Upgrade from Sapphire HD4850 Toxic

[laser21]

Hi, I have a sapphire HD4850 toxic, and Im looking for an upgrade. I was eying the HD6950 Toxic. Its around 240€.

Then I stumbled upon http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-7.html
where 2x HD4850 are listed in the same tier as the 6950.

What do you say, should I buy another 4850 for 45€ and make a crossfire system? Or is DirectX 11 worth the "real" upgrade?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[beenthere]

It depends on what games you play. If they use DX11 then the 6950 may be worth the money. Otherwise the second 4850 should be fine and save you a lot of Euros.

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Is your PSU and MOBO up to it anyway ?

 

[laser21]

I have Asus P5E3 deluxe MB. The PSU has to be changed soon anyway...so thats not an issue

Other system specs
4GB (KIT 2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz PC10666 CL6-6-6-18 OCZ Reaper HPC Edition
INTEL Core 2 Duo E8500 - 3,16GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 6MB cache
OCZ Vetrex 2 SSD

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Looking at the future with more and more DX11 games you will be better off with the 6950 but it's really up to you if you are willing to pay the extra bucks for that. If you have the money go for it. Not sure if the CPU won't bottleneck.

 

[Onus]

Read this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html
...and then bite the bullet and buy a single card. Depending on how much of a jump you need, a HD6870 is a three-tier improvement on the graphics hierarchy chart.

 

[laser21]

Is there a change of generations coming soon? like 28nm GPUs?

If so, then Ill probably wait for it and then change everything. The CPU is probably on the edge with the 6950 (factory overclocked).

Thanks for any input! I have been absent from reading GPU related stuff since I bought the 4850 a few years ago, so Im catching up

 

[spp85]

Continue use with the Radeon 4850 sometime until Radeon HD 7000 28nm arrives. Then you get massive performance boost over your Radeon 4850.

 

[FanHater]

PowerColor Finalizes AMD Radeon HD 7000 series Release Date

After reading this article I'm not so sure that the HD 7000 series will be manufactured using the 28 nm process. It could be a hoax, though.

Anybody have verified info?

 

[laser21]

Thanks.

This seems to be exactly oppposing info http://lenzfire.com/2011/08/amd-radeon-hd-7000-series-release-date-info-48814/

Ill probably wait for the update, just play Crysis 2 on high settings, not on ultra ;-D until the 28nm cards come out!

 

[FanHater]

Well, I certainly hope the article I referred to is wrong. Granted, Lenzfire may not be a reliable source of information. Still, there may be some truth to it, which I hope is not the case.

 

[jjb8675309]

personally I highly recommend going with a single card 4850 crossfire is on par with a 5850, not to mention the microstutter that you will inevitable deal with when going with a low end crossfire config, you are much better off with a single 6950 or gtx 560ti

 

[heartdragger]

Well, I certainly hope the article I referred to is wrong. Granted, Lenzfire may not be a reliable source of information. Still, there may be some truth to it, which I hope is not the case.

In both the articles, the source is mentioned, you could have given a look into that too. Though it's manufactured through 40nm process the architecture and other details remains the same. Only possibility, why AMD goes back to 40nm is manufacturing issue with TSMC and Global Foundaries. It's just the current scenario referred by Elaine Liao, sales Director, Powercolor. But HD 7000 series is going to be manufactured by 28nm - is the statement made by AMD officially in July.

Whom to believe, AMD or Powercolor, a close collaborator of AMD?

 

[laser21]

This has been very informative, thanks for your opinions, I decided not to try any crossfire experiments and wait until the new line-up comes out.

thanks!!!!