4890s x 2?Post Date: 2009-09-22 |
Post Reply 
|
| Author | |
Panasonic_3do 
Newbie 
Joined: 22 Sep 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1 |
 Quote Reply
 Topic: 4890s x 2?Posted: 22 Sep 2009 at 5:29am |
|
Hi guys I'm about to order a new rig. I was thinking about going with 2x 4890's in crossfire but I have never used ATI before and wanted some feedback on using these GPU's. I wasn't sure if I should go with 2 sli cards instead? Any advice would be welcomed.
|
|
|
Toshiba x300 Laptop
Intel Duo Core 2.26 Geforce 9700m 512mb 4gb ddr2 |
|
 |
|
|
Sneakerz
Groupie 
Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 386 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 22 Sep 2009 at 7:44am |
|
Its simple. If you're looking for pure performance/fps go with nvidia sli. ATI is good, and their graphics quality are amazing. I think graphics look better with ATI cards but this has been debated. ATI is a little cheaper because their cards usually don't produce as many FPS as Nvidia.
|
|
|
Intel Core i5 6600k @ 4.6
240GB Samsung SSD Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Hybrid Corsair Hydro H80i GT |
|
|
|
|
Psimon
Groupie
Joined: 16 Sep 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 249 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 22 Sep 2009 at 9:45am |
|
Well, I also would recommend Nvidia. I just recently got out of a very bad experience with dual 4890's. My specs:
Gigabyte GA-48X-DQ6
Q6600 C2Q
4GB Corsair RAM
Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 32-bit
2x Radeon® 4890 1024MB DDR5 XXX (HD-489X-ZHDC)
I also bought a brand new Corsair 850HX PSU to power them.
The boards seemed to work fine OS-wise, the ATI drivers easily recognized the second board & Crossfire. Very rarely I got a bit of screen artifacting ( I actually think the drivers just didn't play very nice with Gigabyte's EasyTune utility) but otherwise no problems. Whenever I tried to play either Crysis, Bioshock, or Tom Clancy's HAWX I got blackscreened, usually followed by a complete system crash. Sometimes BSOD's, and rarely just a message that the driver stopped working, the few times I didn't have to hard boot the system back up.
I tried everything from older drivers, three different BIOS versions for the mobo, reinstalling the games to completely reinstalling the OS, the problem persisted. Tried disabling Crossfire, tried putting in only one board (both PCI-E slots), no solution. I also made sure I had all current drivers, used Driver Sweeper to clean out old files, used Registry Mechanic to clean up my registry. Ran Memtest86+ overnight to check my RAM (no errors).
Oh, and initially I watched the temps like a hawk, but they were always around 50c idle to a max of 83c full load, which is nominal for the boards (they run a bit hot, so I learned). I ran Furmark and pushed the boards beyond what the games would do temps wise, and it never crashed.
After a week and a half (and very little sleep) I finally gave up and RMA'd both boards. If I had to guess, which is all I can to at this point, I'd suspect the ATI drivers. That, or a basic design flaw in board's hardware. Come to think of it, one thing I didn't try was to underclock the boards.
I put the original Nvidia 9800gtx board back in, and played all three games without a single crash.
I hadn't purchased any ATI boards for over 15 years and it's probably going to be awhile before I do so again. I wouldn't consider myself a Nvidia "fanboi" but I've had the best results and least problems with their gear and drivers.
Now, "YMMV", "Your Mileage May Vary". Lots of folks like ATI and have no problems, if that wasn't true they wouldn't be in business! You're asking for folk's opinions, though, so here's mine - avoid the 4890's, get a pair of GTX 275's or better.
Edited by Psimon - 22 Sep 2009 at 9:51am |
|
|
|
|
justin.kerr
DS Veteran 
Joined: 06 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5084 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 22 Sep 2009 at 10:03am |
|
I would just go with a 5870, cheaper, and better FPS than 2 4890's at high res, and high AA, if you are not going high resolution, and high AA the 4890's will be very close to 1 5870.
|
|
|
|
|
DST4ME
DS ELITE 
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 22 Sep 2009 at 10:19pm |
|
One more vote for nvidia here
|
|
|
|
|
venom
Newbie
Joined: 08 Oct 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 23 Sep 2009 at 3:15am |
|
I would wait for the 5870 if you're an ATI fan. Or there is always the GTX 275 if you don't want to wait.
|
|
|
|
|
<8) slunK parade
Senior Member 
Joined: 20 Jan 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 798 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 23 Sep 2009 at 3:52am |
|
make sure when you recieve the card, wrap it in a damp towel and then dry it off with a hair dryer, this way you get max performance, just a small tidbit, thank me later
Edited by <8) slunK parade - 23 Sep 2009 at 3:54am |
|
|
|
|
Psimon
Groupie
Joined: 16 Sep 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 249 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 28 Sep 2009 at 9:45am |
Yeah, I'm a fan also, I love this mobo. Great passive cooling and overclock potential. This is the only time I've cussed it, I just couldn't figure out why the dual 4870's were crashin' me. Naturally I'd point the finger at the ATI gear and not the mobo
 |
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
About Digital Storm
Contact Information
Facility Tour
Financing
Buy Now, Pay Later
Downloads
GSA Schedule
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
Request Help
Call: 1-866-817-8676
(Hours 9AM-5PM PST)
Topic Options
