Which to choose/What to do?

[PewPewBangBang]

Alrite so i am having trouble on which to choose.

I can either Quad-fire 4850x2 by buying two of them and selling my 4850 512mb. Or
I can buy a single 4850x2 and tri-fire but run them all at 512mb.

The resolution i am playing at is 1680x1050.

I will essentially save a lot more money just buying a single 4850x2, but that depends on if i am able to sell my old one or not for a good deal.

My main concern is, will quad-fire help enough to justify the price, or will the 1gb each card on the 4850x2 give me that much more performance over 3x4850 at 512mb. Remember, i plan to only play at 1680x1050 with everything maxed, AA/AF and all that,which would be better and worth it?

Drivers don't really seem to be a problem, though quad-fire doesn't really scale well, i hear eventually drivers fix the problems. The only thing is that review sites don't come back and do an updated review with newer drivers so everyone only sees the performance with old drivers. My uncle has 2x4870x2 and he says they run really well with no issues.

Will the price be worth it to go for the quad-fire 1gb each card, or should i just go tri-fire 512mb each card at my resolution?

 

[torzak]

I suggest waiting for the new Nvidia cards to come out and sell your 4850 and buy one of them or a 5870 or 5970 if you can afford it. The dx11 will be a better investment then buying older cards. Im not sure how 2x 4850x2's compare to a 5870 but they are about the same price.

 

[PewPewBangBang]

I suggest waiting for the new Nvidia cards to come out and sell your 4850 and buy one of them or a 5870 or 5970 if you can afford it. The dx11 will be a better investment then buying older cards. Im not sure how 2x 4850x2's compare to a 5870 but they are about the same price.

Ehh.....the 58XX don't really perform all that amazing. I'd like to note that i may be able to get 2x4850x2 for $300, limited time. Or a single one for around $160. Honestly, this is just a deal i don't really want to pass up.

DX11 isn't really a huge interest to me, i just want smooth framerates. At 1680x1050 tri-fire 4850 is same as a 5870 or better in most cases. Worse probably in games where the drivers are pre-mature. But its a ton of money cheaper.

I may just buy a single 4850x2 if the guy doesn't take my offer of $150 for each. Save some money which i can spend on other stuff other than my computer finally.

I think tri-fire at 1680x1050 will last me till i go to college or something don't you think lol??

Tri-fire performs better than quad-fire in most situations also am i correct? If anything, quad-fire gets like 15FPS more at most.

 

[mad pistol]

refer to this thread.

I know which one I'd get, and it's not the 4850x2. The new nvidia cards may be worth waiting for as well.

 

[Simon]

I would wait for the newer nvidia's

 

[PewPewBangBang]

I don't want to pay so much money though...........unless i am able to get like 2x5850 for $300 total or less lol it's not really much of an option with my budget.

Tri-fire 4850 performs the same as a 5870 pretty much except Far Cry 2 i think and Crysis.

That whole thing with 512mb being too little seems a bit off.......the only games i know that get bottlenecked with 512mb at 1680x1050 or even 1920x1080 is Far Cry 2, Crysis, and GTA IV.

According to reviews and this very very old comparison/review which is the best i can find so far.
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3518&p=4

Tri-fire 512mb only begins to bottleneck in one game at 1920x1200, Far Cry 2. But even there, its a driver problem, it performs slower than a single 4850. In 1680x1050 3-way performs slower than 2-way stating a driver problem.

Idk, thank you for your advice guys, i've thought about it long and hard with the ATI 5 series and all. But as of now, they don't justify the upgrade and price even after the Nvidia come out. Tri-fire 4850 according to reviews from january of last year will perform about equal to a 5870 if not better in some games and worse in others.

The Nvidia are looking out of the question due to their price.

If i can get 2x4850x2 for $300 i will probably do it and sell my current 4850 for $80. If i can get a single one for around $170, i will just add it to my current setup and run tri-fire.

 

[PewPewBangBang]

Actually, another viable option seems to be two 5770 in crossfire..........then tri-fire down the road as tri-fire scales amazingly according to benchmarks, even crossfire scales really well.

Arg, ill wait a little bit more......damn this thing is tearing me apart xD

 

[mad pistol]

I don't want to pay so much money though...........unless i am able to get like 2x5850 for $300 total or less lol it's not really much of an option with my budget.

Tri-fire 4850 performs the same as a 5870 pretty much except Far Cry 2 i think and Crysis.

That whole thing with 512mb being too little seems a bit off.......the only games i know that get bottlenecked with 512mb at 1680x1050 or even 1920x1080 is Far Cry 2, Crysis, and GTA IV.

Crysis, Far Cry 2, and GTA IV are 3 of the most powerful games on the market and are huge memory hogs on video cards. This is where the market is going in the future, and the fact that the 5870 and 5850 perform better on those games should show you that those cards are going to perform very well on future titles.

Also, the 5850/5870 are far more efficient on power usage. That is worth the extra money... but it's your budget, so do as you wish.

 

[shadows5631]

Just gonna throw my 2 cents in here.

A single 5870 or 5850 looks like the better option.

Because, 3 4850's will use 330 watts max, and a single 5850 will use 158. Even a 5850 in Crossfire will only use 316 which is still less and at a better performance.

 

[PewPewBangBang]

Crysis, Far Cry 2, and GTA IV are 3 of the most powerful games on the market and are huge memory hogs on video cards. This is where the market is going in the future, and the fact that the 5870 and 5850 perform better on those games should show you that those cards are going to perform very well on future titles.

Also, the 5850/5870 are far more efficient on power usage. That is worth the extra money... but it's your budget, so do as you wish.

Yea i know......Crysis is just terrible programming actually though it is undeniably some of the best graphics.

The thing is, i won't be running at a higher resolution and after this, my parents don't really want me to upgrade anymore, this is like my last upgrade lol. I most likely won't be able to pick up another 58xx along the way.

If only i was made of money........i would just get a 5970

 

[PewPewBangBang]

Well, the deal for 2x4850x2 for $300 is gone.............now whats to do. Maybe i'll wait to see how the 5830's do.

 

[JunK]

any game will get bottlenecked with only 512 if you are activating AA/AF no matter what the resolution, those are huge memory hogs always

 

[PewPewBangBang]

any game will get bottlenecked with only 512 if you are activating AA/AF no matter what the resolution, those are huge memory hogs always

Well according to reviews they don't bottleneck, only in like 2 games they do.

I might do a tri-fire 5750, it's possible isn't it??.........tri-fire 5750 yields performance close to a crossfired 5850 i believe and if you overclocked a 5750 to like 900mhz core and 1400mhz memory, i don't see why it can't match it or be exactly the same.

5770 tri-fire gets about the same/little less in some games compared to crossfire 5850 but even beats it in some games like Far Cry 2.

Would 5750 tri-fire be a good idea for $420 if i don't really plan on upgrading in the future, atleast not for another like 2-3 years.

 

[mad pistol]

Well according to reviews they don't bottleneck, only in like 2 games they do.

I might do a tri-fire 5750, it's possible isn't it??.........tri-fire 5750 yields performance close to a crossfired 5850 i believe and if you overclocked a 5750 to like 900mhz core and 1400mhz memory, i don't see why it can't match it or be exactly the same.

5770 tri-fire gets about the same/little less in some games compared to crossfire 5850 but even beats it in some games like Far Cry 2.

Would 5750 tri-fire be a good idea for $420 if i don't really plan on upgrading in the future, atleast not for another like 2-3 years.

If you're going to spend that sort of money on graphics cards, get a 5870. It will be more stable and use less power than a trifire 5750. On top of that, you have the ability to add in another in the future.

Always always always choose a fast single card solution over a mediocre multi card solution. I'm not sure what your obsession with Crossfire or multi-card solutions is, but it's not the best route to go if you can get something faster for that sort of money.

 

[PewPewBangBang]

If you're going to spend that sort of money on graphics cards, get a 5870. It will be more stable and use less power than a trifire 5750. On top of that, you have the ability to add in another in the future.

Always always always choose a fast single card solution over a mediocre multi card solution. I'm not sure what your obsession with Crossfire or multi-card solutions is, but it's not the best route to go if you can get something faster for that sort of money.

lol my problem is im probably not going to be adding a card in the future...............as i've said, this is probably my last upgrade and im done till during college or after college most likely. Im still a junior btw.


w/e...........i just ordered a single 4850x2. Im just gonna tri-fire giving the performance of it at my resolution all maxxed out and the amount of money i save. Now i can use all the money i saved on a phone or some other stuff.

My i7 rig is now complete........i7 920 @ 4ghz with 6gb DDR3 (which one stick is messed up need to RMA) so im stuck at 4gb right now, EVGA 3x SLI. tri-fire 4850. Im done with my computer and i doubt ill be upgrading anything in it for a while. Needs to save money in times like these.

 

[PewPewBangBang]

Yea also.......tri-fire 5750 outperforms a 5870 by a ridiculous amount for only $20 more depending on which you go with. They also overclock like champs, increasing that margin by more. They only lose in Crysis from what i've seen where multi-gpu's don't scale well.

Yes i understand the whole concept of buy a faster single card and crossfire in the future, its a good thing to go by, but it doesn't apply to all situations like mine where i most likely wont be upgrading in the future, atleast not for a long long time. I am content with my decision and the money i save. I'll probably put up benchmarks and all that when i receive it.

Thanks for the help guys, these forums are always great.

 

[Saeten]

I was like you. ATI didn't appeal to me, was always a NVIDIA guy. I'm upgrading my GTX 275 to a 5870 sometime soon, and trust me. The performance is GREAT. My friend has a 5870 and its an absolute blast to use.

 

[PewPewBangBang]

I was like you. ATI didn't appeal to me, was always a NVIDIA guy. I'm upgrading my GTX 275 to a 5870 sometime soon, and trust me. The performance is GREAT. My friend has a 5870 and its an absolute blast to use.

Yea i know.......5870 is great. But i honestly don't think it justifies the cost right now. Not if a tri-fire 4850 matches its performance and even better in games supporting multi-gpu. But my case is different, i already had a 4850 from when they first came out. 5870 is basically par with a 4870x2.....a 4850x2 miraculously performs like 5% less than a 4870x2, probably because its a dumb down 4870x2 in the first place with some different features here and there. Tri-fire 4850 is basically the same as a in between crossfire 5770 and tri-fire 5770. Except for games like Crysis but no one really plays it except for benchmarking.

I'll be happy with my choice considering i only paid $200 to get the 4850x2 which will help me get the desired performance i want at my resolution. Plus i can overclock it and have all 3 of my cards at 700 core and 1150 memory, nothing amazing but it will make a good increase.

I hope to get benchmarks and a review up when the card arrives