Cheap crossfireX at aprox gtx460 level - need advice

[revolter]

Hello,
I am trying to build cheap crossfire PC, but I am not too familiar with current performance - price - compatibility of Radeon cards, I would like something at performance level of GTX460 or higher, although my boards support crossfire 2x16 I am not sure if it would be better to just get one card instead ? My budget would be some $150
I have spare msi 4550 1gb silent card laying arround - any sensible use of this ?

Conclusion

I have decided to go for time being with single radeon HD 5830 as cost/performance compromise - it seems to outperform 5770/260/460etc "my budget" cards.

Crossfiring Radeon cards in budget range proved to be moot as for cost of two it always seems to be one higher performing available. I snatched one brand new 5830 from ebay (got lucky?) bellow my $150 cost and if it makes sense in the future I will crossfire it later with another 5830 when they drops more in price.

If someone know about crossfire combination which would cost within $150 yet outperforms my choice HD 5830 I would like to hear about it.

It would be interesting if someone figure out some performance graph showing single GPU vs SLI/CF gain for particular GPU to quickly evaluate its pairing gains and /or comparison to higher tier GPU. If there is some graph like that I would like to know.

 

[wannaturnuptheheat]

The equivalent of a single 460's performance would be Crossfired... I want to say 5750s. However, for your budget, consider a single 5770 for now, and get another in the future... the problem is, two $75 cards Crossfired aren't gonna win any contests. (Consider the Radeon 5670, each $75... a pair of those Crossfired runs slower than a single 5770, which is quite a bit cheaper besides). Better to invest in a good single card now, and buy another later.

EDIT: Each 5750 would cost you about $100, which puts you $50 over budget. In fact, the (better performing) 5770 is CHEAPER.

And that 4550 isn't gonna help you much, I'm afraid to say...

 

[PudgyChicken]

You COULD put in the 4550 as a PhysX card. It'll take quite a bit of load off your other GPUs or CPU during intense gaming.

 

[revolter]

5770 crossfired - where that is performance wise ? is this buget crossfire setup ongoing like a no win scenario ? is it true then if I get two of some budget cards there will be single one at similar price level which is better than two crossfired for the same budget (except high end cards of course) ?

physic offload - does that work with any crossfire capable card regardless of gpu type ?

 

[revolter]

Hello,
I am trying to build cheap crossfire PC, but I am not too familiar with current performance - price - compatibility of Radeon cards, I would like something at performance level of GTX460 or higher, although my boards support crossfire 2x16 I am not sure if it would be better to just get one card instead ? My budget would be some $150
I have spare msi 4550 1gb silent card laying arround - any sensible use of this ?

recap:
* so far for budget price I was recommended to get 5770 as a single - not a viable choice as I can get with some effort gtx460 for <$120~ AR - care to offer alternative from AMD ?

* 4550 use as a PhysX offload card

heads up : deal going right now (expire 2/28) : newegg has 4gb ddr3 1600mhz for $25 after rebate and code - limit two - so I got 8gb for my new build for $50 AR. (not sure if I can post links so search slickdeals.net for "kingston hyperX ddr3 1600" )

 

[iam2thecrowe]

You COULD put in the 4550 as a PhysX card. It'll take quite a bit of load off your other GPUs or CPU during intense gaming.

ATI/AMD cards can NOT be used for physx, it is nvidia only. If you want physx, get the gtx460.