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Need Advice With New Graphics Card |
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10-11-2008, 12:41 PM
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Need Advice With New Graphics Card
Ok guys- I just sold my GTX 260...and I don't know what to get. My three thoughts are the 9800 GX2, Crossfire'd 4850's, or one 4870 with the hopes of a second down the road. Any advice is appreciated.
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10-11-2008, 12:47 PM
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only the 9800GX2 is really an upgrade from that card, a 4870 is basically on par, I'm not sure why you've sold it?
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10-11-2008, 12:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tark
I'm not sure why you've sold it?
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Folding?
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10-11-2008, 12:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Willster
Ok guys- I just sold my GTX 260...and I don't know what to get. My three thoughts are the 9800 GX2, Crossfire'd 4850's, or one 4870 with the hopes of a second down the road. Any advice is appreciated.
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CF 4850 is always a good idea. I think the buy one get one later option is not the greatest, because by the time you want to buy a second 4870, the 5870s will be out (just speculating, but it might be true).
9800GX2, if you are big on folding, definitely go for it. It is also the best for its price, bar none. AFAIK, it is greater than or equal to a GTX280 in gaming, except for microstuttering, and slaughters it in folding. Big heat and power though.
Any of your 3 choices are really not bad choices, 4850 CF is a very kickass combo, the 4870 is a great bang-for-buck card, and the 9800GX2 is a beast.
You can get an EVGA 9800GX2 B-stock for around 230 dollars, FYI. EVGA | Products | B-Stock
IMO, the B-stock EVGA 9800GX2 is a deal that cannot be beat. |
10-11-2008, 01:07 PM
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One Vision. One Purpose.
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What resolution are you going to game at?
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10-11-2008, 01:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brentpresley
Folding?
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 getting ATI cards would make no sense then.. only the 9800GX2 makes sense for you at this point IMO.
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10-11-2008, 02:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Willster
Ok guys- I just sold my GTX 260...and I don't know what to get. My three thoughts are the 9800 GX2, Crossfire'd 4850's, or one 4870 with the hopes of a second down the road. Any advice is appreciated.
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9800GX2.
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10-11-2008, 05:11 PM
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Agreed with the 9800GX2, make sure you have excellent airflow, though.
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10-11-2008, 06:06 PM
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If not folding at all and just pure gaming 4850 in CF. Otherwise go with the GX2.
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10-11-2008, 08:18 PM
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Well, since you're a GPU folder AND a gamer, TBH none of the choices are EXACTLY what you want. The 9800GX2 would net you the most points overall, but you'll have to restart when you want to stop SLI mode to game, and I'm thinking (realistically) you'll spend more time in SLI mode.
However, all the dual GPU cards are the same in that regard, ATI or nVidia, so the idea is the same. The GTX 280 is the best for overall convenience, IMO, because you don't need to disable SLI to fold or enable it to game...but the cost is prohibitive.
It really depends on your usage habits. The majority of the games you play (UT3, Spore) would do fine on one GPU of a 9800GX2 (roughly equivalent to an 8800GT), so I think any of them would do fine as far as gaming performance goes.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Stanford
Multiple GPUs are currently supported (see instructions below), but Crossfire is not supported -- Crossfire will make FAH run more slowly than using a single GPU (this isn't a bug as much as an issue regarding the nature of a Crossfire/SLI type architecture).
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So you should be able to fold while Crossfire is enabled,. but it will fold more slowly. Also, don't forget about the CPU utilization of the drivers, while folding on the GPU only you'll see about 30% CPU usage...this will take away from your single SMP client.
If I were in your position, I would look for a deal on the GTX 280. It's the best mix of PPD, gaming performance, and convenience. If no such deal presented itself, I'd go with the 9800GX2.
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XS for sure. People there buy things because they are in stock.
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10-12-2008, 02:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandrake
What resolution are you going to game at?
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1680x1050
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10-12-2008, 02:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Farhang
9800GX2.
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10-16-2008, 11:25 AM
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Out of all those options the 4850 x-fire setup will net you the best performance overall bar none.
It will also not run as hot and even with two 4850's use less power.
Folding is only useful if you like umm looking at numbers on a website. My opinion on folding isn't exactly high as I personally see no point in folding (personal opinion). If you do than I would recommend nVIDIA for the time being (an update for ATi cards is in the works).
Gaming wise nothing touches ATi right now in any category that matters to a gamer.
The one downside, IMHO, is the lack of hardware physics support built into ATi cards. There aren't many games that utilize PhysX but it's still something I enjoy (I have an AGEIA PhysX card for that though that cost me $5).
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10-16-2008, 11:54 AM
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I have to disagree, elmo. 4850's in crossfire would run hotter than the GX2 and just as hot as the 4870. ATI cards get a lot hotter than the nvidia ones. And that's from testing them myself.
The GX2 would be the best solution for what you want, Willster. You would not notice the gains in fps from a pair of 4850's. Plus, if you look around, you can a GX2 for a great price.
At the resolution you game, the GX2 works beautifully. Besides all that, the GX2 has a quieter stock fan than both ATI options. Especially if you manually adjust the fan speed to cool the chips down a bit more.
Oh, and elmo, I'm willing to bet my 3-way SLI matches your 2 4870x2's in many games and bench marks.
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Last edited by korben43; 10-16-2008 at 11:56 AM.
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10-16-2008, 11:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by korben43
I have to disagree, elmo. 4850's in crossfire would run hotter than the GX2 and just as hot as the 4870. ATI cards get a lot hotter than the nvidia ones. And that's from testing them myself.
The GX2 would be the best solution for what you want, Willster. You would not notice the gains in fps from a pair of 4850's. Plus, if you look around, you can a GX2 for a great price.
At the resolution you game, the GX2 works beautifully. Besides all that, the GX2 has a quieter stock fan than both ATI options. Especially if you manually adjust the fan speed to cool the chips down a bit more.
Oh, and elmo, I'm willing to bet my 3-way SLI matches your 2 4870x2's in many games and bench marks.
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Also the GX2 will expel its hot air outside your case, unlike the 4850's (stock coolers, anyway)/
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10-16-2008, 12:03 PM
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As someone who had the misfortune of owning two 9800GX2s, they heat the air inside a case a fair bit. The whole enclosure for the card becomes too hot to touch when they operate, even though the actual GPU temperature is not insanely high the cards do not run cool. The ATi 48x0 cards put off a lot of heat too. The 9800GX2 will game at your resolutions well, but so will the 4850s.
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10-16-2008, 12:19 PM
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