HD 4850 crossfire vs HD 6xxx

[rambostyrer]

So. I currently have a Hd 4850, and think it's about time for an upgrade.

Then plan has always been to include an extra 4850 in crossfire, but before I do so I thought I would like some answers to some questions.


How would a 4850 croosfire setup do against the latest 6xxx (can i compete with 6850 and 6870) performance wise??


Is the fact that my current card only has 512mb ddr3 ram a problem, or would a 1gb card solve that??


Is it a big problem that my 4850 system doesn't support directX 11?


And is overclocking with the catalyst driver possible in crossfire??

thanks in adwance

 

[Tamz_msc]

It should perform like a HD 6850.However, the 512 MB memory might not be very good for gaming at higher resolutions.

 

[rambostyrer]

would like to go 1920*1080. but what if i made the other 4850 a 1gb card, would that help??

 

[Tamz_msc]

It would not make much difference.The 1GB card will only use half the memory, in order to keep up with the 512 MB card, I think.

 

[Embra]

What are the rest of your specs?

Getting another 4850 would be cheaper now, but you might find getting an hd 6xxxx a better investment over say a year, even moving into a crossfire with it.. Really depends on your budget, what you have now and what you would like to do with your computer in the near future.

 

[rambostyrer]

well the graphics would part of a larger upgrade.

But my specs are:

Athlon II x3 2,9 ghz,

4gb 1333mhz ddr3 ram

Radeon hd 4850 512gb gpu

corsair 450w psu

890FX Deluxe3 Asrock motherboard

 

[purple stain]

Going with a 6850/6870 would be the best option.I have read some reviews and the 4850 in crossfire is comparable to a single 5770,but the 5770 pulls away slightly with a 2-3 fps gain.

Defenitly should save the hassle of throwing away that 4850 in a year and just get the 6850.

 

[beltzy]

The 6850 should be a good choice for you. The 4850 is a bit of a dated card and investing further into that generation of GPU probably isn't a smart decision. Note that the 6850 has a minimum PSU of 500 watts, though I suspect you would be fine with your 450W. Definitely would need a PSU upgrade for a 2nd 4850.

At around $180, the 6850 provides a great value and pretty solid performance in most games at that resolution. Here is a link to a couple of reviews so you can see roughly what to expect in some of the more prevalent titles out right now:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776.html
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/
Crossfire review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-crossfirex-review/

You also have the option to pick up a 2nd 6850 and crossfire them, which provides very impressive performance at the resolutions that you're looking at in case you still want to push further once you upgrade. This will, however, will definitely require you to upgrade your PSU.

 

[purple stain]

^agree

 

[rambostyrer]

ok it looks like a new card, instead of an crossfire upgrade. may go for the 6950 instead, as it has 2 gb ram (so i don't run into the same problem again), and a more powerfull cpu. thanks for the advice.

 

[simon12]

Look at this chart http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/2010-gaming-graphics-charts-high-quality/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,2489.html it shows 2 512Mb 4850s in crossfire perform nearly as well as a 5850 2Gb which is better than the 6850. If you can get a cheap 4850 its a much better value upgrade.

 

[purple stain]

But in 6 months to a year the 4850 will be severly outdated and you would just be creating a money pit.

 

[simon12]

Its outdated now but if the performance is good and its cheap (you can find them for next to nothing) why spend 5 times more for the same performance just to get direct x 11.

 

[purple stain]

It is impressive that a 5850 CF would be equal to a 5850/5870 but other reviews were reporting that a single 5770 would bet a 4850 CF.But your still spending money on something your going to have to inveditably upgrade within a year.If he spends money on a 6950 now he can probably buy another one in a year and CF.Also he was planning on useing a 1900x1080 resoultion and he would need to buy 2 1G cards to get performance he can't just tack on a 1G and a 512mb.
Just doesn't seem logical with all these new cards out to buy a cheaper one that is 2 generations old.

 

[simon12]

It he gets a 6950 you will say in a year get a new 7950 or something using the same argument. It just doesn't seem logical to through away a card and buy one thats 5 times the price of a second just for direct x 11 and no performance gain. I will leave it to rambostyrer to decide anyway. If your still there want do you think?

 

[mactronix]

It is impressive that a 5850 CF would be equal to a 5850/5870 but other reviews were reporting that a single 5770 would bet a 4850 CF.But your still spending money on something your going to have to inveditably upgrade within a year.If he spends money on a 6950 now he can probably buy another one in a year and CF.Also he was planning on useing a 1900x1080 resoultion and he would need to buy 2 1G cards to get performance he can't just tack on a 1G and a 512mb.
Just doesn't seem logical with all these new cards out to buy a cheaper one that is 2 generations old.

You know i would really like to see this review that claims a 4850 crossfire set up is only as good as a single 5770. Care to post it ?

There are plenty of people who would like to pick up a cheap second hand 4850 and i think your best bet is to sell your 4850 and upgrade to the 6850.

Mactronix

 

[purple stain]

I have no idea why but i cannpt find where the review in the History and i searched it again and still no.
But i swear i saw the 4850 CF and the 5770 neck and neck for a few games averaging about the same each.

 

[bystander]

I have no idea why but i cannpt find where the review in the History and i searched it again and still no.
But i swear i saw the 4850 CF and the 5770 neck and neck for a few games averaging about the same each.

I believe you are confused on what you remember. I believe what you saw was a single 4850 was about as good as a 5770.

This was when the cards were first released: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446-7.html

Most of these benchmarks showed the 4870 faster than a 5770. It would likely show a 4850 about the same.

 

[rambostyrer]

now i'm confused

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446-8.html this looks very interesting as 4770 in crossfire does okay compared with the 5850, with 512 mb ram.

 

[bystander]

now i'm confused

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446-8.html this looks very interesting as 4770 in crossfire does okay compared with the 5850, with 512 mb ram.

Just remember that as resolutions go up, and the newer games with more visual features improve, 512 mb of ram has troubles, but in many games it doesn't have troubles.

 

[purple stain]

Yah i would just stick with the 68xx series,like i said above you only have the 512mb version so if you did crossfire you would run into some problems with 1080p resoultions.

 

[rambostyrer]

by the way, anyone who know, if there are 68xx lined up with 2gb ram??