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Need help with vid card choice

Spragga

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Hey guys long time reader first time poster here, i need some help with vid card selection for my upcoming build so some help would be appreciated. I plan on building a system with a maximus or rampage formula and im trying to figure out if i should get a geforce 8800 gt/gts or go crossfire with some 3870's. The choice of cards are as follows:

zotac amp edition 8800 gt 512 (210 CAD) which i hear performs on par with a stock 512 gts (little overclock room so i read)

BFG 512 gts (260-ish CAD) which i could overclock

2x sapphire 3870s (340-ish CAD).

i got enough of a budget to get 2 3870s so im wondering if its worth going crossfire for future proofing or is it better to save some cash and go for an 8800, then get something better down the road, i hear new cards come out in july or so. And finally can some1 tell me about hybrid x-fire if xp supports it and if Asus discontinued production of the maximus, the place i get my stuff seems to have removed it from their product list. Whew lol:laugh:
 

ShadowFold

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Dude get a HD 3870 and get another when you can! No point in getting a Crossfire board and 8800GT :p
 

panchoman

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i think 2 x 3870 might be better.
 
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My vote is to get a single 3870 and see how it performs. If you like it keep it...if you want more performance, get a second ;).

If your satisfied with the performance of one you can always get a second later one when they are cheaper.
 

jbunch07

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i think 2 x 3870 might be better.

+1 on that, i read allot of reviews saying that 3870 in cf is as fast if not faster than most 3870X2's...depends on the game and setting though
 
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+1 on that, i read allot of reviews saying that 3870 in cf is as fast if not faster than most 3870X2's...depends on the game and setting though

Providing you have dual 16x lanes (the advantage of the 3870x2 being that you only need one 16x lane to run on) :D
 

Spragga

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yea i was leaning towards a pair of 3870s but i have no clue how well the crossfire drivers are, i hear sli and xfire can be buggy in some games. the one thing i really want to know about is the whole hybrid xfire thing, ati supposed to drop the new 4000 series in a few months so i wanna kno if i should get one 3870 now and wait for the 4000, also if hybrid works on xp or if its vista only.
 

jbunch07

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yea i was leaning towards a pair of 3870s but i have no clue how well the crossfire drivers are, i hear sli and xfire can be buggy in some games. the one thing i really want to know about is the whole hybrid xfire thing, ati supposed to drop the new 4000 series in a few months so i wanna kno if i should get one 3870 now and wait for the 4000, also if hybrid works on xp or if its vista only.

it works in both xp and vista and it depends on the game your playing some games scale better on sli and some on cf for ex, crysis plays much better on sli than cf atm...and yes i do believe the 4xxx series is coming soon so maybe just a single 3870 paired with a 4xxx prob what ill end up doing...once i save some more money :rockout:
 
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I would get a 3870 now, wait till the new cards are out and check out their performance. If the new cards arent that much better, get a second 3870 (the prices will go down due to the new cards anyway). If the 4k series is a lot better and affordable, go with one of them :D. Although, thats just me lol.

Also, crossfire is very game dependant. It can scale 50% on one game then 0% on the next. Generally speaking, you get better performance with crossfire/sli @ higher resolutions.

Im not sure about the hybrod Xfire on XP tho.
 

ShadowFold

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8.4 drivers are amazing man! I dont have Crossfire but my buddy does and he said crossfire works great with 8.4.
 

jbunch07

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I would get a 3870 now, wait till the new cards are out and check out their performance. If the new cards arent that much better, get a second 3870 (the prices will go down due to the new cards anyway). If the 4k series is a lot better and affordable, go with one of them :D. Although, thats just me lol.

Also, crossfire is very game dependant. It can scale 50% on one game then 0% on the next. Generally speaking, you get better performance with crossfire/sli @ higher resolutions.

Im not sure about the hybrod Xfire on XP tho.

hybrid crossfirex is not available in xp
crossfirex is though...sry
 

jbunch07

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Spragga

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well u guys pretty much helped me out a bunch just one last question, is the maximus formula still in production or did they stop it and replace it with the rampage.
 

ShadowFold

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Just one thing, doesnt Hybrid Xfire only work with the AMD 780 chipset?
 

ShadowFold

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Yea, but, the 790GX will have a IGP HD3300 tho.
 
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I was just a little confused, cus Spragga is getting an intel board lol. (I actually thought there was hope for my G33 and X1950 :( lmao)
 

panchoman

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crossfire x is vista only as well.
 

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My pick: single BFG 8800 GTS 512M. OC it. Not all games are optimised for Crossfire. It's always better having a single powerful card that performs well in all games than making a multi-GPU of two cards that add to the noise, not to forget, more power input, not perform as expected in some games, cost more (2x US $179.00 > 1x US $240 (8800 GTS 512M)). You get nearly the same performance as a 9800 GTX with 8800 GTS 512M + some OC. Choose wisely.
 

jbunch07

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crossfire x is vista only as well.

read the link dude

How Is ATI CrossFireX™ Different From ATI Hybrid CrossFireX™?

ATI CrossFireX™ enables two or more discrete graphics processors to work together to improve system performance in both Windows® XP and Windows Vista®. ATI Hybrid CrossFireX™ specifically refers to the ability to boost system performance by allowing a discrete graphics processor and an integrated graphics processor to work simultaneously in a Windows Vista® environment.
 

Spragga

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yea i live in canada so newegg doesnt ship here :cry: besides i got a place that gives me deals which shaves a few bucks off the retail price of parts. and yea i got mixed up about what hybrid crosfire and crossfire x is, i was thinking of crossfire x, my bad.
 

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jbunch07

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saadzaman126

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wait for new ati series
 
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Honestly I've never yet got an ATI card, but if you plan on a Maximus mobo then get the 3870 because you can cf a 2nd one.

If you desire to purchase an 8800GT (which pwns but I'd still suggest the 8800GTS 512MB G92 instead because it's even better) then go for a board which supports Sli. I'm still kicking myself in the face for not having bought an Sli mobo in the first place...

The lesson I learnt was "never think you shouldn't buy stuff because you would never be needing that upgrade and hence what you get now suffices." So true....
 
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