ATI 5870 or ATI crossfire 4870 which has less problems

I can get a M17x for the same price with either one of these cards my question is which would be more reliable or less prone to problems and would the 4870s be that much faster than the single 5870. Any input would help..

 

Honestly neither have "problems". The 5870 is more powerful and runs hotter. The current 10.5 driver from Dell is sufficient for anything currently out with a few exceptions.

The 4870 is older but has driver support.

Personally i think the 5870 is the way to go. Hopefully 10.7 or 8 or the next Dell release will keep em going strong.

 

If you're talking single 5870 vs 4870's in cf then go for the 4870s.

If you're talking cf 5870s vs cf 4870s then go for the 5870s.

A single 5870 has no issues at all however the cf 5870's do have a couple of teething problems but nothing that won't be sorted eventually.

 

The last time Dell updated drivers for the 4870s was more than 6 months ago (January, 2010).
Don't hold your breath waiting for updated drivers for 5870s. It may be later than sooner.

 

I agree, there's just no way to tell whether it'll come with the 10.7's or 3 months from now when Dell gives up on AMD and releases some revised 10.6's lol.

 

Well, that's simply wrong.

Xfire 5870's have a bad problem with flickering textures and wavy lines. You can mess with settings to maybe get rid of the lines in some games, but you'll have to research how. It may require you to disable Xfire completely to run smoothly.

Crysis for example is downright unplayable in Xfire, as clouds, trees, and far off landscapes flicker horribly, with textures popping in and out.

There is no cure in sight, and pretty much no acknowledgement of the problem from Alienware thus far.

 

wow guys thanks for all the input on these cards but it looks like I will be getting a Sager NP8760 with the 5870 single card.. I dont need two cards I dont play games that much.. but thanks for all the help

 

That's a wise decision. Do you need it for work? Are you ok with the glossy screen?

 

No, I am just getting it for pleasure for when I deploy to Afghanistan in September here is what I bought..

Display: 17.3" FHD LED Backlit 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1080)
- Dead Pixel Policy: Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-840QM, 1.86-3.2GHz, (45nm, 8MB L3 cache)
- Thermal Compound: - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- Graphics Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD5870 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11
- Ram: ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)

- Optical Drive: ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- Primary Hard Drive: ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Second Hard Drive: None Standard -

- Memory Card Reader: Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Wireless Network: Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module

- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera

 

so you assume your experience is everyone's. ok, sucks to be in your world.

I play crysis fine on mine, full settings and it plays fine. Maybe its you/your system eh?

 

it's been documented that some people have the problem and some simply don't. I play crysis just fine as well.

 

Hmm, well I'm certain it's not me. Certainly you notice there is an entire sticly thread dedicated to the issue.

I'm intrigued that yours works fine. What drivers are you using?

 

Doesn't this lend itself to being a hardware issue?

 

I've stated my opinions about the matter in the same stickied thread you're referring to, and I'd rather not type out another few paragraphs saying the same things over and over.

 

Damn, everyone's in such a pissy mood today.

 

I don't thinknanyone is pissy man. You started your first post here by stating that another member was "simply wrong". It turns out he wasn't. And the others with his experience don't want to rehash the details they already discussed in another thread.

Just checkout the other thread and be open to all sorts of results for different people.

Keep an open mind and you will learn loads here.

 

For my 4870's I don't even use dell drivers and is at 10.6 now runs fine with all games..anyone know why the 5870's have to be 128bit vs 256? isn't it going to bottle neck..

 

The 4870s run GDDR3@256-bit, vs GDDR5@128-bit for the 5870s. This means that the 4870s read more chunks of memory simultaneously, but that memory is slower to respond. The overall effect is that the memory speeds are very similar between the two cards.

It is possible to have 256-bit access with GDDR5 (desktop cards do it), but this generates a lot more heat which has to be dissipated. Going GDDR5@128-bit was a trade-off between head and speed.

 

Thanks for the feedback WOW! so heat is the issue...Still a faster card than 4870's..

 

Well no I have 3 laptops 1 Sager NP8760 and two Alienwares now I will be selling one for a no hassle price trust me the laptop will go fast soon as I get the one I will be selling I will post pics and put it in the market place.

 

Which of the AW's did you decide to keep and why? Just curious if you got both a 4870x2 and 5870x2.

Also....does anyone happen to know why lozz was banned? I thought he was a good member, maybe a PM to me?

 

Right now I have a black with a 720 and 1 5870
And one 820 with crossfire 4870

 

Further discussion can take place in one of the existing 17x ATI threads. Multiple threads which discuss the same thing are not needed. Use the owners lounge or one of the ATI threads.

Thanks.