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Should i get another 4890 for xfire?

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2004
Posts
4,201
Location
London
I'd be buying it for Bad Company 2 which i'd be playing at 1680x1050

Currently i get ok framerates with everything on high except shadows on medium, aa x2, af x8, and hbos off

I plan to overclock my i750.

I've seen a sapphire 4890 exactly like the one i have for 125 notes.

I absoluetly love the game and expect to be playing loads of it - whenever the girlfriend is away...

Oh and i have a enermax 625 power supply.

I've seen people complaining about the x-fire not working on BC2 yet - is this true?

If i can play it at everything high, hbos on, aax4 and afx16 plus get better framerates i'm gonna be interested...will i notice a difference?

Any experiences/opinions welcome.

Thanks
 
Associate
Joined
5 Dec 2009
Posts
144
Id be worried about the PSU

I was using a Thermaltake Toughpower 750watt psu with my 4890 CF config
and that just barely got me through, sometimes rig wouldnt start.
So I upgrated to a 1000watt psu
But then the 4890s are the OCed edition, and I clocked them up further.

but apart from that if you're not planning to use dx11 related thingies, 4890 CF is very very fast.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
19 Oct 2004
Posts
4,201
Location
London
This is the power supply i have atm

http://www.enermax.co.uk/products/power-supply/modu82.html it's the 625 one...

i'm currently running 3 hdd - 1 is a 74gb raptor, 4x80mm case fans, 1 x 120mm case fan, plus 2 pwms on the heatsink and a soundcard xtreme gamer i think...

Anyone else running xfire 4890s...what power supplies are you running...i don't really wanna have to buy a new one - i might as well get a 5870 then...

If i got one and the power supply wasn't enough it's wouldn't blow up right...? Don't wanna kill anything
 
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Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2009
Posts
3,869
Location
Maidstone, Kent
I would have thought it would be enough. ATI's recommendations are 600W for Crossfire, obviously though, that's not the be-all and end-all. If you don't overclock them (you shouldn't need to either), 625W should be enough.

As for the HBOS setting, I couldn't tell a difference between it on or off.
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Feb 2010
Posts
14,591
I thought HD4890 should be capable in running BC2 in 1920x1080 at high setting...

I would say try overclocking your CPU first to see if it make any difference. Also log and compare CPU usage vs GPU usage.
 
Associate
Joined
20 Jun 2009
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1,431
Location
Stockport
The PSU you have scares me no way it'll run CF 4890s and the CPU overclocked

Personally id overclock the cpu to 4Ghz it's so easy todo and you'll see a big improvement on bad comp 2 since it likes fast Cpu's.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2009
Posts
3,869
Location
Maidstone, Kent
Exactly as above - people go way over the top when speccing power supplies. For almost any set-up (Fermi aside...) even a decent quality 500W PSU would be enough.

I've seen some SFF systems with i7 860s and 5850s on 300W PSUs that run fine.
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Jan 2004
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31,994
Location
Rutland
I use a 4890 at 1920x1080 and don't have any FPS drops, thats with HBAO off, AAx2 and AFx16.

GPU is overclocked slightly and CPU is a Q9650 at 3.6ghz. I'm surprised you can't get the performance you're looking for at your res.
 

C64

C64

Soldato
Joined
16 Mar 2007
Posts
12,884
Location
London
Don't throw good money at old tech.
Sell the 4890 and buy 2x 5770's will end up spending about the same amount or simply sell the 4890 and get a 5850.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2006
Posts
507
ive got 4890 in CF and there good,just be aware of the heat both cards produce,inside you case will become an oven,im waiting to upgrade to a single card that can out perform 4890 in CF not sure what it will be yet as the 5870 cant compete.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Jan 2009
Posts
6,358
Dont see the point in Crossfire 4890s when one alone can handle pretty much anything you throw at it with high details and still get great framerates....save your money for when the 4890 can no longer handle the latest games and then upgrade to something better.

I could understand though if you benchmark etc.

I run BC2 maxed out 1680x1050 on 1 4890 stock clocks and it runs like a dream....around 55-60 ish fps.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
19 Oct 2004
Posts
4,201
Location
London
thanks for all the replies fellas. I will overclock the cpu before i do anything else, and i think see what a mild overclock on the gpu will do - in CCC probably.

Yeah performance with 4890 is good in game - i'm just enjoying playing it so much i wondered how much better it would look with all the bells and whistles on.

Will download speedfan and afterburner as well thanks Marine.

C64 - thanks but no thanks - kinda see the 5770 as a bit of fail for ati - don't understand why they nerfed the memory bandwidth - just my opinion.

I've had house costs come in anyhow so will almost certainly wait until later in the year/ next year now anyhow...
 
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