Want to get a 4870,4890,4860,4770. What works best with a 4870 cross?

[crewxp]

Hey, I have 4 monitors, and a few years back, I was told that you couldn't use more than 2 monitors in crossfire mode. Well, I just learned now that they fixed it. So.. I need to ditch my X1900XTX That I use my 3rd and 4th monitor on, and get a up-to-date card (they dont support mine with drivers anymore)

Out of the 4870, 4890, 4860, or 4770, which would you say would work best with my current HD4870 in cross-fire mode? Not looking extreme, just something with a good price/performance ratio. Only use my 3rd and 4th monitors for HD videos, internet browsing, and maybe occasionally some video editing. No gaming.

I've been reading up on google, and it seems to me like the 4870 is the best choice. Is that right?

 

[tkgclimb]

Another 4870 would be the only choice that would make sense, beside the fact that another chipset card might have compattability issues, a lesser card would bottleneck the performance and a higher card would create the 4870 into a bottleneck. (that is if you could even crossfire two different cards, which i havn't seen done before, without altering there settings in the bios)

 

[daft]

another 4870 would work best. in crossfire/sli the cards work only as fast as the slowest card

 

[crewxp]

Okay cool, thanks. Thats what I thought.

Does memory size or brand have THAT MUCH to do with performance? If I have a Sapphire 1GB 4870, do I have to get another EXACT same one? Or can it be 512MB or a different brand like ASUS/XFX/etc

Thx guys! So helpful

 

[Wayoffbase]

If you get a 512MB card, both cards will only use 512MB total. The frame buffers are mirrored in crossfire mode, stats for both cards will always be the lower ones.

 

[crewxp]

Gotcha, makes sense. Brand doesn't matter much?

 

[daft]

not to much at all, though of course, the exact same card will work best

 

[kokin]

It would be best to get another card with 1GB memory as well, but as for the brand, it doesn't matter. As long as you can get both cards to run at roughly the same core speed and memory speed/capacity you'll be fine in crossfire.

 

[megamanx00]

Yup, any brand will do. Just make sure you get one that has the same amount of memory you do, ie if you have 512 get another 512 but if you have a 1GB get another 1GB. Crossfire is pretty flexible so using cards with different clocks is usually o.k., but it's best to put the faster card in the first PCI-E slot and connect your primary monitor to that one. You could even crossfire with a 4890, but there may be some glitches and performance will lie between two 4870s in CF and two 4890s in CF.