what to do with setup?

[Hicks12]

Right well im wanting to upgrade my graphics card as i need something more powerful for gaming later on when i upgrade to a 24" monitor @1900x1200 instead of 1680x1050, first thing that came to mind is a 4870 but it seems the one i ordered off ebay is MIA so my new plan was one of the following:

Buy 2x Nvidia cards for SLI
Buy 2 4870's or an extra 4850 for crossfire

Now the problem with the crossfire is that my board doesnt support it, nvidia cards that perform similar to 4870's (gtx260) have held there value and sell for around £80+ on ebay but 4870's are about £60!. Im thinking maybe im better off buying a new motherboard which supports atleast crossfire @ x8/x8 2.0. The main problem is either i stick with my e8400 and get another 775 board or make the switch to an amd board, perhaps bulldozer will be supported by it anyway!.

And get one of them cheapy dual cores and unluck it into a phenom 2 x4 (the fx5000, guarenteed unlock on ebay new for £45).

Any idea what i should do? and what suggestions for nvidia cards? Ideally im looking to spend £100-£120(possibly), cheapest is generally better but it must perform well at 1900x1200 resolution.

Any suggestions are appreciated! .

[kalniel]

Buy a single 4890 and worry about replacing it only when games start to struggle.

[nibbler]

4890s were £110 on ebay the other days. That seems best deal to me.

[Hicks12]

really? Just thought that 1 4890 didnt offer much performance in comparison to a dual card setup . I shall keep an eye out for a cheap one to pop up on the bay.

[Pob255]

Always depends on the game as to how well it scales, although I'd be tempted to try crossfireing 4850's first seeing as you already have one

One thing I discovered about sli is it's rather finickity about cards and you do want to buy 2 cards at the same time.

[Skulltrail]

A potential problem with Crossfiring another 4850 is that the Vapor X models exhaust upwards instead of behind, so the 2nd card can become disproportionally hot.

I've had great results with SLIed 460s so that may be an avenue worth exploring - although that would be out of the £120 price range, maybe get one now and add another later.

[Hicks12]

My vaporx model is the good version where it exhausts it so that will not be a problem . Id also water cool them both if possible but i doubt the vapor can be as the pcb might not be reference (not sure).

Wont invest in the newer series (400/5000) since they are pretty darn expensive and this is meant to be a stop gap for the 6000 series or better next year in Q1 depending on price .

Have seen a 4890 brand new for £115 on the bay so thats not bad at all, would like to find a WC block for it at a reasonable price so i can get rid of the poo xfx cooler and OC it . I am debating whether to get the crossfire board and another 4850 or just to get the 4890 and sell my 4850, the latter would probably cost me ~£60 to upgrade where as the former would be like £50 for the board and another 50 for the card.... hmmm decisions!

Anyone got a link to a review that hexus has done with a 4890 vs 4850 crossfire because i am struggling to find them >.<

[xNuSeNsE]

i would just save up a little bit and get this http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-P...DVI-D-Sub-HDMI

[tiggerai]

xNuSeNsE - I hope you're not spamming to get your free delivery

[xNuSeNsE]

no im not spamming im trying to help out to get free delivery am i not allowed to do it this fast. I also take it that your from milton keynes aswel tiggerai

[Hicks12]

Alright well now im debating what to do haha.

I was dead set on a 4890 now but after mentioning the newer nvidia series i had a look at the 460 (768mb) can be had for £147, im gunna pay £120 for a brand new 4890 from aria (it was £105, was to slow on ebay for the brand new one).

Should i pay the extra? Ima have a look at what the benchmarks say but if i can up my budget to £150 what would you say?

edit: Actually, screw it... the 4870 turned up today and guy apologized for the delay as he had an unforeseen operation. So now im stuck wit a 512mb 4870 however upon looking more it seems its not to bad and would actually help me last a bit longer till next year.

Thanks for all the imput guys, has made me look at other options and possibly will help when i actually upgrade early next year or this year .

edit2: put card in, god its loud.... anyone know where i can get a waterblock for it? Need ASAP (its like a flipping jet engine and its still very loud at minimum fan speed!).