4870 1GB Crossfire vs. Single 5850

[Soylent Joe]

Alright guys, I have $150 cash and am wanting a graphics boost, so I've narrowed my choices down to two viable options:

Option 1
Get a second 4870 1GB for Xfire, most likely this one. I have a good enough PSU, a crossfire ready board, and enough space.
Pros: More FPS in most games that I play right now than the 5850 could give me. (I'm talking about the 4870x2 benchmarks in the review linked below.)
Cons: More sound and heat output, more crap in my case. Would have to deal with crossfire.

Option 2
Sell my 4870 for whatever I could get (say $130?), add that to my money plus a little more (will most likely get more $$$ for Christmas) and get a shiny new 5850.
Pros: Sexy, very efficient, supports dx11, quiet.
Cons: Most likely won't be able to find one anytime soon & won't give me the power for current games like 2 4870's would.
Here's a review on the XFX 5850.

So, tell me what you think and why

 

[Zubasa]

The only thing that the 5850 wins for sure is Overclocking.
I have yet to see a 5850 clock half bad as a 4870.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

First you will not get $130 for your used HD 4870 as you can not get a new one for the same price.

I say get the HD 5850 for the DX11 support, less heat, less power consumption, and while it will lose to a 4870 crossfire in frame rate, it is not going to be beyond say 25% different. A quick OC can close that margin a bit more. And you don't have to worry about proper crossfire/sli coding in games to use your card at its best.

 

[Soylent Joe]

First you will not get $130 for your used HD 4870 as you can not get a new one for the same price.

I say get the HD 5850 for the DX11 support, less heat, less power consumption, and while it will lose to a 4870 crossfire in frame rate, it is not going to be beyond say 25% different. A quick OC can close that margin a bit more. And you don't have to worry about proper crossfire/sli coding in games to use your card at its best.

Yees, well I was just estimating $130. I paid $190 for it new back in June, and when it dropped back off the Egg a week or two ago it was still at like $175. It's the IceQ version with the high memory clocks and stuff. But the more I get out of it, the less I have to scrounge up to put with it for a 5850, if I decide to go that route.

Also, I'm not going to overclock any card I get. I just don't overclock video cards....or ram....or anything. Long lifespans FTW.

 

[Zubasa]

Well, I doubt you OC the card to death before you decide to get rid of it.
My X1950Pro only recently died because I crushed the die by accident.
I OC the tad out of it and it ran perfectly fine for more than 3 years.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

Yees, well I was just estimating $130. I paid $190 for it new back in June, and when it dropped back off the Egg a week or two ago it was still at like $175. It's the IceQ version with the high memory clocks and stuff. But the more I get out of it, the less I have to scrounge up to put with it for a 5850, if I decide to go that route.

Also, I'm not going to overclock any card I get. I just don't overclock video cards....or ram....or anything. Long lifespans FTW.

For that one, you could get $125 to $130. I think it still goes for $145 new.

Heat is the enemy.

Some products like RAM and some GPU's are built to be cooler than spec. OCing them will not effect lifespan of the product. With CPU's you just need a decent aftermarket cooler to bring the temps down, then OC to bring the temps back up to normal range for free power.

I only OC when the system does not perform to my expectations. As such, only my RAM and CPU are currently altered from default in any way. RAM runs tighter timing than spec, no temp change. And the CPU has enough metal attached to it to not matter, so +300 Mhz for free.

 

[Soylent Joe]

Any other suggestions? I think that since there are so many threads like this, a lot of people don't even look at them anymore :/

 

[sttubs]

Option 2
Sell my 4870 for whatever I could get (say $130?), add that to my money plus a little more (will most likely get more $$$ for Christmas) and get a shiny new 5850.
Pros: Sexy, very efficient, supports dx11, quiet.
Cons: Most likely won't be able to find one anytime soon & won't give me the power for current games like 2 4870's would.
Here's a review on the XFX 5850.

So, tell me what you think and why

Definitely Option 2, for the same reasons already posted. If you have enough FPS already for your games, I'd save up more money & get a 5850. I'd also suggest waiting till nVidia puts out it's next card. ATI usually lowers it's prices about then & hopefully they'll be more readily available.

 

[PaulieG]

Option 2 for sure. Less power draw than adding a second 4870, and significantly more performance than you're getting right now.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Agree with all the logic to go 5850 but where is he supposed to find one?

 

[PaulieG]

Agree with all the logic to go 5850 but where is he supposed to find one?

If he waits a month, supply will catch up to demand.

 

[[Ion]]

Definitely go for option 2, my experience with multi-GPU (SLI) was not a happy one. 1 GPU option is almost always superior to 2, there is the lower heat/power consumption, and most (all?) games don't scale linearly with multiple GPUs

 

[Soylent Joe]

Alright, I guess I'll try to get a 5850. I'll start seriously searching for one and will post up my 4870 after Christmas. I wonder why Newegg deactivated their XFX 5850 so soon...

 

[Zubasa]

Alright, I guess I'll try to get a 5850. I'll start seriously searching for one and will post up my 4870 after Christmas. I wonder why Newegg deactivated their XFX 5850 so soon...

Because it is such a performer and its cheaper than a GTX 285 and rapes it hardcore.
Basically there are so many people who want one while the yeild on 40nm just can't catch up.

 

[NastyHabits]

Starting with the HD 3850, the HD XX50 has always been the sweet spot when ATI has come out with new cards. I've owned the 3850, 4850 and 4870. I'll be getting a 5850 after Christmas. Get the 5850 when you can.

 

[DonInKansas]

Another vote for the 5850.

 

[Hayder_Master]

dx11 sure