HD4850 CF vs PNY 9800 GX2

[Chouf]

Hi guys,

I recently bought two ATI 4850 running in crossfire.
So far I'm happy with the perfs of these cards except the fact they heat like hell, but for the rest, all is well.

Five months ago my company organized a PC plan and I ordered a PNY Nvidia 9800 GX2 1Gb DDR3 at the time. (in the meantime I bought the 4850s as I couldn't resist )

Now I have the 4850s setup in my case and the 9800 GX2 in the box. I was wondering which card to choose?. Will the 9800 GX2 provide me good perfs in games too?

I found some comparisons between the cards (here: http://www.pcvsconsole.com/features/video/ and here: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/.../compare,794.html?prod[2115]=on&prod[2063]=on), some scores are higher some are lower. Considering the 9800 GX2 alone seem to do the job as well as the 4850s in CF I'm tempted to switch (also because it'll require less power and heat less).

Here's my full specs:

Case : Coolermaster Cosmos 100
MB: Asus P5E3 Deluxe
RAM: 4 x 1Gb DDR3-SDRAM PC10600
CPU: E8400

Any advice?

Chouf

 

[Binge]

9800x2 FTW

Check out Solaris's results

 

[erocker]

I think Solaris is using two 9800gx2's. You should try both setups out for yourself and see what you like better.

 

[mullered07]

i have no heat issues with my 4850s (one is reference cooler and the other is a custom msi cooler) power draw is also not too bad, check my psu in my specs and all my games run fine with ease, although this is going to be upgraded next (just to be sure)

what coolers you running on them and do you have a ccc profile for fan speeds when ur gaming ?

 

[Chouf]

hi and thanks for your super fast answers ;-)

I have no extra coolers on the 4850s, just the out of the box Sapphire ones.

@erocker, thanks for the tip, but that's what I want to avoid
@mullered, I do not have any CCC profile because the CCC doesn't load anymore. I've tried so many things to fix this issue but I can get it resolved. Drivers are installed, ATI reports installation as successful but Control Center won't open (even thought ccc.exe is running), as far as I can see on the ATI forum, I'm not the only one experiencing this issue.

Anyway, back to the main question, the heat is ok-ish, but doesn't give me any issue. The only point I'm a bit worried is that I have the impression it heats up t whole case and my MB is around 52°C when gamib, which is already high....

So do u guys agree with binge? 9800x2 wins ?

 

[mullered07]

i think you have a driver issue with the 4850's first and foremost, i have had a few myself with cf but when i got it working its working like a charm, i would suggest following the cf setup guide in the graphics card ati sub forum

i am so happy with my cf performance, i havent been this happy about a graphics card/s since i upgraded from a x1600pro to a x1950pro (shit hot card at the time might i add).

ive had minimal trouble with drivers and the only one that springs to mind is when i would get bsod's when enabling cf, no matter which drivers i tried. needless to say plugging the pcie power connector into card No.2 resolved the matter

tbh i cant see there being any NOTICEABLE difference in any of the setups whilst gaming fact, i suppose it comes down to what you prefer and what yields the highest 3dmark scores if your a bencher.

 

[JrRacinFan]

@chouf

Regarding CCC not launching. May need to instal .NET 2.0.

 

[mullered07]

@chouf

Regarding CCC not launching. May need to instal .NET 2.0.

it auto installs with cats anyway.

 

[Jeffredo]

I think Solaris is using two 9800gx2's. You should try both setups out for yourself and see what you like better.

Yeah, if you have both options available spend a day switching and benchmarking with your favorite games. Best way to find out.

 

[erocker]

So do u guys agree with binge? 9800x2 wins ?

Not really. The 4850 xfire setup should be faster. However there are always some programs that will work better with one setup over the other, that's why I advised to try both setups out.

 

[JrRacinFan]

it auto installs with cats anyway.

Since when? Which Catalyst package? The 8.10 Windows XP package I downloaded from ATi's site did not include it.

Oh and chouf, 4850's in crossfire. My reason: drivers are still maturing.

 

[wolf]

personally, i would go the 9800GX2, you wont get much for selling that, but you could probably part with yours 4850's for near what you payed.

 

[mullered07]

Since when? Which Catalyst package? The 8.10 Windows XP package I downloaded from ATi's site did not include it.

Oh and chouf, 4850's in crossfire. My reason: drivers are still maturing.

well ive never had to install a seperate installation of .NET it always seems to do that with the drivers??

 

[wolf]

My reason: drivers are still maturing.

notice also an 8800GTX still has drivers that are getting better and better, where does one draw the line.

also, i swear i hear mostly ATi fans using "maturing drivers" as good reason to get an ATi card....

(please, not trying to insight a flame/fanboy war, just an opinion)

 

[Jeffredo]

Here's another review from August. Looks like they trade blows depending on the resolution and the game. They do at most use 4X AA with 16X AF in their testing. Would be interested to see the results with the new Nvidia 180.48 drivers.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/sapphire-radeon-hd4850-cf.html

If they turn out to be more or less equal I've always had a soft spot for the 9800 GX2. Its such a behemoth! Almost bought one instead of my GTX 260 - it was slightly less at the time in price.

 

[3870x2]

Here's another review from August. Looks like they trade blows depending on the resolution and the game. They do at most use 4X AA with 16X AF in their testing. Would be interested to see the results with the new Nvidia 180.48 drivers.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/sapphire-radeon-hd4850-cf.html

If they turn out to be more or less equal I've always had a soft spot for the 9800 GX2. Its such a behemoth! Almost bought one instead of my GTX 260 - it was slightly less at the time in price.

by this review the 9800GX2 wins hands down. I would go with the GX2, if you ever need power in the future, just add another card, and you have 3-way sli with 2 cards.

 

[mullered07]

by this review the 9800GX2 wins hands down. I would go with the GX2, if you ever need power in the future, just add another card, and you have 3-way sli with 2 cards.

not without a new motherboard he wont

 

[wolf]

by this review the 9800GX2 wins hands down. I would go with the GX2, if you ever need power in the future, just add another card, and you have 3-way sli with 2 cards.

unfortunately that wont work, you need 2 identical cards for SLi to work, ie, 2x9800Gx2

 

[ShadowFold]

HD 4850 crossfire. Better architecture and 4x AA.

by this review the 9800GX2 wins hands down. I would go with the GX2, if you ever need power in the future, just add another card, and you have 3-way sli with 2 cards.

ATi Xpress Crossfire, thats not old

 

[MadClown]

build a second rig and put one in one rig, and another in the other, there problem solved

 

[3870x2]

really, i didnt know that, +1 for cfx.

 

[Tatty_Two]

i would go for the GX2....only just, the 4850's are damn fine cards in Xfire, I only said GX2 cause I am getting one this week to play, and less messing with cabling, need 4 cables for the 4850 setup, just 2 for the GX2, if buying, i would say get the cheapest, in my case thats the GX2 as I can get them new for £200 ish.

 

[3870x2]

Also, the 9800GX2 looks damned beautiful in the case, and is easily the best looking card in the market (EVGA)

 

[PCpraiser100]

For AA, HD 4850. For high res, 9800 GX2s.

 

[spearman914]

9800GX2 pwns the 4850. But 2 x 4850 CF is more worth it.