2 x 4850 or 4890 for 3D work

[treebus]

Hi all
I'm looking to update my home computer and could use some advice in choosing the right graphics card for the new system. I will be using it mainly for 3d animation and video manipulation with programs such as Maya, Max, Mudbox and CS4 (Aftereffects). As I can't afford a workstation card, I'm considering ether a HD 4890 1gb or 2 x HD 4850 crossfired and then possibly a softmod to Firegl drivers.
So which is the better option and is a 450w psu enough to crossfire?

new System-
i7 920
ASUS P6T-SE
6gb ddr3-1600
500gb hdd
gigabyte 450w psu

Thanks in advance.

 

[bosshoss27]

I can't say much regarding the overall performance between the 4850s and the 4890 vs. a workstation card. I'd have to guess that at higher resolutions the 4890 would walk circles around the 4850s. HOWEVER, I can tell you from experience that a 450 watt PSU is not even near adequate enough to power two 4850s in xfire. I had purchased a new Antec 450 which lasted two weeks before literally exploding. I then purchased a 500 watt Thermaltake which lasted a little longer at 2 weeks before kablooey. Finally settled on a corsair 650 which has been going like a champ for 6 months and counting.

 

[xc0mmiex]

you should still do some research on workstation vs regular cards, beacuse somtimes work station cards work up to like 8 times better... also look into if the softmod your working with work with crossfire or an x2 card... i think 2 4850's would have more juice then the 4890 if they scale right with the softmod

 

[treebus]

Thanks for the replys.
Does anyone have experience with crossfire and the firegl softmod?
Can anyone recomend a good PSU for a low budget?

 

[meodowla]

Crossfiring won't be helpful in editing softwares...