Go Crossfire or buy a single newer card

[jwgators]

I currently have a single Radeon HD4850 512 MB card. The question is should I buy a second HD4850 or upgrade to the new GeForce GTX460?

My current system has a Core i7 920 with 6GB RAM and an SSD. My motherboard is XFire compatible.

 

[hunter315]

A second 4850 will cost you half as much to get the same or slightly better performance, i would go for getting the second 4850.

 

[wolfram23]

I'd probably just go with Crossfire right now, like hunter says. It'll cost less, and we're on the verge of a whole new batch of GPUs (6xxx series perhaps)

 

[r-sky]

the 512 meg 4850 gets killed at higher resolutions with the lack of ram...

I would say it depends on the resolution you are gaming at.

 

[wolfram23]

the 512 meg 4850 gets killed at higher resolutions with the lack of ram...

I would say it depends on the resolution you are gaming at.

That's a good point. You need more VRAM to store all the big beautiful textures for high resolution settings.

 

[goodwidp]

I had the same question a month ago when building a new PC and am very glad I decided to go with adding a second 4850 rather than spend more on a newer card. Almost any game I play in 1680x1050 gets good to very good fps on high settings, though my 4850's are 1gb each, so I'm not sure how much of an impact that could have on your performance. If the impact is minimal than I would definitely say go with another 4850.

 

[jitpublisher]

4850 right now. In 3 months, I don't know if I would say the same thing though.

 

[jwgators]

I am running dual screens. I have a 26" at 1920*1200 and a 22" at 1680*1050. I am running SC2 at Ultra settings with no visible stutters. I am not sure if this will improve performance or if it will matter.

 

[sarwar_r87]

^^ they y upgrade

install fraps and check your fps, if its bellow 30 or 40fps, then you may consider getting a second 4850

 

[jwgators]

Very good idea. I wasn't even thinking of that. I will do that when I head home.

Thanks.