2x 128-bit vs 1x 256-bit

[Askindava]

I'm building a new system and have a question about which video card setup i should use. For the same price (about) I can either get 2 1GB 128-bit Radeon HD 5770's and crossfire them, or buy 1 1GB 256-bit Radeon HD 5850. Which would be better, and in general is bit or GB more important/will look better/last longer? Thanks for your help!

[Aaron_8015]

TBH those are not the most important things to look for in video cards, the core, steam processes, etc are better to compare them with (but only of the radeon line). You are best looking at benchmarks to determine which is better. The amount of memory a card has will only become important when you start using high screen res.

I can tell the 5850 is a much faster card than the 5770 and the X-fire 5770 are a little faster than the 5850 in some tests. It is 90% of the time better to pick up a single faster card and mabye add to that in the future than buying a multi-card setup straight off the bat.