What's faster on an Intel Mobo... 9800GX2 or dual 3870X2's?

[virtualrain]

The title says it all... What's the best performing graphics you can get right now on an Intel motherboard?

Any comparison benches on the net?

Personal thoughts, benches, or observations?

[Waymon3X6]

well the 9800GX2 is faster than the 3870x2, and I believe they perform the same no matter what mobo you put them on.

You probably already know this but if you ever wanted to SLI a 9800GX2 then you need a nvidia mobo, and visa versa for the ATi.

[AliG]

From the review expreview did, it looks like the 9800gx2 will be better, but I say wait to see if the newer gddr4 3870x2s perform any better, as they do have some hardware changes, not to mention the new a12 rv670 die which is supposed to perform a bit better.

One big question though, do you use vista or xp? As crossfireX performs a lot better on vista with cat 8.3 than it does on xp and I think that's why the xfire results were so poor (only a few % faster than a single x2 in general) on expreview's test. In short, wait for the new 3870x2, if you have vista and your performance isn't high enough for your tastes, get a second, if it's good enough, you just saved $350

[virtualrain]

Yeah, I run Vista x64 and I have a Dell 30" display so I need the best graphics I can buy for an Intel motherboard.

Based on reviews I've seen I would think that dual 3870X2's would beat a single 9800GTX...no?

[xMrBunglex]

easily.

[Waymon3X6]

I heard somewhere that the 9800GX2 wont perform well on an Intel mobo... Correct me if I am wrong, but the GX2 is essentially using SLi - and SLi is only available with a nvidia chipset.

As for the 3870x2's beating the 9800GX2 - no problem.

[Raxxath]

I heard somewhere that the 9800GX2 wont perform well on an Intel mobo... Correct me if I am wrong, but the GX2 is essentially using SLi - and SLi is only available with a nvidia chipset.

As for the 3870x2's beating the 9800GX2 - no problem.

The 9800 GX2 works perfectly fine on Intel chipsets. The SLI is done in the card, not through the motherboard.

And how do you know two 3870X2s will beat a 9800 GX2? Do you want to link those benchmarks?

[sonofander]

I actually saw a review showing a GX2 beating CF X2s in most games...
not sure how reliable it was though...


edit: here's the review
http://en.expreview.com/2008/03/19/Quad-CrossfireX-smasher-GeForce-9800GX2/29/


I think the only honest answer you will get right now is:

Wait and see

[Waymon3X6]

Yeah, the GX2 did just come out. So prices are bound to drop in a bit and new cards will hopefully be here soon. I want to see how the 9800GTX does...

[George_o/c]

I heard somewhere that the 9800GX2 wont perform well on an Intel mobo... Correct me if I am wrong, but the GX2 is essentially using SLi - and SLi is only available with a nvidia chipset.

As for the 3870x2's beating the 9800GX2 - no problem.

First of all, 9800GX2 will perfectly operate on any Intel Chipset ... Whatever you heard, must be some marketing tricks (well known technic :p:), that for example if you combine an n-Vidia chipset motherboard with n-Vidia VGA the outcome is way better ... :down: All in all that's bullshi(f)t ... :rofl:

I actually saw a review showing a GX2 beating CF X2s in most games...
not sure how reliable it was though...


edit: here's the review
http://en.expreview.com/2008/03/19/Q...ce-9800GX2/29/

Hmmm ... I'm not so sure about this test ... It is stated that they're using Windows Vista + Catalyst 8.3 for dual 3870X2s tests but ... CrossFireX numbers are way too slow ... :shrug: :shakes: Reliable tests have so far shown that 9800GX2 is a bit better than 3870X2 in most of the cases ;) Hence, it perfectly makes sence that two 3870X2s perform waaaaaay better than single 9800GX2 ... ;)

expreview.com :down: ... :(

@virtualrain: 2 x 3870X2s is the best graphics setup you can get so far, in Intel Chipset ... However, don't forget to take into consideration that CrossFireX performs well only on Windows Vista + Catalyst 8.3 ... Windows Vista sucks though ! ... From my point of view, I prefer a thousand times XP to Vista, but CCC 8.2 aren't the best for CrossFireX ...
Seeing that you 're running on Windows Vista, you can go for dual 3870X2s ;) Especially with Catalyst 8.4 or 8.5, things are going to get a LOT better :yepp: ... Or you could only buy one (CrossFireX will outburst with 8.4 / 8.5, 8.3 aren't mature enough ;)), and save 350$ (just like AliG said ;))

[PhilDoc]

Here's the only review that tested what you're looking for. Looks like it depends on which game.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/679/1/

[virtualrain]

I guess it will be worth seeing how the next driver release or two affect things, what overclocking headroom seems to be available on both solutions, and also what performance gains the GDDR4 version of the X2 brings.

[PhilDoc]

True, the X2's would be a little more expensive, but not by too much. From that review, it also looks like an X2 paired with a 3870 might be a good option as well and cheaper.

[zanzabar]

u guys are missing that the cards will scale diffrently with ocing, look at 3dmark with different fsb for the crossfire scores its a non linier scale an any1 buying on this forum will be on 433 or more fsb so looking at a 333mhz chip without an oc wont show what we are looking for

[Fujimitsu]

True, the X2's would be a little more expensive, but not by too much. From that review, it also looks like an X2 paired with a 3870 might be a good option as well and cheaper.

I think this is going to be your best deal honestly.

However to really conclude anything we should give the nvidia drivers a bit to mature, hopefully they'll continue to improve.

Please don't bash me for saying that, the 3870x2 took a while to really clean up its act driver-wise as well.

[virtualrain]

I want the best GPU performance on a non SLI board... money is no object within reason. I'm personally not interested in what is the best deal... That's a whole other discussion.

[Shalamay]

Any ideas on when the new 3870X2's come out?

[Origin_Unknown]

i cant decide on either or .. the main difference is the price i presume.

gx2 = £387.69
3987x2 = £256.15

i game on 1650*1050 (i think) and really only play oblivion ...

[sonofander]

i cant decide on either or .. the main difference is the price i presume.

gx2 = £387.69
3987x2 = £256.15

i game on 1650*1050 (i think) and really only play oblivion ...

If oblivion is your game, then the 3870x2 was made for you!!!
It is the one game that the ATI card consistently beats every other card in...
the 3870x2's performance in Oblivion is simply amazing

No brainer for you my friend!!! :D

[George_o/c]

Any ideas on when the new 3870X2's come out?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=180854 ;)

[Origin_Unknown]

If oblivion is your game, then the 3870x2 was made for you!!!
It is the one game that the ATI card consistently beats every other card in...
the 3870x2's performance in Oblivion is simply amazing

No brainer for you my friend!!! :D


true - i wonder if it would like quarls :D