5770 vs 4890

[Guest]

Well, I plan to replace the current card in my system (for it appears to be broken), but should I get 2 4890s in Crossfire or 2 5770s in Crossfire to replace it (a GTX 295)? I would have gotten a 5970, but apparently everywhere in Canada is out of stock.
If it helps:
Phenom II x4 925 (2.8 GHz)
4GB DDR2-800 (planning to replace with 8GB DDR2-1066)
Corsair TX750w (if necessary, could get Corsair HX1000w)
Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe (enough PCI-E slots, 790FX chipset)
Windows 7 Home Premium x64

 

[jaguarskx]

2 HD 4890s will be faster than 2 HD 5770s. However....

1. No DX11 support
2. Definitely more power hungry

 

[Guest]

Well, DX11 is of no concern to me at this time (and when it IS a concern the 5800 series would be back in stock). Would the 750w PSU be able to handle it? The two 4890s require 4 total 6 pin power connectors, and the PSU has exactly 4 6 pin connectors (well, 6+2 pin).
Obligatory Newegg link:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

 

[rawsteel]

if you are going to upgrade to 5000 series later, then go with 5770 dual for now
and when you dont have enough performance from them you can upgrade.

anyway 5770 is probably the best price/performance card on the market today.

Its little slower than 4890 but its also little cheaper.

Also expect some nice improvements on all 5000 series with 9.12 drivers (eagerly expected )

 

[Guest]

if you are going to upgrade to 5000 series later, then go with 5770 dual for now
and when you dont have enough performance from them you can upgrade.

anyway 5770 is probably the best price/performance card on the market today.

Its little slower than 4890 but its also little cheaper.

Also expect some nice improvements on all 5000 series with 9.12 drivers (eagerly expected )

The difference is $40 CAD, but the question is whether the extra $40 for the dual 4890s is worth it. And does the PSU check out?

 

[Ghost_Roadie]

the 4890's been out for a long time now and the drivers have provided a major boost in performance as the coding gets tighter for the games, you can expect a 5770 to outperform the 4890 within 1 or 2 driver updates.

personally I can't see any reason to go with the 4890's when on every benchmark site/review I've seen the 5770 is within 5-10 fps of the 4890 and surpassing it in many games without even overclocking it. you should be able to boost the clocks on the card quite easily to surpass stock clocked 4890's.

 

[rodney_ws]

Are you 100% sure that 295 GTX kicked the bucket? That's still one hell of a card to be tossing if you're not certain it's dead. Hell, it's gotta still be under some sort of warranty... those things haven't been out for a year have they? Surely you have a friend with a robust PSU who would let you drop that in his system for testing purposes.

 

[Zenthar]

I think anyone who expects a mid-range card to outperform the previous generation's top card is looking for disappointment.
IMO, the 5770 is closer to the 4870 than the 4890. The 4890, based on the recent Tom's review, is about 15% faster (overall). However, the 5770 cost less, will probably run cooler, use less power, supports DX11 and perhaps overclock better.

 

[jay2tall]

I would first check with the manufacturer and see if it is not under warranty. Alot of those offer a 1,2,3, or lifetime warranty.

If it is totally dead and not under warranty, I'd wait to get a 5870, its your best choice.

 

[Zenthar]

I would first check with the manufacturer and see if it is not under warranty. Alot of those offer a 1,2,3, or lifetime warranty.

If it is totally dead and not under warranty, I'd wait to get a 5870, its your best choice.

^ +1, a single 5870 will perform about the same as two 5770 in CF.

 

[jay2tall]

^ But without the headache that dual cards can bring.

 

[gamerk316]

5770 falls somewhere between a 4870 and 4890 in terms of performance. At its P/P ratio, it still makes no sense when you have the 4870 at a significantly cheaper price. Furthermore, using more then 1 GPU never makes monetary sense.

Either get a 5870, or save money on a 4870/4850 until prices drop more. Its not like any game not made by Crytek needs that much power anyways...

 

[Onus]

I agree with Zenthar and jay2tall. I just re-read the 5750/5770 review, and even the 4870 appears to be faster. So, that means I also agree with gamerk316. Get a 4870 until its performance isn't good enough and prices on 58xx have dropped (and you can find them).

 

[Zenthar]

The thing is the OP is replacing a GTX295 so a 4870 is probably already not enough... but a 5870 will kick the GTX's ass.

 

[Guest]

Well, there are some pictures in this thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/273803-33-lines-screen

Forceware 191.07, 195.39 and 195.55 driver versions did nothing, taking the side panel off did nothing, setting the fan speed to 100% did nothing, and I'm overall fed up with the incessant problems with the card (even driver install was a pain). It started on my old Vista installation about August; since then the current Win7 Home Premium install on a wiped HDD did nothing to stop it.
I would have chosen a 5870, had there actually been cards in stock (absolutely everywhere is out), so the only choices available to me (without having to put up with Nvidia again) are the 5770 and the 4890 (because my motherboard's chipset can handle Crossfire but not SLI).

And yes, the computer is out of warranty:
"Alienware computers support many different operating systems, such as most versions of Windows, Linux, UNIX and basically any operating system based on the i386 architecture. However, since Alienware does not support third party software, users will not be able to get support from us if a different Operating System is installed in the computer, such as Linux or a version of Windows different from the one originally installed on the computer at the time of purchase (with the exception of Vista Upgrade Program customers)."
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 over the original Windows Vista Home Premium x86 (and with Xubuntu 9.10 x64 on the side).