Some might argue that the difference between one HD3850 and a pair of them being ran in a Crossfire configuration does not raise the performance level high enough to justify the added expense. To this I reply, just wait until ATI gets the drivers perfected which is not that far in the future and you will have a system that is equal to or better than anything NVIDIA has to offer. I'm sure the NVIDIA fanboyz are going to say that this pure nonsense, but only time will tell for sure.
The one thing we can confirm is that the difference between two cards ran in a Crossfire configuration and a single card at low resolution is barely noticeable. The easiest way to explain this, image 2 HD3850 cards running at a resolution of 800 x 600 playing a game like the original version of Unreal Tournament. There is not going to be enough of a load on both of the cards to really drive them both hard. Yet take one card and it may be operating at maximum efficiency.
Is Crossfire worth the extra money, in my mind it is since the drivers can only get better on down the road.
A special thanks to Sapphire Technology for their support during this review.
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