HD 4870 x2 CrossfireX vs Single HD 5870

I'm about to get an Alienware M17x R2 laptop, and I'm having a big debate with myself about what graphics card I should go with. I'm not worried about things cost wise, but I do play a lot of higher end computer games, so I want to go in the direction that is best for gaming. Here are some of the specs that I am going with..

Core i7 620M 2.66 GHz | 4GB DDR3 at 1066MHz | Windows 7 Home Premium | WideUXGA RGB LED (1200p) | 250GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD

Currently I have a Dell M1730 that I am getting rid of for the Alienware M17x. I like to run my games at 1920x1200 resolution, but due to limitations I haven't played a lot of games with DirectX10 or High settings. My two choices I want to go with are either..

- Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX
- 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870

My question is what one would suit me better?

I like the fact that the HD 5870 has DirectX11 already supported, and that it is a newer card. I have some concerns with CrossfireX, as I have heard mixed opinions about it. I also read that the 5870 is obviously better, but dealing with 4870 x2 (2GB vs 1GB) & higher resolutions, that the Dual 4870 in CrossfireX benchmarks higher. I also have concerns about dealing with dual graphics cards, as one of my dual GeForce 8700m SLI overheated twice on me. No matter where I look online, it seems like between the two, there are very mixed reviews on which is better suited.

I hope this is enough information to give me a solid answer, and give me some very good input from people that have already made the decision.

 

If you're not worried cost wise why not go for the XF5870s? They're 100 dollars more expensive than the 4780s, which isn't bad at all.

Between a single 5870 and XF 4870s... hard choise. A lot of the new games make use of the XF configuration and they will play better on the 4870s. Also, unless you're planning to overclock I don't think u'll have any issues, 4870s have been around for quite a while and I don't seem to have many issues. Overheating is not a problem as the m17x has a very good cooling system.

5870 has two adantages - DX11 will be comming to more and more games. Also, many people prefer a single card config. And the single cards have the XF connector, so you can add another 5870 later, but it will be expensive since you can only get the cable + card from AW (unless we get some other suppliers, like Babyhemi)

Overall, why not go for the XF5870s and have the best of both worlds ?

 

Truth is, Dell is replacing my M1730 since I have had so many problems with it. The only option I have is for those two, otherwise I would have gone with XF5870 without even thinking about it. I said cost doesn't matter, because I know a lot of people compare prices as a decision maker, but in my case it doesn't help.

That is definitely my biggest problem when comparing the two. Being able to upgrade, using only a single GPU, and DX 11. When comparing them online to benchmarks at the current time/games, it seems the XF4870 did better. The computer already has XF4870 and costs more, so should I just stick with that? Rep that I am working with said I had a choice if it really mattered to me to go with the cheaper single 5870. One of my biggest questions is that since both are GDDR5, will the 4870 have DX11 on a driver update in the future? I saw screenshots comparing DX9-DX10-DX11 and even though the DX11 images look better, is it really worth going from 2GB to 1GB of graphics just for DX11?

 

The 4870 on the r2 is not gddr5.

 

I much prefer the 5870 over the 4870. If money is no object then you might be better off in the short run with the dual 4870s but in the long run you might be better off getting a 5870.

 

DirectX 11 support is something that's hard-wired into the GPU. The 4870 will never support it, no matter how many driver revisions come out.

I also noticed that you said "2GB vs. 1GB". It's true that each card has 1GB, so there's technically 2GB combined, but CrossFire doesn't work like that. Because the GPUs have to cooperate with each other, each GPU needs to store identical information, so you really only get 1GB of usable VRAM.

All in all, the two 4870s are going to be faster than a single 5870. If it was me and I was really concerned about DX11 support, I'd just stick with the 4870s, then sell them and get a pair of 5870s down the road. This is a free upgrade, so why not get as much value out of it as possible? The 4870s are the more expensive option.

 

and the 4870 don't support tesselation and directecomput but the others part of DX11 (like hyperthreading) work on a 10.1 card (like 4870)

 

In terms of raw power, you're going to get far more of it from the 4870s than a single 5870.

CrossfireX doesn't scale well on some games but does tend to have a much higher effect at higher resolutions. At the likes of 1920x1200, for nearly every game out there, you WILL see far better performance out of Crossfire 4870s.

You could ask Dell if you could pay the extra for two 5870s, because obviously that would be the best option entirely. But I'd definetely go for the crossfire 4870s if it was between them and a 5870, as long as you're willing to sacrifice DX11 for it.