4870 vs 2 x 4850?

[placenta]

4870 vs 2 x 4850?

I bought a visiontek 4870 2 days ago i been testing a bit.

Q6600 clocked at a easy 3ghz, and X38 motherboard

though 3dmark06 is a poor test, my single 4870 card gets about 14,200.

with the Q6600 stock 2.4ghz, i only got 12,113 3dmark06.

The 4870 takes up 2 slots and is very hot. I set the fan to about 30% and got my idle down to about 55C. With stock fan it was 77C idle.

I am in a short window where i could return this single 4870 card and get two 4850 for crossfire instead. Is there any real advantage to going this route, or am I better just staying with my single 4870? I dont want two 4870, they are already too hot not to mention expensive.

[CGR]

The problem with 3dmark is its very CPU oriented and not the best test for purely video card performance. So your score is really not indicative of your cards true performance.

As for going to two 4850's, I am not sure that will help your heat issue very much, nor the sound of the fans. You will get better performance than one 4870 though.

[IWasHungry]

Two 4850s perform better but cost more, obviously. The fact that two 4850s use more power though would dissuade me from going that route, plus restock fee for the 4870.

Honestly though, if I had $300 to spend on a video card I would go the 9800GX2 route unless I planned on using Crossfire at some point; the fact you have a X38 board makes me think you might be planning Crossfire. In which case, there is no right answer. :)

Sorry guys but with prices as they are, 4870 has lost its selling point unless MSRP drops to $250 or less.

[dicko555]

In Aus the best price i can find a 9800GX2 was about $450.00 + delivery and that was from 1 place. Most places sell them for closer to $550.00-$650.00 + delivery. The best price for the HD4870was about $320.00 + delivery. At those prices what would you buy.
I think here in Aus the HD4870 is still the best buy.

[ratbuddy]

In Aus the best price i can find a 9800GX2 was about $450.00 + delivery and that was from 1 place. Most places sell them for closer to $550.00-$650.00 + delivery. The best price for the HD4870was about $320.00 + delivery. At those prices what would you buy.
I think here in Aus the HD4870 is still the best buy.

How much would the 4850s cost?

[vixro]

Two 4850s perform better but cost more, obviously. The fact that two 4850s use more power though would dissuade me from going that route, plus restock fee for the 4870.

Honestly though, if I had $300 to spend on a video card I would go the 9800GX2 route unless I planned on using Crossfire at some point; the fact you have a X38 board makes me think you might be planning Crossfire. In which case, there is no right answer. :)

Sorry guys but with prices as they are, 4870 has lost its selling point unless MSRP drops to $250 or less.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131113

$254 isn't low enough?

[ratbuddy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131113

$254 isn't low enough?

Nope, not with 4850 at $150 or whatever, and GX2 at $285. 4870 is somewhat irrelevant.

[Brolloks]

With the GX2 droppong so low AMD needs to quickly move the 4870 price down otherwise they will loose some sales. The GX2 is a killer at that price, who cares if it runs hot. Quad SLI for < $600:drool:

[Essenar]

One must remember that the 4850 crossfire set up will not run great in EVERY game. Games like Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed will run fantastic with crossfire.

Quake Wars and Crysis (Not surprising really) do not unfortunately.

The other thing to consider is heat and power draw. The 4870 cooler is also much better than the 4850 if you don't mind the noise. If you plan on swapping cooling anyway, in my opinion the 4850's are a better buy.

[WorshipMe]

The GX2 is discontinued though, is it not. So these prices are the result of retailers just trying to get rid of them...

[Albuquerque]

Quake Wars and Crysis (Not surprising really) do not unfortunately.
In DX10VH 1680x1050 settings, on the rig in my signature, Crysis netted a ~60% increase in average framerate from one 4850 to two 4850's -- the difference between "barely playable" 20FPS and "reasonably playable" 32FPS. At that level, it did better than any 4870 would or could.

I can't speak to QuakeWars though.

[dicko555]

How much would the 4850s cost?
They start from about $200.00 + delivery.

[ratbuddy]

They start from about $200.00 + delivery.

Faced with a 4850 at $200 or a 4870 at $320, I'd jump all over that 4850.

[prime81]

Just wait for the 4870x2, then price drops will happen across the board.

[vixro]

Yep, only 1-2 more weeks on the 4870x2's, which should make a price drop on the 4870's. Though that would be in north america; I'm not sure if the release would affect price drops everywhere else.

[dicko555]

Just wait for the 4870x2, then price drops will happen across the board.

That is what i am waiting for. Have decided to get the HD4870, but waiting for release of 4870x2, and more mature drivers. Then see if the price drops a bit. Then get the card, it is really hard waiting to see what happens.:bang head

[Essenar]

The GX2 is discontinued though, is it not. So these prices are the result of retailers just trying to get rid of them...

Retailers have plenty of 8800GTS G80's in stock and those haven't dropped an inch.

Retailers go based off of the manufacturer's price cuts. They pay the companies with rebates to get them to lower prices.

Depending on the retailer, you'll either see a discounted price where the retailer takes a temporary hit until the manufacturer issues the rebates, OR the retailer will use a secondary rebate company to issue the rebates from the manufacturer, hence "mail in rebates".

It's very rare to see retailers take a hit on something to "move" it.

Right now Nvidia is offering rebates on the 9800GX2, because likely the cost price of it is much lower than the GTX280 because of yields. So to remain competitive with the 4870 without taking a massive hit in margin, they're bringing the 9800GX2 to "near cost" price, to weigh off the onslaught of the 4870 to buy them enough time until the manufacturing process of the GTX280 is good enough that the yield is much cheaper.

Think of the 9800GX2's bandaid for the broken leg the 4870 gave them. The only problem is, it's some super bandaid fused with morphine.

[IWasHungry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131113

$254 isn't low enough?

If it were $254 before rebate, and then there was a $30 rebate on top of that, it would be. :burn:

[deathman20]

One must remember that the 4850 crossfire set up will not run great in EVERY game. Games like Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed will run fantastic with crossfire.

Quake Wars and Crysis (Not surprising really) do not unfortunately.

The other thing to consider is heat and power draw. The 4870 cooler is also much better than the 4850 if you don't mind the noise. If you plan on swapping cooling anyway, in my opinion the 4850's are a better buy.


Crysis gets great improvement going from single to dual. I wouldn't even beable to run my 1920x1200 with a single card at 40FPS+ Thats for sure. I doubt I'd break 35FPS, in benches when with 2 cards I get 55FPS.

Yes dual 4850's will chew up say 220-260W depending if you OC them or not. The Fans themselves, well idle can get low, if you crank up the fan 45% is not really noticable for me with my case, and crank it up to 55% for gaming on games that I know use the GPU power and it is on the noisy side. The heat put out by it though, is still alot, idle sits between 45-50C, load can be upwards of 80C still with the fan at 55% that is.

[chrome-187]

Faced with a 4850 at $200 or a 4870 at $320, I'd jump all over that 4850.

huh? more like the 4850 is $145 and the 4870's are $250 :screwy:

so that would put 2x4850's at the $300 price range...if i dont recall, don't 2x4850 beat a 9800gx2?

[vixro]

he's talkin aussie dollars, they have to pay a fortune for hardware, because nobody in america has to pay $200 for a 4850.

[chrome-187]

that would make a little more sense