ATI 5970 or 160GB Intel SSD

[Kamorithm]

Hi All,

As the subject asks which upgrade would you choose: a 5970 or a 160GB Intel SSD.

My current system specs are:

i7 920
6GB RAM
4870X2
Intel 80GB SSD
1TB WD Black
24 inch HP LP2475w (1920x1200)

The systems is mainly used for gaming, which at the moment is Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Dawn of War (bought at release and only just got to it).

My 80GB SSD is starting to get pretty full, with only around 10GB free and I have quite a few games not installed from Steam. My 4870X2 is starting to feel the pace a bit in Battlefield and a little more performance wouldn't hurt.

So which would you go for:
- 160GB Intel SSD for games and then keep the 4870X2
- 5970 and move the games to the 1TB WD Black

As far as price goes the SSD works out around £330 and the 5970 is £520.

Mike

 

[RaistlinZ]

Well, the 5970 would actually give you more FPS. The SSD wouldn't. So I would go with the 5970.

 

[Dark Shroud]

If you already have an SSD just buy the 5970. Besides Intel is refreshing their SSD drives in Q4 of this year so you're better off waiting until then anyway.

 

[faxon]

If you already have an SSD just buy the 5970. Besides Intel is refreshing their SSD drives in Q4 of this year so you're better off waiting until then anyway.

this

 

[BlackDragon24]

Get a 5870 and a second 80GB and RAID it

 

[RussianSensation]

Hi All,

The systems is mainly used for gaming

Sell the 4870 X2 and use those funds to upgrade to a 5970. I would hold out on the SSD, especially from Intel since Sandforce drives are actually more expensive per GB than Intel's, while Intel's drives are going to be replaced this year. Last time this happened, we got double the capacity at the same price point (i.e., Intel Gen2 160GB for the price of Intel Gen 1 80GB).

Other than that, you may want to consider a cheap mechanical drive to move all the things which you may have on an SSD that are not noticeable in loading times when running on the mechanical drive (such as loading an HD movie or MP3s).

 

[Arkaign]

I'm gonna go against the grain here, 5970 for a 1920x1200 24"? A 5870 would be just about as good IMHO, and when the next-gen ATI card and the refresh Nvidia stuff hits later this year (probably, no guarantees of course), you can probably pick up one cheapish to xfire. All of the i7 9xx mobos I've seen support xfire.

Anyway, either 5970 (overkill in expense for 1920 res imho), or 5870. SSD makes the system feel a lot smoother day to day, but unless you're running a game that constantly beats the crap out of the HDD, or you just itch to load maps a little quicker, I think the video card will be a ton more noticeable to you.

Of course, the 5870 isn't going to be night-and-day faster than a 4870x2, it might even be a shade slower in some old games. IIRC the 5-series ATI parts have continually increased performance with driver updates though, and getting the 5870 would open the door to Xfire for cheapish later.

 

[Kamorithm]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I hadn't considered the 5870 as it looked to be pretty similar to the 4870x2 performance wise, and that would be an expensive side step (£320).

There is always new hardware round the corner but I suppose I could move my games onto the WD 1TB black drive and stick with the 4870x2 and wait and see what does come out.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Keep your priority games (you mention BFBC2 and DoW for instance) on your SSD where load times might be more crucial and move the others to the 1TB WD Black.

 

[ZimZum]

5970

 

[Obsoleet]

I'd get a 5870 instead, and also get the 160GB. That's my setup. You'd probably come out really close to the cost of the 5970.

Forced between the two, I would take the larger SSD depending on what ebay will give you for the 80GB.

I love my 160GB SSD.. while most people get to dream about having a large, fast SSD.. I've been actually using one. I have my reservations on the waiting game when it comes to PC hardware.

I think waiting for the Q4 Intel release is silly. Prices won't drop, and the evolution to HDD-like pricing will likely never happen when there's only two suppliers of memory for SSDs, one, with outdated facilities.

And, if you wait for the SATA6 Intel drives, you end up with a SATA3 rig (or if you have the add-in chips which are less than ideal IMO), using a SATA6 SSD you'll have the itch to upgrade your motherboard so you have SATA6 to match it.. so there's even MORE money spent.

160GB is great, I have all the games I need or want installed on it. There's NO point to moving your games to the HDD. Use that for movies and music only.

Intel makes the best SSDs, and AMD makes the best GPUs.
I vote for a 5870 and 160GB SSD.

 

[Will Robinson]

In 2 years or so the very expensive HD5970 will be just another out of date video card.The SSD however ought to be humming along nicely for the next 5 years and so is probably a better choice.
As with the poster above,get the SSD and an HD5870 and you'll be as smooth in those games as surfing a wave of double cream.

 

[Dark Shroud]

I think waiting for the Q4 Intel release is silly. Prices won't drop, and the evolution to HDD-like pricing will likely never happen when there's only two suppliers of memory for SSDs, one, with outdated facilities.

Prices might not drop but you will get more capacity for the same prices.

 

[Obsoleet]

That would be equivalent to a price drop. There's no reasonable expectation or economic principle that would lead me to believe otherwise (outside of a government subsidy of SSDs). Intel/Micron invested millions in their facilities during the economic downturn, no one else in the world did. They aren't going to give out more for less, they'll simply collect more profit. That's the payoff of a risk..

Controllers might get cheaper, which is part of a SSD. There's plenty of competition there. I think it's wishful thinking until others start putting in similar investments to Intel's.

 

[nOOky]

Me, I'd opt for none of the above and try and swing a 30" monitor. Then you'd have no choice but to grab a 5970 to keep the gameplay smooth
Of your choices though I'd get the graphics card first, you can always pare down the amount of stuff on your ssd drive.

 

[mfenn]

Since you already have an 80GB x25-m, it makes NO sense to buy a 160GB. No matter what you do WRT the GPU, you should only buy another 80GB x25-m and RAID0 them. RAID0 80GB drives are much faster than a single 160GB drive (8 total channels on the SSD controller instead of 4).

 

[alcoholbob]

Well, the 5970 would actually give you more FPS. The SSD wouldn't. So I would go with the 5970.

If you mean simply swapping one SSD for another, I agree, there is no benefit, but SSD's with it's low latency and high random reads in general have shown to improve texture streaming.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/intelx25mlaunch_090808151933/17331.png

 

[FalseChristian]

I'd go with the 5970. Your 1TB Hard-drive is more than fast enough. I've got 2 1TB drives and I think SSDs are an expensive gimmick at the moment.

 

[Rubycon]

As the owner of several 5970s I recommend not getting one.

Save your money. (or get a 480!)

 

[bryanW1995]

I'd go with the 5970. Your 1TB Hard-drive is more than fast enough. I've got 2 1TB drives and I think SSDs are an expensive gimmick at the moment.

I used to think that until I bought an x25m. It is a pita to keep enough space on it but otherwise is great

 

[RaistlinZ]

What deters you from the 5970, Ruby?

 

[Rubycon]

What deters you from the 5970, Ruby?

It just isn't as smooth as a single 480 to me.

 

[GotNoRice]

Does your board do crossfire? What power-supply do you have? Have you considered picking up another 4870x2 now that they are so cheap used?

You mention getting a 5970 or a 160gb SSD. Instead, you could get another 80gb SSD and raid it with your current drive, and also get another 4870x2. 2x80gb SSDs would likely crush the 160gb SSD, and BC2 has amazing quad crossfire scaling; 90%+ GPU utilization on all 4 GPUs. At that point you are talking about performance approaching and even surpassing the 5970. Power consumption would be higher than GTX480 SLI however.

 

[Kamorithm]

I did a quick google search and found that I can split my Steam games folder across multiple drives so I have moved a lot of my other games onto the 1TB drive, which has freed up 30GB of space on my SSD. So I am probably leaning more towards the graphics card upgrade now.

Interesting comments regarding the 5970 Rubycon, would you say your feelings are more regarding general crossfire setups or is the problem specifc to the 5970?

Does your board do crossfire? What power-supply do you have? Have you considered picking up another 4870x2 now that they are so cheap used?

My motherboard will do crossfire, and my PSU is a Corsair 850TX.

 

[postmortemIA]

IMO GFX is better investment because refresh / new gen just happened and SSDs are still waiting for breakthrough that will make them mainstream.