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4850 vs 4870

PaulyD

PaulyD

PaulyD

Soldato
Joined
24 Mar 2008
Posts
4,654
Location
High Wycombe
Hey all,

I have done loads of research on which card to get but still can not make my mind up :rolleyes:

Currently have the following spec:

Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz
2Gb Crucial Ballistix @ 1080Mhz
Asus Maximus Formula modded to Rampage
Coolermaster 620W PSU
Samsung 20" WS monitor
7600GT (old card used as a backup as I sold my 8800GTX before the price drops:))

Well its Pay day tomorrow :D so am looking to get a new graphics card to finally bring the spec back up to line as the 7600GT can't play anything at a decent/native res (1680x1050)

As i have a x38 mobo i'm going to go for an ATI solution but am stumped between getting a 4850 or a 4870.

I know that the 4850 will suffice for the job and I can add another later for crossfire (though unsure as to when this will be) but the 4870 is only around 40-50 quid more and will be a better replacement and give better FPS in the mean time than a single 4850. Plus on top of that I could then always add another 4870 in the future and have quite a nice system going.

I play nearly all the current games at the minute, and will be playing far cry2, crysis warhead etc when they are released so I think the 4870 would be the better card in the long run.

Just looking for input from the forum guys :)
 
PaulyD said:
Thanks guys - thats what i thought.

Can stretch to the 4870, just won't tell the missus!
Click to expand...

Haha why, can't you afford it?:p

I'd personally buy the Radeon HD4850, but if you're keeping the system as it is for a while (and can afford the extra) then HD4870 is more futureproof...
 
Personally i'd get a 4850 for £108, and save the £60+ difference, then use it to buy annother 4850 next month for CF 4850 goodness.
 
^^^

Agree with above.

No point futureproofing with a 4870 over a 4850 - in a years time BOTH will probably be obsolete. Save yourself £60 (£120 for 2 in crossfire), less depreciation when coming to sell them, easier to sell them individually (low power requirements).
 
Get a 4850 + Neo Vortex cooler, hack the old coolers vrm heatsink off and put on with neo, voly mod the bios to 1.2v and clock it :)

What I did and loving it save your cash for another 4850 later too :)
 
go for the 4870, and when you got the cash you'll be able to pick up another 4870 later,
cheaper anyways. and when you do sell them on, sell them as a pair and you'll get a good return probably


only thing is will your psu hand two of them? I'm not up on the power requirements of 2 4870's
 
Opened up a right can of worms here. Every poster is split between the 4850 and the 4870 :D

Willhub - the 4870 will drop down to the speed of the 4850, so you might as well just get another 4850.

Can afford to go for the 4870, just the missus will moan about more money being spent "on that damned PC!" Still, she doesn't mind her having my old setup though! :p

If i did go for the 4850 then i would definately crossfire them as they are just too cheap not to. However, with a holiday coming up the only money i can spend in the next few months would be from this pay check so would want the best i can get for the mean time from a single card solution.

PSU might also be a problem but i havent really looked into it really. Guess im looking for the following:

Short term: Powerful single card solution
Long term: Crossfire

coming from an 8800GTX and reading so so many benchies I know that a single 4870 will be great
 
In no hurry for RAM - only on 32bit OS and never had any RAM related issues though will upgrade to 2x2gb sticks when going 64bit (all in the pipeline..)
 
Stick with the single card solution sounds like the best bet for you. My 4870 is more than enough at 1680.
 
4870.

You've overclocked quite a bit, and the 4850 is only going to add to the heat inside your case, quite significantly too.

The 4870 exhausts the heat from the case, rather than the 4850 which just adds to it.
 
Yeah I am edging towards the 4870 - just feels it wouldn't be right getting a card with GDDR3 when you can have GDDR5 :cool:

Cooling is covered either way, got a CM stacker 830 with 3 side fans, 2 front fans, 1 roof fan and exhaust on the back - and no its not noisy at all! CPU covered by a TRUE which really does a great job.

Think I will go for the 4870 - will be impatient and order for saturday delivery so I can play with it over the weekend :D
 
YAY! i got a 4870 a few weeks ago and i havnt stopped smiling about it!! (gddr5 is crazy!) :D

Saturday delivery is pretty awesome too :)
 
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