2 x 4870 512Mb or Single 4870X2 with 1GB

[rebeeper]

Is it better to have 1GB on a single card or 2x512Mb cards.

What I am trying to understand is;
Would a 4870(X2) 1GB be any different to two 512Mb 4870's in crossfire?

 

[ten80p]

I think theres another post with some info claiming the 4870X2 is 15% quicker than 2 Crossfired 4870's, but not sure which thread I saw it earlier today, not sure how valid the tests were either

 

[rebeeper]

I sort of thought that there would be some form of loss due to the crossfire overhead but 15% seems a little steep! I was hoping for the region of 5-10%

 

[ten80p]

Remember it'll have been done on a pre-release card with immature drivers though, suppose we won't really know until mid August for sure

 

[Xtrema]

Is it better to have 1GB on a single card or 2x512Mb cards.

What I am trying to understand is;
Would a 4870(X2) 1GB be any different to two 512Mb 4870's in crossfire?

We don't know how the 4870 1GB cards are going to perform as yet. The 4870x2 are an even greater unkown quantity.
Time will tell, sooner rather than later i hope.

 

[rebeeper]

Speculation abounds...

 

[Scougar]

The 15% will prob be in best scenario with the 4870X2 clocked at higher speed.

I would actually guess that two 4870's would be quicker due to the bandwidth advantage (when on an PCI-E 2, 16x + 16x setup). I can only assume at this point in time with ATI using a PLX chipset that it will once again half the bandwidth on the slot.

Matthew