Sapphire HD 5970 4GB Toxic or GTX 480 Fermi in SLI?

[GameHawk]

Hello all,

I'm building a new gaming rig and I've narrowed the choices for GPU down to two options:

Sapphire HD 5970 4GB Toxic

OR

two GTX 480 Fermis in SLI

Games that I play: Arma2, Crysis series, Crysis 2 (when it comes out)

Here's my rig so far:

Mobo: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
CPU: Intel Core i7 960 3.2GHz
RAM: 3 X 2GB G.Skill Trident 2000MHz
PSU: Corsair Pro Series 1200W

Which setup offers better performance??

Thanks

 

[Keysplayr]

I haven't seen many benches for the 5970 4GB Toxic, but I'd have to say 2x GTX480's would probably dust it. Hexus rates the Toxic as equivalent in performance to 5870's in Xfire.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=24278&page=15

 

[OCGuy]

Yea 480s in SLI would be the way to go.

 

[GameHawk]

Hmmm, interesting. But would i have to worry about heat with 2 GTX 480s running in SLI?

I have a pretty big case with plenty of fans (Cool Master HAF 932). Will i have to water block the cards?

 

[3DVagabond]

What resolution are you going to be running?

 

[GameHawk]

27" screen at 1920X1200

 

[SlowSpyder]

The Toxic 5970 would likely be the quieter and cooler option. The SLI 480's would be the faster option more often than not (that 5970 is 2x1GHz GPU's?). For a really high end gaming system, typically speed is the number one requirement.

 

[3DVagabond]

I doubt you'll see any difference in game play between the two. Both those setups will eat games alive at that res. The exception being if you play something with PhysX. The SLI setup will play that better. It will also be faster overall. Generally though, you won't notice it, because it will be running at 150fps while the Toxic will be running at 130fps. Those are arbitrary numbers, but you get the idea. As you've alluded to, it will also use a lot more power and generate a lot more heat. The Toxic uses about the same power as a single 480 and stays under 70° C while running Kombuster.

Here's a complete review. http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_toxic_hd5970/ It's pretty thorough, but stops short of a direct comparison with crossfired 480's.

 

[GameHawk]

Vagabond, point taken. But let's just say I went with the 480s in SLI? Would it be a good idea to run those cards without liquid cooling?

 

[bryanW1995]

there is no comparison, sli gtx 460 is at least competitive with a standard 5970, sli gtx 480's will demolish even a toxic 4gb 5970.

Of course, at your resolution you'd probably be better off just getting 2x gtx 460 and waiting for the new cards that come out in 3 mos. you should spend ~ $450 for the 2 x gtx 460's, will probably get ~ 75 % of that back if you sell them in the fall, but you'll be able to get much better performance at that time if the money is still burning a hole in your pocket and you even feel like the upgrade is necessary at all.

edit: you won't need liquid cooling of 2 x gtx 480's as long as you have good case airflow.

 

[Madcatatlas]

lets put things in perspective:


5970 4gb versions, including the Toxic = fastest graphics card in the world atm. Add to that the fact that these cards will overclock pretty well.

They do however cost more than two 480s, last i heard.

Slied 480s will also be more powerful, although i havent seen any benchmark with OCed 5970 4g versus OC sli 480

 

[Keysplayr]

Vagabond, point taken. But let's just say I went with the 480s in SLI? Would it be a good idea to run those cards without liquid cooling?

Huh?

 

[Keysplayr]

lets put things in perspective:


5970 4gb versions, including the Toxic = fastest graphics card in the world atm. Add to that the fact that these cards will overclock pretty well.

They do however cost more than two 480s, last i heard.

Slied 480s will also be more powerful, although i havent seen any benchmark with OCed 5970 4g versus OC sli 480

Isn't the Toxic already clocked at 1000MHz per GPU? How high can they go?

Power draw isn't that much different at load for the Toxic compared to 2x 480's.
And the editors weren't sure why. 670W under load for the Toxic and 710W load for the 480s.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=24278&page=13

 

[GameHawk]

Thanks, everyone. You've given me much to consider.

 

[Grooveriding]

I haven't seen many benches for the 5970 4GB Toxic, but I'd have to say 2x GTX480's would probably dust it. Hexus rates the Toxic as equivalent in performance to 5870's in Xfire.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=24278&page=15

While 'dust it' is a huge exaggeration, 480 SLI will be faster and give you better performance.

For your resolution either would be overkill, and will give you amazing performance. Both of those setups are extremely powerful, but 480 SLI will have the edge and I believe is cheaper ? 750 pounds is what, $1200 american or so ? Not sure on current exchange rates, but that is way too much money for what that card gives.

As far as your heat concerns, make sure you have a motherboard that allows you to have a full space between the cards, meaning they are not directly side by side, but have an empty space between them, the size of one of the cards. I believe your motherboard supports that ? If you can do that, the cards are fine on air cooling with a custom fan profile.

If you leave them directly side by side with no fan profile, expect temps of near 100C, with a space between them and a custom profile though, you can keep them around 80 to 85C under load with air cooling. I have the same case as you, I don't use the stock cooler master fans though, I have 4 120mm on the side, two 120mm in the front, one 120mm in the back up top and an 80mm fan at the bottom in the back and two 120mm at the bottom pulling air up into the case, my power supply is at the top. I see 80 to 85 under load, depending on the game, furmark I get up to 96C.

The cards run really hot, but you can manage it with air cooling if you give them room to breathe and feed them lots of air.

 

[3DVagabond]

Anyone really believe that sli 480 only draws 40W more than the 5970 toxic? If so, I've got this bridge for sale. The reason they can't explain it is because it's obviously wrong. And, no the toxic stock clock isn't 1GHz.

 

[Keysplayr]

While 'dust it' is a huge exaggeration, 480 SLI will be faster and give you better performance.

For your resolution either would be overkill, and will give you amazing performance. Both of those setups are extremely powerful, but 480 SLI will have the edge and I believe is cheaper ? 750 pounds is what, $1200 american or so ? Not sure on current exchange rates, but that is way too much money for what that card gives.

As far as your heat concerns, make sure you have a motherboard that allows you to have a full space between the cards, meaning they are not directly side by side, but have an empty space between them, the size of one of the cards. I believe your motherboard supports that ? If you can do that, the cards are fine on air cooling with a custom fan profile.

If you leave them directly side by side with no fan profile, expect temps of near 100C, with a space between them and a custom profile though, you can keep them around 80 to 85C under load with air cooling.

He'll do better with the 480s. As you say.

 

[Madcatatlas]

Isn't the Toxic already clocked at 1000MHz per GPU? How high can they go?

Power draw isn't that much different at load for the Toxic compared to 2x 480's.
And the editors weren't sure why. 670W under load for the Toxic and 710W load for the 480s.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=24278&page=13

good questions, and im not sure tbh.

Since the OP himself mentions power/heat/noise concerns, i think its in its place to say that the more powerful Sli 480s will generate more of that. I would check Hardocp.com for the video with audio, showing just how the 480 sounds compared to the 5870 for example.

 

[Keysplayr]

Anyone really believe that sli 480 only draws 40W more than the 5970 toxic? If so, I've got this bridge for sale. The reason they can't explain it is because it's obviously wrong. And, no the toxic stock clock isn't 1GHz.

Yeah, I think something was wrong. Look at the idle power draw for GTX480s. 255W?
Seems high. So there may be something to it.

Don't forget that those GPU's are clocked at 1000MHz apiece and there is another 2GB of memory over say 5870 Xfire. So, I can imagine it consumes quite a bit more juice.

 

[solofly]

I would hate to pay 1000+ dollars for a card that comes with only 2 year warranty...

 

[Grooveriding]

He'll do better with the 480s. As you say.

Yeah The exaggeration comment was a bit much.

Honestly if the 5970 was say $100 or more less than 480 SLI , I would recommend that, just in terms of price vs performance you need.

It would be slower than 480 SLI, but I think either setup will eat his resolution alive. I used 5870 CF at 1920x1200 and felt it was too much power. 480 SLI is anywhere from 20 to 40% faster than 5870CF at times and is probably too much power for 1920x1200.

That said, you can crank AA forever and will enjoy the performance it gives. I definitely prefer 480 SLI to 5870CF. I don't think that 5970 card is all that much faster than 5870CF is.

If you are going multi-gpu at the high end, I think you're better off with nvidia op, the scaling is much better than ATI offers with crossfire.

 

[Madcatatlas]

After Sapphire’s tweaking and the addition of the massive cooler, these GPUs run at
900MHz, up from the 725MHz of a stock-speed HD 5970. This theoretically makes the Toxic comfortably faster than two HD 5870s (which share the same GPU and are clocked at 850MHz) in CrossFire

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/05/11/sapphire/1

so they are clocked at 900 mhz on the core.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/sapphire_5970_toxic_review/3
overclocked to 999mhz on the core

 

[JSt0rm]

you need to up your resolution if you want to feel those cards

 

[3DVagabond]

Yeah, I think something was wrong. Look at the idle power draw for GTX480s. 255W?
Seems high. So there may be something to it.

Don't forget that those GPU's are clocked at 1000MHz apiece and there is another 2GB of memory over say 5870 Xfire. So, I can imagine it consumes quite a bit more juice.

Stock clocks are 900MHz. It's going to use a bit more power than crossfired 5870, but not that much more with 4Gb RAM and 50MHz O/C.

Edit: Madcatatlas beat me to it.

 

[happy medium]

I would go for 2 Evga gtx 470's in sli for $280 after rebate each.
For $600 or $580 AR, these cards will perform just as good @1900x1080,and the extra 280mb of memory is nice. Save yourself 3/400$ and get 90% of the performance at that res.. Don't forget they overclock well also.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3836/msis-geforce-n470gtx-gtx-470-sli/4


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-550-_-Product