Technical > PC Hardware Discussion/Reviews > video card question

video card question

Single 7870 (Tahiti LE) or single 7950 3GB. If you want to try nvidia, single 660Ti 3GB or 670.

I wouldn't imagine much, I would say around $30-40 for each (given that they are in good condition).

reply to poppster
How much performance do you want, or need? That's a 3 generations old card, and a current midrange card (i.e. 7750) is about 20 - 25% faster.

I would not get anything less than a 7770 though, but a comparable card today is a 7850, or a 7870 since you've got 2 of them.
--
Wacky Races 2012!

reply to poppster
Power consumption is what I'm trying to save here. I guess I should mention the rest of the system...

X3 435 CPU @ 3.2ghz
4GB DDR3 Ram
500GB Sata II HD 32mb cache

These cards also run HOT! I can't max out every game I play (1600x900), but these cards perform pretty well. I know I'm cpu limited probably, even though it's a decent "bang for your buck" cpu.

How would this card fair?
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···14202023

maybe this card?
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···14130838

are the two 4850's still somewhat a contender still?
--
What else would you do?
--
There is hope!

reply to poppster

reply to poppster
The second card is faster by varying amounts, depending on the game (here's some tests). Both have similar amounts of power consumption. Not only will one of them use less power than two 4850s while under load, they will use a LOT less power at idle. For reference, my 4870 used somewhere around 70w when idling, whereas my 6970 and 7970 used 20w or less.

Those cards also predate the improvements with Crossfire brought to the 6000 series and up, with 512 MB RAM on each card widening that gap. I remember seeing Crossfire performance really perk up with the 6970 2 GB cards.

Either card should provide a decent performance improvement, much more consistent performance, and greatly decreased power consumption and heat output. It's up to you on how much you want to spend. Tom's Hardware publishes a nifty article every month on good cards for various price ranges. The January one is here.
--
KI6RIT

reply to poppster
The 7770 is a very good one (I have an XFX 7770, BTW) if you don't plan on doing gaming, but with gaming, if the money is there, you may want to move up to the 7850 or 7870. That could also make the card last a little longer before the next upgrade.
--
Wacky Races 2012!

I doubt a 7770 is better than 4850 Crossfire. Just saying.

It depends a lot on the definition of "better". Two 4850's may very well faster than a single 7770, but that's about it.
--
Wacky Races 2012!

reply to Krisnatharok
Here's the closest comparison I can find. A 4850x2 is about equal to a 5850 spec wise but take about 10-30% off for Xfire scaling.

reply to poppster
thanks guys

reply to poppster