TWO : ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT Extreme in CF or just a single 3870 X2 ?

ademcg · 27 Feb 2008 at 12:08

Right changing my 8800GT and I want to put some oooomph into my COD4 gaming.

I run a 22" 1680 x 1050 and have an Abit Quad GT (X38) Mobo, want to know if I would be better off buying 2 x ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT Extreme TWO http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-079-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416
Total cost = £232

or buy a single 3870 X2
Cost = £287

There is a slight cost saving buying the two 3870 XT cards (around £55) but I am worried about Cross-Fire incompatabilities and nigles ?
a single (all be it multi GPU) card would be simpler ?
Opinions please !!

Biglunn · 27 Feb 2008 at 12:19

Personally?

I think you should go for the 2 seperate cards. Why? Well... when you next upgrade, I bet you will get no less (maybe more) for your 2 cards (together) than you will recoup for the X2 card. And you bagged a saving when you initially bought the cards. The X2 card is by rights two 3870s linked together by crossfire anyway, no different in essence to 2 seperate cards.

-iceblade^ · 27 Feb 2008 at 12:21

that's true... and the cost saving is pretty big, not to mention that there won't be much difference between the two setups...

gurusan · 27 Feb 2008 at 12:31

Doesn't the 8800GT handle CoD4 fine? I get above 60fps in pretty much every single multiplayer level...much of the time in the 90s...on 3d card in sig @ 1680x1050 max details 4xAA

That said, I just bought a g92 8800gts because I caught an upgrade bug. I hope it's a big diff over my 3850.

Datamonkey · 27 Feb 2008 at 12:34

also by buying 2 seperate 3870's you have the option to plug in an 3870x2 at a later date coupled with 1 of the 3870's

Which is what i intend to do

ademcg · 27 Feb 2008 at 13:41

Datamonkey said:
also by buying 2 seperate 3870's you have the option to plug in an 3870x2 at a later date coupled with 1 of the 3870's

Which is what i intend to do

Can you do that ???
OMG

Biglunn · 27 Feb 2008 at 13:48

ademcg said:
Can you do that ???
OMG

Thats the beauty of Crossfire - you can mix and match cards, and it actually works very efficiently

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/663/1/

I dont know if a X2 card can be crossfired, but it will be able to soon. In the review above, they crossfire a 3870 with a 3850, and OK, its not going to be as good as a 3870 + 3870, its pretty darn impressive nonetheless. Something tells me that the Crossfire tech is significantly beter than SLI. And I suspect crossfiring two X2 cards is going to be very impressive.

psychas · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:04

two 3870xt better cooling as they separate ddr4 ram goes to 2600+ core goes 900+

willhub · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:16

Based on crysis benchmark thread it looks like 2x 3870's in CF is faster than a 3870X2, but in other games they seem equal.

ademcg · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:21

willhub said:
Based on crysis benchmark thread it looks like 2x 3870's in CF is faster than a 3870X2, but in other games they seem equal.

Could this be due ot the PCI bridge used in the X2 card ?

I have a PCI-E 2.0 motherboard with 2 x 16 slots so it should be a flowing system ?

Datamonkey · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:22

ademcg said:
Can you do that ???
OMG

Its supposed to be available with cats 8.3 as with the 3870x2's you cant cross fire them as of yet.

So in the very near future yep

your supposed to be able to do it.

There is a review out there using some beta drivers which show very good gains to be had with an 3870x2 and a 3870.

Running 2 x 3870x2's were not that much faster in the review than the 3870x2 and the 3870.

So thats the route i will be taking.

All sounds good

willhub · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:23

ademcg said:
Could this be due ot the PCI bridge used in the X2 card ?

I have a PCI-E 2.0 motherboard with 2 x 16 slots so it should be a flowing system ?

The X2 aint PCI-E 2.0 apparently, I'm guessing its just due to the way the card is designed and the crossfire bridge, but possibly due to drivers.

ademcg · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:23

I have never run SLI or CF, is it a simple thing to set up and keep stable ?

I tend to play COD4 and STEAM based stuff only so If it it all good with that lot then I think I will hit the BUy button for 2 of them

willhub · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:26

ademcg said:
I have never run SLI or CF, is it a simple thing to set up and keep stable ?

I tend to play COD4 and STEAM based stuff only so If it it all good with that lot then I think I will hit the BUy button for 2 of them

I too have never ran SLi or Crossfire but as far as I understand its pretty simple, just gotta make sure its enabled in the drivers too I guess, some people seem to have problems getting it to work though, not all games work with crossfire/SLi too but most do.

HighlandeR · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:28

ademcg said:
Right changing my 8800GT and I want to put some oooomph into my COD4 gaming.

I run a 22" 1680 x 1050 and have an Abit Quad GT (X38) Mobo, want to know if I would be better off buying 2 x ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT Extreme TWO http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-079-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416
Total cost = £232

or buy a single 3870 X2
Cost = £287

There is a slight cost saving buying the two 3870 XT cards (around £55) but I am worried about Cross-Fire incompatabilities and nigles ?
a single (all be it multi GPU) card would be simpler ?
Opinions please !!

Well look at it from another point of view also...

Total cost = £232

For 18 quid more u can get an 3870X2 card, that would basicly save you one pciexpress slot, and save power and electricity bills. And when ATI release a lovely 4870X2 card you can Crossfire it with your 3870X2 and still have 4 way multi-gpu power.

And with 3870 XTs dropping in price due to ATI price cuts it means u will proberly find them going for 60-70 quid on For Sales forums since if you can get them for around £100-110 already they will quickly and already are loosing value while the 3870X2 is more newer and will hold its value for a bit.

ademcg · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:29

willhub said:
I too have never ran SLi or Crossfire but as far as I understand its pretty simple, just gotta make sure its enabled in the drivers too I guess, some people seem to have problems getting it to work though, not all games work with crossfire/SLi too but most do.

hmmm, finger moves slightly away from "buy" button.....

Does the system treat the HD X3870 X2 as a single card ?

if so perhaps this would be simpler solution ? More stable and certainly easier to set up ?? :confused:

Dam, decisions !!

willhub · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:31

I hope you are right about the 3870XT going for 60-70 quid on for sale forums, it'll make a nice backup card

.

ademcg said:
hmmm, finger moves slightly away from "buy" button.....

Does the system treat the HD X3870 X2 as a single card ?

if so perhaps this would be simpler solution ? More stable and certainly easier to set up ??

Dam, decisions !!

No it still runs as crossfire.

ademcg · 27 Feb 2008 at 14:31

HighlandeR said:
Well look at it from another point of view also...

Total cost = £232

For 18 quid more u can get an 3870X2 card, that would basicly save you one pciexpress slot, and save power and electricity bills. And when ATI release a lovely 4870X2 card you can Crossfire it with your 3870X2 and still have 4 way multi-gpu power.

And with 3870 XTs dropping in price due to ATI price cuts it means u will proberly find them going for 60-70 quid on For Sales forums since if you can get them for around £100-110 already they will quickly and already are loosing value while the 3870X2 is more newer and will hold its value for a bit.

you read my mind when I typed the opening post

this is what I was thinking...plus CF with multi GPU has to be something to look forward to :cool:

I have opted for the 3870 X2 core clock of 850 Mhz lets hope it goes well.

HighlandeR · 27 Feb 2008 at 15:17

willhub said:
I hope you are right about the 3870XT going for 60-70 quid on for sale forums, it'll make a nice backup card .

No it still runs as crossfire.

Thats if ATI hold these awesome prices