Which card should I go for?

[Wightpants]

I'm looking to build a system from scratch. So far, I'm getting the Asus P5E3 Premium Intel X48 PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard and probably the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 processor.

These will set me back a bit, so I'm looking to save a bit of money on the graphics card for now. I like a bit of gaming, so I want a good setup eventually, but for now I want a cheap(ish) card that will make a decent Crossfire slave when I can afford something better.

I'm a bit lost in all the different series of cards available, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank,
Wightpants.

 

[mame]

4850 or 4870 depending on how much you call cheap really

 

[Wightpants]

4850 or 4870 depending on how much you call cheap really

Thanks for the quick response.

So if I spend about £100 on a 4850, will I need to choose something from the 4800 range as a master when the time comes?

And, are there any more cards in the 4800 series planned? 4890s or something like that?

Thanks again,
Wightpants.

 

[ACESHIGH]

Thanks for the quick response.

So if I spend about £100 on a 4850, will I need to choose something from the 4800 range as a master when the time comes?

And, are there any more cards in the 4800 series planned? 4890s or something like that?

Thanks again,
Wightpants.

the 4850 is a great.

I believe you should also be to crossfire with the 4870 cards and there is a 4850X2 coming soon.

 

[psychas]

4870x2 august 4850x2 september

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Crossfire doesn't use master cards anymore, ATi got shot of those long ago, Crossfire is now like SLi, whereby the cards are connected together by bridges, so any 2x 4850's will do, or even as said above, any other card from the 4800 range will do as Crossfire can mix and match different cards, will even be able to pair them with the 3800 range soon.

4850 is a cracking card for the price, its faster than the 8800 GTX.

 

[easyrider]

4850x2 looks a very interesting card at 200 would mean the 4870 would have to drop to 150ish

 

[Wightpants]

Crossfire doesn't use master cards anymore, ATi got shot of those long ago, Crossfire is now like SLi, whereby the cards are connected together by bridges, so any 2x 4850's will do, or even as said above, any other card from the 4800 range will do as Crossfire can mix and match different cards, will even be able to pair them with the 3800 range soon.

So does that mean I could buy a 3850 for now and add something like a 4870 or 2x4850 later to upgrade? That could save about £50 in the short term.

 

[ACESHIGH]

So does that mean I could buy a 3850 for now and add something like a 4870 or 2x4850 later to upgrade? That could save about £50 in the short term.

apparently that's going to be the case with upcoming drivers, that you'll be able to mix and match 38xx series and 48xx series cards in crossfire.

 

[Wightpants]

apparently that's going to be the case with upcoming drivers, that you'll be able to mix and match 38xx series and 48xx series cards in crossfire.

Excellent. I think a 3850 will do me for now, since my monitor's max resolution is only 1440x900.

Thanks,
Wightpants.

 

[DarkMatter]

i wonder what the power requirement would be for 2 4850x2's.

 

[Duke]

4850 or 4870 depending on how much you call cheap really

Yip.

 

[C64]

On the cheap a 2nd hand 8800gt for £60 or an 8800gtx for £80 or a new 4850 for £120.