1 GPU vs. 2 GPU?

Forevermore1337

Forevermore1337

New Member
I am ready to upgrade my video cards and i'm stuck as to what i should do.
I already have one 4850 512mb, and i was thinking i wanted to crossfire it with a 1gb of the same brand and model.

However, i saw this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102826

And now i don't know which to choose. The 4870 will be a bit more, which i am willing to pay, but only if it yields a much better performance gain over crossfiring the two 4850's.

Can someone give me some advice.

Another thing is my psu. I know it can handle the 2 4850's, but if it can't handle the 4870, there's no point in purchasing it.

Here's the psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010

Thanks.
 
I would go for the 4870, because it would be better for cooling and actually provide a little bit more power than the 2 4850s, if I remember correctly.
 
soo, are you asking which would be a better upgrade 2x 4850's vs. a single 4870?

If so go for the 2 4850's in crossfire, it will preform better than the single 4870, but it will also cost a little more.
 
mx344 said:
soo, are you asking which would be a better upgrade 2x 4850's vs. a single 4870?

If so go for the 2 4850's in crossfire, it will preform better than the single 4870, but it will also cost a little more.
Click to expand...
The 2 4850s would be better at higher resolutions, but at lower resolutions, they're only 1-2 FPS higher than the single 4870.
Actually, looking at different games, it can nearly double the performance!
In CoD4, the 2x4850 nearly doubles the FPS of the single 4870.
That's insane.
 
Noob question:

I've heard it is possible to crossfire cards from the same like model range or something, so you can crossfire the 4850 and 4870's together?
 
no, they are too different. one thing though, is you shouldnt buy a 1gb card if you are currently using a 512mb card.

the reason being the two cards have to be perfectly symmetrical. if one has 1gb and one has 512mb, the 1gb card will shut down 512mb of its vram to match the smaller card.
 
So, if i can't get 1.5 gb out of the crossfire like i planned to, is the 4870 with the 2gb going to really be that much better than taking the cheaper solution. I am gaming at 1400x900 resolution and i don't plan on upgrading that any time soon.
 
Pronghornamerica said:
I would seriously just not use ATi in the first place, but if you insist... go with the 2 4850s
Click to expand...

that is your opinion, ati have been doing well in the gpu market 4850's and 4870's are brilliant cards and im sure the 4890's are good too...

i have 2 4850's in crossfire and ive played crysis warhead etc etc and found it to be faultless
 
Pronghornamerica said:
I would seriously just not use ATi in the first place, but if you insist... go with the 2 4850s
Click to expand...

two 4850's are much faster than one 4870. MUCH faster.

but seriously, at a resolution so small like 1440/900, 2gb of vram would literally never give you any more performance than 1gb.
 
Alright, but i really would like to get a bit more clarity on HOW much a crossfire 4850 would be better then a single 4870 or vice versa. The most graphicly intensive i will get for a bit of time is Crysis and Warhammer Online keep seiges (believe it or not, the latter of the two hurts the most).

Thanks.
 
Forevermore1337 said:
Alright, but i really would like to get a bit more clarity on HOW much a crossfire 4850 would be better then a single 4870 or vice versa. The most graphicly intensive i will get for a bit of time is Crysis and Warhammer Online keep seiges (believe it or not, the latter of the two hurts the most).

Thanks.
Click to expand...

i would say, on average, two 4850's are 50-80% faster than a single 4870.

its well worth it.
 
Pronghornamerica said:
I would seriously just not use ATi in the first place, but if you insist... go with the 2 4850s
Click to expand...

Surprised this is a new member?

ATi don't have as good cards at top end, the 295 are much better than the ATi top cards, but that doesn't mean the ATi cards aren't good, if i got handed one i wouldn't turn it down even though i am on nvidia at the minute.

but for what you are asking:

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=566&card2=564#

But remember, if you get a different card completely you can sell your 4850 and use those funds to get an even better one, 4890 for instance which WOULD be better than 2x4850
 
Aastii said:
Surprised this is a new member?

ATi don't have as good cards at top end, the 295 are much better than the ATi top cards, but that doesn't mean the ATi cards aren't good, if i got handed one i wouldn't turn it down even though i am on nvidia at the minute.

but for what you are asking:

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=566&card2=564#

But remember, if you get a different card completely you can sell your 4850 and use those funds to get an even better one, 4890 for instance which WOULD be better than 2x4850
Click to expand...

really? i havent read any in-depth reviews, but last i looked i thought the 4890 was a overclocked 4870?

by the way, to the OP here is a link to a benchmark with crossfired 4850's and a 4870. the results at 1280/1024 and 1920/1080 are about 50-80% like i said:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/734/9/
 
Alright, thanks a lot. I'm thinking i might go with a single 4870 or 4890 if i can sell my 4850 for the plain fact of later upgrades. I just build this computer in December of '08, and i'm looking for it to last me for another good year and a half at least, and the 4870/4890 would allow me to add another when they drop in price later on if i ever needed a quick upgrade for some new super graphics game (it will be a long time before they make something that can chew up a 4890 crossfire.)

Thanks for all the advice.
 
not necessarily... its better to get the best you can now, then upgrade when an actual new series comes out, instead of upgrading along a series of cards. (ie: the 48xx series)
 
I would just go with the 4870. It will be able to play most of your games as is, and you wouldn't have to worry about how much a certain game supports Crossfire. If your frames are really hurting that bad you can always Crossfire 2 4870's, which would obviously be faster than 2 4850's.

The 4870 is getting so cheap now >:(
I bought my 8800GT for $140 8 months ago, I wasn't even considering going for the 4870 lol.
 
I don't own any 4850s or 4870s(but will get a 4870, soon), but have read reviews about both of them. I really don't know, all I posted to say was that the 4850s get pretty hot, so I hope you have some good cooling in your case.(I think they get hot, like I said, I just read reviews and the reviewers said that the 4850s are hot)
 
Kieth8 said:
I don't own any 4850s or 4870s(but will get a 4870, soon), but have read reviews about both of them. I really don't know, all I posted to say was that the 4850s get pretty hot, so I hope you have some good cooling in your case.(I think they get hot, like I said, I just read reviews and the reviewers said that the 4850s are hot)
Click to expand...

its normal now for GPU's to reach upwards of 80C, which to a new consumer might seem insane, but people run at that temperature all the time with no ill effects. also, its well-known that consumers are idiots. most rely on the drivers alone to control the fan-speed in their card, when manual speeds of 60% are usually enough to keep the card under 70C.
 
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