G92 GTS vs. 2x HD 3870

jjblanche

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Nov 19, 2007
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Hmmm...

I've been going back and fourth over this, and really can't draw a conclusion.

**
Two 3870's in crossfire (with an x38 mobo)

OR

A single G92 GTS
**

Before you even say it, no, I'm not considering two 8800GTs in SLI (heat, anyone?).

Anyhow, ever since my brother started running dual cards about a year ago, I've been leery. He had numerous problems, which I really don't want/need to get into here. I'm a big advocate of K.I.S.S., and generally prefer the idea of a single card.

HOWEVER, I'm not a techno-conservative. If dual card technology is indeed solid at this point in time, and would provide a dramatic improvement over one g92 GTS, let me know. (Yes, I know, the G92 GTS benchies aren't out, but we can provide educated guesses.)

A part of me really wants to do the ATI crossfire setup, but another side is saying stick with nVidia, and stick with one card. Another plus of going nVidia is eVGA's step up, and a better warranty...but I'm still torn. Help me out.

Most importantly, WHY would you choose one over the other?
 

3Ball

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I would choose the crossfire 3870's. I believe that the performance will be greater than a G92 8800GTS, which if it shows up I believe to be around 8800GTX performance wise. The 3870's run a dual slot cooler to vent the air out of the case so to not build up heat and they also have more features...my favorite being the HDMI support so I can run it through my HDTV.

I personally am not a fan of dual card setups, but I felt that I should answer your question the way you asked it. Since I have laid down my original opinion I will say, what I would do and actually am going to do. I would buy the 3870 and use it by itself until the new series of HIGH end cards are released and maybe actually a month or 2 into their release to get some drivers smoothed over. Sell the 3870 and cut your losses while transitioning to the other card. In the time being with the 3870 take that xtra $220 you would have spent on the 2nd card and put it away then save up slightly to $500 or so so that you will be able to get your hands on one of the new high end cards later and it wont burn a huge whole in your wallet all at one time. Hope this helps.

Best,

3Ball
 

slickku

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Feb 25, 2007
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U go for the HD crossfire without any worries... check the benches around the net and ull see that 2x 3850! not 3870 are on par or better than 1x8800gtx... so 2x3870 will definately blow 1 x 8800gtx in just about any kind of aplication.

and btw .. with crysis u cant play at decent framerates with AA and everything maxed out at resolutions 1600x1200 and above with only one card so..
 
I pretty much agree with 3Ball i have seen benchmarks that say that even though the drivers are not very good at the min as far as crossfire goes two 3870's perform close to a GTX anyway so given the usual expectation that the drivers will improve then you have the option of doing as 3ball says or if the new card isnt that much better than a GTX you can put the second 3870 in by which time they should (fingers crossed )be performing better than the GTX across the board.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/3270-his-radeon-hd3870-review-crossfire-performance-preview.html
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