4870? 3870x3? 4850x3? decisions decisions

[Lazzer408]

I need some opinions here. If you guys have multiple computers playing the hand-me-down-upgrade game you know exactly what I'm dealing with. I had 2 3870s and one died. To make a long story...

System #1 main
3x pcie
q6600@3.4
1 3870 512mb

System #2 spare
2x pcie
e6600@3.4
2 1950 256mb (crossfire)

System #3 daughter's computer
1x pcie
3.4HT@3.4
x800 256

What I want to do is choose the best solution to get the best performance for all 3 systems.

Option 1: Put 1 3870x2 in system1 and put my 3870 in system2 so I can upgrade system3 with one 1950 and sell the other 1950 to my buddy. (I'll get $50 for it)

Option 2: Same as option 1 but put 1 4870 in system1.

Option 3: Same as option 1 but put 3 4850s in system1. (most expencive?)

Option 4: Put a 3870x2 in system1 and keep my 3870 and run 3-way crossfire. (Fast, cheap, but the other 2 computers remain unchanged and I don't get $50)

A single 3870 is about as fast as the 1950s in crossfire so system2 doesn't see alot of improvement which isn't an issue. I think the 3 4850s would be fast but I can't upgrade later.

I'm sort of leaning towards the 3870x2+3870 (option 4). That might even beat the 4850 3-way. What do you guys think? 3870x2+3870 vs. 3x 4850. What wins?

My daughter doesn't have any complaints about her little x800. After all she's only 7 but LOVES World of Padman for Quake3.

EDIT - I should mention I can't run a double slot card in pcie slot-3 because the HD tuner is in a 1x slot next to it. That's why I'd have to use 4850s (single slot) if I went with 3 cards. But I -could- do option1 and add another 3870x2 later.

[theorw]

Which board are u planning on having the 3 crossfire on?

[Lazzer408]

Originally Posted by theorw

Which board are u planning on having the 3 crossfire on?

d975xbx2

[theorw]

Well,u know that on crossfire,975 gives 8x at each slot dont u?
And in case of 3 crossfire u have anothere 4x at the 3rd card so OPTIONS 3 AND 4 are a waste of money.Dont u think?
3870x2 would have a heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell of a bottleneck while on 8x and so would the singe 3870.Better put 3870x2 alone.
As for the 3 4850s......U d be sooooooooooo dissapointed by the results.....

[Lazzer408]

Originally Posted by theorw

As for the 3 4850s......U d be sooooooooooo dissapointed by the results.....

but but but... The braging rights?

I hear you on the 4850s. I wasn't to thrilled with ATI "yankin' pipes" on those cards. I'm going to try the 3870x2 then 3870x2+3870 and see if the improvements are only marginal. If there's little to be gained then I have my answer. I'm just going to buy everything and see what works best. I smell a write-up.

EDIT - Question... If the map fits in video memory, how much traffic is actually on the slots? I remember when AGP went from 4x to 8x and there was no improvement if the card had enough memory and there was no swapping to ram. I should stick my one 3870 on the 8x slot and see if my performance is affected. In time I'll jump on the i7 ddr-3 bus when ddr-3 reaches cl4. =)

[theorw]

Look.U ll fine noticable difference in 8x 8x mode
Search the web a little and u ll see what i am talking about.
U get improvement but only a little,not worthy of the money spent.
And definately not the gain that u d have with a x58 or amd790x.
I had 2 3870s on my previous p35ds4 and i scored 3DMARK06 11400 with single and 14150 on dual.
And on x38 others scored 18k-20k!!!!So u see what i am talking about....!

But if u plan on keeping them in the future that would be ok.

[Lazzer408]

Originally Posted by theorw

Look.U ll fine noticable difference in 8x 8x mode
Search the web a little and u ll see what i am talking about.
U get improvement but only a little,not worthy of the money spent.
And definately not the gain that u d have with a x58 or amd790x.
I had 2 3870s on my previous p35ds4 and i scored 3DMARK06 11400 with single and 14150 on dual.
And on x38 others scored 18k-20k!!!!So u see what i am talking about....!

But if u plan on keeping them in the future that would be ok.

On this board (with 3870s) I was around 11k single 16k dual in 3d06 with my e6600@3.5. With the q6600@3.4 the scores changed to 13k 19k. I just couldn't make it to 20k for the life of me. Anyways... I think the cpu begins to play a -huge- role in synthetic scores when you start getting numbers this high. I don't fully blame the bus. You really have to pay attention to the system configuration used in benchmarks. I will definitly post my results. If I can I'll try the 3870x2 in the 8x slot with the 3870 in the 4x vs. 8x 8x If I can. Or even one 3870 in the 4x? Hell I can do that right now. =) "brb"

[Lazzer408]

Here's one 3870, slot1 16x, stock gpu clocks.



One 3870, slot3 8x, stock gpu clocks. Difference was only 108 3dmarks. ~1%



One 3870, slot3 4x, stock gpu clocks. Difference was 2219 3dmarks. Less then I expected but ~22%

[DOM]

Option 3: Same as option 1 but put 2X4850s in system#1

[Lazzer408]

Originally Posted by DOM

Option 3: Same as option 1 but put 2X4850s in system#1

I'm just reading scores in the 14~19k range for Crossfire 4850s. A 3870x2 can pull that off easy. A single 4870 could do 12~18k. I'm almost getting disappointed in 4850s. I didn't realize they were so slow. I'm sure they would do alot better in a Crysis/Vantage/DX10 benchmark though. To bad I won't run Vista due to it's lack of the tool bar.

[theorw]

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!3DMARK is not an accurate way to judge cards!!!!
3dmark is nvidia favored although,in games u ll find extreme differences!!
3dmark is a bench,not a game.2 4850s in 16x each rape the 3870x2 easy.

[Binge]

Originally Posted by Lazzer408

(Bunch of craziness)
I'm sooo red that I eventually thought of a 4870
(more craziness)

So I see you mentioned a 4870? Well dual 4850s would beat a single 4870, but I wouldn't touch those with a 10' pole due to heat issues. If you run a restrictive case, or warm case, or really... if you have a case at all you do not want to run single slot 4850s in your rig. Get a 4870 1gb. Enjoy being able to do basically anything comfortably, and you won't burn down your house in the process!

[DOM]

4870X2

[theorw]

Originally Posted by DOM

4870X2

Definately but i dont think they guy will spend that much...!?

[3870x2]

Ive never heard of a bottleneck occurring from a slot limited to 8x. GTX295s reach full potential on 8x. The point is that we havent come anywhere near the full bandwidth of pci-e.

Put it this way:
if a GTX295 is running 2 GTX260s on 1 slot, it would be like running each at 8x, and the GTX260 is at or above the performance of a 3870x2, yet it is not bottlenecked.

[theorw]

man.the sli occures between the 2pcbs!!!via the small sli bridge!!!!What occures from the parallel processing of the 2 cores gets transfered to the rEst of the system via the 16x mobo slot and therefor there s no bottleneck between the system and the cards.ITS JUST AN ULTRAFAST single vga!!!!On the 2 cards sli,the transfer occures mainly via the mobos chipset and thats when u bottleneck your vga s!And to be practical,carefully observe an 8x or 4x pcie slot.U ll see that the pins are only present on the half of the slot!!!!So the half of the cards connector is not on operation!!!!!Now think!!!
(any corrections gladly accepted)

[HolyCow02]

Originally Posted by DOM

Option 3: Same as option 1 but put 2X4850s in system#1

+1 for this. But get non-reference 4850's which have better coolers. Then you will be all sorts of happy

[3870x2]

Originally Posted by theorw

man.the sli occures between the 2pcbs!!!via the small sli bridge!!!!What occures from the parallel processing of the 2 cores gets transfered to the rEst of the system via the 16x mobo slot and therefor there s no bottleneck between the system and the cards.ITS JUST AN ULTRAFAST single vga!!!!On the 2 cards sli,the transfer occures mainly via the mobos chipset and thats when u bottleneck your vga s!And to be practical,carefully observe an 8x or 4x pcie slot.U ll see that the pins are only present on the half of the slot!!!!So the half of the cards connector is not on operation!!!!!Now think!!!
(any corrections gladly accepted)

what?
can we get a translator in here please?

[phanbuey]

you should get a geforce dual 6200... http://forums.techpowerup.com/showth...75#post1205375

[Lazzer408]

Originally Posted by theorw

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!3DMARK is not an accurate way to judge cards!!!!
3dmark is nvidia favored although,in games u ll find extreme differences!!
3dmark is a bench,not a game.2 4850s in 16x each rape the 3870x2 easy.

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO can you read a post?

Originally Posted by Lazzer408

I'm sure they would do alot better in a Crysis/Vantage/DX10 benchmark though.

I'm well aware of how synthetic benchmarks compair to gaming. What is your malfunction dude?

[Binge]

Originally Posted by 3870x2

Ive never heard of a bottleneck occurring from a slot limited to 8x. GTX295s reach full potential on 8x. The point is that we havent come anywhere near the full bandwidth of pci-e.

Put it this way:
if a GTX295 is running 2 GTX260s on 1 slot, it would be like running each at 8x, and the GTX260 is at or above the performance of a 3870x2, yet it is not bottlenecked.

wtf? Fitseries proved an improvement in GTX260&295 cards running in x16 lanes.

Originally Posted by HolyCow02

+1 for this. But get non-reference 4850's which have better coolers. Then you will be all sorts of happy

YES! The XFX4850s are tasty. They are dual slot too

[Lazzer408]

Originally Posted by Binge

YES! The XFX4850s are tasty. They are dual slot too

I would need single slot 4850s if I did 3way because I can't put a 2wide card in my 3rd slot.

[3870x2]

Originally Posted by Binge

wtf? Fitseries proved an improvement in GTX260&295 cards running in x16 lanes.



YES! The XFX4850s are tasty. They are dual slot too

talking about the bandwidth of the 3870x2, not the GTX cards. Also, i guarantee you the next dual gpu solution from NV at 8x will outperform the GTX295 at 16x.
I dont believe it is an issue with bandwidth.

[erocker]

Personally I would love to see three 4830's in Tri-Fire action! They scale very very well in CrossFire, just add another log to the fire!

[3870x2]

dont 2 4830s perform on par with a GTX280? that is some sweet action.