Which card to buy?

[szala11]

Hi guys!

Currently I have this system:

Asus Rampage Formula X48
Q9550@3.4Ghz
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
8GB Corsair Dominator 1066Mhz FAN
Sapphire HD 4870 512MB
Leadtek PxDVRx3200H Tuner
1* WD 500GB 7200rpm 32mb
1* Samsung 500GB 7200rpm 32mb
Plextor PX 810SA DVD-RW
Corsair TX750W PSU
Thermaltake Armor 6000BWS case

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Samsung 245B 24" monitor (max. res.: 1920*1200)

Mainly I would like to add another vid card so i can use a crossfire system. Im in the dilemma whether to buy :
1. another 4870 512mb for ~150$ (Best bang for the $$$ ???)
2. shall i sell the current one and get two of the 1gb models for ~430$ OR
3. Get a 4890 1gb for ~270$ and link it with the current 4870? (I know it will downclock itself and will map only 512mb Vram,
and will act like another 4870 so it is most likely a waste of money.
4. sell the 4870 and buy a simple 4890 1 gb? (Maybe OC-d version).

I play games at 1920*1200. I would like to have a cf system which is capable of running most of the games at 1920*1200 AA+AF but I don't want to go mad with money. I won't be playing at 2560*1200 cause my monitors max res. is 1920*1200@60Hz.

1. Will two 4870 512MB be able to handle games at that res. everything maxed out and still get decent FPS?
2. Also will 512MB Vram be enough at 1920*1200, and also for the upcoming games next year?

Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[szala11]

Also I found this:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Threaded&catid=31&threadid=2152458

Here you can read that it is *Possible* to set the clocks of two different cards separately...

Can anyone confirm this? Is it possible to raise th 4870's GPU clock to 800 let the 4890 run at 850mhz???

 

[efeat]

The only answer I can give you with any certainty is that 512 MB on a 1920x1200 resolution will be enough to play games through the next year. You will likely have to back off the AA/AF in a lot of titles though, as those two effects are VRAM hungry.

Out of curiosity, have you considered waiting for the DX11 cards to see what they have to offer before making a decision with your current system?

 

[BadManzz]

To play most of the new titles in these settings you'll need 1gb vram so the best thing for you is to buy a hd4890 in 1gb vram sell your 4870 and later on buy another 4890 and crossfire them.

 

[szala11]

Out of curiosity, have you considered waiting for the DX11 cards to see what they have to offer before making a decision with your current system?[/quotemsg]

Efeat!

I've already taken this into account, though always comes out something new and better, so I can wait forever

 

[szala11]

To play most of the new titles in these settings you'll need 1gb vram so the best thing for you is to buy a hd4890 in 1gb vram sell your 4870 and later on buy another 4890 and crossfire them.

Badmanzz!

The same thing was in my mind when I bought my 4870 last september to add another on later on. If i buy a 4890 now and think that later on I will add another one, by that time there will be a better 5xxx series card... so i'll be in the dillemma of adding another 4890 or 5xxx. Everyone will suggest the 5xxx series, because it is newer, better.

 

[obsidian86]

crosfire 4870 with 4890 is pretty close to 4890 crossfire

 

[szala11]

crosfire 4870 with 4890 is pretty close to 4890 crossfire

But I have the 512MB variant of the 4870 (Sapphire). 4890 has 1gb and will utilize only 512mb. Does it really matter?

 

[obsidian86]

not that much but clock both cards as high as you can crossfire isn't as limited by the slower card but rather work together but if you not happy you could sell both an get a 5xxx series but buy the xfx 4890 for the extended warranty

 

[szala11]

[crossfire isn't as limited by the slower card but rather work together]

What do you excatly mean by this?

Can you really set the clocks separately on the cards?? If yes that means that both card can use it's default clolck??

 

[szala11]

4870 512MB + 4890 1GB CF or 4870 512MB + 4870 512MB CF?

The question is still which one is the better choice?

 

[obsidian86]

i meant as in sli ,sli the cards defualt to the slower card speed but sli is only with model specific cards like 275+275 ect but crossfire can be done on similar cards like 4870+4890 or 4850+4870 ect and to answer your question the 4870+4890 will be better and you can set both clocks independently, you can even set the clocks independently on a 4870x2

 

[szala11]

i meant as in sli ,sli the cards defualt to the slower card speed but sli is only with model specific cards like 275+275 ect but crossfire can be done on similar cards like 4870+4890 or 4850+4870 ect and to answer your question the 4870+4890 will be better and you can set both clocks independently, you can even set the clocks independently on a 4870x2

Hmmm... I didn't know that. What you said means that the 4870 won't hold back the 4890 in crossfire configuration... Am i right? Any test that can confirm this? I looked for it everywhere but couldn't find it...

 

[obsidian86]

http://www.hardforums.com/showthread.php?p=1034459447

 

[szala11]

http://www.hardforums.com/showthread.php?p=1034459447

Thanks this was a very useful site. I just wonder how much the 4870 512 + 4890 1GB CF pair falls behind the 4890 1GB + 4890 1GB CF setup