• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Which of these 3 GPU set ups should I get?

Bongbuster

New Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
65 (0.01/day)
Going to get a PC with I5 750 CPU and Asus P7P55D Pro mobo.

I'll be running two GPU's in crossfire configuration to support 3 22" monitors. I'll be using the 3 monitors for work and switch to one monitor for the occasional (never enough) serious game play.

My choices and the prices of each pair are as follows
4830x2 512mb US$230
4850x2 512mb US$252
4850x2 1gb US$280

These prices are probably too expensive but no choice due to where I live.

So given my system and what I'll be using it for, which of these pairs would you recommend???

This is a quote from Toms hardware review here that puzzles me that puzzles me "The Radeon HD 4850 X2 is essentially two Radeon HD 4850s in CrossFire mode on a single card, capable of even putting the hurt on Nvidia's more expensive GeForce GTX 285."

(http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2387-4.html)

Can anyone explain what he means by two 4850's on one card?

**************I've been getting a lot of fantastic advice and info from people on this forum so thank you every one for being so helpful*****************
 

Athlon2K15

HyperVtX™
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
7,909 (1.24/day)
Location
O-H-I-O
Processor Intel Core i9 11900K
Motherboard MSI Z590 Carbon EK X
Cooling Custom Water
Memory Team DDR4 4000MHz
Video Card(s) ASUS TUF RTX 3080 OC
Storage WD WN850 1TB
Display(s) 43" LG NanoCell 4K 120Hz
Power Supply Asus Thor 1200w
Mouse Asus Strix Evolve
Keyboard Asus Strix Claymore
is there a budget you have to follow for this build? personally id go for the i7 860 and wait a few more weeks and the 5870 will be out
 

Bongbuster

New Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
65 (0.01/day)
is there a budget you have to follow for this build? personally id go for the i7 860 and wait a few more weeks and the 5870 will be out

I've drawn the line on the current set up and will not go any higher. No real budget but I'm not going to buy a more expensive pair than the 4850.

I mentioned the 5870 to my guy at the local PC market and he had not heard of it and said there would be no major changes on GPU prices in the next few months.

So of those 3 pairs, which would you go for?
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
3,516 (0.64/day)
System Name Money Hole
Processor Core i7 970
Motherboard Asus P6T6 WS Revolution
Cooling Noctua UH-D14
Memory 2133Mhz 12GB (3x4GB) Mushkin 998991
Video Card(s) Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290X
Storage Samsung 1TB 850 Evo
Display(s) 3x Acer KG240A 144hz
Case CM HAF 932
Audio Device(s) ADI (onboard)
Power Supply Enermax Revolution 85+ 1050w
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Logitech G710+
Software Windows 10 Professional x64
Can you get the 4770? Where are you located so we can get an idea?

If you can get the 4770 get a couple of them as they are similar in price/performance as the 4850 but use less power.

As for the 4850x2, there are two 4850 gpus on that board. There is no such thing as a 4830x2 unless your talking about two 4830 cards where as the 4850x2 (either 1gb or 2gb) is 1 card.

If you are still on that 1100-1300 USD then I would seriously consider a 1366 setup over a 1156. Lot better at overclocking, multi gpus, etc. There is really nothing you lose.

Love the avatar Athlonx2. :laugh:
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 5, 2004
Messages
1,956 (0.27/day)
Location
The Kingdom of Norway
Processor Ryzen 5900X
Motherboard Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX 1.1
Cooling Noctua NB-U12A
Memory 2x 32GB Fury DDR4 3200mhz
Video Card(s) PowerColor Radeon 5700 XT Red Dragon
Storage Kingston FURY Renegade 2TB PCIe 4.0
Display(s) 2x Dell U2412M
Case Phanteks P400A
Audio Device(s) Hifimediy Sabre 9018 USB DAC
Power Supply Corsair AX850 (from 2012)
Software Windows 10?
lol wait for 5870! bongbuster
w1zz should have a review up on 23th of this month
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
2,320 (0.38/day)
Location
Australia
System Name All Ryze
Processor Ryzen 7 1700
Motherboard MSI X370 Pro Carbon
Cooling Air
Memory G-skill Flare x 16GB 2400MHz
Video Card(s) MSI 1080
Storage Intel 600p NVMe 512GB for OS , 1TB WD Black and a 4TB Toshiba
Display(s) BENQ PD3200U
Case Phanteks
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair 750W
Mouse Logitech G403 wired
Keyboard G19
Software Win 10 Pro
What O/S are you going to use with this build? If XP then wait for the 5xxx cards to come out as the 4xxx series will go down in price. If Vista or 7 wait for the 5xxx series and get one of them you will be glad you did.
 

[Ion]

WCG Team Assistant
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
13,391 (2.52/day)
Location
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
System Name Niedersachsen / Ribe / Minsk
Processor i3 3240 / i7-3520M / 4x Opteron 6376 @ 2.86GHz
Motherboard BIOSTAR H61M / HP Q77 / Supermicro H8QG7
Cooling Stock / Stock / 4x 1U G34
Memory 1x8GB / 2x4GB / 4x4GB
Video Card(s) GTX260 / Intel HD 4000 / nVidia GT310
Storage 80GB Intel SSD / 256GB Intel SSD / 2x 60GB SSD (RAID1)
Display(s) Dell 3007 + HP 2245w / 12.1" 1366x768 / None
Case Antec NSK3480 / HP / Supermicro 1U
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Enermax 500W / HP 130W / Supermicro Gold 1400W
Keyboard IBM Model M
Software Windows 7 (Niedersachsen/Ribe) / Linux Mint 17.2 (Minsk)
Of those three GPUs, I would go with the pair of 4830s because they will already be overkill for anything other than Crysis or gaming on multiple monitors, and the pair of them in Crossfire would be sufficient to drive good frame rates in games on a singlee 22" monitor (I'm guessing it's 1680x1050?)
 

SneakySnake

New Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
15 (0.00/day)
Location
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
System Name Larry
Processor E6300 @ 3.8 GHz (380*10)
Motherboard Gigabyte EP35-UD3R
Cooling OCZ Vendetta 2
Memory 4 GB Mushkin DDR2 800
Video Card(s) Palit GTX 260 c.192
Storage SB 250 GB, 160 GB, 80 GB
Display(s) Acer P243W 24"
Case Haf 922
Power Supply TX 750
Software Win7 RC // Snow Leopard // Ubunutu 9.04
I'd go with Ion's suggestion. Either get 2 4830's and xfire them. Or get two 4770's which repalced the 4830. The 4770s are a bit better (think of them as a 4840).

Either setup will give you great framerates in everygame except Crysis. And even in Crysis you should be able to play on high details
 

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
20,073 (3.23/day)
Location
Youngstown, OH
System Name Dual Build Streamer
Processor Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory 32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s) PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage 20+ TB
Display(s) Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s) Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard Hyperx Origins 65
Software Windows 10
@Bongbuster

You can only use a maximum of 2 displays with 2 cards in a CrossfireX config. To use the 3rd monitor you will have to disable crossfire or purchase a 3rd seperate ATi card. It can be as little as a 4350. Also, go with the 2x 4830's.
 

Bongbuster

New Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
65 (0.01/day)
Thank you Ion and SneakySnake for your suggestions. I will definitely consider what the two of you have said.

@Bongbuster

You can only use a maximum of 2 displays with 2 cards in a CrossfireX config. To use the 3rd monitor you will have to disable crossfire or purchase a 3rd seperate ATi card. It can be as little as a 4350. Also, go with the 2x 4830's.

I knew I have to disable crossfire to use the 3rd monitor. I was assuming disabling crossfire was a software setting. Can you disable using a software setting or do you actually need to physically remove the bridge between the two cards?
 

r9

Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
3,300 (0.58/day)
System Name Primary|Secondary|Poweredge r410|Dell XPS|SteamDeck
Processor i7 11700k|i7 9700k|2 x E5620 |i5 5500U|Zen 2 4c/8t
Memory 32GB DDR4|16GB DDR4|16GB DDR4|32GB ECC DDR3|8GB DDR4|16GB LPDDR5
Video Card(s) RX 7800xt|RX 6700xt |On-Board|On-Board|8 RDNA 2 CUs
Storage 2TB m.2|512GB SSD+1TB SSD|2x256GBSSD 2x2TBGB|256GB sata|512GB nvme
Display(s) 50" 4k TV | Dell 27" |22" |3.3"|7"
VR HMD Samsung Odyssey+ | Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 Pro|Windows 10 Pro|Windows 10 Home| Server 2012 r2|Windows 10 Pro
Multy GPU setups are more efficient at high resolution and only needed for them at lower resolution you are going to be fine with only one GPU. So I would get 1GB versions due to high resolutions and future proofing. For 50$ better do it wright.
 

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
20,073 (3.23/day)
Location
Youngstown, OH
System Name Dual Build Streamer
Processor Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory 32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s) PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage 20+ TB
Display(s) Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s) Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard Hyperx Origins 65
Software Windows 10
I knew I have to disable crossfire to use the 3rd monitor. I was assuming disabling crossfire was a software setting. Can you disable using a software setting or do you actually need to physically remove the bridge between the two cards?

It can be software disabled, you can even set it to disable via hotkey.
 

[Ion]

WCG Team Assistant
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
13,391 (2.52/day)
Location
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
System Name Niedersachsen / Ribe / Minsk
Processor i3 3240 / i7-3520M / 4x Opteron 6376 @ 2.86GHz
Motherboard BIOSTAR H61M / HP Q77 / Supermicro H8QG7
Cooling Stock / Stock / 4x 1U G34
Memory 1x8GB / 2x4GB / 4x4GB
Video Card(s) GTX260 / Intel HD 4000 / nVidia GT310
Storage 80GB Intel SSD / 256GB Intel SSD / 2x 60GB SSD (RAID1)
Display(s) Dell 3007 + HP 2245w / 12.1" 1366x768 / None
Case Antec NSK3480 / HP / Supermicro 1U
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Enermax 500W / HP 130W / Supermicro Gold 1400W
Keyboard IBM Model M
Software Windows 7 (Niedersachsen/Ribe) / Linux Mint 17.2 (Minsk)
Thank you Ion and SneakySnake for your suggestions. I will definitely consider what the two of you have said.



I knew I have to disable crossfire to use the 3rd monitor. I was assuming disabling crossfire was a software setting. Can you disable using a software setting or do you actually need to physically remove the bridge between the two cards?

If CF is anything like SLI, which I believe it is, you can disable it via software. With my SLI setup, I kept SLI disabled most of the time for F@H, but I left the bridge on, and when I wanted to play games I just went into the Nvidia control panel and enabled it. I believe that CrossFire is the same way.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,209 (1.71/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
C) None of the above... wait 1 week and spend the money on a 5850. And don't order from the local shop because they won't have it in stock newegg ftw... one 5850 will ~ spank dual 4850's from the leaked reviews of the 5870 (which beats a gtx295)...

But if I was to pick, the 4850 1gb's would be my choice.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
3,016 (0.55/day)
Location
vermont
System Name The wifes worst enemy
Processor i5-9600k
Motherboard Asrock z390 phantom gaming 4
Cooling water
Memory 16gb G.skill ripjaw DDR4 2400 4X4GB 15-15-15-35-2T
Video Card(s) Asrock 5600xt phantom gaming 6gb 14gb/s
Storage crucial M500 120GB SSD, Pny 256GB SSD, seagate 750GB, seagate 2TB HDD, WD blue 1TB 2.5" HDD
Display(s) 27 inch samsung @ 1080p but capable of much more ;)
Case Corsair AIR 540 Cube Mid tower
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply EVGA GQ1000W MODULAR
Mouse generic for now
Keyboard generic for now
Software gotta love steam, origin etc etc
Benchmark Scores http://hwbot.org/user/philbrown_23/
i woul get one 5850 or one 4890, both will out perform any of those pairs
 

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
20,073 (3.23/day)
Location
Youngstown, OH
System Name Dual Build Streamer
Processor Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory 32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s) PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage 20+ TB
Display(s) Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s) Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard Hyperx Origins 65
Software Windows 10
C) None of the above... wait 1 week and spend the money on a 5850. And don't order from the local shop because they won't have it in stock newegg ftw... one 5850 will ~ spank dual 4850's from the leaked reviews of the 5870 (which beats a gtx295)...

But if I was to pick, the 4850 1gb's would be my choice.

i woul get one 5850 or one 4890, both will out perform any of those pairs

Don't forget though guys, he's dealing with 3 monitor setup. From what details have risen so far, for single card it would have to be a 5870.

Phanbuey: I'm taking his choices as 2x 4850 512, 4850x2 1G, and 2x 4830. Will have to wait for details from the OP as to exactly which cards he has available.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,209 (1.71/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
Phanbuey: I'm taking his choices as 2x 4850 512, 4850x2 1G, and 2x 4830. Will have to wait for details from the OP as to exactly which cards he has available.

Ahhh... thanks, thread comprehension fail on my part.

you can get 2 gtx 260's for about $280, they will run 3 monitors perfectly and will destroy the 4850x2.

they also run quiteter than the 4850x2, which is a noisy, filthy animal.
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
2,894 (0.50/day)
Location
South Carolina
System Name KILLER
Processor Intel Core i7 4790K
Motherboard MSI Z87 G45 Gaming
Cooling Water Cooling
Memory 2x8GB Gskill 2400mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 980
Storage SSD Samsung 500GB
Display(s) 24" Asus 144hz
Case Cooler Master HAF
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Platinum
Power Supply Antec 1200 Watt Modular
Software Windows 10 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores 3DMark Vantage 51342

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
20,073 (3.23/day)
Location
Youngstown, OH
System Name Dual Build Streamer
Processor Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory 32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s) PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage 20+ TB
Display(s) Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s) Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard Hyperx Origins 65
Software Windows 10
Ahhh... thanks, thread comprehension fail on my part.

you can get 2 gtx 260's for about $280, they will run 3 monitors perfectly and will destroy the 4850x2.

they also run quiteter than the 4850x2, which is a noisy, filthy animal.

Your welcome. True, more details about the 5870 will have to surface though. GTX260's do seem like a good choice but that's also dependent on what motherboard is available and if the OP has done his research properly looks like he may be running an Intel s775 Chipset -OR- an AMD crossfire board. Then even further I would still suggest to wait for 5870, single card over dual.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,209 (1.71/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
well if he goes with the ASUS board - and the i7 750 CPU, he will have sli support... gtx 260's are gold right now as far as $/performance... looks like ppl are dumping their stocks.
 
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
1,982 (0.35/day)
Processor Intel Core i9 9900k @ 5.1GHZ all core load (8c 16t)
Motherboard MSI MEG Z390 ACE
Cooling Corsair H100i v2 240mm
Memory 32GB Corsair 3200mhz C16 (2x16GB)
Video Card(s) Powercolor RX 6900 XT Red Devil Ultimate (XTXH) @ 2.6ghz core, 2.1ghz mem
Storage 256GB WD Black NVME drive, 4TB across various SSDs/NVMEs, 4TB HDD
Display(s) Asus 32" PG32QUX (4k 144hz mini-LED backlit IPS with freesync & gsync & 1400 nit HDR)
Case Corsair 760T
Power Supply Corsair HX850i
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed on powerplay mousemat
Keyboard Logitech G910
VR HMD Wireless Vive Pro & Valve knuckles
Software Windows 10 Pro
I thought the ati eyefinity (3 monitor support) was on the 5850 as well as 5870? Anyways definately wait until the 5xxx series reviews are out - there WILL be price cuts on current hardware from ati and probably nvidia, no matter what the computer guy at the shop thinks (it always happens when a new series hits to clear out old stock).

Plus if a single 5870 is meant to be faster than a 4870x2 (and thus sli'd 260s) it may well be a very good option to look at (or even the 5850 - we are yet to see leaks on how that competes with current cards).
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,209 (1.71/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
I thought the ati eyefinity (3 monitor support) was on the 5850 as well as 5870? Anyways definately wait until the 5xxx series reviews are out - there WILL be price cuts on current hardware from ati and probably nvidia, no matter what the computer guy at the shop thinks (it always happens when a new series hits to clear out old stock).

Plus if a single 5870 is meant to be faster than a 4870x2 (and thus sli'd 260s) it may well be a very good option to look at (or even the 5850 - we are yet to see leaks on how that competes with current cards).

+10
 

Bongbuster

New Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
65 (0.01/day)
Thank you every one for your comments.

My plan now is to run 3 monitors with the option to run a 4th later (work not play) so using one GPU such as 5870, even if it can run 3 monitors, is not really an option.

The gtx260 x 2 may be an option. Will check the prices of these and look online for performance reviews and see how they compare to the 4850 1gb cards. Also make sure that they'll run on the Asus P7P55D Pro mobo.

The country and city I live in have a slow supply chain for IT so what maybe good value say in the US may not be here which is why waiting for the next gen cards to come out to drop the price of current gen cards may take too long.

Good to know that changing in and out of crossfire mode is just a software setting.
 
Last edited:
Top