Id like to hear your opinion about this

[high tech redneck 1990]

!!!!!!!!!!BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING, THE ANSWER IS YES, IVE READ ALOT OF FORUM THREADS ABOUT THIS SAME TOPIC, BUT IT DOSNT SEEM LIKE THOSE OTHERS CONCERN MY SITUATION VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Okay, heres the deal. I'm torn between an ATI 4890 single card and MAYBE do crossfire once i upgrade my monitor OR getting dual 4850s in crossfire. Here's my setup that i will have once i buy all my upgrades.

+AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz

+OCZ 4GB 800MHz DDR2 memory(8GB hopefully by october)

+Sigma 750Watt PSU

+Gigabyte motherboard

I currently have a 19"inch Dell ultrasharp monitor 1440x900 resolution, i dont play any higher than that but id like to turn up AA and all that stuff.

Since i only play on a 19 inch monitor and at 1440x900 resolution, should i get a 4890 1GB for $250, or 2 4850s 1GB in crossfire for $120 each($240 total)

I would get a 4870, but none of them have very many good reviews by people who bought them (such as DOA), but should i disregard reviews like that? Since by the reviews, i would have an 80/20 chance of getting a good card

------------------------------------------------------------
Current System

-AMD Athlon X2 3800+ 2.0GHz (cant wait to upgrade!!!!!)
-Raidmax Smilodon Case with blue LEDs and stock 500Watt PSU
-4GB DDR2 OCZ Fatality Ram
-Radeon X1300 256mb DDR2
-160GB Notebook drive(windows boot)
-1TB for everything else
-19 inch dell ultrasharp monitor

 

[obsidian86]

get the 4890 to leave options open by adding another 4890 later

 

[high tech redneck 1990]

get the 4890 to leave options open by adding another 4890 later

What about the other peoples reviews? About like, 4870s or any other graphics card in general? If people say 10%of 120 people got DOA cards, does that mean i should take my chance, even though you kinda take a chance no matter what you choose. But anyway, i guess i should always take my chances i suppose

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Id get the single card.
I'll add this for your thoughts, not my pushing you
The new series will be coming out soon, and if youd wait a bit longer, I think 1 of 2 things may happen for you.
1. Youll possibly get the card(s) youre looking for at a lower price or
2. Youll decide the newer cards are a better match for what you want in your price range

 

[high tech redneck 1990]

Id get the single card.
I'll add this for your thoughts, not my pushing you
The new series will be coming out soon, and if youd wait a bit longer, I think 1 of 2 things may happen for you.
1. Youll possibly get the card(s) youre looking for at a lower price or
2. Youll decide the newer cards are a better match for what you want in your price range

Yeah i heard talk about 5870s????? DX11, maybe coming next month. idk, but if its in october or later, ill buy a 4890 now, and then get a 58XX when they com out

My price range for a single card is $500 if i want to wait a month to buy it ($250 per paycheck from work every 2 weeks)

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Another option is to go cheap now, buy a lessor card, and then see what happens

 

[Helloworld_98]

get a single 4850 and then see how the 58xx's do and then decide if you want to get a 58 or another 4850.

 

[coozie7]

Depends on how patient you are.
The new DX11 cards from ATI should be out by about this time in September, slightly ahead of the Windows 7 launch.
If you can wait that long I'd say this is the best way to go: Do the new build and use the existing card as a placeholder until the new stuff has arrived and been reviewed, then make your decision.
Second best choice would be to do the new build, but drop a cheap placeholder into it (9600GT/GSO or HD4670), wait until the new stuff comes out and make the decision, placing the 'placeholder' into the old machine and E-baying it as a going concern.
Unless anyone else says different, get a better PSU as well, it is the most overlooked and often underspecified component in a build and yet is the foundation of a stable system. Look for : Corsair, OCZ, Pc Power and Cooling, Antec, Silverstone or FSP.

 

[dacca]

hey man, i just bought a 4890 and so far have been completely blown away by it, i upped from a 8800gtx and the difference is insane! i would personally recommend this card, from xfx as they have the best warranty in the world! as far as getting direct x 11 cards go, i bought a 9750 quad core processor brand new, loved it it was great, until things started getting optimized for quad and all of a sudden my processor was a bit behind, the same is gunna happen with the first wave of direct x 11 cards man, this same thing happens whenever a new way of programming etc is introduced, with exception of the 8800gtx which beasted everything for a long time, but yeah bottom line, get yourself a 4890, they beat dual 4850's in most benches i have seen man, and eventually when you upgrade you may want bigger monitor and then go xfire etc. Hope this helps
and im guessing you already read up on this, in case you didnt, your processor overclocks like a beast just by upping the multiplier in the bios! thats why when i upgrade next week im getting the same as you!

 

[high tech redneck 1990]

hey man, i just bought a 4890 and so far have been completely blown away by it, i upped from a 8800gtx and the difference is insane! i would personally recommend this card, from xfx as they have the best warranty in the world! as far as getting direct x 11 cards go, i bought a 9750 quad core processor brand new, loved it it was great, until things started getting optimized for quad and all of a sudden my processor was a bit behind, the same is gunna happen with the first wave of direct x 11 cards man, this same thing happens whenever a new way of programming etc is introduced, with exception of the 8800gtx which beasted everything for a long time, but yeah bottom line, get yourself a 4890, they beat dual 4850's in most benches i have seen man, and eventually when you upgrade you may want bigger monitor and then go xfire etc. Hope this helps
and im guessing you already read up on this, in case you didnt, your processor overclocks like a beast just by upping the multiplier in the bios! thats why when i upgrade next week im getting the same as you!

If i buy anything for my computer, i read up on it in forums, reviews and i watch them in action on youtube.com . Thats why i waited for the Phenom II processors, and their amazing. By the way, in one forum on guru3d.com, a guy had a phenom II 720 X3 overclocked from 2.8GHz to 3.9 with just an after market cooler, and it was very stable. Some people have OCd the 955 to around 4.5 GHz on extremely good air cooling, and almost 5.2 GHz on really really good water cooling, but still had to clock it down about .5GHz for stability reasons of course. Im just going to OC my X3 once i get it, to around 3.4, ill be happy with that, or whatevers the highest i can go on stock cooling.

Right now, im thinking about just ignoring reviews about cards being DOA and take my chances on a 4870 1GB, moneys not a real big issue for me, id buy 4870 X2s and crossfire them, but alot of people said their unstable, so im waiting for the 58XX series, and ill settle for a single 4870 1gb, and next month ill just upgrade to a 58XX whatever the real good one will be but after i see benchmarks and reviews about them.

But before i experiment with crossfire technology, ill take some of the advice ive gotten in other threads and upgrade my monitor, since i play on a 19 inch 1440x900 monitor, if i crossfired, it wouldnt utilize the cards very well, and id end up throwing money away.