Was very disappointed when I heard that it gets released in fall. That sucks. I'm building a PC within a few weeks and I'm now forced to purchase the weaker 4870 (does that at least beat a GX2???) even though I have enough money to shell out for a 4870X2 but am unable to cause they're only coming a few months later. They should have been released at the same time as the other two cards. Just dumb.

Buy two 4870s. Problem solved.

More expensive and not as fast, according to what people say.

It seems there isn't enough GDDR5 chips at this moment to release them all at once, but buy a crossfire board and two of those 4870s.

according to what people say? are there even any BENCHMARKS for the 4870x2 compared to the 4870. please post a link if there are any, as i am curious myself.

the advantage of the 4870 x2 is that there supposedly won't be any micro stuttering and its cheaper than 2 4870s...

the gtx 280 in all likelihood will be very close (maybe a little bt better) then the 4870 x2... so you might wanna just pick that up instead...

either way wait for benchmarks and when the 4870 gets a score... multiply it by like 1.7 or something to get estimated 4870 x2 scores... now i know thats not how it works... but its close enough... and thats what i'm going to do

just get 2 4870's and a crossfire motherboard if you dont already have one. the cards are going to cost you the same if not a little less than an x2, and if there is a performance difference, then it really will not be much, if at all. plus, if you get a motherboard with 3 or more pci-e x16 slots, you can always get an x2 later and have quad crossfire if you so desire.

I got feed up waiting and have started building with a 3850 as a temp solution. I do have a second older rig that i will be putting it in after so it makes sence in my position. If i didnt have a second hom eready foe it i would probably have settled for a 3650 instead.
Mactronix

Well yeah I am in fact going to pick up a Xfire motherboard, but with only 2 slots unfortunately. GTX280? Hand me red one, please.

If they solve the AFR issues on XF then I'll consider getting two 4870's.

labofgode3x... 2 4870s will not be cheaper than a 4870 X2... the 4870s are supposed to retail at 300 - 350... more likely higher... so two of those would put you around 700 while the X2 is supposed to retail around 550 - 600... which speaks for itself... not only will the X2 probably perform better than 2 4870s it will be cheaper

^
Yep the whole idea of making them a modular design is to keep costs down eventually we could see tripple or quad GPU cards. Of course it will need a couple of shrinks before thats sensible but i recon its coming.
Mactronix

I feel your pain.

I planned to pick up a 4870X2 this month. Instead I'll have to grab a 4870 to hold me till the fall.

i'm planning on getting a 4870x2 in fall as well...hopefully it'll live up to the hype that surrounds it

Well better start savin some damn money so I can upgrade as soon as it hits the shelves then...sigh

On a side note, how should the 4870 compare to the GX2? Faster? I just wanna be able to max crysis and everything that comes during the summer till I pop in the X2.

Patience..

GTX280 / 4870 (X2) - New architecture.. Drivers are not mature.. Code will be written with the 8800 / 3870 (X2) series in mind for some time because the price points are far from the "sweet spot" for game developers in terms of optimization.

Nehalem - Is just around the corner and the quad core can blow through a photo album with almost zero delay.

The rule: Skip 1 generation and if you are buying the latest tech wait 6 months to 1 year for maturation and price drop before buying.

This system is running a 40" bravia 120hz refresh rate @ 1920X1080p tv..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fmR0DT3ZTNE
8800GTS 640 OC'd with 30-40fps avg on Grid and 200 fps avg CS:S. We will not upgrade to the new garbage till we see significant price decrease. This card will cost you $120 shipped on ebay.

Let the benchmarks decide ;')

Blackwater11