4850 vs 4870 much difference?

[despotofmidnor]

Hi guys, i was just wondering is there a massive difference between the 4850 and the 4870?
Its just that i bought a 4850 xXx less than a month ago but now ive started to see a lot of 4870 for about £10 more?
Is it worth trying to sell this one while i can pretty much class is as new and get a 4870 or is it not realy worth it?

 

[Firegod]

Depends how you game. I did the swap awhile back now as I found on the 24" screen the 4850 couldn't cope. The 4870 has been spot on.

 

[Ben M]

what res do you game at? at lower resolutions there will be a less noticeable difference.

it all depends on how much you get for your 4850, and if your 4850 actually struggles with what you use it for.

 

[J.D]

how much will you sue them for?.

Sue them for dropping the prices? .

Yes, serious word play but was worth it for the typo. Sad but true....

 

[despotofmidnor]

Well im about to buy a Samsung SM2343BW 23" that is 2048x1152 Resolution :-S
I bought my graphics card from ocuk, but im guessing you cant realy return it once installed lol. Unless i said it doesn't meet my requirments due to my screen, would that work :-s
No dust on it (well, there obv will be but you cant see anything, and i have compressed air to clean with) so i should be able to ebay it for a good price anyway hopfuly.

I was looking at maybe somthing like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-054-XF&groupid=595&catid=683&subcat=
But i will be running two of those moitors. Is it worth biting the bullet and buying something like this :http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-118-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1235

Another question is, is it better to have two of the same card or a X2 card? As it works out the same pretty much.

or have a single 4890?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-124-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1403

I wana get something where i wont realy have to upgrade for a long time. My last card lasted 5 years and was still running cs:s and tf2 at med to high levels.

 

[despotofmidnor]

OR! wil things run ok if i just bought a 2nd card?
Thanks for any help

if i can sell this card for lets say £80-100 on ebay, then i can probably add about 100 onto that, so ive got about £200, but might be able to push upto £250 if very convinced.

 

[J.D]

OR! wil things run ok if i just bought a 2nd card?
Thanks for any help

if i can sell this card for lets say £80-100 on ebay, then i can probably add about 100 onto that, so ive got about £200, but might be able to push upto £250 if very convinced.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16681/1

I think adding a second 4850 would be the better option. Don't take notice of the 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF results as the 1920x1200 results with the same eye candy on shows the 4850s to be faster than the 4890 OC.

If you are getting the X2 4870 then it would take selling your card and adding £150 at least. Most likely more.

 

[despotofmidnor]

So you would recomend just going for a 2nd 4850 card then?
obv its cheaper for me (happy times)
I will probably run the games at 1080 or similar anyway, just geting the monitor with higher available res so that i dont have to upgrade them pretty much ever untill they break.

 

[despotofmidnor]

WOO! i just noticed, ive breached 100 posts with this thred, does this mean i now get free shipping!!!
WOOOO!

 

[J.D]

Yeah. If you're willing to go at whatever resolution provides you with the best performance on such a high resolution screen then I think you're onto a winner with the additional 4850.

My screen goes to 2048x1536 but my single 4870 512mb doesn't cope with quite a few titles at that resolution. I've tried Grid at this with 4xAA and it was playable but with noticeable slowdowns. Also Call of Duty 4 was quite playable also but I remain at 1920x1200 for the majority of the time. If a game brings me down a resolution or two then so be it . Well until my next build.....

 

[despotofmidnor]

ok cool, thanks for your help.
Saved me a lot of money and effort there

 

[J.D]

ok cool, thanks for your help.
Saved me a lot of money and effort there

No problem. I was looking at this benchmark today for a comparison for my friend who has 2x 4870s (512mb) in one system and a GTX 295 in another one he just bought two days ago. After seeing your question I popped in for another look and seen the results were pretty good. Yes slower than the 4870 X2 but not £150+ worth .