Relative newcomer to video cards seeks opinions

[Karl Agathon]

Hello all, I have decided to enter the world of pc gaming by either building or buying a decent gaming machine. Lurking here for a few days I have seen that there are plenty of knowledgeable folks who might be able to give a newcomer like myself a tip or two regarding GPUs. in a nut shell, im currently eyeing:

Single GTX 480
Single Radeon 5970

Researching a little it seems the 5970 is the more powerful of the two but please correct me if im wrong on that. I also thought about going with GTX 460 SLI but im a little hesitant because ive read about stability issues with dual cards. Any opinions/tips would be greatly appeciated, thanks!

 

[toyota]

what res will you be playing at? also it would help if you list all the other specs that you plan on using.

 

[Kenmitch]

Other than listing your system specs, etc. I guess expressing any interest or need for some of the nvidia specific features would be of importance....PhysX, cuda, etc

Time frame of purchase would be important also

 

[Karl Agathon]

what res will you be playing at? also it would help if you list all the other specs that you plan on using.

Hello and my apologies, I didnt list the rest of my specs because of this being just the video card section. Main specs im looking at:

intel i7-930 (or maybe higher)
6 gigs DDR3 1333 (or maybe higher)

Havent picked a monitor yet, but it will be most likely be native 1920x1080

Will most likely be putting together/buying within 30 days.

I also dont have any specific needs regarding things like cuda or physX. Although if its recommended, I would go that route.

 

[Kenmitch]

Hello and my apologies, I didnt list the rest of my specs because of this being just the video card section. Main specs im looking at:

Other things like case selection, power supply, games you plan on playing might be of some use when asking for video card options. Things like heat, length of card etc. come to mind.

 

[toyota]

well you are going to need a very good power supply and case with good airflow for a high end build. hopefully you have narrowed that down if you haven't already made a decision.

I would probably go with a gtx480 with non reference cooler over the 5970. I personally don't like the though of having to deal with multi gpu issues no matter how rare they are. at 1920x1080 a gtx480 is plenty strong.

 

[Karl Agathon]

Again, my apologies I would mainly be playing FPS games like Call of Duty/Medal of Honor style. Case and PSU wise havent decided yet to be honest. Most likely full tower and at least 850 watts.

 

[toyota]

Again, my apologies I would mainly be playing FPS games like Call of Duty/Medal of Honor style. Cae and PSU wise havent decided yet to be honest.

no need to apologize since you are new to this. you want to get a high quality name brand PSU such as Corsair with around 650-750 watts. if there is even a chance you may go gtx480 sli then 850 watts needs to be the very minimum considered.

as for as cases go I am sure someone can make you some good recommendations as I am cheap and only buy sub $50 cases. lol

 

[Karl Agathon]

Thanks for the tips toyota and everyone else. I really appreciate them! Case wise, im eyeing something like the Coolmaster HAF 932 or a full tower from Antec. Thats if I go the build route. I would rather build one but I am a bit on the weary side. As I am afraid I would mess it up somehow LOL. I also have no plans to overclock.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Cases by Cooler Master and Antec are good.

I'd almost suggest you try to hold off and get AMD's next generation of cards, or get a cheap card to tide you over until the new high end comes. We're pretty close to their release now.

But if you were to buy now I'd say stick to a GTX 480 and go with an upgrade cycle of a year or two.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

Both of those cards are going to be overkill for 1920x1080, especially the 5970. What case you choose will be important for both of these cards as they are quite long.

Also, within your 30 day time period AMD should be releasing their new 6000 series. If you can hang on for a few weeks, you'll have more options available and cheaper prices on what's available now.

 

[toyota]

Both of those cards are going to be overkill for 1920x1080, especially the 5970. What case you choose will be important for both of these cards as they are quite long.

Also, within your 30 day time period AMD should be releasing their new 6000 series. If you can hang on for a few weeks, you'll have more options available and cheaper prices on what's available now.

even at 1920x1080 a gtx480 is not overkill for someone wanting a high end system. now if he is looking for bang for buck or a more budget build then sure a gtx480 is not necessary.

 

[Idontcare]

Hello all, I have decided to enter the world of pc gaming by either building or buying a decent gaming machine. Lurking here for a few days I have seen that there are plenty of knowledgeable folks who might be able to give a newcomer like myself a tip or two regarding GPUs. in a nut shell, im currently eyeing:

Welcome to the forums Karl Agathon :thumbsup:

As others have alluded to, for your targeted LCD resolution of 1080P your video card choices are well in excess of the demands that a current video game would require while maintaining playable frame-rates.

We don't say this to discourage you from pursuing such high-end video-card equipment, there are advantages to having more v-card than you need at the time pf purchase (e.g. min frame rates will never be an issue and you can use the card with more challenging games that might come out in the future) but rather we just want to make sure you are aware of this perchance if effects your budgetary considerations in any way.

For example you might be on the fence as to whether or not you should buy a 5970 + spindle-based Harddrive or buy a 5850 and a 80GB SSD.

We'd all feel rather sheepish if you came back 6 months from now and told us you wish we'd mentioned the "bigger picture" viewpoint before you plunked down your hard-earned cash.

 

[toyota]

yeah if money is a concern then certainly drop the i7 930 1366 build down to an i5 760 1156 build and go with a gtx460 1gb or 5850.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you are considering GTX480/5970, it would be wise to wait for HD6000 series imo. Also, don't make the mistake of getting a $600 GPU and keeping it for 3-4 years. It's much better to get a $250 GPU and upgrade it again in 2 years to another $250 GPU. The biggest difference between GTX480/5970 in today's games at 1920x1080 is strictly the amount of Antialiasing you will be able to use. You still won't max out Metro 2033 with tessellation, DOF and AA, or AvP with tessellation+AA, or Mafia 2 with AA and PhysX on either of these cards. If you were getting a 2560x1600 monitor, then 5970 would shine.

For the games you mentioned, esp. Call of Duty series, 5850/GTX460 overclocked or a GTX470 will be more than enough. I advise that if you are going high-end, you either wait for HD6970 series or get a 5850/GTX460/GTX470 now and upgrade it again in 2 years (i.e., you'll basically lose 30% to a GTX480 today, but a newer card in 2 years will be 50-60%+ faster than GTX480). If you have no problems getting a $500+ GPU every year, then get the best you can afford. Otherwise, you are just wasting $ futureproofing.

 

[happy medium]

If you are considering GTX480/5970, it would be wise to wait for HD6000 series imo

I believe he said he will build within 30 days, I don't think we are going to see the 6000 series high end till at least the end of Nov.

I don't think a single 6770 (5850 performance) in Oct. will be enough for his needs?
I guess he needs to decide that.

 

[bryanW1995]

6770/6870, whatever they end up calling barts xt. it should be ~ 5870 performance but at a much lower price. that is probably 45 days or so out instead of 30, but should be well worth the wait.

On the cpu side I'd recommend an 1156 board and i5 760. stock performance is great, and they OC very easily if you want some extra.

Going with the 1156 mobo, i7 760, and 6770/barts xt will enable you to get a nice ssd or just save the money for a video card/system upgrade in a year or two.

 

[blastingcap]

If you are considering GTX480/5970, it would be wise to wait for HD6000 series imo. Also, don't make the mistake of getting a $600 GPU and keeping it for 3-4 years. It's much better to get a $250 GPU and upgrade it again in 2 years to another $250 GPU. The biggest difference between GTX480/5970 in today's games at 1920x1080 is strictly the amount of Antialiasing you will be able to use. You still won't max out Metro 2033 with tessellation, DOF and AA, or AvP with tessellation+AA, or Mafia 2 with AA and PhysX on either of these cards. If you were getting a 2560x1600 monitor, then 5970 would shine.

For the games you mentioned, esp. Call of Duty series, 5850/GTX460 overclocked or a GTX470 will be more than enough. I advise that if you are going high-end, you either wait for HD6970 series or get a 5850/GTX460/GTX470 now and upgrade it again in 2 years (i.e., you'll basically lose 30% to a GTX480 today, but a newer card in 2 years will be 50-60%+ faster than GTX480). If you have no problems getting a $500+ GPU every year, then get the best you can afford. Otherwise, you are just wasting $ futureproofing.

This. Futureproofing doesn't work as well when the item in question depreciates in value quickly, and GPU value depreciates quickly.

 

[blastingcap]

I believe he said he will build within 30 days, I don't think we are going to see the 6000 series high end till at least the end of Nov.

I don't think a single 6770 (5850 performance) in Oct. will be enough for his needs?
I guess he needs to decide that.

Rumor is 6770 at ~5870 performance with good overclockability by Oct. 25, followed 2-4 weeks later by the 6870 at >GTX480 performance (~20-25% faster).

 

[Karl Agathon]

Hello again, Just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to respond. I really appreciate it! :thumbsup:

 

[Grooveriding]

You ought to wait for the AMD 6 series cards.

The 5970 uses two chips on one card, the GTX 480 is one chip on the card. AMD's fastest card that uses one chip is the 5870. The performance hierarchy of these cards is 5970>GTX 480>5870.

5970 costs $550 now. GTX 480 is $450.

AMD will start releasing new 6 series cards in two weeks, ie: 6870, 6970 etc. They'll release a mid-range card first which you are obviously not after and their high end in November.

If you can wait, you'll be able to get one of the cards you are looking at today a good deal cheaper because the new AMD cards will push prices down on existing cards. Or buy one of the new AMD cards which will be faster than what you are looking at today.

If you can't wait a month though, I'd get a 480, a 5970 is an amazing buy right now at $550 but a lot of cash to lay out for something that is going to be EOL shortly.

 

[happy medium]

followed 2-4 weeks later by the 6870 at >GTX480 performance (~20-25% faster).

Ah last i heard it was DEC. for the high end.

Wow the 6870 is going to 45% faster then a 5870?

 

[CitanUzuki]

I thought last you heard it was being released next year?

 

[blastingcap]

I thought last you heard it was being released next year?

I think he changed his mind: http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=30479379&postcount=41

@happy, I think most people would agree that 35-40% faster than 5870 equates to 20-25% faster than GTX480. You are free to disagree.

 

[RussianSensation]

I think he changed his mind: http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=30479379&postcount=41

@happy, I think most people would agree that 35-40% faster than 5870 equates to 20-25% faster than GTX480. You are free to disagree.

I sure hope so since it is now a new generation NI, not a 'hacked job' as was initially rumoured. New generations are about 70-100% faster than previous. Given that HD6000 is still on 40nm, I have reduced my expectations to 50-60% increase though (leaving room to be impressed , rather than expecting 70-100% and being disappointed). So imo, single-GPU HD6000 high-end better be more than 40% faster than an HD5870 for $400+.