P5K Premium Question?

[kyle2020]

Right, my Premium ( black pearl edit ftw ) is crossfire capable. Now i just read a review that says " This board features two 16x PCI-E slots, one blue for 16x operation and the other (black) that runs at 4x and can run any card from 1x to 16x with a maximum speed of 2 GB/s."

Now, heres my question: based on what that says and YOUR knowledge, if i were to buy 2 HD 4850's and crossfire them, would the second card run at full 16X speed? The statement made by that site has confused me

Thanks!

 

[DOM]

X16-X4 in CF

 

[dark2099]

I imagine not, my plain P5K I had back in the day had 2 slots and one was 16x and the other was only 4x, but since yours is the Premium model that could be different, but the only 2 crossfire configurations I have seen for P35 chipsets are either 16x/4x or 8x/8x.

 

[kyle2020]

Ah right, so im guessing it really wouldnt be worth adding the second card? Instead, just buy an X2 model? haha.

 

[erocker]

X16-X4 in CF

Yup, and the x4 speed would kill your second card.

 

[kyle2020]

^ i see . . . so, as a piece of advice, if im looking to spend roughly £150 ($300 ish) what would be a step up from my GT? I was going to buy tatty's 260 but hes decided he wants to keep it

 

[erocker]

A Hd4870

 

[kyle2020]

A Hd4870

but for a 4870 im talking more like £180 - £200 . . . And im a bit reluctant to spend that much, i mean i paid £185 for this GT back on release week haha

 

[theonetruewill]

A Hd4870

An upgrade from an 8800GT to a 4870 is not worth it (imo). Get something better if you want to upgrade from the 8800GT OR don't upgrade yet. I;m not saying the 4870 is bad (it isn't) I just do not see that it's worth it.

 

[mullered07]

i really dont know why they would put 16x/4x crossfire on boards, it boggles the mind, saying that how much of a loss in perf are you going to lose on that 2nd card??. i know there are articles about describing the effect 4x/8x and 16x have on pcie cards, and i know that with 8x there is little/no significant loss in perf for most of todays cards, but 4x im betting there will be a perf drop, just how much is the question to finding out weather it would be worth it

An upgrade from a 4850 to a 4870 is not worth it. Get something better if you want to upgrade from the 4850 OR don't upgrade yet.

he has a 8800gt if im not mistaken

 

[erocker]

Well then you are looking at a 8800GTS 512mb or a 9800GTX(+). If you want a real upgrade I would suggest saving a little more cash or stick with what you have for now.

 

[theonetruewill]

If you want a real upgrade I would suggest saving a little more cash or stick with what you have for now.

Agreed

i really dont know why they would put 16x/4x crossfire on boards, it boggles the mind, saying that how much of a loss in perf are you going to lose on that 2nd card??. i know there are articles about describing the effect 4x/8x and 16x have on pcie cards, and i know that with 8x there is little/no significant loss in perf for most of todays cards, but 4x im betting there will be a perf drop, just how much is the question to finding out weather it would be worth it



he has a 8800gt if im not mistaken

I just edited it before you posted

 

[kyle2020]

Well then you are looking at a 8800GTS 512mb or a 9800GTX(+). If you want a real upgrade I would suggest saving a little more cash or stick with what you have for now.

would a GTS, say the 640MB version, be such an increase over this GT though? Im really confused about the graphics market at the minute, Nvidia arent making things very easy releasing 20 thousand new cards with plus signs or XXX on the end lol.

 

[erocker]

An upgrade from an 8800GT to a 4870 is not worth it (imo). Get something better if you want to upgrade from the 8800GT OR don't upgrade yet. I;m not saying the 4870 is bad (it isn't) I just do not see that it's worth it.

I've used both cards and I would say the 4870 is deffinitely a pretty big step up. Especially when cranking up the AA. But since he first asked about a 4850 crossfire setup which is better than the 4870, I think the 4850x2 is a great choice. It's not out yet and you'll deffinitely have to save up more, but once it's actually releaseed you should be good to go!

would a GTS, say the 640MB version, be such an increase over this GT though? Im really confused about the graphics market at the minute, Nvidia arent making things very easy releasing 20 thousand new cards with plus signs or XXX on the end lol.

No. The 8800GT is faster than the 640mb GTS. I explicitly said the 512mb version of the GTS for a reason. I also don't think it's worth upgrading to it.

 

[theonetruewill]

I've used both cards and I would say the 4870 is deffinitely a pretty big step up. Especially when cranking up the AA. But since he first asked about a 4850 crossfire setup which is better than the 4870, I think the 4850x2 is a great choice. It's not out yet and you'll deffinitely have to save up more, but once it's actually releaseed you should be good to go!

I'm going to be brutal with the OP here. Why are you considering upgrading? Is your card really holding you back so much that you need to spend near £200 for that little bit extra? If not, stick with what you have. I don't think you are the hardcorest of benchers (your sys specs don't state you heavily overlcock your cpu), so you are probably just an enthusiast. Thus don't spend money where it's not needed.

 

[alexp999]

would a GTS, say the 640MB version, be such an increase over this GT though? Im really confused about the graphics market at the minute, Nvidia arent making things very easy releasing 20 thousand new cards with plus signs or XXX on the end lol.

Agree with everyone else, unless you can pick up a 4870 or GTX 260/280 , it probably aint really worth upgrading. Maybe hold onto your money and current gfx card a little longer and wait for prices to drop and/or you save more to buy a better one. I'm glad I waited and got my GTX260.

 

[kyle2020]

the 4850X2 was part of my next question - this card is like smoke and mirrors at the minute, im not even 100% certain they will release the bloody thing!

 

[erocker]

I'm going to be brutal with the OP here.

Heh heh. Sorry for the bad joke!

the 4850X2 was part of my next question - this card is like smoke and mirrors at the minute, im not even 100% certain they will release the bloody thing!

It's deffinitely getting released... Next month. (Trying to find proof.)

 

[kyle2020]

I'm going to be brutal with the OP here. Why are you considering upgrading? Is your card really holding you back so much that you need to spend near £200 for that little bit extra? If not, stick with what you have. I don't think you are the hardcorest of benchers (your sys specs don't state you heavily overlcock your cpu), so you are probably just an enthusiast. Thus don't spend money where it's not needed.

I do my fair share of overclocking, but mainly just for benching and gaming performance. I guess your right, i just like to keep up with current hardware, plus i just feel that if crysis is anything to go on, future games will make my GT just die. I had to run warhead on minimal for 1/3 of the game :shadedshu

Agree with everyone else, unless you can pick up a 4870 or GTX 260/280 , it probably aint really worth upgrading. Maybe hold onto your money and current gfx card a little longer and wait for prices to drop and/or you save more to buy a better one. I'm glad I waited and got my GTX260.

Im going to annoy tatty and try and get this 260. If not, screw it, ill save a bit more and get a new one or a 4870.

 

[alexp999]

I do my fair share of overclocking, but mainly just for benching and gaming performance. I guess your right, i just like to keep up with current hardware, plus i just feel that if crysis is anything to go on, future games will make my GT just die. I had to run warhead on minimal for 1/3 of the game :shadedshu



Im going to annoy tatty and try and get this 260. If not, screw it, ill save a bit more and get a new one or a 4870.

Put it this way, a GTX 260 makes Crysis playable all on Very High, with no optimization

And warhead is supposed to be less strenuous. GTX260's are only about £180 new now so, its still the gfx card I would pick if I was buying now.

 

[kyle2020]

Ahem http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-GTX260

Thoughts?

 

[erocker]

Put it this way, a GTX 260 makes Crysis playable all on Very High, with no optimization

And warhead is supposed to be less strenuous. GTX260's are only about £180 new now so, its still the gfx card I would pick if I was buying now.

I'm doing that with a HD 4870 plus AA!

 

[alexp999]

Ahem http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-GTX260

Thoughts?

Its a leadtek. They are all MBN afaik, but if it was me, I'd prob get this one:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=840136

 

[kyle2020]

but do you agree with my point about crysis sort of setting the tone for future games? Far cry 2 will probably be similarly stressfull?

 

[alexp999]

I'm doing that with a HD 4870 plus AA!

Whats your average FPS? (not a BM, just from exp, roughly)

Mines about 30-40

I get around 40 if I optimize it and have edgeaa on quality mode (Better than 2xAA IMO)

but do you agree with my point about crysis sort of setting the tone for future games? Far cry 2 will probably be similarly stressfull?

No,
Crysis is unbelievably badly coded and buggy. Thats why Warhead looks better and has slightly better FPS.

Sure, one day we will all be laughing that we struggled with Crysis, but considering every other game I can run with 16x AF and 4xAA with all eye candy on max, and some of em actually look better than crysis, that should answer your question.

Take that EA!