Dumb question.

prototypex

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Hello i been shopping around for awhile.and i been studying cards quite a bit.But i have a huge question,i know it might be a dumb question but here goes.

I notice in the benchmarks i see like radeon 4890 x2 etc or 4850 x2 does that mean its 2 cards? in crossifre or does it mean its 1 card with 2 gpus.Please explain to me.
 

paperfox

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5970, 4850x2, 4870x2, 295gtx, 285x2 (MARS or something like that, limited edition), 7850x2gt or 7950x2gt (the first dual card? Im sure I screwed up the name)

edit: go for the 5850, might not be as cheap but it has better power efficiency, no crossfire issues, DX11, no heat issues and a handfull of other things.
 

prototypex

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i just priced me a 4870x2 for 259 dollars is that a good deal? and will it perform the tasks i need i play at 1024 by 768 recently i been playing at 1280 by 1024,i might upgraded to a bigger monitor.I like this card and i want to know if it will perform like everyone says it will. i also priced a 4850x2 at around 180
 

Truhls

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at that tiny resolution any of those cards will be overkill.
 

Truhls

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You never said you WILL, you said you MIGHT. Makes a world of difference. But if you wanted to waste 200 buck on a might then so be it. But means we now KNOW you will be upgrading ( And by 32 inch monitor do you mean TV? ) id suggest the 5850 if you can afford it honestly. its a great card, and will support just about any game on the highest settings at a high resolution.
 

paperfox

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Those two cards are major overkill for your 1280x1024, 4850/70X2 cards are more 1920x1080 resolution territory. Unless you plan on upgrading your monitor to a 1080p one id just stick with a 5770, which is still somewhat overkill but more accuratly discribed as futureproof.

BTW what are the specs of your system? PSU, CPU?

hmmm... thinking about it the 5770 is $160 ish, for @20 more you could get that 4850x2, almost double the horsepower. But lets see the specs of you PC first.
 

prototypex

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i have a amd phenom 2 x4 quadcore runnin at 2.8ghz,8gb of ddr3 ram,1 terabyte hd,it came with a shity integrated graphic card.im upgrading my psu to around 850 1000 watts.i play alot of games crysis farcry mass effect i compete in tournaments sometimes also.thats why im lookin for performance at a good price.im using a 19 inch monitor right now i will be upgrading too around a 32.at moment tho i have to wait on that upgrade and atleast get the card and the psu,thats why i said maybe about the monitor upgrade it will be like a month or 2 before i can get 1.money dont grow on trees
 

prototypex

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oh and will i be able to use this card even if a game is ran with dx 11? i keep seeing direct x 11 and all this stuff here and there.will a direct x 10 card be able to play a game that uses direct x 11?
 

Truhls

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with a 5850, generally , yes. Careful with that though dx11 can cause a rather large performance hit. but that will only get better with time.
 

prototypex

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Im very frustrated because i want all the power i can get for the best price without having to pay 400 dollars.i looked at the 5850 ,and i been lookin at this 4870x2 i want the x2 badly because it will fit better in my case and the way its shaped on my board.isnt the 5850 11 inches long?
 

paperfox

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Truthfully right now there are not many DX11 games out right now. Getting DX11 will help you in the future allot more than it will today, depending on how offten you upgrade your graphics card. Have you seen the Heaven benchmark? (I cant find the one where the guy goes around and switches between the two DX versions on youtube :( ) I am rather impressed with this version of DX11 over the difference between 9 and 10.

edit 5850 was 9.5" and 5870 10.5" if i recall
 

prototypex

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Thats how it was for me when i got my last pc.it had pci express with no cards compatible yet i remember that.then suddenly boom thousands of them.i would not mind having the 5850 .can you tell me is it 1 inches long?like people say it is and wide.the 4870x2 is long but the way its shaped will fit perfectly