Another HD3870 of HD4870

[BBanres1]

My Setup:
GA-X48-DS4
q6600 @ 3.0ghz
4GB OCZ reaper 1066
HD3780 sapphire single slot
22 inch monitor
OCZ 600 watt stealthstream

Right now another sapphire HD3870 is $90. I've got a good crossfire board, pretty sure it can run both cards at full 16 lanes. Would it be worth it to throw in another HD3870 in crossfire or wait for another price drop and get a sapphire 1GB HD4870?

Thanks for reading!

[Badbonji]

I would get the HD4870 as the 3870 is a little weak and wasn't amazing, the HD4870 will be a nice upgrade and will always provide solid gameplay, even at higher resolutions where the HD3870 will run out of memory.

[0-danny-boy]

HD 4870 all the way. The 3800's were (no offence) rubbish (compared to 4800's) and even in crossfire a single HD4870 1GB will cain them. A single HD 4870 has 800 spu's v 2 x320 spu's (xfire) and DDR5 Memory v DDR4.(DDR5 clock speed x4 ie. 1000 mhz = 4ghz effective, DDR4 only 2 x) A 1gb HD 4870 will keep up with GTX 280's in the right system. Hold off till you can get one or see if you can flog your old card and save up a little bit. :) :P

[Dapman02]

HD 4870 all the way. The 3800's were (no offence) rubbish (compared to 4800's) and even in crossfire a single HD4870 1GB will cain them. A single HD 4870 has 800 spu's v 2 x320 spu's (xfire) and DDR5 Memory v DDR4.(DDR5 clock speed x4 ie. 1000 mhz = 4ghz effective, DDR4 only 2 x) A 1gb HD 4870 will keep up with GTX 280's in the right system. Hold off till you can get one or see if you can flog your old card and save up a little bit. :) :P

Also, I believe each sp is 1.5x the power of a 3870

[BBanres1]

thanks for the fast responses! Would my PSU power a 1GB HD4870? Would my CPU be a bottle neck in gaming?

[ChanceCoats123]

Bahaha, I find it hilarious how opinions change so vastly from forum to forum. In the nvidia, a 4870 is no match for a 260, but here and 4870 will keep up with a 280. I have no idea who to believe. I think I'll just stick with 9800gtx+ sli.

[Dapman02]

thanks for the fast responses! Would my PSU power a 1GB HD4870? Would my CPU be a bottle neck in gaming?
Shouldn't have a problem with the 600 watter
Bahaha, I find it hilarious how opinions change so vastly from forum to forum. In the nvidia, a 4870 is no match for a 260, but here and 4870 will keep up with a 280. I have no idea who to believe. I think I'll just stick with 9800gtx+ sli.

A 4870 is JUST under a GTX260, that is just what it is.
If anything I think they trade punches in games.

[Ric2L]

My Setup:
GA-X48-DS4
q6600 @ 3.0ghz
4GB OCZ reaper 1066
HD3780 sapphire single slot
22 inch monitor
OCZ 600 watt stealthstream

Right now another sapphire HD3870 is $90. I've got a good crossfire board, pretty sure it can run both cards at full 16 lanes. Would it be worth it to throw in another HD3870 in crossfire or wait for another price drop and get a sapphire 1GB HD4870?

Thanks for reading!


I switched from X-fired 3870's to a single 4870 1gb, and the difference is pretty big. I game on a 24" monitor at 1900x1200, FPS went way up I can run highest settings on most games with no problems. When I had the 3870's installed if I maxed all game settings games would lag or even freeze up.

My best vantage scores went from 9042 with the 3870's to 10219 with a single 4870.

best 3D Mark06 went from 18613 with 3870's to 17528 with 4870, not sure why I get a lower score in 06 with the 4870, but believe me it definatly games better.

Q6600 @ 3.6 for all runs, not sure where I had the cards clocked to on the runs though, havent ran either for a couple of months now.

[0-danny-boy]

thanks for the fast responses! Would my PSU power a 1GB HD4870? Would my CPU be a bottle neck in gaming?

Your system is similar to mine and I can tell you that I've had no prob's with power or CPU bottlenecking. Your System should take almost everything @ up to 1680 x 1050, and most games higher that that (crysis/warhead execption).

[BBanres1]

would the 1gb have any advatage over the 512mb at a res of 1680 x 1050?

[petteyg359]

With the vast majority of games, no.

[Niku-Sama]

if i were you i would wait for the 4890 or atleast till it comes out and then go from there because if its near the same price and a better performance why not?

[WonderingSoul]

Bahaha, I find it hilarious how opinions change so vastly from forum to forum. In the nvidia, a 4870 is no match for a 260, but here and 4870 will keep up with a 280. I have no idea who to believe. I think I'll just stick with 9800gtx+ sli.

It all depends on the game and resolution. Some games are better for the 4870 and some for the 260. It's all fanboy speculation. Take what you see with a grain of salt, especially if it is from an nVidia fanboy.

(This is in no way an attack to nVidia and I am not to be considered an ATI fanboy. This is all speculation from I see from these forums.)

[BBanres1]

Thanks again for all the responses. I'll probably wait for another price drop... whether that happens when the HD4890 comes out or not. I'm not to worried about fan boys, I like to support ATI because they've been the underdog the past few years and i don't want to see an nvidia monopoly.

How does the 4870 do with HD video, after a graduate and get a real job this pc will most likely become a media center

[Badbonji]

It should be perfect, easily powerful enough for blu ray/HD videos etc...

[reborn8]

Thanks again for all the responses. I'll probably wait for another price drop... whether that happens when the HD4890 comes out or not. I'm not to worried about fan boys, I like to support ATI because they've been the underdog the past few years and i don't want to see an nvidia monopoly.

How does the 4870 do with HD video, after a graduate and get a real job this pc will most likely become a media center

I did a pretty extensive in-game test with the 4870 (512). The results are on my site. Check it out if you'd like.

Reborn8

[Rich'[ard]]

why not get the 4890? this card can keep up with the GTX285, sometimes a bit slower. it all depends on resolution. if you play higher than 16x10, the 4890 will perform marginally better than the new GTX275 or GTX285.

right now, what separates the 4870 and GTX260 is probably drivers. they have about the same amount of grunt, yet nVidia drivers are a bit stabler. same goes for the new 4890 and GTX275.

[u1tra]

I'd say get the 4870, it's a nice card. And you don't need to wait for 4890 :)