Go Crossfire or Go New?

[dw96]

Hi guys.
A VERY DIFFICULT CHOICE FOR ME lies ahead. I have saved up a little cash and I want to replace my Radeon HD 4850. I have the sapphire version, which is VGA and DVI but the 512 MB of memory are starting to loosen my performance up in terms of framerate and load times...

My only question is - do I crossfire another one or two 4850's into this one to boost up my FPS, or do I just screw that and get a new videocard? If you're for a new GPU, make sure you mention what you think will be good.Also, I'm not spending any more than 250-280 bucks on it, so if you're suggesting a new GPU keep it somewhere within that price range.

P.S.: My motherboard is GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2C.

 

[smarteyeball]

Go new. Two 4850's is around the 4890/5770 speed area but 512MB simply doesn't cut it any more.

A GTX 560 ti or AMD 6950 should be around your price range.

 

[dw96]

Thanks. The 6000 series sound good. Also, since I know little about bardware, does my motherboard fully support a GDDR5 or DDR5 gpu?

 

[smarteyeball]

Yep, not a problem at all.

The one thing I would double check is your Power Supply.

500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended - 30 AMPS on the 12v rail.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

+1 on the power supply but also on the case dimensions at the intended PCi slot and please allow for the power connections as well.

 

[gazz9496]

the 6 series power connections are on the side rather than the back end so it shouldn't be a factor unless his case is very very narrow, but be sure you have enough space for it to fit length ways.

the 6950 2gb is an amazing card, currently testing one at work in some quirky builds for custom work and they are amazing, the nvidia at the same price point just doesn't compare in any way.

 

[cannotdisplay64]

does your board only have one pci express slot as you would have to buy a new board for crossfire and so it would probably be worthwhile in the long run to upgrade, I was looking at buying the Sapphire ATI Radeon 6950 2GB, so would suggest that one to

 

[linnemeyerhere]

For sure one card at this/your juncture.

 

[cannotdisplay64]

what you mean

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Best to just stick with the one 6 series card and not to crossfire the 4 series.

 

[DarkXeno]

You would get a better bang for your buck getting a Six Series card. If you go with the 6950 make sure you have the room in your case, I own one it hangs about an inch over the mother board on the one side lucky for me I have a HAF922 case so i still have about three inches before it hits the hard drive cage. I recommend this card as I have thrown every game you can think of at it from DOOM(yeah ive got too much time) to BF:BC2 at highest settings without a problem.

 

[RST101]

Old tech or new?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

RST101,
Audio - Old
Computers - New

 

[BugMeister]

the 6950 is 27.5cms long - check you have room for it..

 

[dw96]

Thanks all! It's official - I'll be saving for a 6950!
I'm only about 120 bucks short so it won't be long 'till I get it!
Rep for ya!

P.S.:
Add me on Games For Windows Live - D Warrior96
And on Ubisoft uPlay - DW96

Edit: My case is HUGE, about 2.3 times bigger than a standard desktop PC case so size is the thing to worry about the LEAST.

 

[cannotdisplay64]

tell me if its any good

 

[BugMeister]

most excellent, dw..

might see you on the games trail..