4870X2 to 5870

Jonnygrunge · 27 Oct 2009 at 09:44

Took the plunge and pre-ordered the XFX 5870 from OcUK,
I know most people will see it as a side-ways upgrade, even a performance hit in some cases, but my X2 takes up three slots totally covering PCIe x16 slot 2!
These are my reasons:
Card performs extremely well for a single GPU, visually superior in Dx10 environments, overclocks well is Dx11 compatible, anything above 60fps anyway in my book is a bonus!
Card immature driver wise at the moment
Far less power consumption compared to my X2 and less heat
Will Xfire in the future, and my rig will fly, 2 of these in Xfire is only 12W above the X2 fully loaded!
Freeing up my second PCIe slot atm will allow me to use my 9800GT for physX
What do you guys think? I know the X2 is on the way, but this way I can upgrade when my wallet allows, not interested in any new nVidia card!
Jonnygrunge.

PS: Order can still be cancelled due to lack of stock!

scorchisio · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:01

mate the 4870x2 is on a par with 5870 just uses more power and has some compatability issues, i think its a truly pointless upgrade seriously

RavenXXX2 · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:07

DX11, low power consumption and no dependency on xfire scaling to get max performance in games. I would sell up and go 5870 whilst you can still get a decent price for your X2, the 5870 matches and in some cases beats an X2 which is great for a single GPU card.

Edit, IMO the 5870 is way better image quality than the previous generation cards, image quality is so much better than my previous GTX 260.

Rambo2683 · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:10

I personally think it's a bad idea while the 5870 is at it's maximum price.

RavenXXX2 · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:13

5870 price is not going down anytime soon, especially since there is no competition, £300 is a great price for the card you are getting, look at how much the X2 was when it first hit.

d_brennen · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:16

NVidia are activly trying to nurf physx and ATI cards on drivers are they not? And using your 9800 for physx will negate any power saving?

The 58xx cards are good though, and have less issues than CF or SLI

Rambo2683 · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:25

RavenXXX2 said:
5870 price is not going down anytime soon, especially since there is no competition, £300 is a great price for the card you are getting, look at how much the X2 was when it first hit.

It is a good price, IF he wasn't upgrading from a card that beats it in a good portion of games. I guess it depends how much the 4870x2 sells for.

Jonnygrunge · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:33

d_brennen said:
NVidia are activly trying to nurf physx and ATI cards on drivers are they not? And using your 9800 for physx will negate any power saving?

Patch out there to do it! Windows 7 allows multi GPU!
Read this:

http://www.ngohq.com/graphic-cards/...sx-when-ati-card-is-present-28.html#post82812

My 9800GT is green edition (75W max) takes power directly from the PCIe bus no other connectors!
Yeah I think I made a good choice should get around £180 for my X2 with it being the Palit Revolution 700 model. Image qulity is so much better in dx10

http://media.bestofmicro.com/Z/U/226794/original/HAWX DirectX Anomaly.gif

Looking forward to it!

CaptainRAVE · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:50

Meh, I can see why you would want to change, but why not wait for the 5870X2. The 4870X2 is still an impressive card. Do we even need a DX11 at the moment? Tbh, do we even need a DX10 card? Guess it depends on what you like to play and what you like to see visually in a game.

d_brennen · 27 Oct 2009 at 13:16

Wouldn't say it was a bad choice at all. More stable and less driver/game dependent performance is nice... And new cards are shiney and cool

Aegis · 27 Oct 2009 at 13:29

I already did this and there are benefits besides pure performance - a 5870 is considerably quieter and cooler than a 4870x2 and if you're V-Sync gaming at 60fps you won't notice the performance difference. Plus you can always Crossfire 5870's in the future

CaptainRAVE · 27 Oct 2009 at 13:32

Was just looking at the stock everywhere online - good luck to anyone trying to get one!

Orangey · 27 Oct 2009 at 15:39

Single GPU is nice to have as is DX11. Personally I'm holding out for the dual GPU 5xxx (whatever they end up being named), I've gotten accustomed to always having the epeen card.

LoadsaMoney · 27 Oct 2009 at 16:18

scorchisio said:
mate the 4870x2 is on a par with 5870 just uses more power and has some compatability issues, i think its a truly pointless upgrade seriously

Not imo, 5870 is a single card, so won't have to drop back to being a much slower card (single 4870 in the x2's case) in games that don't utilise Xfire, it will run full pelt all the time, it also uses less power, is quieter, gives out less heat, and is new Dx11., Eyefinity etc..., and will only get better once it starts getting drivers, only got 1 set so far.

CaptainRAVE · 27 Oct 2009 at 16:20

LoadsaMoney said:
Not imo, 5870 is a single card, so won't have to drop back to being a much slower card (single 4870 in the x2's case) in games that don't utilise Xfire, it will run full pelt all the time, it also uses less power, gives out less heat, and is new Dx11.

And will cost about £200 the time you sell a 4870X2. And then comes along the 5870X2, lol. Upto you. I am in the same situation and am waiting for the 5870X2.

arc@css · 27 Oct 2009 at 16:21

The OP could always xfire two 5850's. That should give a reasonable boost and is great value for money. This upgrade would last a while as well as the cards kicking out less heat and being DX11 ready.

johny dolan · 27 Oct 2009 at 16:31

I went from a 3 slot 4870 x2 to the new 5870.Performance in games is close with the x2 quicker in dx9 titles and the 5870 edges it in dx10.The 4870 x2 sounds like a jet on take off and ran 60c idle and 90c load.The 5870 is quiet and cool at 40c idle atm and the highest its been is 60c.Its also dx11 and when you see what dx11 can do in the new benchmark i new id made the right decision.The 5870 is the best gfx card ive ever bought.

arc@css · 27 Oct 2009 at 16:34

Does the 5870 have better minimum frames or less up and down / choppy frame rates? That is my only slight gripe with the 4000 series. If it has more consitent performance then maybe in a few months I might just consider one... or two

johny dolan · 27 Oct 2009 at 16:47

Id say the 5870 does seem to have higher minimum fps yes.The gfx also seem smoother.I never thought my x2 or sli gtx 8800s had microstutter but when you go to a single card the gfx do seem to flow nicer.

arc@css · 27 Oct 2009 at 17:00

Thanks for that johny. Luckily I've never really experienced micro-stutter though I do know what it is and have seen it occurring on both ATI and nvidia cards in the past. Good to know that it has higher minimum frames, like you say, perhaps the single gpu solution is an advantage there. A touch smoother.