So I'm looking to buy a video card. Its the last part of my setup for my new computer. Well, besides a new DVD drive, but that hardly counts I just installed all my new components. I've had my ATi Radeon x1600 Pro for awhile and its done me well enough, bu I'm moving on up in the world. At the current prices on Newegg, it seems the eVGA 8800GT is the overall best. My problem however is I run dual monitors. One is a 40" LCD that runs at 1920x1280 and the other is a 21" LCD that runs at 1480x1020 or whatever it is... point is.. lots of pixels. My board is Crossfire enabled. I also don't have time to wait around for awhile, as I promised my video card to someone else already So, here is my short list of questions

1) With how large a resolution I run at, does that effect which card may be better? I noticed the 2900 series has a card that has 1GB of ram built in. Would that give that card an edge considering my set up? It doesn't seem especially powerful though. I am running 32bit windows and have 4gigs of ram installed (only getting 3.2 once windows takes it share, and my video card has 512), so a 1gb card would eat in even further.

2) With the current price poins, the 8800GT seems a clear choice over the 3870... since I have Crossfire though, would the 3870 be more useful once the next ATi comes out to pair with it? Or is pairing two generations of cards in Crossfire not too beneficial? I know its possible, but is hard to find benchmarks for different crossfire combinations. Also, my mobo is only x16/x4

3) With Crossfire enabled, can I even use dual monitors? Or will I have to disable crossfire when i'm not gaming o have both monitors run?

4) Finally, where would you buy the card you recommend from? I love newegg, and I buy almost exclusively from them, but here are the cards I like in each category... all sold out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102707
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130303
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102713

My configuration:
CPU: Intel C2D E6750 (not done messing with OC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 Rev 2.0
RAM: 2x2gb g.Skill DDR2-1000 PC2-8000 F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ
PSU: 700 watt Hippro HP-W700WC3
Case: Alienware MJ-12 (aka Chenbro SR209)
HDD: RAID10 - 4x Seagate Barracuda 320g ST303204N1A1AS-RK
Case fans: Thermaltake 120mm A2018 & Antec Tri-Cool 92mm 761345-75093-6
Heatsink: Rosewill 92mm RCX-Z3
GPU: ATi Radeon x1600 512mb PCIe Pro
CD and DVD Drives: Junk

Get the 3870, I don't think that crossfire or sli supports dual monitors YET but Im sure they will soon. Or Crossfire at least. If you play games on your 40in then you need crossfire but if you don't play games or heavy 3D apps and only run 2 monitors then all you need is one card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814241067
3870 $135 after rebate. Its not like you are running 2560 1600 so you don't really need 1 gig.

I do intend to play games, although its unlikely (yet altogether possible!) I'll be playing Crysis or something like that. I am currently playing The Orange Box, although it does have some problems trying o run at 1920x1280 on my poor x1600...

and its 235 after rebate just a typo. I'm not real sold on GeCube though... I like Sapphire. Is GeCube solid?

Honestly, with those choices, you can't go wrong. All are great cards for the price.

The 2900Pros are around $160
The 3870s are around $250
The 8800GTs are around $280

Do whichever your budget allows. All are very good for their price points.

Yea get gecube. i recently won 3rd prize in one of their Australian competitions, it was a 1gb stick of Power memory pqi. I've never ehard of that kinda memory but yea. i got a hd2600xt of them and it hasnt skipped a beat yet

The 8800GT > 3870 it seems. The thing that makes me not make up my mind is that will that CrossFire support make the 3870 much more attractive? Or if I got the 3870, then next year bought another Crossfire card... would having it Xfired with the 3870 even make a difference at that point? Or will my 3870 be junk like my x1600? Although, the x1600 is still okay... its just the crossfire has gone internal and my 1600 still uses the dongle

My problem with the 2900PRO is that its benchmarks aren't great... but I wonder if running at 1080p resolution will hurt the 8800GT and the 3870 more since they only have 512mb but won't affect the 2900 as much with its 1G making it suddenly amazing for the price...?

go with the 3870 - for the dx10 games and new games. even though i bought 2 2900pro's i would go for the 3870 and crossfire it.

I also forgot to mention I run Windows XP 32bit. Obviously, at some point I'll be forced to downgrade to Vista... but hopefully that'll be after a solid Service pack. So, DX10 isn't important to me yet... but it will be someday.

Price isn't a problem, although value is. I won't spend big bucks just because I can. Although I did drop $1500 for my two monitors, so I want them to look nice... >

My general advice, and take it with a grain of salt as I don't do two cards in Crossfire or SLI configuration is this:

If you have an SLI board, go Nvidia GPU. If you have a Crossfire board, go ATI GPU. That's because you'd end up giving away, or selling, one card and buying two to get the advantages down the line. With a 3870, you can go Crossfire when you can afford another 3870. R700 isn't due out till 2009, so I think you'd get some use out of a 3870 Crossfire setup.

The X2900 Pro shouldn't be any faster than a 3850, as that's the replacement for the X2900 XT. I would not get it. Besides, it's scalped at Newegg. I don't know why it's more expensive than the 3870. It also runs hotter.

You'll need 3870 in Crossfire mode for DX10 the way things are going with DX10 games. The 3870 x2 is arriving, but I doubt you could do Crossfire with one 3870 and one 3870 x2 until ATI gets their drivers up and running for those configurations.

Right now, they've been pushing either two 3870's or 3850's and promising 4 3850's in their Spider platform, so they might be planning a "triple Crossfire" with a 3870 and a 3870 x2 as well.

People can correct me if I'm remembering wrong, but the 3870's a bit better than the 8800GT at the high resolution's he'll be working with, right?

Goto tiger direct. Check out the Palit 8800gt with a gig of memory. running resolutions that high you're going to need all the video memory you can get.

Then google them. Tiger is 50 or so dollars higher than elsewhere.

Thats a hard choice. Just to add more to the fray, shouldn't nVidia be coming out with some new cards soon? I know it isn't one of the cards you are considering (since the 3800's are better), but my 2900XT has been an excellent card (though AA is still a little weak, it has improved a lot though) except for the heat (I have to open my case and put an 8 inch fan on it to keep everything happy) and power consumption (separate GPU power supply). Since the 3870 fixes those issues, it should be a great card.

I think that this is one of those decisions that is so difficult because either way you will be happy (both should be big improvements over your 1600). Just flip a coin (or compare more benches) and enjoy.

8800 gt for sure

Like I said get the Gecube I posted earlier. Don't worry its a solid card. They had a HIS 3870 for 229 but it disappeared. <_< You have a crossfire mobo so later when prices drop down below or w/e you can get a second one which you WILL need if you want to play crysis somewhat well @ 1920 1280. Also It has better video decoding (UVD) than a 8800GT. Also at 235 Dollars or less I don't think paying 50+ more dollars to get a card that is a little faster is worth it. Like I said 1080p will run fine on a 3870. Plus Crossfire scales better than nvidias SLI so thats a plus. Anandtech shows 2 3850s performing similar to the 8800GTX. So get the 3870.
One more thing is that the 3870 is a great Overclocker. The core usually gets around 850 and mem around 2600mhz.

OR if you can wait till the end of this month or beginning of next month you can get the 3870X2. It will be on a single PCB not dual like G92X2.
BUt if you can't wait then Getting the 3870 now and another later is the best option for you.


BTW I recommend you play COD4. Its a amazing game. It plays well on the 3870 @ 1920 1280.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] i=3175&p=6

R700 is coming out this year (march or april) I don't know where people got that it will come out in 2009. ??

Thats a waste of money. 1920 1280 is not really a super high resolution. Its not like he's running dual 30in @ 2560 1600. Also he's not going to run 2 monitors in a game so he won't need it.