# 2 x 4850 vs GTX460?



## joeyck (Jul 27, 2010)

Well I am putting a build together for my friend who is a LAN gamer... meaning he is on a pro team and I've set all his stuff together with a case with handle bars and a x3 440 and unlocking the bad boy... now to the question...

the 2 x 4850 = $199 

single GTX460 = $199 (the FTW edition from EVGA super clocked is $209)

will 2 x 4850 beat out a GTX460? I plan to run the 4850's in CF... I'm really liking the idea of 2 x 4850 since the 4850 / 4870 / 4890's are still freaking powerful. Any help will be greatly appreciated 

Thank You All 

Also extra info :

He does not need / use DX11 since he only plays Counter strike and since the Counter strike arena is not going to die out any time soon he will not be changing games... he might be going to COD4 but again COD4 doesn't use DX11...


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## joeyck (Jul 27, 2010)

the total is exactly the same with GTX 460 or 2 x 4850

and the Resolution is 1366 x 768


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## mlee49 (Jul 27, 2010)

I'd suggest the 5830 or GTX460.  Both cards are at the $200 price point(maybe $20 more).  Great cards that will preform better than two 4850's.


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## p_o_s_pc (Jul 27, 2010)

GTX460. maybe slightly slower BUT it has DX11 and less hassle because it is 1 card.Also it has PhysX and cuda (not that it matters anyways)


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## JATownes (Jul 27, 2010)

I vote for the GTX460.  I have had a 4850 crossfire setup for a little over a year and can't find a reason to upgrade, (they are beasts in a pair), but if I were buying today, definately the 460.


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## joeyck (Jul 27, 2010)

Reply to JATowners : 

Do you have any complaints about those 2?


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## mlee49 (Jul 27, 2010)

By the way the GTX460 can overclock past to the 5830.   If I didn't have a pair of 470's that would be the solo card I would buy.


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## deaffob (Jul 27, 2010)

Always choose single card over dual. Too many errors


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## erocker (Jul 27, 2010)

Always take the similar performing single card over a dual card setup. I'm sure you are attracted to the allure of having a cool dual card setup. Fact of the matter is a single card is more stable and you will have less issues in all of the programs you use. Less power usage, less heat, less hassle.


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## joeyck (Jul 27, 2010)

okay, can u guys refer me to a mobo that is good with unlocking AND SLI for less then $100?


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## erocker (Jul 27, 2010)

joeyck said:


> okay, can u guys refer me to a mobo that is good with unlocking AND SLI for less then $100?



Lol, no. You are currently limited to 2 boards on Newegg. 980a chipset. If you really want SLi (I don't see why) you will have to go Intel. Even then I don't think you'll find a board less than $100 bucks.

Are you sure a x3 440 even unlocks?


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## ucanmandaa (Jul 27, 2010)

go for the 460, I too had a 4850 1gb crossfire setup and they are fast as long as crossfire works. Dont get me wrong it works 99% of time but some games need .exe renaming and such.
An overclocked 460 would be faster than crossfired 4850s too i guess.


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 27, 2010)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE


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## erocker (Jul 27, 2010)

JrRacinFan said:


> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE



I stand corrected. That board even has NCC, so if the chip is unlockable it will do it.


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## joeyck (Jul 27, 2010)

thank u much every one


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 27, 2010)

erocker said:


> I stand corrected. That board even has NCC, so if the chip is unlockable it will do it.



Yup. Although, rather would go the little bit extra for Asus ...

ASUS M4N75TD AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX AMD Mo...


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## joeyck (Jul 27, 2010)

meh... i'll stick with the MSI...


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## JATownes (Jul 27, 2010)

joeyck said:


> Reply to JATowners :
> 
> Do you have any complaints about those 2?



None at all.  They are beastly.  They still slice through everything like butter.  If I had to complain, I would say they drink power at load.  But that isn't really a complaint, as it has no effect on me.

Edit: They are cooled by 2xZalman VF1000s


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 27, 2010)

I ran two 4850 for a while. They are in fact monsters in a pair. Only reason I upgraded is for DX11. Plus a 5850 is a tad faster but no crossfire problems.


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## joeyck (Jul 27, 2010)

EVGA GTX460 : 209.99

EVGA 768-P3-1362-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superc...




G.SKill RipJaws : 99.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...



Athlon x3 440 : 74.99

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cach...



Tuniq Tiwer CPU HSF : 39.99 + 2.99 

Tuniq Tower 120 Universal CPU Cooler 120mm Cooling...



CM Storm Scout + GX650 : 119.98

Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...


MSI 750a SLI : 96.49 


New Egg Grand Total 553.65 

Tiger Direct Grand Total 96.94


Total : 650.59



I've give it another day of research and the day after 2moro I'ma finalize it and buy...


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## joytime360 (Jul 28, 2010)

Gtx460.


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## Frizz (Jul 28, 2010)

IMO

Similar performing Dual VS Single GPU variants - ALWAYS CHOOSE SINGLE OVER THE DUAL SOLUTION.

UNLESSSS.... the dual card solution is significantly cheaper and I mean wayyyyy cheaper.


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## Lionheart (Jul 28, 2010)

GTX 460 bro, just like everyone else said


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## Tatty_One (Jul 28, 2010)

Looking at the TPU review of the 460 1GB card and seeing that in the closet resolution to your friends it is 9% faster than a GTX280 which was about 4% slower than HD4850 in crossfire, it's reasonably safe to say that the single 460 is your best bet.  One other thing, if your friend is a semi pro gamer, I would suggest a new monitor with higher res might be just as good as a card upgrade!


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## musek (Jul 28, 2010)

Go for the GTX 460. 
Like everyone else said - it's always better to go for a single card solution if the performance/price ratio is similar. 

You're saying that it's going to be a gaming machine for a pro/semi-pro gamer so in my opinion it should provide the best possible both performance *AND* stability.


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## Dent1 (Jul 28, 2010)

Performance = 4850 in CF
Value for money = 4850 in CF
Convinience and power consumption  = GTX 460
Stability = GTX 460

It comes down to what your client wants most.


Bear in mind I think the OP is looking at the 1GB 4850 not the 512MB. 

In my opinion, a single GTX 460 is the better option as it will still trade blows with the 4850 in CF without the headache. Get a SLI ready motherboard and stick in a second GTX 460 later!


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## JATownes (Jul 28, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> *Performance = 4850 in CF
> Value for money = 4850 in CF*
> Convinience and power consumption  = GTX 460
> Stability = GTX 460
> ...



You think 2 4850s will outperform the GTX460?  I would be interested to see benches.  I have a pair of 4850s and I love them, but they are getting a little dated (though still VERY powerful).


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## Tatty_One (Jul 28, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> Performance = 4850 in CF
> Value for money = 4850 in CF
> Convinience and power consumption  = GTX 460
> Stability = GTX 460
> ...



He wouldnt really need 1GB cards for that resolution though.


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## Dent1 (Jul 29, 2010)

JATownes said:


> You think 2 4850s will outperform the GTX460?  I would be interested to see benches.  I have a pair of 4850s and I love them, but they are getting a little dated (though still VERY powerful).



Its hard to find a benchmarks of the 1 GB 4850 in crossfire let alone against a GTX 460 on the same graph, so you have to use a little bit of estimation. 

In all honesty they'll be about the same performance wise with variations depending on the game, some games will favour the GTX 460 768MB and some will favour the 4850 CF. If you've got the 4850 CF already you'd need a much wider upgrade, you should be looking at a 5850 at least or ideally a 5970.

Here is my justification, 

In picture *1 *the 4850X2 (the 1 PCB version) when the stats are averaged across all resolutions and games the 4850X2 is 3% faster than the GTX 280. In picture* 2 *it shows that the GTX 280 is faster than the  GTX 460 768MB by 2%. This proves that the 4850X2 is slightly faster than the GTX 460 768MB, unfortunately  this isn’t the 4850 in CF but it gives you a idea.

1.) http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4850_X2/images/perfrel.gif
2.) http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Axle/GeForce_GTX_460_768_MB/images/perfrel.gif


In the link below it shows that the *512* MB 4850 CF is on par with the 1 GB GTX 280, they trade blows i.e. one benchmark favours one, in another benchmark the other wins. However notice that when the GTX 280 wins its usually smaller FPS separation, however when the 4850 CF wins its by a wider frame separation. At the highest resolution of 2560x1600 (blue bar) and with the highest detail and 4xAA the 4850 won in: 3D Marks Vantage, 3D Marks 06,  Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, World in Conflict DX9 (draw), World in Conflict DX10, Unreal Tournament, and Devil May. Crysis and Prey are evenly matches but to the GTX280s favour, again we are talking about highest resolution @ 2560x1600 and highest detail only.

Also the author of the review says:

_On the other hand, the HD4850 presents consumers with the perfect Crossfire card since it is relatively cheap even when you buy a pair of them (under $400 in some cases) and they perform amazingly against the similarly priced GTX 280._ _In our opinion a pair of HD4850 cards really hits a sweet spot in the price / performance category. This combination offers performance which in most cases is equal to or greater than that of a GTX 280 while retailing for less money. _

So to sum it up, according to W1zzard's review the GTX 280 is faster than the GTX 460 768MB (but still on par). And according to Hardware Cunucks the CF 4850 512MB is faster than the GTX 280 (but still on par). This means the CF 4850 512MB is faster than the GTX 460 768MB!

Now, considering that this was on the "old" 512MB version of the 4850 it is clear the new 1 GB 4850 in CF is will be even more faster.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...4870-hd4850-crossfire-performance-review.html

I hope that you guys appreciate this as it took me a few hours of research, so I expect a big thank you. lol


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## phanbuey (Jul 29, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> I...rs of research, so I expect a big thank you. lol



thank you!

now considering that a gtx 460 overclocks by ~30% and... we can conclude that it stomps both the 280 and the 4850 CF does it quieter, with less power consumption and dx11, which means soft shadows and tesselation, higher min framerates, and fewer driver glitches.  Even if you dont use it now, it is nice to have.

But 30 % is a huge margin of overclock which puts in inline with the 470, which trades blows with a 5850 (look up ocd 460 reviews and it does keep up with 5850/470 in alot of games)  Like the KFA2 from galaxy, and thats not even the max oC- with 920MHz on the core, this card is in 5850 territory.


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## Dent1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Phanbuey, to be fair the 4850 overclocks pretty as well. Its pretty normal for the 4850 to reach the performance level of a 4870 at stock, its been done numerous times. A 4870X2 is faster than a single 5850 and 5870 - according to W1zzards review, so I would presume that a OC'd CF 4850 would be too especially if its the 1 GB variant there is no reason why it couldnt also surpass the a OC'd 768MB, 5850, and 5870.

But yes, I agree that overall the a single GTX 460 768 is still the better deal opposed to the 4850 CF due to DX11 and power consumption at a similar performance and price range. I would only recommend the CF 4850 in true faith if one had a card already.


Edit:

This image is the relative performance of all the games at all resolutions. The 4870X2 beats out the 5850 and 5870.
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_5970_CrossFire/images/perfrel.gif


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## phanbuey (Jul 29, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> Phanbuey, to be fair the 4850 overclocks pretty as well. Its pretty normal for the 4850 to reach the performance level of a 4870 at stock, its been done numerous times. A 4870X2 is faster than a single 5850 and 5870 - according to Wizzards review, so I would presume that a OC'd CF 4850 would be too especially if its the 1 GB variant there is no reason why it couldnt also surpass the a OC'd 768MB, 5850, and 5870.
> 
> But yes, I agree that overall the a single GTX 460 768 is still the better deal opposed to the 4850 CF due to DX11 and power consumption at a similar performance and price range. I would only recommend the CF 4850 in true faith if one had a card already.
> 
> ...




yeah true... i didnt think the 4850 could touch the 4870, but then again my experience with the 4870 was less than stellar.


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## JATownes (Jul 29, 2010)

Many thanks Dent1.  Great synopsis.  I always wondered but never researched it.  Now I don't have to.  Many thanks.


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## Tatty_One (Jul 29, 2010)

Similar to what i said in post 24   And I had both the 280 and CF 1GB 4850 Sonics @880mhz at the same time.


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## brandonwh64 (Jul 29, 2010)

also change the CPU from a 440 to a 555BE or something


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## HossHuge (Jul 29, 2010)

joeyck,

If you can give me 24 hours, I'm about to do some game benching cause I want to decide which CPU I should sell, my PII-550BE or AthlonII-425.  I'm going to O/C both.  That's from rig2 in my spec.

I also plan on benching my 4580 1GB crossfire system from rig 1 as well.

It might help you decide.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 29, 2010)

Two 4850s are the equivalent of one stock 5850 roughly. So compare the 5850 vs the 460 and you will see what 4850s in crossfire would do.


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## Triton.se (Jul 29, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> I ran two 4850 for a while. They are in fact monsters in a pair. Only reason I upgraded is for DX11. Plus a 5850 is a tad faster but no crossfire problems.



Same here, ran two 4850's in xfire, real "*monsters*" ...drivers scared me even more... IMO useless combo !



TheMailMan78 said:


> Two 4850s are the equivalent of one stock 5850 roughly. So compare the 5850 vs the 460 and you will see what 4850s in crossfire would do.



LOL ..come on !!! 3 days ago I took my two 4850s out of one rig, replaced with a single GTX260... Crossfire problems, 10.4 are OK'sh. 

Xfire and BFBC2 work like this: you can't gain many fps with the 2nd card, instead you can add eye candy, 4xAA etc for similar fps...

atleast with a 3.9GHz Pentium Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 1920x1080 rez..


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 29, 2010)

Triton.se said:


> Same here, ran two 4850's in xfire, real "*monsters*" ...drivers scared me even more... IMO useless combo !
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Every bench on TPU says I'm right so I'm going with W1zz and my personal experience on this one.


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## Flak (Jul 31, 2010)

My 4850 CF setup in my system specs is slower then a Galaxy 1gb GTX 460 GC version in the same system and the GTX 460 isn't overclocked over what it comes at (700/1890).  Needless to say for now the GTX 460 is in my main rig and the 4850cf has been moved to the spare gaming rig with the 512mb 8800gts moved to a third gaming rig.

And dumping the CF setup has allowed me to overclock my i7 further with lower voltages across the board.....


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 31, 2010)

GTX 460!

Will not perform as well as the 2x4850s but you will get DX11, Physx, CUDA, etc


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## JATownes (Jul 31, 2010)

Just out of curiosity, what does the GTX460 bench in Vantage or 3DM06?  With my PII 940 @ 3650Mhz and my 4850s at 700Mhz I hit just under P14000 in Vantage and just under 20,000 in 06.  So I was just curious.


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## mawbzee (Feb 9, 2011)

Little bit late but....

I have a 4850 x 2 1gb card in my wifes comp. She has an i7 @ 4000Mhz and the card is clocked at 690mhz gpu and 1120mhz memory.

She is getting a 3d mark 06 score of just over 26,000 

Hope this helps any one that stubbles across this old thread


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## wolf (Feb 9, 2011)

JATownes said:


> Just out of curiosity, what does the GTX460 bench in Vantage or 3DM06?  With my PII 940 @ 3650Mhz and my 4850s at 700Mhz I hit just under P14000 in Vantage and just under 20,000 in 06.  So I was just curious.



My 460 OC is at P20600 with a X6 1090T @ 3.8ghz, GPU score 17,282.

that was a high oc for the card tho... 915mhz core, 1830mhz sp's and 4400mhz effective memory.

EDIT: lol didnt see the dates of the posts... old thread lol.


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## JATownes (Feb 9, 2011)

LOL...yea, I have since upgraded to a pair of MSI Twin Frozr 6870s and a PII965 @ 4.0Ghz, so my question is moot at this point.  

This was a major revive of a necro thread...


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## REDDLINE (Feb 9, 2011)

I'd say, go for the GTX 460, i have owned both, well my cousin actually has owned both
he had 2 4850's in his computer, first one gave out, sent it back, and the second one had EXTREME temp problems, i even have a post in the Ghetto Mods about it on how i cooled it.

Currently he has a Galaxy GTX 460, and it runs very well, not too hot, maxes most games at 1680 by 1050, and he also has the high performance GOU H@H running on it  which is always good!

If it was up to me, the GTX 460 is a very nice card and very stable compared to the 4850.


P.S. and heres my post in Ghetto Mods on the 4850 if it means anything 

 Ghetto Mods


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## REDDLINE (Feb 9, 2011)

Oh wow, didn't see how old this was!

:S


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## yogurt_21 (Feb 9, 2011)

yay for thread necromancy!


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## joeyck (Feb 9, 2011)

yea.. i went ahead with a gtx 460 and a phenomII for him xD


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