Quick question

[qwoz]

Can I CF my ATI 4870 512mb with a 4870 1gig. Do they have to be the same brand? (Saphire)
I have the power supply and mobo to do it.

Also, why is Newegg phasing out 4870's? theres only one left on their website and it seems to me that the best performance solution right now is 2 4870's in CF according to the most current benchmarks, that often even show the 5870 below 2x 4870's.

Thanks

 

[qwoz]

Sorry i should have searched. I found the answer to all my questions.

 

[jay2tall]

You can crossfire a 4870 512 and a 1GB card. The 1GB card will only use 512MB of video ram though, and act like a 4870 512MB card. But it will work just fine.

The 4870 is the last generation card and was replaced by the 5870. They stopped producing them. However, the 4890 is still hanging around as my thoughts are there is nothing in the ATI arsenal that performs between a 5770 and a 5850 right now. The 5830 is due to come out the end of this month and then I have a feeling the 4890 may start to go away.

FYI, I added a 2nd 4870 to my first and tried to crossfire. I ran into all sorts of heat issues where the heat from my bottom card would heat up the top card. It was fine for about 20-30 minutes and then crashed. It would get up to 100C+. My case airflow is good, but would benefit from a side fan. My mobo is also set where the 2 cards do not have any room between them. If there was an extra expension slot between there would be more room for heat to dissipate. Just something to think about, the 4870 is a hot running card, and when you have 2 of them, it makes an easy bake oven out of your PC. Just make sure you have alot of airflow. I ended up selling both and getting a 5870. My APC750 US is happier now, as it doesn't blink when I max the load, and my GPU fans aren't going 100%. Its a much easier setup to have 1 card.

 

[jay2tall]

oh yeah and brand doesn't matter, its the same GPU.