I want to up grade my graphics card however have very limited money i currently run a gddr5 variant of the 3870. Recently i saw the offer overclockers have on for the 3850 X2 for 50 notes. Is this the same as a 3870 x2 because iirc the 3870 x2 used two 3850 chips. I only game at 1680 x 1050 (or whatever i cant remember what it is exectly) and i only have a low end psu so going for a more up to date card would mean upgrading that too. Will i see definate gains with the 3850 x2 over my current card??
That's an interesting question. The 3850 and 3870 are very different beasts, although it's actually pretty tricky to find a decent review of it. It sounds to me like the cheap 3850X2 would be a reasonable option for an upgrade, it's worth noting that it is a 2*3850 GPU card, whereas the 3870X2 is 2*3870 GPU's.
According to the original review of the 3870X2 (RV680) it's two 3870's nailed together. I didn't know either, but there you have it.
they were kept in family so the 3870X2 used 3870 cores. its only nvidia that decided to slap two GTX275 cores together and create a GTX295, altho asus recently did it the way it should be with dual GTX285's.
You could look at getting a faster single chip card rather than the x2, unless you can find a really good price on it. Single chip card are less reliant on drivers and their performance if far more reliable.
If you're short on money, you shouldn't be making such small upgrades. Wait untill you can afford an equivilant model from the next generation of cards.
better yet, drop $90 on a 4850. i havent had any problems with mine, been running everything i throw at it full detail @ 1680x1050. this was stepping up from a 8600gt ... HUGE difference.
+1 to the 4850, can't really go wrong with it, cheap now and DX10 will keep you going for a while longer than a DX9 card... US - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127401 UK - http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=GC-XR485H512&af=50
