Two HD 4770s or One GTX 275

El_Mayo

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Title says it all
HD 4770's will give a great advantage (gaming @ 1680x1050)
how ever if i pick up a GTX 275 and pick up another in the future.. sounds like a good future proofing plan
 

El_Mayo

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haven't bought yet
will be buying in the next month
i've got a planned list:

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720BE

GTX 275/HD 4770 x2

Asus M4A78-E AMD 790GX (or any AM3 DDR2, ATX, Dual Channel, CrossfireX Compatible motherboard)

Any CD/DVD Rewriter

20 inch or 22 inch 1680x1050 resolution

DDR2 memory (4GB dual channel, 1066Mhz)


1TB Hard Drive - 32mb Cache

Any good/reliable/80+ 550/600W certified power supply make

Coolermaster HAF 922

Windows Vista Ultimate 64 Bit
 

efeat

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That motherboard does not support SLI, so you can't have dual gtx 275s. I don't think there are any AM3 socket motherboards that support SLI.
 
No such thing as futureproofing.

IMO, better off saving money, getting the best single card you can now, and then going with the next generation offerings once the DX11 generation hit after selling off that best single card.
 

jennyh

Splendid
I reckon you will get 1-1.5 years maximum out of any cards on the market right now, before DX11 really starts to take off.

For that reason I'd go with the 4770's - they are cheaper and faster than a 275/4890 and you won't want to xfire or sli any current card once DX11 takes off.
 
I'd definitely go for a quad over a tri core cpu. I'd also definitely go with an Intel based system but that's up to you. Their quad cores are better for the money at stock and OC like crazy in general.
 

jennyh

Splendid


What intel quads are better for the money at stock?
 


It's not about DX11 taking off, it's about the new cards and designs giving a jump in performance.

It's not that the GF8800GTS-640 was a DX10 card, it's that it offered a good performance jump, same with the GTX265 & HD4870.

It's when the new generation comes out, likely the cut down G300 something or RV8xx variant will be attractive for the titles coming out around the New Year.

Right now we're nearing the end of the cycle for both the hardware and software and we await the next generation of VPU killing games and game killing GPUs.
 

jennyh

Splendid
The big worry for me about future crossfire/sli on cards like the 275 or 4890 would be that dx11 really is a major upgrade over dx10.

Even if you can pick up a cheapish 275 or 4890 to crossfire in a years time, you still won't have dx11.
 

k0unit

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Urhm...None?
Maybe the E8600 if that's even comparable to the Phenom II 955.

I can't reccomend intel for price/preformance either unless you go i7 or hardcore OC'ing.

@OP:
I'm actually making the same rig as you. Same mobo, but a Phenom II 940 and a Corsair 750W when I get the $$ for it.
I'm starting off with one 4770, then CF'ing them when I need to. I'm running @ 1440x900.

4GB of 800MHz DDR2, dual-channel.
 

El_Mayo

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well i don't care much for DX 11
most games probably won't support it for a year or two after it's out
altho with ATi cards you get DX 10.1
so might go with two HD 4770's
 
While the 4770 xfire leads in performance it begins to drop quickly in fps as the resolution goes up. the GTX 275 performance decreases and a much lower rate. I would take this to suggest that the GTX 275 would hold up better in the future. Just my 2 cents. But bang for buck 2 4770 for 200 bucks is a better deal.
 

El_Mayo

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i'm getting a 1680x1050 monitor
 

L1qu1d

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ever consider 1 4890? I would much rather have 1 4890 than 2 4770s if I'm looking at reliable performance, but if your looking at the money then the 4770 is not beat.

I bought 1 4770 and it runs amazingly. Very cool, very responsive and simple/cheap setup.

But not a performance king, if I wanted performance king either the 4890 or the better but more expensive 285 GTX.

Don't get the 275 GTX, in my opinion its a broken 285 GTX and wanna be card. 896 meg Vram...like always Nvidia ftw.....

Atleast with the 285 and 4890 you don't hit the Vram wall especially with the current textured new gen games.
 

Tech-Boy

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I Read ;)

I know people are going to really disagree with me. But The GTX 275 is by far the best option.

Let me lay it out for you:

Advantages of two 4770's:

-Higher Frames in most Games (although doesn't really make a difference at 1680x1050)
-New smaller die
-Higher Overclocks
-Bragging Rights (two gpu's)

Disavatages of two 4770's:

-Not so great at folding
-Need for expensive motherboard to run properly.
-Not all games support crossfire.
-More Complications with drivers, ect.
-Lesser resale value
-Very limited upgrade support.
-More heat in case and more power hungry.
-No clear advantage over GTX 275 at 1650x1050


Advantages of One GTX 275:

-Excellent Folder
-Very few Driver Complications.
-Great Resale value
-Don't need motherboard that supports dual cards.
-Well perform much better in games that don't support multi gpu's
-You well not notice frame difference between Two 4770's and one gtx 275 at 1680x1050
-Looks Real Nice in the Case :D
-Great for video encoding

Disavatages of One GTx 275

-Only dx10 not dx10.1
-Not new 40mm die size
-Not two gpu's
-Does not overclock quite as high as a 4770
-Big card

So in my opinion a single card solution as a gtx 275 is by far, and yes by far the best option for El_Mayo.

Case Closed :lol:
 

L1qu1d

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you missed out the advantages of the 4890, can match the 285 GTX when overclocked.
Flexible crossfire
I wouldn't build my system around folding, I would build it over what you said, long lasting.

And out of all those choices, the 4890 has the longest life by far. 1 gig Vram, dx 10.1 which means free AA up to 4xs.

like I said before, the 275 is a 285 that got dropped on its head prematurely.