Which card to pick for a £160- budget

[nukeman8]

right first i post the spec on the pc im building

graphics card
processor Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4GHz S775
motherboard MSI X38 diamond intel x38 crossfire ddr3
ram Corsair 2GB (2x1024MB) PC3 8500 Dual Channel DDR3 (TWIN3X2048-1066C7 G) XMS3-8500 C7 TwinX
processor cooling Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler
PSU Antec TruePower Quattro 850W Modular PSU
Harddrive Samsung 750GB HD753LJ Spinpoint F1 SATA II 7200 rpm 32MB Cache - OEM
case Coolermaster Centurion 590

i was going to buy 512MB GeForce 8800 GTS but after realising the motherboard im getting supports crossfire and not sli im after a crossfire graphics card now.
2 have caught my eye so far GIGABYTE ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB and sapphire radeon hd 4850.
i want to buy 1 card now and at a later date add a second to take advantage of crossfire.
like i said in title my budget is £160- the 2 cards i have already mentioned cost around 110-120 sooooooooo
long story short is there any crossfire card thats better then the 2 i have listed and withing my budget?

also the sapphire radeon hd 4850 is better than the GIGABYTE ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB right?
im not to good when it comes to graphic cards.

thanks in advance

*edit also feel free to comment on my setup as i havent brought it yet and always open to suggestions.
plus if i was running 2 sapphire radeon hd 4850 i would need two 6 pin connectors which i havent the foggiest if my motherboard im after has them?

[martini161]

so, 160 euro is like 250 american dollars right? this really depends on your monitor resolution, if its not at or above a 24 inch monitor, a single 4870 would probably be good

[nukeman8]

160 pounds = roughly 320 dollars
4870 costs £180
bit high but i would fork out for it if its alot better than a 4850
what about two 4850's?

my screen is 19"
no idea this had an impact on choice of graphic cards.

[martini161]

sli or corssfire will only be worth the price at 24 inches and above. if i were you i wuold fork out the extra 20 euro for a 4870.

[nukeman8]

thanks for all the replies
which last question i promise
why does the screen size matter?

[smack323]

the screen size would make a difference because of the supported resolutions.

typical 19" resolution is 1280x1024
19" widescreen is 1440x900
24" widescreen is 1920x1200

the higher the resolution the more powerfull the card will need to be to keep your games running smoothly. If you dont plan on getting a bigger monitor dont worry about getting another card for crossfire. I dont think you would notice any difference. I think you would be better off getting one 4870 and down the road get a 22 inch monitor. I think the 4870 would work just fine by itself.

[martini161]

the screen size matters because the bigger the screen, the more pixels the graphics card has to render

[DaddyRabbit]

LCD screens have a "native resolution" where the image looks the best (try setting the resolution on your 19" display to 800x600 and you'll see what I mean) . The bigger the LCD panel the higher the resolution the beefier of a GPU you need to maintain framerate in games. CRT monitors are a different matter however.

I agree that the 4870 would be a better purchase for now and then upgrade the monitor instead of a second card for crossfire. Also, if you went with a DDR2 mobo and RAM you would save the money that the 4870 cost difference is on memory costs.

That said, My 4870 works a dream on my 24" LCD. Crossfire (or SLI for that matter) is only helpful in games and with drivers that have solid support, I am a single faster card vs. 2 cards type.

[nukeman8]

ok you have me convince, can anyone suggest a good motherboard that work well with my current setup? with ddr2 of course