Hello all! Looking forward to hearing your opinions.
I currently run a HD5870, and am quite happy with the card for single monitor gaming at 1920x1200. I can max almost everything in almost every game. However, I have two more monitors on the way and have had the opportunity to test how my rig performs with 3 1680x1050 monitors in eyefinity. I have found out that the 5870 can manage 3 screens, but not at the settings I desire. Even at "only" 5040 x 1050, the card struggles to run at max settings with any amount of AA. So, when faced when the choice between adding another 5870 or going to nvidia, I did some research and came across this: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/07/20/nvidia_surround_technology_performance_review/. This article shows two 5870s taking a severe beating from 2x 480s. The 480s allow significantly higher settings to be used at the same or greater FPS is almost all games. The performance of crossfired 5870s powering an eyefinity setup does not seem to be at all similar to the performance of crossfired 5870s powering a single screen. For whatever reason, it seems the 480s have a great advantage in a multimonitor setup.
In any case, I am curious as to your thoughts on both the article and my situation. I recall reading an article of questionable repute saying that gtx 485s were on target for later this year and would be faster and cooler than the 480s. Newegg has 10% off Fermi right now, tigerdirect has 15% bing cashback which expires at the end of the month (used that on my monitors) and a fair amount of Fermi vendors seem to have rebate offers going. Thus, it seems that if I want to go with the gtx 480s the time is now.
Should I make do with my HD5870 right now and wait until the 485s come out to grab two of those or sell my hd 5870 right now (hopefully at a small loss) and make the switch to 480s, which I could then keep until the next generation. Seeing the mediocre performance of crossfired 5870s in eyefinity, I am hesitant to even buy a second 5870 as it seems both 5870 and 480 are quite similar in price at the moment. How superior are the 485s expected to be to the 480s?
I am not familiar with resale values of graphic cards. How much could I expect to get for a 5870 now or 2 480s when the 485s release?
I currently run a HD5870, and am quite happy with the card for single monitor gaming at 1920x1200. I can max almost everything in almost every game. However, I have two more monitors on the way and have had the opportunity to test how my rig performs with 3 1680x1050 monitors in eyefinity. I have found out that the 5870 can manage 3 screens, but not at the settings I desire. Even at "only" 5040 x 1050, the card struggles to run at max settings with any amount of AA. So, when faced when the choice between adding another 5870 or going to nvidia, I did some research and came across this: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/07/20/nvidia_surround_technology_performance_review/. This article shows two 5870s taking a severe beating from 2x 480s. The 480s allow significantly higher settings to be used at the same or greater FPS is almost all games. The performance of crossfired 5870s powering an eyefinity setup does not seem to be at all similar to the performance of crossfired 5870s powering a single screen. For whatever reason, it seems the 480s have a great advantage in a multimonitor setup.
In any case, I am curious as to your thoughts on both the article and my situation. I recall reading an article of questionable repute saying that gtx 485s were on target for later this year and would be faster and cooler than the 480s. Newegg has 10% off Fermi right now, tigerdirect has 15% bing cashback which expires at the end of the month (used that on my monitors) and a fair amount of Fermi vendors seem to have rebate offers going. Thus, it seems that if I want to go with the gtx 480s the time is now.
Should I make do with my HD5870 right now and wait until the 485s come out to grab two of those or sell my hd 5870 right now (hopefully at a small loss) and make the switch to 480s, which I could then keep until the next generation. Seeing the mediocre performance of crossfired 5870s in eyefinity, I am hesitant to even buy a second 5870 as it seems both 5870 and 480 are quite similar in price at the moment. How superior are the 485s expected to be to the 480s?
I am not familiar with resale values of graphic cards. How much could I expect to get for a 5870 now or 2 480s when the 485s release?
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