Single 5870 vs Dual 4870 Crossfire

Hey everyone...I'm going to be a proud Alienware M17X R2 owner soon

But I had one quick question from you guys though. I would really appreciate the opinions of all you tech savvy people out here.

While choosing the GPU for my AW m17x on the Dell Canada website, I had the option of choosing between a single ATI 5870 or dual 4870s in Crossfire. I chose the single ATI 5870 at the time and now my system is already in production. What do you guys think I should have chosen? The dual 4870 option was $300 was more than the single 5870 but money was no object here. One of the reasons why I chose a single 5870 was because the 5870 supports DX 11. I'm a computer animator and the 5870 supports internal tessellation which is quite handy for 3D modeling and animation. I know Dx11 would not be of much use right now but I just wanted to be future proof as one does not buy such an expensive system everyday.

Anyways, what kind of a performance difference can I expect between these 2? Most reviews on the web say a dual 4870 in crossfire will outperform most GPUs out there including a single 5870. Can I maybe add in another 5870 later on in my Alienware if I feel the need for it and make it a dual 5870 crossfire?

I need some people to answer these questions for me coz I'm having somewhat of a buyer's remorse right now

Oh and btw, the system will be used mostly for video editing, gaming and a lot of 3D animation work in Maya besides the usual web surfing, movie watching, youtube stuff.

Please excuse me if the relevant information I'm looking for is already out there as I was unable to find it. And in that case give me a link where I can get the info I want.

Thanks in advance.

 

It is currently not known whether or not the 5870 in the m17x will have the necessary connector for CF. We have to wait until the first one is delivered. As for games, some games that are not optimized for CF will actually run better on the 5870.

 

This man speaks the truth.


It all comes down to what is in your game library. Or what games you prefer rather...

I tell you for me its all FPS & RTS all the way.
& those utilize Crossfire. So for me it was a no brainer to go 4870xfire
I was only going to go single gpu waiting for this 5870 upgrade. but I figured I wouldn't like the performance I got out of a single GPU. Even if it was the Mighty 5870.

If your Primary use will be Video Editing & 3D work with games truly coming in 2nd. than I say bravo & good for you.

But if that is the excuse your using to help justify this expense. do the right thing & go crossfire now.

btw I too am a Video Editor/3D Animator by trade. & I purchased my M17x2 for the exact converse of yours... GAMING & some Video Editing & Light 3D Work. I must say the system does not dissapoint on any aspect other than the well documentd touch pad.

 

@anexanhume

@Darth Vato

Thanks a lot for your opinions guys. See, the thing is...I'm getting this AW M17x as a replacement for my Studio XPS 1645 from Dell. I made the mistake of buying a studio xps 1640 last year...and since then I've had numerous system and part replacements. The latest one I had was the 1645 and a few days ago its keys broke and fell out. So I just raised hell at Dell and they agreed to replace my SXPS with an Alienware. So while deciding the replacement's config I had the option of choosing 5870 or dual 4870s...but the dual 4870s were $300 more and for some reason I didn't ask the guy to upgrade me to the 4870 crossfire option. In any case, because mine was a special case...the production has been expedited so its already in production and I don't think that guy is gonna change it at this point.

Also, animation and gaming go hand in hand with me. I usually play FPS & RTS games too...and I'm not asking for mind-blasting maxed out Full HD kinda performance from the computer...I just want it to be able to play games at high settings for atleast a couple of years.

I guess its juz buyer's remorse or something but since I'm not actually a buyer instead receiving it as a replacement so I guess I'm stuck with the 5870 then
All I wanna know is how much of a difference can I expect in performance between the 2. Like 25%, 50%, 75%...how much better will the 4870s CF perform?

Anyways, whatever it is...I am SUPER-PSYCHED about my new Alienware. I've been reading reviews, looking at high res pics, watching crazy light show videos on youtube all day! Its going to be fun to be a PC gamer again...even though I'm gonna buy a PS3 soon...but hell....having two powerful gaming machines is going to be awesome! I swear sometimes I think my DNA is made up of binary code

Btw Darth Vato, what exactly is wrong with the touch pad??? :-/

 

touch pad is just lame on all current alienware model, touch pad lags and jumps everywhere, using the window driver is alittle bit better but overall very subpar. hopefully one of these days dell will release a better driver for it.

 

all 5870s released thusfar do NOT support xfire. I have seen there. there is no connector. If you order a dell with a single 5870, do not expect to upgrade to a dual setup without purchasing two new cards.

 

CRAP!!! So now I'm definitely stuck with the single 5870 with no option of upgrading in the future! I feel like cussin' at myself really loud right now but I wont

Basically, what it means is that I WILL be able to upgrade my m17x in the future but I'll have to purchase 2 new cards? That means the GPU is replaceable?

 

You can always sell your 5870MR to all the m15x owners who can't get one without diy.

 

I was wondering the same thing. Here is the previous thread on it:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-single-ati-hd5870-graphics-card-perform.html

I found few benchmarks, you can see it on this page in the same thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ingle-ati-hd5870-graphics-card-perform-6.html

Not sure how much this reflects real in-game performances, but it seems the difference between the two isn't that small...

 

Thanks a ton man, this really helped. But i guess I dont have an option anymore. Although some ppl on the thread u sent me said that you can add in aother 5870 later and make it a crossfire. I'm confused...can I later upgrade to a CF setup or not???

 

It depends on whether the single 5870MR has a CF connector, and no one has a m17x with 5870MR yet, so no one really knows whether you can really add in another card to CF.

 

Logic tells me that they should have CF connectors otherwise Dell would be developing and having to support two different cards. But I've heard otherwise, so until someone actually gets one and takes apart their system, nobody really knows.

 

Yeah. What people have are 5870 mobility cards sold by some folks around here (who are not affiliated with Dell/AW). Those cards seem to lack crossfire (CF) connector.

But I think everyone is hoping that 5870s that will ship with Alienwares will have a CF connector. It's just that noone has actually seen one from AW yet. The other thing some people tried to do is calling Dell/AW but that was also epic fail since their employees are obviously informed about what they sell as much as I am when it comes to e.g. women's makeup [read: clueless].

 

LOL...so true man. Somebody on this forum once said that with Dell, "the right hands knows not what the left hand is doing". I think this statement pretty much summed up entire Dell Inc. I just hope the 5870 they ship in my m17x does have a CF connector because that'll mean I can later upgrade it to dual 5870s and have a truly "all-powerful" gaming laptop in my hands (not that its a weak system right now by any stretch of the imagination )

Btw, all you Alienware m17x R2 owners out there...what is your general opinion about the system? I've never owned a gaming laptop before and that too an ALIENWARE so I'm just excited to try out cool stuff on it like games at max settings and tacky light shows synchronized to cool electronic music

 

I found some very useful links while I was looking for the answer to my original question. I think you people might find this useful.


1. A real world benchmark comparison between the ATI Mobility Radeon 5870 Vs the ATI Mobility Radeon 4870 X2

Notebookcheck: AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 (Crossfire)

2. And this link here is the BEST SOURCE I've found yet for benchmark scores of almost every GPU on the market on a wide variety of games.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

 

I am going to tell you dont buy the single 5870 unless you are 100% sure it can support a secondary one. FACT

I had a issue with my last laptop it was a m17x and running dual 8600 gt. And I wanted to upgrade to dual 8800gtx or dual 9800gt. And they where going oh no you have to upgrade the motherboard. FACT.

Everyone please Get the facts frist before buying a single gpu and expect it to be CF.

The Motherboard manufactures and GPU manufactures like to cut corners. Just to make more money becuse they want you to beleave it can be done. Then tax you with new motherboard or gpu.

 

Hey gs_31,

I found the same scores a while ago but deliberately didn't link them - because I think they are quite a bit misleading. If you follow the first link I gave you, you'll see I read the same 3DMark05 comparison and thought "hey, 1x 5870 and 2x 4870 are almost the same". But others have convinced me it is not the case.

You have no idea how they tested it - as far as I am aware the only 4870 CF laptop is m17x-r2. 5870s however, they must have tested either Asus G73 or some Clevo laptop, most likely with a different CPU/mobo etc. Comparing them with 3DMark06 scores with no overclocks and similar CPUs (second link I gave you) reveals that the difference is QUITE big. Keep in mind, there I was comparing m17x-r2 with someone's m15x who manually put in 5870. How would I interpret those scores? AW makes much better laptops overall, not only build-quality-wise but the 5870s work faster on their computers. Still... I think single 5870 mobility seems like a pretty powerful GPU, and the m17x-r2 with that GPU isn't bad at all - but what everyone else keep telling me in the other thread it's quite a bit cheaper to manually put single 5870 in m15x. You should keep in mind, Dell being Dell and all - that if you don't get CF connector, it's unlikely they'll make you a deal and replace the card with the one with CF connector.

The statement "the right hands knows not what the left hand is doing" is soo true, made me laugh a bit in the morning but so true. In fact, I'd even add that neither hand knows what is doing as well! A while ago we had a guy posting a link with a live video stream of Dell tech guy fixing his AW - I couldn't believe it, didn't know whether to laugh or weep and cry...

Sorry if someone from Dell is reading all this and feels insulted, because of all the trashing - but if you didn't so blatantly screwing and ripping people off, we wouldn't!

 

I completely disagree. Everything they have released for the M15x and M17x (260, 280, 4870) all have crossfire connectors including in the M15x were it's not possible. Makes no sense to develop and test two different cards. Expect all of them to have the crossfire connectors. Everything posted here on NBR have NOT been Dell OEM cards.

 

He knows what he's talking about

Actually the touchpad on the M11x is a LOT better than the M17x one. There is no lag,synaptics drivers work well, at least with Scrybe. Even the surface texture doesn't bother me like the M17x did.

As far as the 5870, it's still going to play all your games at max settings,so I wouldn't think twice about it. If you want, if you really do need the DX11 support, than it's a no brainer. For gaming, you probably won't see much differance either. can you really tell the differance between 60FPS and 75? Probably not since both are well about the 30FPS standard. Good luck with you purchase, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

It's going to blow your doors cleeeeeaaaaan off.

 

Yeah man...I just posted those links to share them with you guys. I'm taking the benchmark comparison between the 5870 and 4870 CF with a pinch of salt too. The second link, however, I found really useful for getting a basic idea about GPU performance.

I guess whatever I've chosen now, I'll have to stick with it. Whether or not the 5870 has a CF connector, it doesnt matter anymore coz I received the laptop as a system exchange for my crappy SXPS 16 and there's no way I can send it back now and get another one. Anyways, I'm too tired of receiving a new system from Dell after every few months and then re-installing all my softwares and transferring data from one laptop to other. I'm happy with what I got...mainly because there's no point cribbing about it anymore

Thats what I wanted to hear!!!

@DR650SE

@Mandrake

People like you give me hope and restore my faith in the goodness of humanity (read Dell)

 

Yeah well don't get me wrong - slightly slower than 4870 CF is still pretty pretty fast!

 

@unreal25

YAY!!! LOL

 

Hey guys, I've got one more question. The bundled PSU with my AW m17x r2 with a single ATi 5870 and an i7 720QM is going to be 150W. Is that enough? Or should I ask Dell for a 240W one. What if the 5870 in the system does have a CF connector and I plan to upgrade to 5870 CF in the future...will I then need to change my PSU to 240W as well?

 

Yes 150w will be enough and yes you will need to upgrade if you go crossfire in the future. These power supplies have certain ratings but there is always wiggle room to go beyond. You will not be able to push that system beyond 150w without a 920 or dual cards.

 

Alright, understood...thanks

 

I can't wait to order my M17x, I hope you enjoy it a lot. Vanquish any and all doubts you have, the laptop is going to leave you speechless as soon as you unbox it!

 

From what I've read here it doesn't seem like anyone really knows, but I'll ask anyway... I'm getting the new R2 and I also ordered it wih a single ATI 5870. Is it possible to upgrade to CF later on??? On ATI website it mentions CF cabable under the 5870 description..

 

Looking at it from the desktop comparison, two 4850s (Mobility 4870) will absolutely smoke a single 5770 (Mobility 5870).

 

"richgirl" has a youtube video with her system specs from Sep, 2009.. How did she pull this one off???

My System Specs: Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Edition Cosmic Black Base AlienFX RED Intel® Core™ i7-920XM Processor E...My System Specs:
Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Edition
Cosmic Black Base
AlienFX RED
Intel® Core™ i7-920XM Processor Extreme (2GHz,4 Cores/8 Threads,turbo up to 3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate 64bit (English)
8GB Dual-channel 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
512GB Solid State Hard Drive (256GBx2)(Raid 0)
Slot Load Blu-ray BD-R, BD-RE / DVD + /-RW Drive with DVD + R double layer write
Dual - 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870 <-------------------------------------------
Dell™ Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal mini-card
T510110AU-Alienware M17X
AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard (English)
Internal 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
240W Primary AC Adapter
17.0" WUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200p) - RGB LED
Integrated Stereo Sound
9-cell Primary Battery
3-Year Premier Service

 

1. i went to YouTube - richgirl's Channel and all I can say is I want my 2.5 minutes back.

2. typo.

 

Check that.. It's GigglingGirI... Here's the video YouTube - GigglingGirI's Channel

 

It's simple.

She didn't.

 

Kinda what I figured.

 

well took the plunge and ordered the m17x-R2 as in my sig.

A single 5870 will do fine for me as it is now plus I think in future would be nice to know if I can upgrade, hope someone gets theres soon so the question can be answered finally

*edit* must be blind can't find edit signature in CP guess ill just post it.

Alienware M17x-R2|Core i7 620m|4GB 1333mhz Ram|2x320GB HDD|HD 5870 Mobility|1920x1200 LED

 

I went with the 4870, seeing as how the single 5870's are going for 350 from babyhemi I figuire that I'll just pay the 600-700 down the road to move to 5870 if I need to but I'm quite happy with dual 4870's right now. and I got my system now, and I love it, it's a great system.

 

Yeahhh...I know man...I saw her video just 2 days ago and this was the exactly the same thing I was wondering. Btw, its not RichGirl its GigglingGirl...or maybe they are the same chick with 2 diff youtube accounts.
She has a wicked setup man...with the AW & Mac desktop n laptop n all...I dunno wats the deal...how'd she get her hands on dual 5870s. Its probably a lie or a typo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OMKefIFyBs&feature=related

 

I think the consensus around here is that she DIDN'T lol. I think she's just full of it.

Darkloki... I thought about the same thing. Almost everyone here wants Dual cards in CF, but I went with the single 5870. I figure if the 5870 is upgradable later, I just have to pay for one more.

 

All I can say... BS. Given the amount of gaming enthusiasts here, if there was such thing as 5870 mobility CF at this point, there would already be threads about it.

In fact, I bet someone would pull it off if we could even get the 5870 cards with CF connector.

 

I'm looking forward to it

 

if you look at that Youtube vid closer there is no freakin way that the girl talking owns the alienware in the video. All the pics on the desktop have an asian dude with photoshoped pics of himself with nice cars. Ive also seen another video with another voiceover with the same pics in the background also with the same asian dude with photoshoped pics of himself with hot women. Its definately a dude who owns that alienware not giggling girl! lol Other evidence... the room the video is shot in looks like a dudes room!

 

YouTube - Mac Vs Alienware PC
here is the other video I was talking about!

 

Thats what I was saying...this GigglingGirl and RichGirl seem to be the same girl.

 

Edit signature is the first option on the left, after you click User CP.....