Crossfire or Single Card?

N

Necifix

New Member
Hi,

I'm on a budget, sort of.

I built my PC two-three years ago with a HIS HD Radeon 4670 512MB Budget GPU in it, it had great reviews and fantastic performance for the price. It plays Crysis alright on high (not very high) too.

However, I have been meaning to upgrade it for awhile. It's a great GPU with a great cooler, and I noticed it can crossfire.

These cards sell for about $60 a pop (the 1GB Version does) on Newegg and I was thinking why spend $80-120 for a used 4850 or 4870 and just buy another new HD 4670 (except the 1GB version... woohoo). Apparently, according to a review, this offered better performance than a single HD 4850 and cards in its class (though not the 4870 or 4890, two still very good/expensive cards).

Would this be advisable? It fits my budget and I really like my current 4670, it's just not enough. It's not hugely underpowering but I want a bit more kick in my graphics to pull through with the rest of my system. Should I go with another new-crossfired HD 4670 for about $65 or so ($55 with Mail in rebate) or just buy a replacement single card? If I do go crossfire, is there anything I should know?

This just seems like it's the cheapest way to get the performance I want and I love the cooler on the 4670. I'm leaning heavily towards just crossfiring these two for cheap (and a new card, instead of risking on a used one on eBay), however, I thought I'd come get some other opinions. My power supply is a 550W, which seems to be adequate. This is my motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

~ Necifix

P.S. I could get a XFX GTX 260 Black Edition GPU for $80 on Craigslist, but, the damn thing requires a 630-watt PSU! Really? Can anyone help me on that? I have a 550W PSU, E8400 Dual core processor, two SATA HDD's, two disc drives, no floppy etc. Why does this thing require 630W of power when a GPU like an HD 6970 only requires 550 same with this: http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=012-P3-1572-AR? Would I be fine running it on 550W or is that dangerous?
 
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Necifix said:
Hi,

I'm on a budget, sort of.

I built my PC two-three years ago with a HIS HD Radeon 4670 512MB Budget GPU in it, it had great reviews and fantastic performance for the price. It plays Crysis alright on high (not very high) too.

However, I have been meaning to upgrade it for awhile. It's a great GPU with a great cooler, and I noticed it can crossfire.

These cards sell for about $60 a pop (the 1GB Version does) on Newegg and I was thinking why spend $80-120 for a used 4850 or 4870 and just buy another new HD 4670 (except the 1GB version... woohoo). Apparently, according to a review, this offered better performance than a single HD 4850 and cards in its class (though not the 4870 or 4890, two still very good/expensive cards).

Would this be advisable? It fits my budget and I really like my current 4670, it's just not enough. It's not hugely underpowering but I want a bit more kick in my graphics to pull through with the rest of my system. Should I go with another new-crossfired HD 4670 for about $65 or so ($55 with Mail in rebate) or just buy a replacement single card? If I do go crossfire, is there anything I should know?

This just seems like it's the cheapest way to get the performance I want and I love the cooler on the 4670. I'm leaning heavily towards just crossfiring these two for cheap (and a new card, instead of risking on a used one on eBay), however, I thought I'd come get some other opinions. My power supply is a 550W, which seems to be adequate. This is my motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

~ Necifix
Click to expand...

Ive always been told its better to have 1 good card than 2 crossfired ok cards
 
SslagleZ28 said:
Ive always been told its better to have 1 good card than 2 crossfired ok cards
Click to expand...

Yes, however, I'm on a budget and selling my old 4670 and buying a card like a 4850 (which is slightly worse than the two of these crossfired, and more expensive) is a bit out of my budget. I'm just saying for my needs, would this work fine? Would I run into some games that don't support crossfire? I'm mainly interested in playing Oblivion, Diablo III (upon release) anything post-2005 really.

Necifix
 
Well after looking around on newegg, it would appear the crossfire route may actually be the best. I try and avoid recommending dual card solutions to most people, but here is a prime example of when a dual card setup should be utilized. Considering the cost of each option versus the performance gained, the second 4670 seems like a really good option. Even if you were to get a 4870, its still old hardware, and probably not worth upgrading to.

Having said that, there are a few things to know about a crossfire setup. One is that you won't benefit from that shiny new 1gb of memory. The new card will scale itself down to match the other cards specifications, meaning you basically will have two 512mb cards. Another point worth noting is that these configurations often have more complications than a single card. However the drivers should be mature enough by now to have this problem minimized, some hiccups here and there may occur. Finally, not all games scale with xFire/SLi, so in some games you'll hardly get any performance boost from your second card.

If after considering those points you still think its your best bet (and it probably is), then by all means, order that second card.
 
Yeah. I'm not a heavy PC Gamer. I'm fine with graphics tuned down a bit and I never play the newest cutting edge FPS games. Not my thing (and if I do, I just play it on a console). It's sad that there is no "new hardware" (lol the HD 4670 is only 1-2 years old and it's still considered "old"... ahh, the quick recycling of computer parts) for my price range that would create a significant boost.

Hm, I see. But, I would still have 1GB of memory total, then? That's fine with me. I'll be trying Crysis and Oblivion as games in my new setup, so, would they operate fine under Crossfire? I'm not finding much on the internet.

Thanks,

Necifix

P.S. I could get this: http://cgi.ebay.com/HIS-H685F1GD-Ra...769?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item1c1876e6a9

Would that be much better than the 4670 crossfired or just like a 4850 or a GTX 260? Would it be worth it? That's the absolute most I could go for, though. Would it be worth another
$90-$100?

Sorry for all the questions, but, I think I found my destroyer of worlds.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...rue&Keywords=(keywords)&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

I can get this card, used, for $45-$50 (apparently 100% working... Craigslist, lawl). This would allow me to have a single-card and have better performance than the crossfire-HD 4670's for about the same price, except, I can then sell my old 4670 on eBay for maybe $30 and in the end only really pay $20-$25 for the card off of Craigslist. Good deal? I'm going to Outback Steakhouse next weekend and I asked to meet the guy there anyway, so, that would work and not be any extra hassle on my end.
 
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Hm, maybe, but, can someone tell me what they think of the GTX 260 Black Edition I posted above w/ my 550W PSU?
 
Corsair.

Here are my options

Another HD 4670 in Crossfire - About $60

HD 6850 - About $140 (I could save up if necessary) - http://cgi.ebay.com/HIS-H685F1GD-Ra...769?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item1c1876e6a9

Although that's $80 more, I could probably sell my HD 4670 I have now for $30-$40 on eBay and drag the price difference down to only about $40-$50 in the end. Is that worth it? I think so.

Nvidia Geforce 260 Black Edition - $80 + gas (used)

Which should I go for, performance vs. price? How much of an increase is the 6850 over the single 4670? Huge?

Necifix
 
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With the 6850 you could use it if you upgrade to a better CPU/mobo down the road. This isn't really the case with dual 4670s. How long do you think you'll be holding out with your current setup? If it is 2-3 years I'd say go for the dual setup.
 
If you love microstutter or you are just going to benchmark go for the dual setup. If you want 60fps to look like 60fps and not more like 30fps, go for the single card.
 
I may or may not upgrade my mobo down the road. It's little steps :P. I don't even see the point of i7 or whatever. Most applications and games can barely even utilize dual core. I'm fine with my E8400. I won't be upgrading for a looong while.
 
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