ASUS 4890 versus SAPPHIRE 4850 X2

[sepota]

Hi,

ASUS 4890 versus SAPPHIRE 4850 X2

Which one would you get?

I m running:

MB ASUS P5LD2 (no SLI support)
GPU 8800 GTS 640 megs (bit of OC with Riva Tuner)
Intel core 2 duo q6600 2.4ghz (no OC)
RAM = 2 x 2 gigs corsair xms
Power Supply = Corsair 750W - 60A
Running Vista 64
Using a 22'' Samsung screen
Thanks

 

[invisik]

4850x2 will perform slightly better but i rather go with a single card setup since the difference isnt much and you dont have to worry over if the game supports cf.
Not to mention 4890 produces less heat, noise and is great overclocker.

4890- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127427 (169.99$)

"update" q6600 is going to hurt performance of a 4850x2 I believe since its 2 cards while the 4890 is one.

 

[daedalus685]

4850x2 will perform slightly better but i rather go with a single card setup since the difference isnt much and you dont have to worry over if the game supports cf.
Not to mention 4890 produces less heat, noise and is great overclocker.

4890- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127427 (169.99$)

"update" q6600 is going to hurt performance of a 4850x2 I believe since its 2 cards while the 4890 is one.

A q6600 is plenty still. It isnt going to "hurt" the scaling of a crossfire setup any more than that of a 4890. An overclock might help his performance a tad, but either card will work fine. So long as he doesnt go expecting the fps one gets on an overclocked i7 rig at least..

 

[Pailin]

Would be ideal to OC that processor to 3GHz which should largly reduce its bottlenecking the new GPU setup.

3GHz doesn't stress this CPU much at all and should not require too elaborate cooling solution.
Keep an eye on temps, but even a standard HSF should see this lvl of OC just fine I think.

Personally I would also go with the 4890 too

Have fun when you get setup

 

[sepota]

Thanks for the advice. I also ''trust'' ASUS part more then Sapphire, so getting a ASUS 4890 with a bit of O/C make sense. Can RiveTuner also O/C the processor?

 

[invisik]

A q6600 is plenty still. It isnt going to "hurt" the scaling of a crossfire setup any more than that of a 4890. An overclock might help his performance a tad, but either card will work fine. So long as he doesnt go expecting the fps one gets on an overclocked i7 rig at least..

Q6600 at stock is going to bottleneck it a bit. My gtx260 sli gets bottlenecked a good amount when my q6600 is at 2.4hz, oc to 3.2ghz i noticed a good gain in fps. Dual card setup tend to favor running on fast cpu's rather then single card setup. Saw this at a review forgot the site.

 

[invisik]

Thanks for the advice. I also ''trust'' ASUS part more then Sapphire, so getting a ASUS 4890 with a bit of O/C make sense. Can RiveTuner also O/C the processor?

I forgot wasnt rivatuner for graphic card only? The best way to do is it through bios if it permits you.

 

[daedalus685]

Ya, it will bottleneck it a bit, but it won't bottleneck the 4850x2 particularly more than a 4890. Sure you won't get the scaling you want for your money, but both solutions are still good choices.

Crossfire might have a little less scaling than a single GPU, but it won't be much in this case, given the resoluton.

Dual card configurations prefer a faster CPU because they are faster setups, thus they bottleneck quicker. The effect of driving 2 cards vs one is minor compared to the bottleneck of the cpu just not being able to keep up with the GPU power, regardless of how many there are.

More than 3 gpu's and you start to run into issues as the pcie bus starts to take on a lot of the communications, but for an x2 that is done inside the card anyway, it doesn't take any extra power to allow the inter gpu communications.

An overclcok to the q6600 would help increase performance, but either of these cards will give you a good bump over a less pwoerful card, even given the cpu limitations.

 

[sepota]

So, I should O/C the CPU from 2.4 to 3 Ghz to really enjoy the performance?

Is that a major O/C for this CPU? IE, should I get extra cooling and such?

 

[invisik]

Yup you should. Its not a major oc for the cpu you have. Q6600 is known for a great overclocker.

 

[Pailin]

I have my Q6600 OC'd to 3GHz as it runs nice and cool (+ don't need more with my old 8800GT), should be fine even if you have stock cooling - but keep an eye on temps

I have had mine OC'd to 3.6GHz and stress tested Prime95 stable for 12hours
This normally about the limit for this CPU without something elaborate to cool it.

But runs too hot for my liking even with what was one of the best air coolers out (1.5 years ago ish) - hitting temps of 77c under stress testing.

Tell us what HSF you have on your setup.

with a half decent cooler, even 3.3 ish should be ok.


Is almost unheard of for one not to make 3GHz - is considered base OC lvl to aim for
and most will also make 3.3 with little effort - maybe a slight bump in vcore.

At 3GHz I have 1.2 vcore
At 3.6GHx I have 1.38 vcore

But each chip will vary a little as to what they like best.