Second 4870 for crossfire or wait/buy new card later?

[komatta]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of picking up a second 4870 1GB for crossfire (~$80). My cpu is an e8500 @ 4GHz. Is it worthwhile? Or should I just hold out for a DX11 card maybe a bit later? I game at 1920x1200. I don't know how CF drivers are at the moment for gaming.

Thanks

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Is anything coming out you are for sure going to play that will be DX11? If so then the 6850 looks solid for the price. Performance will get better with drivers IMHO. Budget is also important to know since the upgrades for the 5870 etc will most likely be higher priced. You could also get a 6850, then Xfire that later.

 

[komatta]

There are no DX11 games in particular (tbh I don't know much about it) but I kind of assumed that is the way to go for the future?

That is true about the 6850, but I think that is not a big leap in performance over the 4870 (I'd have to double check).

 

[WaTaGuMp]

There are no DX11 games in particular (tbh I don't know much about it) but I kind of assumed that is the way to go for the future?

That is true about the 6850, but I think that is not a big leap in performance over the 4870 (I'd have to double check).

Its a nice upgrade from a 4870, that's what I have now. As for DX11 games, only time will tell. I am considering the 6850 myself, but since I probably wont upgrade till around xmas MAYBE, I am waiting to see what comes with the next line.

 

[GundamF91]

I'm also in the same boat, except mine is HD4850. It's adequate but 2 generations old now (about 2 years) so I'd like to get something end of this year to replace it.

I suspect I'll get the 6850 but I'm also thinking about GTX460 if that's a better value.

 

[Udgnim]

things might have changed due to driver updates, but when the 5870 came out

the 4870x2 was slightly ahead of it in non-DX11 games

 

[Arkadrel]

I vote with windows 7 haveing directx 11, browsers have GPU acceleration, directx 11 only games.... ect ect ect

TIME to get windows 7 + directx 11 gameing card

so no to the 2nd 4xxx card.

 

[komatta]

I vote with windows 7 haveing directx 11, browsers have GPU acceleration, directx 11 only games.... ect ect ect

TIME to get windows 7 + directx 11 gameing card

so no to the 2nd 4xxx card.

Hm now I am second-guessing picking up the second 4870. I'm supposed to get it from the guy tomorrow so I have time to think about it.

Any other input? Thanks guys. I do have windows 7 btw.

 

[hclarkjr]

i have a 4870x2 and have been reading reviews for the new 6870 and have come to the conclusion that it is not worth the upgrade. performance wise they are almost equal. there are handfull of reviews that include 4870x2 in them. look at the scores and they are close. if money is an issue and you want to get out cheap the 2nd 4870 is the way to go but if you want the new card smell wait for the 6970 which will be out next month. just my opinion though

 

[vshin]

4870x2 is the best bang for your buck right now. The 5800 isn't that much better in DX10 and the 6800 series is a downgrade from the 5800. It really amazes me how mediocre the last two generations of video cards have been. Skip them if you can.

 

[Elvis2]

Your rig sounds pretty close to mine. I originally ran a single 4870 1gig then added a 4870X2 to run in trifire until the X2 crapped out. Since then, I added a second 4870 1gig to run CF and to tell you the truth, there's not much difference in gaming between my old trifire setup and running cf now. Synthetic benchmarks say otherwise but I don't play benchmarks.
Btw, I'm running the 10.6 drivers with no issues.