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Spoiled by all these choices! Way forward?

Jamous

Jamous

Jamous

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Joined
7 Jan 2007
Posts
1,073
Location
Scotland
Upon sound advice here, I sold my 8800GT for £90, making way for a new graphics purchase and before they are worth two baloons and a stick.
(stuck with laptop atm)

I originally planned to buy an ATI 4870, I may not need one, but I like to have decent kit and like most, like to do a bit of upgrading anyway, even if it is just to fiddle a bit!

Looking at all the current choices around, can I have advice/opinions on:

1:4850
2:4870 (with possibility of adding another in future)
3:9800x2
4:4850 Crossfire
5:4870x2

I am an occasional gamer on my 19 ins Acer, I just want a decent card that I won't be playing and wishing I'd spent just a little bit more on the next card.
As someone wisely pointed out (C64 I think) future-proofing is a thing of the past, I only had my 8800GT for a few months, maybe by the time I got round to adding another 4870, newer,better cards would be out, although I am curious about crossfire as my motherboard will take 2 x16 PCI-E.

A quick question as well: what graphics set up does a pc need to be on par/better than consoles like Xbox 360 and PS3?

Thanks
 
For 19" a sound purchase would be the 4850. Add another in the future if you plan on going CF (need right mobo).
 
Jamous said:
I am an occasional gamer on my 19 ins Acer
Click to expand...

then why did you sell your 8800gt? :confused: i imagine it chewed up most games at the res with maximum settings all round.

anyway, depending on budget get either a 4850 or 4870. either one should last a good while. :)
 
Get a 4850 or a 4870, your call on which really, you probably won't need the extra memory bandwidth on the 4870 at that resolution but it does have a faster core, and better cooling i believe.
 
If you are only an occasional gamer then it makes sense to go for the 4850. Pointless going for the others if your not pushing the limits but a 4850 will see you through the next gen of games really. I've got a 22" samsung monitor and will go for the 4850 even as a heavy gamer.
 
To echo the sentiments of others, go for a 4850 or 4870, and then grab a bigger monitor. Any further GPU power would be utterly wasted on a 19" monitor.

A 24"-er would be a really nice upgrade. 1920*1200 for the win!
 
Than ks everyone, think I'm going with 1x 4870 and maybe get a larger screen in the future, would adding a 4850 later help or just slow the 4870 down?
 
=VTA=MANFACE said:
You could still buy 2 4850s and xfire them for that price :D
Click to expand...

I've used multi-GPU setups before. I know the subtle performance issues.

I'd much rather have a single GTX280 over a pair of 4850s, even if the 4850s can pump out more raw frames to win in average FPS benchmarks.


edit - still not trying to justify the value of the GTX280 by the way :p Even at £300 it's not competing with a £180 4870 on price : performance. I think the GTX280 has to come down to £250 to really be a valid competitor in that regard. I just don't consider multi-GPU setups as being on the same playing field as single-GPU setups. Too many problems. Lets see if r700 fixes some of these, and maybe I will amend my views!
 
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