New Vid Card

**dex71** · 05-13-11, 06:41 PM

In the market for a new card to replace my 4890.

I would like to keep it ATI/AMD, so I can Xfire in the future. I have a 28" Samsung (1920x1080), and will be connecting to my Home Theater via HDMI (one of the main reasons I want a new card...no HDMI on the 4890).

I'm looking to spend in the neighborhood of $250-300, but could go a bit more if it worthwhile bang for the buck wise. Also.....Motherboard has PCI Express 2.0 slots.....will cards with the PCI Express 2.1 interface work to their potential, or am I better off with cards that have the 2.0 interface?

Suggestions?

ASUS Rampage Formula Mb (socket 775)
Intel Q9650 @3.0ghz

**Kanati** · 05-13-11, 06:50 PM

Bang for the buck.... why wait to crossfire? Get another 4890 for 100 dollars or less. Two of those will top any single card in the 200-300 range you are looking to spend. And the Sapphire cards have HDMI.

**dex71** · 05-13-11, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Kanati8869

Bang for the buck.... why wait to crossfire? Get another 4890 for 100 dollars or less. Two of those will top any single card in the 200-300 range you are looking to spend. And the Sapphire cards have HDMI.

Newegg doesn't have any 4890's.....Can it be any card in the 4000 series? And wouldn't a lesser card "dumb down" the 4890?

**Train wreck** · 05-13-11, 07:02 PM

2gb 6950....Reference models can usually be unlocked to become 6970s

**HeavyG** · 05-13-11, 07:11 PM

The 6950s are the sweet spot for AMD cards at the moment. I recommend getting this over another power hungry 4890.

**dex71** · 05-13-11, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Train wreck

2gb 6950....Reference models can usually be unlocked to become 6970s

I saw that.....but I'm sceered. I'd rather just keep it simple.

**Train wreck** · 05-13-11, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by dex71

I saw that.....but I'm sceered. I'd rather just keep it simple.

In that case I'm sure the stock 6950 will be plenty and if you ever get an itch to overclock you can keep it simple with the AMD CCC software.

**Kanati** · 05-13-11, 08:26 PM

Me personally... I'd go with a second 4890 if I already had one over spending 300 on a card that would be slower than two 4890s. But if you want to get newer tech then by all means go with the 6950.

A 6950 is going to cost one and a half times what a second 4890 would cost and be slower (albeit not much) than two 4890s. The upside is it's newer tech and obviously two of them a year or so from now would kick dual 4890s' collective asses. And use less power as well. And if you have another use for the 4890 you have, then it might be worth dropping it and getting that 6950.

It's all obviously dependent on whether you value that 150 dollars extra you would spend on the newer tech more than the slight speed increase for far less but using older, but not outdated hardware.

ATI Radeon Sapphire Vapor-X HD4890 HD 4890 1GB PCIe x16 HDMI Display Port DVI VGA Video Card 288-1E115-020SA | eParts and More

That one is 90 dollars.

**dex71** · 05-14-11, 08:58 AM

I think I'm going to go with the 4890.

That will exactly plug the holes I'm looking to plug.....a few more FPS in games, as well as an HDMI so I can have ~200 gigs of itunes jacked directly into the ass of my home theater.

This way....I can just wait until BF3 comes out, and get a more current card......most likely, the 9000 series (or whatever) will be out by then, and I can get the shinyest of the shiny. $90 is hard to pass up when it will do everything I want it to do right now.

Thanks Kanati!

**DJ Ms. White** · 05-14-11, 11:17 AM

Dex, the 7xxx series from AMD will be out in the second quarter of 2012 at the earliest. So, you may as well get the 6950.
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