Two 5770s Vs. Two 4890s

[Vharda]

Hey there. I've been trying to get a 5870 for quite a while now and I found a couple places that "had" them then emailed me back after ordering it telling me that it was on backorder the next day. I currently have an order placed on one with an ETA of 11/09/2009, though I don't want to get an email back saying they had to push my order back or something. So, I started thinking about other options and was curious if two 5770s would be a good idea or possibly two 4890s. If anyone has any help they could toss at me, I'd really enjoy hearing it since I'm very torn on what to do.

Thank you.

 

[WR2]

Where Are The Radeon HD 5800 Series Video Cards?
If you believe what they say.....
"We launched with tens of thousands of units in Q3 and into Q4. Admittedly, supply is light right now due to overwhelming demand (although at least one SKU is available as we speak on Newegg.com), but this issue is temporary and will be alleviated quickly. 5800 series volume will continue to ramp up through November, and the overwhelming majority of these parts are headed for the channel. We expect ship hundreds of thousands of 5800 series parts by the end of the quarter."
Just don't be surprised if you're asked to pay a bit more than expected when you do find a 5870 in stock.

 

[jerreece]

two 4890's will definitely outperform 2 5770's.

But honestly....

Wait for the 5870 to ship or be stocked. A single 5870 is really the way to go. That leaves you with room to upgrade later on with a 2nd card. Besides, a single 5870 in my mind is better than Crossfire with two lesser cards.

Simply because Crossfire and SLI don't always give you everything they should, as not all games really leverage Crossfire/SLI support anyhow.

 

[jennyh]

Thinking the same thing now. I've been offered my cash back on my RMA'd 5850, but of course that means I'll have to pay more if I get one in future. However, one of the largest suppliers in the UK told me and I quote -

'We currently do not have a ETA for new stock arriving of this card or any other brand of 5850'

The situation is beyond bad tbh. I'm gonna check out some benches of 5770 xfire to see if it's worth doing that instead for now.

 

[brockh]

Two 5770s run a bit under the performance of an HD 5850 if I recall correctly. Two HD 4890s run a bit over the performance of a single HD 5870. Of course the two HD 4890s will run hotter, use more power, and don't support DirectX 11. The 5770s will perform less, but they will also use less power, output less heat, and support DirectX 11. It's all up to your taste. If it were up to me, I'd either go with the HD 5850 or HD 5870 unless you already have an HD 4890, like I do. Of course the glaring problem is, as you said, availability. Despite what conspiracy theorists (a-hem) would have you believe, the cards are sold out because there's no reason to buy anything else around their price point. Demand is greater than supply thus creating backorders; it's simple economics. AMD wouldn't cheat themself out of money for some unneeded hype -- the cards create enough hype by themselves unfortunately it would seem. 😉

 

[imrul]

5870