470 SLI & 6850/6870 CF - good bang for the buck!

[Hauk]

580 SLI charts may reveal that config's power; but look at these mid-range solutions topping the charts. Kinda surprised more people aren't considering. They handle a single 580, and the framerate difference between them and 480/580 SLI is a moot point when the biggest variances occur above 60fps. Multi-gpu phobia?

Look at them vs. 580 SLI: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4012/nvidias-geforce-gtx-580-the-sli-update/2

I'll give that power draw & heat increase with multi; but IMO, other negatives people speak of are blown out of proportion. Sure you need a balanced rig to accomodate; but drivers and game compatibility have vastly improved.

 

[blastingcap]

multi-GPU has potential problems that single-GPU does not have

power/heat/noise (especially if mobo puts the cards right next to each other)
upgrade mobo
upgrade PSU
keep drivers up to date, profiles too
possibly more microstutter than single-GPU

But hey, whatever floats your boat.

 

[Jdawg84]

I thought about TRI 470 SLI but was urged against it because of all the freakin heat.

 

[Ben90]

Add increased input delay and driver overhead to the list.

 

[Hauk]

I thought about TRI 470 SLI but was urged against it because of all the freakin heat.

Tri is not practical from most standpoints. A good dual config in a well balanced system, nice. You killed it though, 580 SLI FTW.

 

[Hauk]

Add increased input delay and driver overhead to the list.

Increased driver overhead?

 

[manimal]

I just sold off my 4890 Xfire cards for 125 each and picked up two 470s for 210 each to replace them. The Galaxy 470OCs clock up to 750 and are surprisingly very quiet at full bore.

Amazing performance for the price...AMAZING...

What games are more playable on the 580 sli vs the 470 sli that are out right now?

not many...

 

[Jdawg84]

I just sold off my 4890 Xfire cards for 125 each and picked up two 470s for 210 each to replace them. The Galaxy 470OCs clock up to 750 and are surprisingly very quiet at full bore.

Amazing performance for the price...AMAZING...

What games are more playable on the 580 sli vs the 470 sli that are out right now?

not many...

580 SLI is more futureproof for something like Crysis 2.

Supposedly GF110 is a lot more overclockable then GF100 was. I believe i saw a slide where the Asus 580 was clocked over 1.1ghz core with DICE

 

[JM Popaleetus]

I literally just bought two 6850s about 8 hours ago (they have already shipped too, yay Newegg). I feel that the $100 you save by going with 50s over 70s is worth it, especially since that latest AT article shows that the 6850 OCs and matches the 6870 quite easily.

That's better-than-GTX580 performance all for $340.

 

[manimal]

580 SLI is more futureproof for something like Crysis 2.

Supposedly GF110 is a lot more overclockable then GF100 was. I believe i saw a slide where the Asus 580 was clocked over 1.1ghz core with DICE

One game? I bet the only difference will be AA..

 

[Will Robinson]

Congrats JM Pop'.....that's gonna be a badass graphics setup!:awe:

 

[RussianSensation]

580 SLI is more futureproof for something like Crysis 2.

Hold on did you just say a $1000 GPU setup is more futureproof than a $420 GPU setup. :hmm:

That's better-than-GTX580 performance all for $340.

GTX470 SLI / HD6870 CF / HD6850 CF overclocked > GTX580. We have seen this before with HD5850 CF > HD5970 and GTX460 SLI > HD5870. However, some still prefer single cards. Both camps have their valid points.

Best high end bang for the buck setup at the moment - 6850s in CF overclocked.

GTX580 is about 45-50% faster than a GTX470. Since GTX470s can be found for ~ $230 --> GTX580 $349. NV just added a $150 price premium for kicks and giggles (i.e., price inelastic consumers or people who want the best 365 days a year). Although the previous $450 GTX480 prices were even more laughable. I picked up 2x GTX470s for $404...

 

[Hauk]

One game? I bet the only difference will be AA..

If C2 has advanced settings like Crysis, there will probably be a few areas he'll be able to set higher (shaders, etc). Having 470 SLI at the moment, I'm with ya, it's one game.

We may have another round of card releases coming; but nothing's coming that'll give you more performance for this kind of money.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

GTX580 is about 45-50% faster than a GTX470. Since GTX470s can be found for ~ $230 --> GTX580 $349. NV just added a $150 price premium for kicks and giggles (i.e., price inelastic consumers or people who want the best 365 days a year). Although the previous $450 GTX480 prices were even more laughable. I picked up 2x GTX470s for $404...

The fastest video cards are never priced linearly in accordance with performance. The same trend is probably found all the way down to mid range and budget cards, too.

 

[Skurge]

Well, we just got GTX580s over here and boy are they cheap. Same price as a 480 now and just a little more than a 5870.

GTX580 - U$700
HD5970 - U$830
GTX470 - U$500
HD6870 - U$430
HD6850 - U$280

U can see which card is gonna sell a lot from that list.

 

[crazylegs]

Mid-range multi GPU setups (either HD68xx CF or GTX4xx SLI) do look very appealing atm, more so than ever imo.

My system is due an overhaul soon (more games/apps finally benefit from Quad core, comapred to my OC dual), if I can justify spending the money I am very tempted to try my 1st multi-GPU setup as i feel the £$£ to performance ratio out weighs any potential negatives.

Lets hope this trend continues with future releases 😀

 

[Arkadrel]

I literally just bought two 6850s about 8 hours ago (they have already shipped too, yay Newegg). I feel that the $100 you save by going with 50s over 70s is worth it, especially since that latest AT article shows that the 6850 OCs and matches the 6870 quite easily.

That's better-than-GTX580 performance all for $340.

Im a cheap bastard myself... but my 5870 is fine for me personally.
If I wanted more performance, id go with 6850x2 as well.

Better than single 580 performance for 340$ is pretty amasing value (compaired to 550$ for a single 580).

 

[Red Storm]

When looking only at price/performance, multi-gpu with mid range is almost always better than the single high end, but there are other factors in play. Single GPU will have newer features, and is less likely to run into problems with games. Not to mention lower power consumption and temps. Personally I always sell my current card when upgrading, so I'd rather have only one card that is deprecating in value than two.

Do I think a 580 is ~$200 better than SLI/CF 460s/6850s? No, but prices are still in flux, with the 6970 launching soon we'll see what things look like then.