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ATI Radeon HD 4890 Crossfired Vs. Nvidia GTX 295

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - ATI Radeon HD 4890 Crossfired Vs. Nvidia GTX 295

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minter   10-14-2009 at 04:40:50 PM

I need some opinions of what should I get, 2 ATI Radeon HD 4890 Crossfired or 1 Nvidia GTX 295. I don't know which ones are better, though I have been using Nvidia for a long time since I started with computers, and now i'm thinking of getting radeons. This is my specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 4 GHz
MSI P45 Neo2 FR (PCI-E single @ x16, Dual @ x8 - x8)
4 GB Corsair Gaming Memory DDR2 800
Corsair HX 1000w PSU
Cooler Master V10
Cooler Master Haf 932
LG 22" Wide HD LCD 1920x1080 max resolution (this is the current resolution I am using)

Any opinions would be much appreciated


Message edited by minter on 10-14-2009 at 04:55:35 PM
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brett1042002   10-14-2009 at 05:52:41 PM

My vote is two 4890's in CF. You'll love the performance. Hell, I love the performance from my single 4890 lol. My resolution is 1920x1080 as well.... dual 24'' monitors. I play all games without a hitch. I'll be picking up another 4890 for CF when they come down in price more... and I upgrade my PSU.

------------------------------ PII 955 BE CPU @ 3.6ghz w/ ZeroTherm BTF90 Copper HS, 8gb Corsair RAM @ 1600mhz, Antec 1200 case, 650w Corsair PS, Asus TOP 4890 1gb, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500gb HDD / 7200.11 640gb Slave, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit RTM
 Reply to brett1042002
jonpaul37   10-14-2009 at 06:42:25 PM

ok, the price range of the GTX 295 is $500.00 (give or take)
the price of 2 X 4890's is $380.00 (give or take)

you can OC the 4890's to near-GTX 295 performance and thus you have spent less money...

However! In my opinion, i would go with the new 5870 (if you can find one) for right around the same price as the 2 X 4890's. it's on par with the 4870x2 and just below the GTX 295 for a MUCH better price, not to mention newer technology and you can crossfire it when the prices drop a little...

------------------------------ ASUS PQ5 PRO - E4500 @ 3.3 - 4GB GSkill DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-10 - Sapphire 4850 512MB @ 655/1015 - Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB - Win 7 64-bit - PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Power Supply
Reply to jonpaul37
minter   10-14-2009 at 06:48:02 PM

can 1 HD 5870 surpass the 2 4890's performance? oh and is the performance still ok if my pci-e slots runs at x8 - x8 in crossfire mode?


Message edited by minter on 10-14-2009 at 06:54:24 PM
Reply to minter
jonpaul37   10-14-2009 at 07:01:52 PM

that's a good question... Check out the following link

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2422.html

It basically reveals that the 5870 will in most cases , be on par with or beat out the 4870x2. There are a few exceptions, but not many, the 5870 makes a compelling run for the money...

The other advantages the 5870 has over the other options is as follows:

Power consumption
the fact that it's a Single card solution
DX 11
all the above you'll notice in the review... you be the judge.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ ASUS PQ5 PRO - E4500 @ 3.3 - 4GB GSkill DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-10 - Sapphire 4850 512MB @ 655/1015 - Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB - Win 7 64-bit - PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Power Supply
Reply to jonpaul37
jennyh   10-14-2009 at 07:04:24 PM

jonpaul37 wrote :

that's a good question... Check out the following link

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2422.html

 

It basically reveals that the 5870 will in most cases , be on par with or beat out the 4870x2. There are a few exceptions, but not many, the 5870 makes a compelling run for the money...

 

The other advantages the 5870 has over the other options is as follows:

 

Power consumption
the fact that it's a Single card solution
DX 11
all the above you'll notice in the review... you be the judge.

 

The 4870x2 beat the gtx295 in most of those benchmarks btw.

 

edit - the 5870 is clearly the smart choice here.


Message edited by jennyh on 10-14-2009 at 07:04:50 PM
------------------------------ AMD to make $1.5bn profit Q4, *gauranteed*
 Reply to jennyh
minter   10-14-2009 at 07:05:47 PM

hmm so do you think the 2 4890's will do a greater job?

Reply to minter
jennyh   10-14-2009 at 07:08:23 PM

Ok the gtx295 is completely pointless. It costs too much for hardly any benefit over the 5870.

The 4890 crossfired will be the most powerful setup more often, but in some games you'll be left with only a single 4890, which is still powerful.

Get a 5870, nothing else at the price point makes any sense at all right now.

------------------------------ AMD to make $1.5bn profit Q4, *gauranteed*
 Reply to jennyh
jonpaul37   10-14-2009 at 07:09:45 PM

for now, yes, but the difference will be minimal... don't forget that ATI division will come out with new drivers for the 5870 to scale better as well, so it only gets better for 5870... 2 x 4890 is a great choice, but i think the 5870 is better choice.

------------------------------ ASUS PQ5 PRO - E4500 @ 3.3 - 4GB GSkill DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-10 - Sapphire 4850 512MB @ 655/1015 - Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB - Win 7 64-bit - PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Power Supply
Reply to jonpaul37
minter   10-14-2009 at 07:12:48 PM

ok 5870 it is. im thinking of crossfiring it with another 5870, what do you think of my question about x8 - x8 on the pci-e slots at crossfire mode?

------------------------------ MSI P45 Neo2 FR - Q9550 @ 4GHz, Cooler Master Aquagate Max Liquid Cooling, 4GB Corsair Memory @ 1066MHz, Nvidia GTX 285 OC, Corsair HX 1000w PSU, Cooler Master HAF 932
 Reply to minter
eklipz330   10-14-2009 at 07:23:49 PM

it shouldn't bottleneck you too much

Reply to eklipz330
jennyh   10-14-2009 at 07:26:54 PM

You wont lose a whole lot of performance, a few percent maybe but you'll have so much power I doubt you will notice it.

------------------------------ AMD to make $1.5bn profit Q4, *gauranteed*
 Reply to jennyh
minter   10-14-2009 at 07:29:17 PM

oh ok. what brand do you recommend? I wanted to choose Sapphire cards but still in a little doubt of their cards.

------------------------------ MSI P45 Neo2 FR - Q9550 @ 4GHz, Cooler Master Aquagate Max Liquid Cooling, 4GB Corsair Memory @ 1066MHz, Nvidia GTX 285 OC, Corsair HX 1000w PSU, Cooler Master HAF 932
 Reply to minter
jonpaul37   10-14-2009 at 07:54:41 PM

as for the x8 - x8 scaling, you neednet worry, the performance hit will be minimal.

In regards to the Brand of ATI card, i would go with Sapphire. Every ATI card i have owned has been Sapphire and i have not had one issue. Sapphire is to ATI as EVGA is to Nvidia.

Personally i would start with just 1 5870 and see if you will need/want to add another at a later date. It may turn out that just one 5870 will fulfill your needs... especially over a GTX 285, i feel that this will be the case.

I am going the exact same route you are going, i'm upgrading my Core 2 Duo from e4500 to a Core 2 Quad Q9550 soon, then after the holidays i'm going to get a 5870. So i would like to know how it works out for you.

------------------------------ ASUS PQ5 PRO - E4500 @ 3.3 - 4GB GSkill DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-10 - Sapphire 4850 512MB @ 655/1015 - Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB - Win 7 64-bit - PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Power Supply
Reply to jonpaul37
minter   10-14-2009 at 07:58:57 PM

sure, i'll inform you when my 5870 arrives after I order. thanks for your time y'all! cheers!

------------------------------ MSI P45 Neo2 FR - Q9550 @ 4GHz, Cooler Master Aquagate Max Liquid Cooling, 4GB Corsair Memory @ 1066MHz, Nvidia GTX 285 OC, Corsair HX 1000w PSU, Cooler Master HAF 932
 Reply to minter
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