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Need help deciding - HD6870 CF vs. GTX580

U

Ulven

Junior Member
I had initially decided to buy the 580 (4200 NOK) and maybe find a way to use my HD5770 as a physics card (Anyone know if this is possible?), but it came to my attention that a HD6870 CF setup would be 1000 NOK less and give overall higher frame rates according to reviews. Frame rates isn't the only thing I care about however since after this purchase I don't think I will upgrade for at least a couple of years. So realizing that this might be a difficult question to answer, how do you think each of the setups would do against future games?

I have never done a dual GPU setup before so I really don't know if there are any possible problems or if you have to use a lot of time to make it work etc. Any experiences?

I plan to use it (@highest possible level of detail) for World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Mass Effect 2, Diablo 3, Crysis, Bad Company 2, Photoshop, watching Blu-ray and probably a few other new games the next 2 years.

I have never done any overclocking so I don't plan on doing that now, but I might do so after a year or two.

Screen resolution: 1920x1080
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D Premium
CPU: intel i7 950
PSU: Cooler Master SilentProM 850W
Don't remember the exact dimension, but I have a big tower so I don't think space will be a problem

These are the two possibilities I think is best for me, but I'm open to other suggestions as well. Any input would be much appreciated 🙂
 
Ulven said:
These are the two possibilities I think is best for me, but I'm open to other suggestions as well. Any input would be much appreciated
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If your board does sli, I suggest you wait for the gtx560 to be released in 13 days.
If it only does x-fire then do the 2 6870's.
 
Ulven said:
I have never done a dual GPU setup before so I really don't know if there are any possible problems or if you have to use a lot of time to make it work etc. Any experiences?
Click to expand...

This is a tricky one to answer. Personally, I have never gone for a multi GPU setup on my own computers as I get annoyed at some of the drawbacks inherent to multi GPU setups (both AMD and Nvidia, here) when I use them on others' systems.

This is something you really need to try for yourself. Some people are utterly fine with what I refer to as "drawbacks" and some aren't.
 
Ulven said:
I have never done a dual GPU setup before so I really don't know if there are any possible problems or if you have to use a lot of time to make it work etc. Any experiences?
Click to expand...
Save yourself the headache and go for the 580gtx unless you know the drawbacks of going multi gpu and are fine with them.
No you can't use a 5770 as a physics card.
 
Some people are utterly fine with what I refer to as "drawbacks" and some aren't.
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Been trying to google these "drawbacks" but I can only find specific problems people have with a specific card or game. Could you (or anyone else) elaborate?
 
Ulven said:
Could you (or anyone else) elaborate?
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The inherent problem of multi-GPU setup is Micro Stuttering. Although the scaling has improved immensely in the past 2 years, micro stuttering will always be present.

Other possibility is that of improper scaling, few games do not scale well.. and in some cases you may even experience negative scaling.

In my experience of using multi GPU's, I have have experienced micro stuttering, but not to the point where it impedes my gaming ability. It can be clearly felt in fast action games.. like arena FPS and racing games. There were a few games that did not scale well with multi GPU's like GTA 4/EFLC in my case.

In your case, I would go with a single GPU setup. Why don't you look into the possibility of purchasing a 570/6950/6970? 580 is way over priced for its performance.
 
ader098 said:
Save yourself the headache and go for the 580gtx unless you know the drawbacks of going multi gpu and are fine with them.
No you can't use a 5770 as a physics card.
Click to expand...

This. If you don't want to continually mess with drivers/profiles/etc. You will want to stay away from crossfire. Can you get a factory overclocked 570 for cheaper? That might be good option for you. AMD cards can not run GPU physics so that kind of rules them out.
 
Wreckage said:
This. If you don't want to continually mess with drivers/profiles/etc. You will want to stay away from crossfire. Can you get a factory overclocked 570 for cheaper? That might be good option for you. AMD cards can not run GPU physics so that kind of rules them out.
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Lol. I installed my drivers and haven't had to mess with them since. My other recent multi-gpu experience has been the same. Profiles really aren't an issue except for a very small handful of games.

OP - A GTX580 is probably the worst bang for the buck right now (except for the 4GB 5970 for $1200 D🙂. If you can wait a little bit for the GTX560 to arrive it would be worth looking into to see how it compares to the current mid-range cards. If you'd rather not wait, a pair of 6870s/460s or a single 6950 would be the best bet.
 
You don't really need crossfire or a gtx 580 for 1080p ... the best options would be a hd 5870, or the gtx 560, which I'm guessing will perform in the same ball park. If you want a more "future proof" setup, you might also want to look at the hd 6970, gtx 570 or the hd 6950.
 
Why don't you look into the possibility of purchasing a 570/6950/6970?
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I had to do some thinking to answer this, hehe. As compared to an overpriced 580 I think the 580 will last longer (plus I think I'm easily swayed by a 10 fps difference), but that might just be in my head. Compared to the 6870 CF a 6970/570 is only 400 NOK cheaper so I was thinking I get a lot more bang for just 400 more.

This. If you don't want to continually mess with drivers/profiles/etc. You will want to stay away from crossfire. Can you get a factory overclocked 570 for cheaper?
Click to expand...

Thanks! I wouldn't like to mess with those more than once a month I think. 570's cost the same as a 6970, but the 570 are sold out everywhere. I have no problem waiting though, but it seems the 6970 performs about the same as a 570.
 
If you are debating 2 6870s versus a 580 you are making, in my opinion, the wrong comparison in multi-gpu versus single card.

If you are already willing to spend the money for a 580, spend $60 more and get two 6950s, which is close to twice as fast as the single 580.
 
Ulven said:
The cost of the 580 is stretching it, I would like to spend a little bit less really
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Since your motherboard supports both Cf and SLI get a 570 gtx and oc or a 6950 and unlock and later on when you feel like you need the performance add another of either card.
 
Thanks for all help! I think I will wait and see how the 560 does in tests before I make my decision 🙂
 
Performance wise:

2x6870 > GTX580

But really
GTX580>2x6870 IMO

Both options are expensive.

I like your idea to wait and see what the 560 brings. But that being said, if you want to put a monster hurt on your games then just go out and by the GTX580 already. Absolutely can't go wrong with that card for gaming. Though it doesn't support bitstreaming if you want to use it for HTPC use. 6870 does as well as the 560 i'd imagine (460 does).
 
A single GTX 570 or 6970. 90-85% the performance of a GTX 580, and cheaper than both a 580 and 6870CF. If you don't want to spend the dime on the 580 and don't want to deal with any potential multi-GPU problems (explained above), then these are your best options.
 
Though it doesn't support bitstreaming if you want to use it for HTPC use.
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I don't use hdmi. DVI to my screen and optical to my receiver (from the mb, not a sound card). I thought bitstreaming was what I did, but after reading about it I'm guessing that the on board sound card is handling the decoding (which might explain why I hear so little from the speakers behind me).

A single GTX 570 or 6970. 90-85% the performance of a GTX 580, and cheaper than both a 580 and 6870CF. If you don't want to spend the dime on the 580 and don't want to deal with any potential multi-GPU problems (explained above), then these are your best options.
Click to expand...

Beginning to lean more towards this solution, but I want to see what the 560 can do before I buy anything.
 
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