9800 GX2 Quad SLi vs HD 4870 Crossfire vs GTX 280 SLi (x2)

9800 GX2 Quad SLi vs HD 4870 Crossfire vs GTX 280 SLi (x2)

So which one is the triumphant winner? Which one is more stable, consistent, and better overall. Pretend that you're a wealthy man and you have no budget.

Well I have a 24" BenQ widescreen. I'm trying to nail the GPU for my setup. Which do you think is the best ?

I have a 46" Samsung Series 7 LCD HDTV 1080p but I think that's pushing it (blurry, stretched out picture).

9800 GX2 Quad SLi vs HD 4870 Crossfire vs GTX 280 SLi (x2)

So which one is the triumphant winner? Which one is more stable, consistent, and better overall. Pretend that you're a wealthy man and you have no budget.

Elann2008

The answer should be GTX 280 SLI

This is coming from someone who has a limited amount of knowledge on the subject but I will give my reasons. . . The ATI cards are out because crossfire to my knowledge is not as well developed as SLI therefore won't get the as much benefit from the 2nd card leaving unable to compete. And the 9800GX2 being technically 4 cards will just have too many heat issues to function properly. So as far as consistent stable performance should be the gtx280's

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

9800 GX2 Quad SLi vs HD 4870 Crossfire vs GTX 280 SLi (x2)

So which one is the triumphant winner? Which one is more stable, consistent, and better overall. Pretend that you're a wealthy man and you have no budget.

whitey_rolls

The answer should be GTX 280 SLI

This is coming from someone who has a limited amount of knowledge on the subject but I will give my reasons. . . The ATI cards are out because crossfire to my knowledge is not as well developed as SLI therefore won't get the as much benefit from the 2nd card leaving unable to compete. And the 9800GX2 being technically 4 cards will just have too many heat issues to function properly. So as far as consistent stable performance should be the gtx280's

I am limited on PC hardware knowledge as well and I researched exactly what you just stated. So you are absolutely right my friend. I'm just trying to justify the cost of the GTX 280 SLi. I've seen the 9800GX2 Quad SLi perform better than GTX 280 SLi (x2). I understand the Quad SLi is like having 4x 8800GTs so I'm not surprised. But will GTX 280 3-way SLi be a huge improvement over 9800GX2 Quad SLi? I'm guessing a slight improvement.

I understand the heating issues with the bulky 9800GX2 cases with no air vent in the back, but are they really risky? Because 9800GX2 Quad SLi for its performance and price is pretty darn good.

See, this is my problem, as with many new PC builders. So many choices. But I'm pretty sure in the future once they get the kinks out with the GTX 280, things will be better. And with the new price drop, it shouldnt be too bad to purchase a GTX 280, and then later get a second card, or get two on day one.

The answer should be GTX 280 SLI

This is coming from someone who has a limited amount of knowledge on the subject but I will give my reasons. . . The ATI cards are out because crossfire to my knowledge is not as well developed as SLI therefore won't get the as much benefit from the 2nd card leaving unable to compete. And the 9800GX2 being technically 4 cards will just have too many heat issues to function properly. So as far as consistent stable performance should be the gtx280'swhitey_rolls

CF actually scales better than SLI in the majority of cases.
GTX280 puts out about as much heat as a GX2.
HD4870 should run slightly behind the other setups but cost about half as much.

[QUOTE="whitey_rolls"][QUOTE="Elann2008"]

9800 GX2 Quad SLi vs HD 4870 Crossfire vs GTX 280 SLi (x2)

So which one is the triumphant winner? Which one is more stable, consistent, and better overall. Pretend that you're a wealthy man and you have no budget.

Elann2008

The answer should be GTX 280 SLI

This is coming from someone who has a limited amount of knowledge on the subject but I will give my reasons. . . The ATI cards are out because crossfire to my knowledge is not as well developed as SLI therefore won't get the as much benefit from the 2nd card leaving unable to compete. And the 9800GX2 being technically 4 cards will just have too many heat issues to function properly. So as far as consistent stable performance should be the gtx280's

I am limited on PC hardware knowledge as well and I researched exactly what you just stated. So you are absolutely right my friend. I'm just trying to justify the cost of the GTX 280 SLi. I've seen the 9800GX2 Quad SLi perform better than GTX 280 SLi (x2). I understand the Quad SLi is like having 4x 8800GTs so I'm not surprised. But will GTX 280 3-way SLi be a huge improvement over 9800GX2 Quad SLi? I'm guessing a slight improvement.

I understand the heating issues with the bulky 9800GX2 cases with no air vent in the back, but are they really risky? Because 9800GX2 Quad SLi for its performance and price is pretty darn good.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="whitey_rolls"][QUOTE="Elann2008"]

9800 GX2 Quad SLi vs HD 4870 Crossfire vs GTX 280 SLi (x2)

So which one is the triumphant winner? Which one is more stable, consistent, and better overall. Pretend that you're a wealthy man and you have no budget.

yoyo462001

The answer should be GTX 280 SLI

This is coming from someone who has a limited amount of knowledge on the subject but I will give my reasons. . . The ATI cards are out because crossfire to my knowledge is not as well developed as SLI therefore won't get the as much benefit from the 2nd card leaving unable to compete. And the 9800GX2 being technically 4 cards will just have too many heat issues to function properly. So as far as consistent stable performance should be the gtx280's

I am limited on PC hardware knowledge as well and I researched exactly what you just stated. So you are absolutely right my friend. I'm just trying to justify the cost of the GTX 280 SLi. I've seen the 9800GX2 Quad SLi perform better than GTX 280 SLi (x2). I understand the Quad SLi is like having 4x 8800GTs so I'm not surprised. But will GTX 280 3-way SLi be a huge improvement over 9800GX2 Quad SLi? I'm guessing a slight improvement.

I understand the heating issues with the bulky 9800GX2 cases with no air vent in the back, but are they really risky? Because 9800GX2 Quad SLi for its performance and price is pretty darn good.

I think you're right. Seems like a Gimmick. I wasnt really impressed with the performance of the x2 SLi and 3-way SLi. I heard the HD 4870 Crossfire is pretty darn nice though. What do you think about the HD 4870 Crossfire setup?

[QUOTE="yoyo462001"][QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="whitey_rolls"][QUOTE="Elann2008"]

9800 GX2 Quad SLi vs HD 4870 Crossfire vs GTX 280 SLi (x2)

So which one is the triumphant winner? Which one is more stable, consistent, and better overall. Pretend that you're a wealthy man and you have no budget.

Elann2008

The answer should be GTX 280 SLI

This is coming from someone who has a limited amount of knowledge on the subject but I will give my reasons. . . The ATI cards are out because crossfire to my knowledge is not as well developed as SLI therefore won't get the as much benefit from the 2nd card leaving unable to compete. And the 9800GX2 being technically 4 cards will just have too many heat issues to function properly. So as far as consistent stable performance should be the gtx280's

I am limited on PC hardware knowledge as well and I researched exactly what you just stated. So you are absolutely right my friend. I'm just trying to justify the cost of the GTX 280 SLi. I've seen the 9800GX2 Quad SLi perform better than GTX 280 SLi (x2). I understand the Quad SLi is like having 4x 8800GTs so I'm not surprised. But will GTX 280 3-way SLi be a huge improvement over 9800GX2 Quad SLi? I'm guessing a slight improvement.

I understand the heating issues with the bulky 9800GX2 cases with no air vent in the back, but are they really risky? Because 9800GX2 Quad SLi for its performance and price is pretty darn good.

I think you're right. Seems like a Gimmick. I wasnt really impressed with the performance of the x2 SLi and 3-way SLi. I heard the HD 4870 Crossfire is pretty darn nice though. What do you think about the HD 4870 Crossfire setup?

I think you would be better off buying 1 4870 and saving some money, since that will play 99.9% of all games at max and the .1% that it won't it will still look very nice.

with a 780i / 790i, without a budget? i say TRI sli GTX 280 (yup, 3 of them... crysis at 59 fps avg here we go!!)

btw, 59 fps avg AT 1680x1050, all vhigh, DX10, with 16Q AA

with a 780i / 790i, without a budget? i say TRI sli GTX 280 (yup, 3 of them... crysis at 59 fps avg here we go!!)

btw, 59 fps avg AT 1680x1050, all vhigh, DX10, with 16Q AA

GTR2addict

or

60 average 1900x1200 DX10 very high 8xAA

i love how everyone wants to build a PC to run crysis at 60 fps,

It kind of makes me laugh for a couple reasons, one becuase once its consistant at 30 FPS you can't really tell the difference anyways

and the second is Crysis while having really nice Eye candy isn't that great of a game, I mean I understand the use of it as a benchmark, but if you really are spennding like $1000.00 on gpu's just to get 20 more FPS in crysis you are going to be really dissapointed.

i love how everyone wants to build a PC to run crysis at 60 fps,

It kind of makes me laugh for a couple reasons, one becuase once its consistant at 30 FPS you can't really tell the difference anyways

and the second is Crysis while having really nice Eye candy isn't that great of a game, I mean I understand the use of it as a benchmark, but if you really are spennding like $1000.00 on gpu's just to get 20 more FPS in crysis you are going to be really dissapointed.

whitey_rolls

I agree, you make good sense...using the GTX280 as an example...purchasing 2 at approx. 1000 to 1300 for SLi or 1500 to 1800 (depending on current prices) to run Tri-SLi just to run one game or any game for that matter is, IMO, not a wise decision.

*+

GTX 280 SLI not even a contest.

But that's going by your topic of no budget and wealthy man.If money is even a slight concern to you then 4870 CF all the way.

You dont need that much power. Get a single 4870 or two 4850s and youll be happy.xid32

[QUOTE="GTR2addict"]

with a 780i / 790i, without a budget? i say TRI sli GTX 280 (yup, 3 of them... crysis at 59 fps avg here we go!!)

btw, 59 fps avg AT 1680x1050, all vhigh, DX10, with 16Q AA

wklzip

or

60 average 1900x1200 DX10 very high 8xAA