GTX 260M Vs. 3870 X 2 Mobilty Vs. Dual 4850 Mobilty

I cannot decide what card(s) would best play these games at higher settings:

Crysis
World In Conflict
GTA 4
Flight Simulator X

I know the 4850's are best but would the performance in these specific games be relevant enough to part with the extra cash. If we are talking 10fps+, then yes I think it would be but if its under that I dont see the purpose in getting it. The real question here is the first two cards, they seem very similar in real world testing.

 

lol, every week these threads come in

Its all good though, i love participating.

Its a split between 4850 and 260. There have been some nice overclocking numbers on the 4850 so far.

The 260 will be able to run Crysis better though(From what ive examined it seems Crysis is always better with the Nvidia card.) I doubt that will still hold true in Crysis 2 though(What you should be looking at)

GTA 4 i've seen some good numbers with both of these cards(About the same) Still, neither can run high at 1920.

World in Conflict actually depends on your CPU.

Flight simulator i have no clue.

I hope i have helped in some way


ON A SIDE NOTEm you should be like me and wait for the 4860/90

 

(4850 = 260) > 3870

 

im pretty sure that technically the 4850s are slightly better than the 260s.
but really its a slim difference.
3870s are outdated, dont get them...
either get 4850s or 260s.

 

Just to clarify are you comparing dual 4850's to a single 260m or to sli 260m's?? If sli then I would go with the 260m option personally, but there really isn't much in it.

 

In terms of gaming I can provide some details for Crysis.

The 3870s will get you nearly constantly above 30fps at High, 1440x900, 0xAA provided you have the latest driver.

The 4850s on the other hand will manage average 30fps, Very High, 1920x1200, 0xAA again with the best drivers (and the 4850s are improving now with each new driver considerably) so you're probably talking average 50-60fps for the same at 1440x900.

260Ms will perform similarly to the 4850s.

 

GTA 4 and Flight Simulator X are all very CPU dependent as well as requiring a good GPU so you should also consider that. You could have a great GPU but if your CPU is sub par then you won't get decent performance in those titles.

I recommend a Quad alongside either GPU.

 

I had the 9800m gtx single and the 3870 crossfired. what notebook are you looking at. and can tell us is you want sli or crossfire for the 4850 and the 260m.

 

4850 Gddr3 = Gtx 260m
4850 Gddr5 > Gtx 260m

 

Guys, would single 4850 be able to play Crysis?

 

Yes. Maybe not maxed out but pretty close.

 

I was thinking of instead of spending all this money on an SLI/Crossfire Laptop, I figured I could get nice snigle Card Laptop and get a really nice desktop for $2500.

I was thinking of getting an MSI GT279, then build a nice desktop for $1500.I figure a single Mobility 4850 would be able to play Crysis at Highest Settings, but I would most likely play on 1440 x 900 so the 4850 should do fine, right?

 

In the end 4850 vs. 260 and even to an extent vs. 280 is very negligible and not mind blowing in regards to performance gaps IMHO. Read the last line of my sig.

Yeah, the GT729 (revised GT725) is a great single card laptop and VERY lightweight to boot. Especially the SXGA+. @ 1680x1050, the 4850 will carry you for quite some time and it is insanely upgradable.

 

Thats the smartest route for sure, desktop in my sig cost me about $1500 CAD, should be future-proof for a while.

 

Yup.........

 

Wow then it looks like I have to get the 4850's for my need. basically I was comparing Asus g51 vs m17 vs m17 deluxe. I had no idea the difference was that great. From the benchmarks on the alienware forum it did not seem a big deal ( like for example anything above 30fps steady is the same to me) but it looks like crysis 1/2 is where theese cards will shine. I just dont want to get owned when the i7 and next gen of cards come out for most laptops.

 

newer always comes out and it's always going to be better. the 4850's how ever is great cards. if pushed, i believe it can be number one.

 

nice...

Anyway I agree with Red Dragon. Ati seems to be more friendly than nvidia with showing the cards true colors instead of naming their card 50 different tittles like the gtx 260m/ 9800m GTX/G92 core just shrunk with slightly higher clocks. Ati is the same card as the desktop version just smaller obviously and has slower clock speeds and lower voltages obviously...

Sorry if you already knew this. Just reciting what someone had told me

 

Well I've heard the mobility 4850 is equal or some around a desktop 4830, so that pretty much shows how close Mobility ATi cards are to their desktop counter parts.

 

The difference is that the best of the notebook performance level cards (Mobility 4850, >$200) is close to but still worse than the worst of the desktop performance level cards (4830) while costing only a fraction of the cost (<$100). The desktop 4870 w/ GDDR5 will even compete with 2x Mobility 4850s. Not only that, you can even get the 4870x2 or even 2x 4870x2...

 

AHHHHH!!!! Too many options lol. That's how I feel right now about my next laptop. Either in the next month. MSI GT729 with 4850, Asus G51, Sager 8662..... Or wait a while for 4860/4890. UUUGGHHH!!! lolz

 

3870 crossfire is equal to the 4770 Cf.
the 280m is equal to the 260 gtx 216.

i don't know the rest lol.