3870 CF or 4850

[Rahnter]

I just built my first system in anticipation for the winter games:

AMD X2 2400 (oc 2.7)
Biostar Tforce 790 (something)
Corsair 4Gb Ram
OCZ 500 psu
Powercolor 3870
500gb hdd

I managed to keep within my budget, $350 w/ case, etc. I'm currently playing Dead Space and Far Cry (1280x720 on lcd tv) on highest settings with no problems. Looking forward to Fallout (hopefully 2xAA) though I haven't tried yet.

With x-mas coming up, I wanted to upgrade my vid card (and eventually my cpu), but am stuck wondering whether to get another 3870 ($80) or upgrade to 4850 ($150ish). And most importantly, will my psu do? Any suggestions or help is appreciated.

btw the only game I'm looking forward to are fallout 3 and left for dead, so if I can play those reasonably well with my setup I might look at something else.

 

[Dangman]

Is this the motherboard that you have?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138128

What's the max resolution of your monitor/TV?

What exact OCZ PSU do you have?

 

[Cool Vibrations]

Get the 4850, the 3870x2 doesn't scale so well in all games. New drivers will increase the performance of the 4850 incrementally. Plus it consumes less power and only requires one 6 pin power connector.

 

[PC_User]

4850 is the way to go for you. 4850 has 800 stream processing units and a memory clock of 1986 mhz versus 640 stream processing units and a memory clock of 1800 for the 3870x2. Not to mention that it's about $20-30 cheaper than the 1GB 3870x2.

 

[techminster]

The 4850 is also one of the best bang for your buck out there.

 

[Rahnter]

Is this the motherboard that you have?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138128

What's the max resolution of your monitor/TV?

What exact OCZ PSU do you have?

Yep, that'd be it. My tv's max is 720p/1080i, it's a 26" lcd The psu is the OCZ500MXSP.

Yeah, I'm kinda leaning towards the 4850, and possibly handing down the 3870 to a cousin,
though the 3870 has worked like a champ so far for my gaming needs (considering the resolution I'm playing at).

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[PC_User]

Yep, that'd be it. My tv's max is 720p/1080i, it's a 26" lcd The psu is the OCZ500MXSP.

Yeah, I'm kinda leaning towards the 4850, and possibly handing down the 3870 to a cousin,
though the 3870 has worked like a champ so far for my gaming needs (considering the resolution I'm playing at).

Thanks for everyone's input.

For the resolution that you stated above, the 3870 should be enough but the 4850 is the best bang-for-the-buck video card and provides some headroom for future upgrades. It's an excellent all-around card.