Sapphire 4870x2 2gb or the Radeon HD 5870 1gb?

[obsol33tsniiper]

I currently own the 4870x2 and I would like to know if the 5870 would be a better option to use? If I read right from places the 5870 is on par or better in performance than the 4870x2 and it uses less power. What I am mainly looking to do right now is find a card that performs at least as exact as the 4870x2 and use less power/watts. Would you do the swap?

 

[sabot00]

Nope.

You're going to pay $250 to get the same performance but with less power usage? I SEVERELY doubt electricity in your area costs that much.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I currently own the 4870x2 and I would like to know if the 5870 would be a better option to use? If I read right from places the 5870 is on par or better in performance than the 4870x2 and it uses less power. What I am mainly looking to do right now is find a card that performs at least as exact as the 4870x2 and use less power/watts. Would you do the swap?

The 5870 is a tad under the 4870X2 in performance in some games, and better in others. You do get the DX11 gain, which is big for games like DiRT 2 which don't have the DX10 API (so you'll be forced to DX9).
It will be better on power usage.
The bigger RAM buffer on the 4870X2 will help with higher resolutions (you didn't state what yours is) and Anti-Aliasing options.

I would personally only upgrade if I was getting a significant performance increase. It's a bit late for the 5870 role now, you may as well vouch for a 6950 as they already spec at 2GB of GDDR5. Although you stated you wanted the same performance (or more) of the 4870X2, so I don't know how to judge that final decision.

Hope I could be of help.

 

[sabot00]

The 5870 is a tad under the 4870X2 in performance in some games, and better in others. You do get the DX11 gain, which is big for games like DiRT 2 which don't have the DX10 API (so you'll be forced to DX9).
It will be better on power usage.
The bigger RAM buffer on the 4870X2 will help with higher resolutions (you didn't state what yours is) and Anti-Aliasing options.

I would personally only upgrade if I was getting a significant performance increase. It's a bit late for the 5870 role now, you may as well vouch for a 6950 as they already spec at 2GB of GDDR5. Although you stated you wanted the same performance (or more) of the 4870X2, so I don't know how to judge that final decision.

Hope I could be of help.

RAM Buffer's the same, 2x1GB vs 1GB.
And for high resolution's, the lack of crossfire overhead and architectural optimizations will probably give the 5870 a leg up.

 

[obsol33tsniiper]

I have a 22" 1920x1080 LED monitor. I want to play games like Company of Heroes, GTA4, and Starcraft 2. So you'd just recommend getting the 6970? I can afford a 6970.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

True point, as it's 2X1GB not 2GB, same effect as it's fixed CrossFire. Though the RAM seems more with CrossFire (actual dual cards) as the other core will help out the other.
The 5870 and 4870X2 seem to balance out on that.

But if you want DX11 and don't mind the same performance - Go for it!
The architectural advancements will mean more efficient processing - so less power consumption.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I have a 22" 1920x1080 LED monitor. I want to play games like Company of Heroes, GTA4, and Starcraft 2. So you'd just recommend getting the 6970? I can afford a 6970.

Make sure you have the power requirements and the space for it in your case (unless you use a test bench).
If you want to go for a 6970 make sure you're not going to be bottlenecked by your CPU, it tends to be far faster. In some games it's only a little better, but on the whole it kills the 4870X2.

 

[sabot00]

I have a 22" 1920x1080 LED monitor. I want to play games like Company of Heroes, GTA4, and Starcraft 2. So you'd just recommend getting the 6970? I can afford a 6970.

At your monitor size the 4870X2 should already be plenty, unless you're truly unhappy with the power consumption or heat I would just stay with the card.

True point, as it's 2X1GB not 2GB, same effect as it's fixed CrossFire. Though the RAM seems more with CrossFire (actual dual cards) as the other core will help out the other.
The 5870 and 4870X2 seem to balance out on that.

But if you want DX11 and don't mind the same performance - Go for it!
The architectural advancements will mean more efficient processing - so less power consumption.

The X2 cards are exactly the same as 2 normal cards in crossfire, originally, with the 3870X2 and then 4870X2 there was some talk of adding a dedicated Crossfire processor or having some on-chip solutions, but as it stands, all of the X2 cards operate exactly (software wise) like 2 individual cards.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

At your monitor size the 4870X2 should already be plenty, unless you're truly unhappy with the power consumption or heat I would just stay with the card.



The X2 cards are exactly the same as 2 normal cards in crossfire, originally, with the 3870X2 and then 4870X2 there was some talk of adding a dedicated Crossfire processor or having some on-chip solutions, but as it stands, all of the X2 cards operate exactly (software wise) like 2 individual cards.

That's essentially what I was saying.
I was only acknowledging that.

BTW, do you mind rechecking my post please?

 

[sabot00]

Though the RAM seems more with CrossFire (actual dual cards) as the other core will help out the other.
The 5870 and 4870X2 seem to balance out on that.

The wording was a little shakey, I just wanted to clear up anything misgivings the OP might get.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

The wording was a little shakey, I just wanted to clear up anything misgivings the OP might get.

Fair enough
And my post please

I actually thought the X2 cards DID have dedicated CF processing units.

That means a user may as well go Quad cards with top single cards. For example, 4 5870s rather than 2 5970s, if it's software based. As scaling isn't great with more than two cards (or for that matter, two GPUs).

 

[megamanx00]

I say go for a 6950 2GB. It would generally be a little better and should certainly be more efficient than your 4870 X2. You also get eyefinity goodness. The 5870 is also a fine choice, but it will generally be a little under the 4870X2. Read some 6950 reviews to see how it compares to the 5870.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I say go for a 6950 2GB. It would generally be a little better and should certainly be more efficient than your 4870 X2. You also get eyefinity goodness. The 5870 is also a fine choice, but it will generally be a little under the 4870X2. Read some 6950 reviews to see how it compares to the 5870.

As I said, the 5870 beats the 4870X2 in some games/tests and loses in others. About the same overall.

But yes my recommendation would be a 6950 2GB, however the OP did say he can afford a 6970. Though as I said, it depends what his CPU is, as you don't want any bottlenecks. The 6970 does seem to be considerably dearer than the 6950.

 

[tony singh]

While playing games , the fps difference b/w 4870x2 & 5870 IS NOT recognizable .
I don't know why u want to change a great card like 4870x2.
I suggest you keep it as for now & wait for at least another generation on a smaller process , which will give you super performance & great efficiency.

Rest its up to u.

 

[sartorius]

If he gets a 2GB 6950, he could just flash it to 6970 speeds for much cheaper.

That's what I would do, at least.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

If he gets a 2GB 6950, he could just flash it to 6970 speeds for much cheaper.

That's what I would do, at least.

Mmh.

2 Things:

1 - Warranty
2 - There are less power connectors for a reason, the core, shaders etcetera, are 'cherry picked'. If you enable those already less stable shaders and then deliver less power to them than they originally require or what is recommended, it could become unstable.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

It's a side grade. I think a pair of 560's in SLI would be a nice upgrade for you

Actually, why did I forget about nVidia.
Two 560 Ti's would do nicely.

 

[obsol33tsniiper]

I went with the 5870 and sold the 4870x2 for $5 less than what I spent on a 5870. The 5870 actually rates at 7.8 on the microsoft rating while the 4870x2 rated at 7.1. Also the 5870 is a hell of a lot quieter than the 4870x2 and it might crossfire the 5870 in the near future. Also since it uses less power I do not have to buy a new power supply to run crossfire. Thanks for the information guys...I would've checked back more but I hadn't been getting emails about people posting on this site.