupid.

 

[halcyon]

I used a 4890...its a beast, I can't imagine that at 1920x1200 or less you'd be wanting for a lot. Given that and the fact that you'll have a little bit more OC'ing headroom with the 4890 I'd head off in that direction unless you want to wait and step up to a 4890x2...which given the $$ stated doesn't seem to be in consideration right now.

 

[coozie7]

@ Netherwind: CF, like SLI will set all the cards to the lowest common denominator for memory so a single 512Mb card will drag 1Gb cards down to its leval.
When it works SLI tends to work better than CF but both need the game to take advantage of the tech and `profiles` have to be provided by the card makers in their drivers as well, so any game that lacks one or the other will see a CF/SLI setup as a single card. It is for these reasons I do n`t like either.
Whichever card you decide on it`ll need 1Gb of memory per core at 1920x1080 or it`ll start to choke when you turn the settings up.
I`d get one HD4890.

 

[mamw93]

Get a 4890.

 

[Netherwind]

Currently on newegg the 4850x2 2gb is 280, that being said doesn't that put it into price range of the highest factory oc'd GTX 260's and then the 275?

 

[coozie7]

The HD 4850 is big, nearly 11" long, noisy under load and still can run hot.
That said it`s also d*** fast when both cores are used and several regulars use them, so it can`t all be bad.
Take a look here, you should find this interesting;
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/sapphire-hd4850x2.html

And another for the HD4890 in CF:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/HD_4890_CrossFire

 

[Netherwind]

Oh one more thing before I forget...will the 4850x2 fit in my Antec 900 case?