5970 or GTX 480

[brandonb]

If you are doing graphics software development and use DirectX, I'd consider the ATI option. Shader programming is more "to spec" than Nvidia. Nvidia drivers if you accidently forget to set an alpha channel for example, it will assume its full opaque, ATi on the other hand will default to 0 (completely transparent) which the variable defaults to anyways. So, Nvidia will assume things, ATI is more "as it's supposed to do."

I used to use Nvidia cards for game programming, and then when I'd run on ATI I'd find alot of "bugs" in my code, only to find out the bugs were actually there on the Nvidia side but I programmed using their assumptions rather than following the spec. I now only program on ATI cards for that reason.

But maybe Nvidia drivers have changed since.

 

[ArchAngel777]

*everything* i do PC, is done on my notebook - *except gaming*
- you have the absolute best of both worlds - super-low power and you can use your regular display from your laptop with no sacrifices at all

Then when i fire up 5870 CrossFire ... or 4870-X3 Trifire .. or GTX 480 for gaming (or benching), i don't feel at all wasteful and can enjoy the experience. Plus the savings on my power bill is a consideration

Yep, I find myself working on my laptop quite a bit more myself. Although, sometimes it does get tiring looking at a 13.3" display. Although I just have to deal with it as I travel way to frequently... Vegas on the 12th, here I come

 

[ronnn]

If you can get a 480, get it quick.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

5970

 

[SRoode]

... of course my guess is the 480 will be put on a multi GPU card too 490? if you wait a few months.

It would need a third set of 12V connections and an iceberg sitting on top of it.

 

[evolucion8]

Hd 5970

 

[Rubycon]

It would need a third set of 12V connections and an iceberg sitting on top of it.

GTX 495 will be the dual version. Dual 8 pin connectors.

 

[apoppin]

Yep, I find myself working on my laptop quite a bit more myself. Although, sometimes it does get tiring looking at a 13.3" display. Although I just have to deal with it as I travel way to frequently... Vegas on the 12th, here I come

i can't quite work with that small of a screen; mine is 15.6" 13x7 and i frequently use my 19x12 LCD as an external display to do work; my notebook's GeForce 8200 M with a VGA out won't drive my 2560x1600 display which requires dual-link DVI.

Using my notebook for everything but gaming sure beats having my HD 5870 CrossFire sitting idle for 95% of the time while i work on 2D, web-related and business applications. However, if i am encoding video, i use the GeForce and Core i7 to save time.

 

[solofly]

5970

You don't say...

 

[Jacky60]

5970 wins every time and is cooler and quieter. If there really are no limits go 5970 2 way or 3 way xfire.

 

[alcoholbob]

I like how people have been waiting for a single GPU solution to run Crysis; the 480 comes out and it runs almost EXACTLY as fast as a 5870. For the joys of having an nvidia sticker, you get a ton more heat and power consumption.

 

[scooterlibby]

I chose 5970. Should arrive tomorrow for me.

 

[cbn]

5970 and 480s are failures waiting to happen. too much heat and power into a small area.

.....even with Full cover block watercooling?

 

[HurleyBird]

Money is no object and you want the ultimate developer system? Get the 5970X2 (three monitors used correctly WILL increase your productivity and having a CF/SLI system will help you assess multi-GPU performance), and then get a something like a 9800GT for PhysX and so you can still test your apps out on an Nvidia GPU on the same rig.

 

[SRoode]

.....even with Full cover block watercooling?

A GTX480 (if you can find one, let alone for MSRP), plus a full cover block watercooler (if they make one since there will not be a lot of GTX480s made) would cost more than a 5970. So, do you go this route hoping the GTX480 on water could overclock enough (at least 30-40% on average, some games much more) to a stock 5970 which is cool and quiet enough not to warrant watercooling? I don't get it.

 

[SRoode]

Plus, noise aside, the 5970 would draw less power (even with 2 GPUS) and cost you less to operate.

 

[cbn]

The 295 is single PCB watercooled edition from EVGA. Great card very fast and no stuttering only issue is huge fail rates. When I bought it for $559 refurb at newegg it only had 2 stars but I took a chance anyway with it and had to use warranty after 6 days. Been running strong for about 4 months now (crosses fingers). My take is based on NV and ATI x2's reports is there is simply too much heat on board causing major thermal cycling (this is when traces heat up above 100C and cool back down over and over again) and eventually cards fail.

Why did you have to RMA in the first place? Does that EVGA use a true fullcover waterblock or one of the hybrid designs?

 

[T2k]

Hi,

First let me apologise that my first post is a lame vs. question. But I need some advice...

I am building a new no limit(s) rig. I will use it for software development and of course some gaming

Mobo will probably be: Asus P6T6 WS Revolution
CPU: Core i7 980-X

Should I go for ATI 5970 or Nvidia GTX 480?

Thanks!

No limits? That's easy...

Single-card: 5970 (beats the shit out of a GTX480)
Dual-card: 2x 5970 in CF (completely mops the floor with 2x GTX480 in SLI)

 

[T2k]

GTX 495 will be the dual version. Dual 8 pin connectors.

Nonono, it's dual PSU Edition. ^_^

 

[RaistlinZ]

So I wonder what will be faster, a GTX 495 or the inevitable HD 5990?

 

[SRoode]

That's easy... The HD 5990. Because the GTX 495 (if it is meant to be a dual core Fermi in this generation) will never exist.

 

[cbn]

So I wonder what will be faster, a GTX 495 or the inevitable HD 5990?

We have to hope Nvidia can clean up their process technology so they can fit two GF102 cores on a single PCB.

This would probably compete against dual southern islands GPUs for the 300 watt single PCI-E slot crown.

So in all likelihood we would be looking at GTX 495 vs HD6970 (which I presume would be the name for southern islands).

 

[tweakboy]

The big red ATI dual gpu pownz the 480 for lunch, Time for nVidia to get their act together. thx

 

[halley]

5970 wins every time and is cooler and quieter. If there really are no limits go 5970 2 way or 3 way xfire.

If I remember well, xfire supports only 4. I don't know what would happen if you install 3 5970's (2 cores x 3 = 6) in your case.
On the other side, nvidia supports only 3 GPU's in the same setup. If nvidia decides to put 2 GTX480 GPU's on the same card and call it GTX485, what would be the functionality of the 4th GPU?

 

[Dark Shroud]

If I remember well, xfire supports only 4. I don't know what would happen if you install 3 5970's (2 cores x 3 = 6) in your case.

Well it won't work with the other two because the 5970 only has one bridge connection.

On the other side, nvidia supports only 3 GPU's in the same setup. If nvidia decides to put 2 GTX480 GPU's on the same card and call it GTX485, what would be the functionality of the 4th GPU?

If you're lucky it could be used for PhysX. I do wonder what the software does because I've seen rigs with the GTX295 in SLI. I have no idea how the systems run though.