4850 in Crossfire?

[high tech redneck 1990]

Im thinking about doing two xfx ATI 4850 1GB cards in a crossfire setup. I can do this setup with about $240. Should i do this, or just buy one 4890 1gb card for $40 less, and would i see a big performance difference between doing a single 4890 1gb or 4850 1gb in crossfire?

 

[Maziar]

What resolution are u going to play ?

 

[high tech redneck 1990]

What resolution are u going to play ?

I only play at 1440 x 900 (16:10)

 

[Helloworld_98]

^a single 4870 could max that out.

CF 4850's isn't worth it until you get to 1680x1050.

 

[high tech redneck 1990]

1440x900...I would think about upgrading my monitor to at least a 22" before I would bother with upgrading graphics card.

Besides, your 2ghz X2 and 500w generic power supply wouldnt be able to keep up with 1 4850, let alone 2.

I know if i did crossfire, my cpu will bottleneck my graphics. So im doing all these upgrades at the same time tell me what you think

-Foxconn A7DA-S 3.0 motherboard (havent decided, my last computer had a 4870 in it, and it was slower than my 8800 GTS 320mb, and the board had nvidia onbaord graphics, i think thats what caused my 8800GTS to outperform my 4870, so now i see where yall are coming from with not wanting on-board graphics)

-SIGMA MONSTER SP750C 750W Continuous power supply

-2 XFX Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 in crossfire

-AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz (Im going to need the bigger PSU anyway, i plan on OCing this thing to around 3.2GHz)

-4GB DDR3 1333 memory (only if i need to, if i find a board which i saw one up there yall showed me, it accepts my 4GB DDR2 800 memory i already have)

and my paycheck after that, im getting a 24inch monitor

 

[high tech redneck 1990]

Onboard graphics on AMD boards is NOT a problem, thats for sure. 780G, 785G, 790GX, all awesome performers.
The reason your GTS outperformed your 4870 is probably because you cpu was bottlenecking it.

Personally, I would stay away from Foxconn, ECS, Pc chips, etc.
Stay with Gigabyte, MSI, Asus.

The Cpu is a good choice.

Not sure about Sigma, I would go with a Corsair 650-750 w/5 yr warranty.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

DDR3 and AM3 board would be better for future upgradability, but sticking with your DDR2 and a AM2+ board would perform just as well.

22" is usually 1680x1050 which is pushing a single 4850 (512mb) on high settings in newer games. Games like STALKER CS, that game put a hurt on my computer. I had to turn down dynamic lighting and texture detail and AF just to not get dizzy.

Thanks for the warning about the mobos, ill just stick with Gigabyte or msi and asus.

 

[Helloworld_98]

the 4870 was probably worse than the 8800 because you didn't uninstall and 'sweep' the drivers.

 

[high tech redneck 1990]

the 4870 was probably worse than the 8800 because you didn't uninstall and 'sweep' the drivers.

True, i didnt have alot of computer experience back then, and no, i dont recall ever completely getting the nvidia drivers off my computer before i used ATI, thats why i think ill take the good advice of not buying a mobo with an onboard graphics chipset