Card dillemma: 2 X HD4870 or 4 X HD3870? AMD/ATI fans only!

Got around a GRAND to spend on a new GAMING RIG. Decided on MSI K9A2 for CROSSFIRE X and Phenom 9950 X4. Eight gigs of DDR2 6400, and two TB striping. All of that i set in stone, the prob I'm having is deciding on between two HD4870's or four HD3870's. I recall decent numbers at the time of review for both. But was the improvement in performance worth the upgrade? And would the two SEPARATE 4870 cards outperform the FOUR separate 3870 CROSSFIRE X setup. Just trying to "future proof" my new rig. It worked since I recently found mty old rig to be, finally, not powerful enough. It had two X1800 cards, master and XT. And I don't care how much some of you love INTEL and NVIDIA. Please help, haven't built a performance machine in awhile.

Well why'd you ask if you're just going to disagree? :PDGFreak

It was about the cards, bro. But I do, NOW, have my crosshairs on the Phenom II X4 920 2.8GHz. It's only $60 bucks more. Remember the budget? Yeah, I'm over.

I would recommend a 4870x2 2GB or 4870 1GB crossfire.risc-vs-cisc

To be clear: Should I get TWO 4870 cards or FOUR 3870 cards. They will, no matter how I go, each have 1GB on board.

[QUOTE="risc-vs-cisc"]I would recommend a 4870x2 2GB or 4870 1GB crossfire.dr_fiscque

To be clear: Should I get TWO 4870 cards or FOUR 3870 cards. They will, no matter how I go, each have 1GB on board.

I would get 2 4870's.

what game is worth those 2 cards? crysis?

there are no games that have came out in the last year worth upgrading for

what game is worth those 2 cards? crysis?

there are no games that have came out in the last year worth upgrading for

sillaris

You should actually read and try to comprehend the TC next time and a sig is a privlige GS should revoke from you.

Question : do you just like having 2 cards on ur PC ?

If i were you i would go with 4870x2, why pay more money on getting 2 4870 ? if youcan get it cheaper, also you can buy another one in the future for CF

Question : do you just like having 2 cards on ur PC ?

If i were you i would go with 4870x2, why pay more money on getting 2 4870 ? if youcan get it cheaper, also you can buy another one in the future for CF

We_never_die

This is also your best option for future proofing you should at-least consider the 4870 X2.

AMD fans only? Yah dude get a 4 3870s and a Phenom X3......................X360PS3AMD05

Hey my friend's WIFE gets awesome performance outta thier Phenom X3 when she posts on MYSPACE and FACEBOOK 8) . Seriously, Money is an issue. Almost convinced, the quip about the hot 3870s helped. Thanks to most of you, it kinda sucks being the smartest friend when YOU need help with TECH.

Do not and i repeat do not go with the 3870's, they were never really very good cards to begin with and run hot as hell and just aren't that good, go with the 4870's they are just plain better in every single way. As for the CPU, that 9950 CPU is perfectly fine for your possible setup, people seem to forget at the high resolutions the CPU becomes less and less of a bottleneck and any quad core (even dual core) @ 2.6ghz is more than enough despite what most intel fans will say, at higher resolutions you'd be paying that extra $60 for about 1 to 2fps if any at all, the only real CPU that will add lots more FPS at the high resolutions is the I7 and that cost's quite a lot to upgrade to. http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scaling-in-games-with-quad-core-processors/ Check that link and ignore all the low resolutions and just look at 1600x1200 and over (if your aiming at crossfire you would most likely be playing at these) and you will see what the extra $ on the cpu will get you and it aint much.Stoner-Pimp

Always been about the high resolutions! Built my first game rig in 1999 so I could play QUAKE 3 at 1600x1200 on my 21inch NEC tube mon(strousity) and have built about 150 since, not all for me. Checking for a comparison between the single 4870 and the X2 for a final push.

[QUOTE="X360PS3AMD05"]AMD fans only? Yah dude get a 4 3870s and a Phenom X3......................dr_fiscque

Hey my friend's WIFE gets awesome performance outta thier Phenom X3 when she posts on MYSPACE and FACEBOOK 8) . Seriously, Money is an issue. Almost convinced, the quip about the hot 3870s helped. Thanks to most of you, it kinda sucks being the smartest friend when YOU need help with TECH.

If you are already set with those AMD/ATI get something grab a single HD4870x2 2gb and a Phenom II 940, i would prefer going with an Intel/ATI Intel/Nvidia config but its your choice.

A single HD4870 is capable of outperforming two HD3870 in Crossfire, and sometimes even 4 because of the bad scaling of quad crossfire so a single HD4870x2 would be the wisest thing to do instead of 4 3870's. And The Phenom II 940 is MUCH better than the Phenom X3.

"AMD/ATI fans only!"

lolwut?

Id go with the 2 4870's

[QUOTE="dr_fiscque"]

[QUOTE="X360PS3AMD05"]AMD fans only? Yah dude get a 4 3870s and a Phenom X3......................wklzip

Hey my friend's WIFE gets awesome performance outta thier Phenom X3 when she posts on MYSPACE and FACEBOOK 8) . Seriously, Money is an issue. Almost convinced, the quip about the hot 3870s helped. Thanks to most of you, it kinda sucks being the smartest friend when YOU need help with TECH.

If you are already set with those AMD/ATI get something grab a single HD4870x2 2gb and a Phenom II 940, i would prefer going with an Intel/ATI Intel/Nvidia config but its your choice.

A single HD4870 is capable of outperforming two HD3870 in Crossfire, and sometimes even 4 because of the bad scaling of quad crossfire so a single HD4870x2 would be the wisest thing to do instead of 4 3870's. And The Phenom II 940 is MUCH better than the Phenom X3.

Ther is nothing I would love more than to build an i7 + dual 285 system but there is the issue of MONEY. I have about $1000 to spend on the whole thing. MOBO, PS, Memory, optical drive, and HD still not purchased but set to be. Your idea sounds great but it leaves around $230 for the stuff I just mentioned. Bang for the buck is what I need. And yes, I knew he was kidding, so was I.

[QUOTE="wklzip"][QUOTE="dr_fiscque"]

Hey my friend's WIFE gets awesome performance outta thier Phenom X3 when she posts on MYSPACE and FACEBOOK 8) . Seriously, Money is an issue. Almost convinced, the quip about the hot 3870s helped. Thanks to most of you, it kinda sucks being the smartest friend when YOU need help with TECH.

dr_fiscque

If you are already set with those AMD/ATI get something grab a single HD4870x2 2gb and a Phenom II 940, i would prefer going with an Intel/ATI Intel/Nvidia config but its your choice.

A single HD4870 is capable of outperforming two HD3870 in Crossfire, and sometimes even 4 because of the bad scaling of quad crossfire so a single HD4870x2 would be the wisest thing to do instead of 4 3870's. And The Phenom II 940 is MUCH better than the Phenom X3.

Ther is nothing I would love more than to build an i7 + dual 285 system but there is the issue of MONEY. I have about $1000 to spend on the whole thing. MOBO, PS, Memory, optical drive, and HD still not purchased but set to be. Your idea sounds great but it leaves around $230 for the stuff I just mentioned. Bang for the buck is what I need. And yes, I knew he was kidding, so was I.

Good luck :)