Upgrade to 4870 1gb Crossfire or 5850?

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sparky1_2007

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Hey guys, im kind of in a bind, my birthday is coming up and im going to have a bit of cash to spend on myself, i was wondering if i should upgrade to the 4870 1gb in crossfire, or spend a bit more on a 5850 single card solution?

btw, i would not be selling my 4870 if i upgraded, i'd give it to my brother, so, for the money and performance would i be better off buying a second 4870 1gb and crossfiring it, or buying a 5850 now which is about on-par with a 4870x2, but has dx11 support and alot better AA/AF.

im just thinking that spending $150 now, and then later down the road when the next latest and greatest card's come out, or the 58xx series drops in price, i can upgrade then, because i bought the 4870 1gb when they first came out and i kind of regretted it, because now they can be had for $150-200 and a month or two after release they were already down in price by $50-100.

so, what do you guys think will give me the most bang for my buck and work for most next gen games, im thinking MW2 (if i ever buy it), assassins creed 2, bioshock 2, and all those other promising next-gen PC games.

thanks :)

edit: also, if i get a second 4870, it'd be a second powercolor one, just because my current one is a powercolor unit, and i really don't want to mix and match, even though XFX has a better warranty.

probably this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131148

plus it comes with STALKER clear sky, so that's an added bonus.
 
From benchmarks I've seen, you'd probably get better performance with two 4870s. However, if power consumption is of any concern, you should get a 5850 because two 4870s would be like a beast if you have a low wattage psu. Why don't you look at this guru3d review and their benchmarks?
 
Dual 4870's would be faster for sure. The only reasons I can think of that you might want to go with a 5850 if the main game you play doesn't work well with crossfire or possibly for DirectX11 down the road. I don't think we will see a game that requires DirectX11 and won't work on 10 or 10.1 for a long time.
 
yea, i dont see many games that im playing now that don't support crossfire.

currently im playing
BF2
MW1
WAW
Guild Wars
Maybe MW2 when it comes out, idk yet
and some of the other new games that are coming out for the PC.

so, even if it doesnt support crossfire, it won't be that big of a deal, because BF2 runs smooth right now, MW1 is a bit choppy in MP, but all i have to do is disable AA/AF, but i like having them on.
 
sparky1_2007 said:
currently im playing
BF2
MW1
WAW
Guild Wars
Maybe MW2 when it comes out, idk yet
and some of the other new games that are coming out for the PC.
Click to expand...

Those games aren't exactly bleeding edge. I think you're perfectly fine with your current 4870. If you wanted to play some newer games, I'd say the extra 4870 would be worth the price, but I think a 1GB CF setup is a little bit of a waste.

That said, if you want to open your wallet regardless, you might as well go for the 5850.
 
Terpfen said:
Those games aren't exactly bleeding edge. I think you're perfectly fine with your current 4870. If you wanted to play some newer games, I'd say the extra 4870 would be worth the price, but I think a 1GB CF setup is a little bit of a waste.

That said, if you want to open your wallet regardless, you might as well go for the 5850.
Click to expand...

i've got crysis warhead too, but never got into the SP because of me not playing the origional crysis.

we'll see what happens.

thanks for all the help though guys :)
 
5850.
Smooth as butter, a pretty high end card, newer tech.

Do the 5850 route, i would if i were in your situation
 
If you don't plan on using Windows 7 any time in the near future getting a good deal on some HD4870s wouldn't be bad.
 
You know, you can find a used 4870 1gb around the forums for $100 pretty easy. I'd go that route unless you are interested in eyefinity, then I'd go 5850.
 
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