All packed into a Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case.
ATI is what I'm familiar with, but NIVIDIA is fine aswell
What I've been thinking is acquiring a second 4870 and run the two via crossfire. This presents its own issue as my current motherboard only has a single PCI Express 2.0 x16 (I was not thinking ahead ), not to mention the fact that my beloved X-FI Titanium FATAL1TY would likely be in the way.
So my real issue is choosing between a new GPU to replace my current 4870 allowing me to keep my motherboard, or purchasing another 4870 as well as a new motherboard. Either choice would present itself with a component wasting away in a box until needed.
To summarize, my quesiton is what would be the more logical choice in the sense of price and power. A second 4870 and new motherboard, or a level of GPU all together?
Note: I am a Canadian resident so please no links to american sites Preferred Sites: Direct Canada, New Egg or NCIX
I would get a new mobo and and a 2nd 4870, unless you really need Dx11
you would get better FPS on most games with the xfired 4870s then a single HD 5850 in most games - crysis whare a single HD 5850 vs xfired 4870s will be on par with each other.
Just make sure you PSU is up to par for 2 GPUs and i would also think about OCing that E8400
This is indeed what I was personally leaning towards.
My e8400 is currently sitting at a comfortable 3.6, which I've read shouldn't have any obvious bottlenecking with dual 4870s. I still have much room (temp wise) to OC further.
I very much appreciate your help Niklas, especially the links.
I have to disagree. If you must upgrade your graphics card right now, go for one of the new offerings from ATI. You're not going to see a great increase in performance though unless you drop around $380.
You're working with a dead CPU socket, so upgrading your motherboard would be a waste of money unless you're going for a full system upgrade.