The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

Nope I still disagree, because I believe in future proofing. Hell, there are 2000W PSU's out.
What if I had twelve hardrive hooked up?

The Power supply I have is great, and I'm glad I bought it. You won't see me buying a new one. but you buy one at $175 and it's not enough...then you spend more, your already over what I spent.

Fair enough I didn't need it, but I bought it and am happy with it, its 87% effiecent as well so the Power bill doesn't really get effected. This wasn't a budget build.

Oh likely, I am not sure. Its a 720p monitor and 20". I didn't want to go any higher as I sit close to my comp, once I get my OLED next year, then I'll get back to you.

 

Then it'd be 850W, not 670. Keep trying...

The spirit of your post is correct, a year ago I'd have said anyone buying a 1KW unit would be mad (primarily because back then the only 1KW unit worth buying was the earsplitting Enermax Galaxy or Tagan Turbojet) but with the advent of better dual graphics, the new PSUs do make a bit more sense. However, there comes a point when you have to see realism, a PC that uses more power than a toaster running continuously all day is not just expensive in electricity above the cost of the parts, not to mention vast quantities of heat and noise, it's also bad for the environment.

 

Fair enough...it is bad for the environment, consider it a computer vice.
But I do not think I overpaid, that is the point. whether you think I did or not is a different story. I wasn't shooting for a power supply that would be enough for my hardware.

 

So when you get three of those GTX280s, we'll get off your back....haha

 

Ok fine.

What I meant was you could pay a thousand less and get the same performance.

Let's leave it at that.

 

Oh likely, I am not sure. Its a 720p monitor and 20". I didn't want to go any higher as I sit close to my comp, once I get my OLED next year, then I'll get back to you.

 

I'll have to agree. They have the most stuff, (usually)the best prices, awesome customer service, and lightning fast shipping. I have yet to have a good experience with TigerDirect, but ZipZoomFly is decent and they have free shipping. I like to remain newegg exclusive though. I've got a membership with them

And sam, a 4870X2? Upgrading so quickly? I thought I was bad when I upgraded from my GTS320 after 2 months XD

I only wish I lived in the UK so I could get your 4870

 

Hehe, well I intended to keep the 4870 for ages, because it's such a nice card. I may still do, I don't know yet how my PC will cope with the heat generated by the 4870X2, how well crossfire works with it, and whether my ears will be able to stand the noise. However, being offered one for a full £100 less than the current retail price, I'm mad not to buy it.

 

I would stay with the single card solution if you're going for low noise and low heat. And yes, I consider the 3870X2/4870X2 dual card solutions. They rely on crossfire compatibility and have corresponding heat output/power needs. Though, in all fairness, I doubt your 520HX would have a problem powering one.

The only game you realistically need the 4870X2 for is Crysis and that seems to be fully playable on the single card for the most part. If you can do Crysis at 2560 res with all high, you can run any other game maxed at native res. When the time comes you need something faster than a 4870, something better will be available for the same price. Or you could get another and go crossfire

And as for the three GTX280s being much faster in Crysis. I don't feel like spending $1800 on video cards just so I can see an improvement in one game. If I want multi-card I'll upgrade to a superior high-end Gigabyte X48 board and get two 4870's all for the price of 2 GTX280's.

The verdict: the GTX280 is faster than the 4870 but twice the price in the US. Only hardcore performance junkies with unlimited funds need apply. I'll happily stick with a single 4870. Which I should probably order soon.

 

I doubt THREE GTX280s would be faster in Crysis. I don't think Tri-SLI works in Crysis at all.

 

Estuansis: Rightly so, the 4870X2's power consumption is even higher than that of two separate HD4870s, as is its performance, and of course heat output, and also the noise... . As of the moment, the price is also very similar.
Abuzar: Actually, it does, to my surprise.

 

Really? I remember seeing less performance with 3 GTX280s vs 2 of them in the early 4870X2 benchmarks.

 

That's correct, it didn't use to scale, but with the new drivers on a Skulltrail system at least, it now does, pulling silky smooth frame rates even at max settings at 2560x1600 in all areas of the game, DX10. AA not enabled, it still hits the Geforces hard at that resolution.

 

Well. That's skulltrail.

Do any other boards have tri-sli?

 

Here we go. It's a bit faster, not much. It seems SLI works, but not Crossfire over 2 cards. SCREW YOU CRYTEK! lol

http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-X2--AMD-Back-On-Top/?page=9

 

Yeah, Triple/Quad crossfire has never worked in Crysis, sadly, but then, it's not exactly the most well programmed game out there really, is it?
Oh and that graph doesn't really show the justice of triple SLI with the 280s, they're more than 10% better than two cards, but the result was capped at the CPU limit 70 in that test.

edit: What am I saying? Look at the pair of HD3870X2s... Maybe a driver update?

 

They were using a Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (3GHz). That's pretty damn good. I mean realistically how much better can you do?

 

The CPU limit is 70fps. That should say enough, have you ever seen that figure when playing Crysis?

 

Only on weekends.

 

Lmao. I've seen as high as 55 now with my 4870, but that's pretty rare.