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Upgrading to a 4870x2

fross

fross

fross

Associate
Joined
8 Nov 2007
Posts
426
Location
London and Florence, Italy
Hi all,

You can see my current system in my sig ;) I was thinking of putting in another 8800GT in SLi to speed up my system, which while not urgently, could use a boost sometime soon. Then I compared the cost of an 8800GT to a 4870 and thought, hey, for not much more I could get a REAL boost! Then of course, I thought wow, I could splash out on a 4870x2 and be safe for another couple of years! As these things always go...

So I have a few questions about the 4870x2 itself, and with regards to my system.

1) How loud is the fan, or how loud can it get?

2) Benchmarks I've seen often seem to put the 4870x2 ahead of two 4870s in crossfire, is that really the case in the real world?

3) Speaking of which, I have a SLi motherboard (Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680), would I be able to put in two 4870s in Crossfire on it, or indeed two 4870x2s later? :)

4) Are there any cooling options available, I'm not as interested in overclocking it as I am in making it a bit quieter. The stock cooler on my BFG 8800GT OC2 is about as much as I can stand.

5) Is there any difference between the brands selling 4870x2s? They all seem to have the same cookiecutter spec on OCUK, anything I should look out for?

6) Are the ATi drivers stable yet? ;)

7) My PSU is a Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU, should this be enough to drive a 4870x2?

Thanks in advance, and argh at spending another 300 quid upgrading! ;)

Cheers!
 
Waste of time/money unless you game @ 1920x1200 or higher you will not see much FPS benefit.

Get a 4870 instead and save your money & or spend on another upgrade.
 
Go for a 4870 and change to a wolfdale clocked at 4Ghz+ if you want gaming performance :)
 
1) How loud is the fan, or how loud can it get?
A) Silent on idle, noisy under load

2) Benchmarks I've seen often seem to put the 4870x2 ahead of two 4870s in crossfire, is that really the case in the real world?
A) probably not a lot in it.

3) Speaking of which, I have a SLi motherboard (Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680), would I be able to put in two 4870s in Crossfire on it, or indeed two 4870x2s later?
A) No, you would need a crossfire mobo, P45, X38, X48 etc

4) Are there any cooling options available, I'm not as interested in overclocking it as I am in making it a bit quieter. The stock cooler on my BFG 8800GT OC2 is about as much as I can stand.
A) there is a fan mod where you bolt a 120mm fan onto the standard heatsink, I will be trying this soon, other than that there is a waterblock available.

5) Is there any difference between the brands selling 4870x2s? They all seem to have the same cookiecutter spec on OCUK, anything I should look out for?
A) Only warranty

6) Are the ATi drivers stable yet?
A) No problems here with Vista x64

7) My PSU is a Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU, should this be enough to drive a 4870x2?
A) I didnt want to risk it so upgraded to a 850w, I think it would though depending on the rest of your system.

Is your cpu not clocked at all? You need to unleash that beast.
 
I have the BFG 8800gt OC2 and just purchased the monster 4870x2 (Gaming at 1680x1050).. The Powercolor's cooling is what I would say similar to a vacume cleaner on low.. Very noisy. And seems it has to be @ at least 50% to cool it durning 3d.

I may have a defective one (as its hitting 95C @ 100% fan) but I can still confirm it is much noiser than the 8800gt.
 
Something wrong with yours shaddow, I have a powercolor, 72 C on idle, reaches about 85 C under full load, thats the standard fan settings and its not bad at idle, but it is like an aircraft while in game.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys.

I'm looking at a 4870x2 over a 4870 as I want to futureproof for a while, and I won't be able to crossfire on my SLi board. Maybe only 1900x1200 taxes it now, but in a year, I'm sure more difficult to render games will be around :)

I think I'll wait a little while until someone comes out with a decently cooled 4870x2 as I really don't want an airplane taking off in my machine yet!
 
why not buy a 4870 now as its perfect for your res. Then get a different gfx card in a years or more time which also costs £170 and is just as good as the 4870x2 is/was?

Plus youll be able to sell your then old 4870 for £40 :)
 
I know you make sense eggman, but what is it that drives us to always have the best system we can get at any time? ;)

In response to mr x plosion above, I'm going to try to clock my cpu up to 3Ghz tonight, having done some reading up on it :)
 
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