Is it worth switching from an nvidia gtx465 to 2x Sapphire HD5850

[reaperz]

Hey all,

im not a huge gamer, as i only play starcraft 2 but may get into playing a few more racing games..

Currently i dont have any performance issues (that i can tell) as my machine is mostly a workhorse for virtual server environments at home.

My question .. im currently running an nvidia gtx465, and a friend has 2x Sapphire HD5850 with Accelero Twin Turbo PRO coolers and is selling them cheap $150usd)

Cards : http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=591&pid=338&psn=&lid=1&leg=0
Cooling : http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/detail?sArticle=22.%3F

Im sure i can sell my card for $100USD, is it worth the $50USD upgrade to go from gtx465 to dual 5850's with overclocking potential?

Bear in mind i live in new zealand so prices are quite different here .

Rest of my specs
CPU : i7 2600K cooled with Prolimatech Megahalems v2 + Noctua fan @ 5ghz
Mobo : Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3
Ram : ddr3 g.skill ripjaws CAS8
PSU : XFX 650 80+ Bronze Modular
HDD : OCZ Vertex 2 SSD + various 1-2tb drives
Monitor : Dell m2412 1920x1200 IPS monitor
Case : NZXT Phantom with stock case fans

Reason im asking is i cannot find any reviews comparing the single card to SLI.

I'm not looking to spend money otherwise i would look at upgrading to a 560ti or 670 .. but realistically i cannot see any need for this, as im currently able to run all games maxed out, including DIRT3 (have just built a racing sim pod with logitech g25 wheel + 43" plasma with this PC hooked up to it also)

Thanks all

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... ATI uses the term CrossfireX... Nvidia uses SLI.

 

[stantheman123]

Hmm well that is Very cheap. however you would get driver problems and maybie microstutter and more noise and more power usage and more heat. You said yourself you arent having any perfomance issues. So why not stick with your gtx 465. If you really wanna upgrade wait for the new gpus around the corner

 

[Robert Pankiw]

Hey Reaperz

I found this: http://benchmarkextreme.com/Articles/Radeon%205850%20Trifire/P8.html and this: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_465_sli_review,13.html

Sure it's dirt 2, but clearly the frame increase is pretty big.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

$150 for 2 cards isnt a bad deal. I sold my 6850's recently which offesr similar performance for AU$75 a piece. The reason i sold them is because the 1gb vram didnt play nice with skyrim with high res texture pack, lots of chugging/stuttering in some places. And also because crossfire didnt work well in many games, stuttering and fps drops. So i sold them and went for a single better card, i would recommend you do the same thing, performance is much more consistant and smooth.

 

[reaperz]

Best answer selected by reaperz.