Should I bight the bullet and upgrade my 5870 to a 5970? Anxious and stock worried..

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Should I...

  • upgrade to a 5970 asap if it is in stock

  • wait for GTX480

  • keep my 5870

  • other

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Apocalypse23

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
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It's been about 16 days so far with my 5870 purchase, I tried a couple of games on it and it runs them great, Crysis Warhead @Everything Enthusiast 1920x1080 gives me a steady 29-35 fps with 2xAA and 16XAF. However, I want more....and hearing the latest news about Fermi's limited quantity March launch is boring me....The question is, should I sell the 5870 and purchase a 5970 for about $400 CAD more in total (after taxes)? This is because I have a local outlet that has the 5970s in stock atm, but I'm concerned that after Fermi's launch or around Fermi's launch, the stocks will be depleted. Also, I'm hearing word about a 5970 being a worthy opponent to the upcoming GTX480....

If I look at it in terms of FPS increase, sure I may get about 20-30 more fps on my current E8400@3.9ghz with the 5970, i am still CPU limited and my system still is a bottleneck....But I still get that extra 20-30 fps in most games.....Gaming at 1920x1080...IF future-proofing is where it's at then given the limited 5970s already out there, I think it is a wise move to buy a 5970 as it is in stock at my local dealer...

I don't want to buy another 5870 and go Crossfire since, my mobo is only 8x pci-e (crossfire) on the second slot, and I won't squeeze out the maximum performance out of the card. Also since having a second card will generate more noise and heat and consume more wattage, I prefer a single card.

Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. I don't want to run into a situation where 2 weeks from now the 5970s are depleted from stock at my store...
 
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Meghan54

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,684
5,228
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BITE the bullet and buy the 5970. You can always resell it later if you want to.
 
P

PCboy

Senior member
Jul 9, 2001
847
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The GTX480 won't come out till much later so by that time you'll be able to find a 5970 at a reasonable price, hopefully.
 
MrK6

MrK6

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2004
4,458
4
81
Well, I suppose it depends on how much that money is burning a hole in your pocket. I mean, I run 2560x1600 on a single 5870 and the only games that I can't get a 60FPS average at with max settings are the Crysises, so no, I wouldn't do it, but you're not me either :). From a pure performance perspective, I'd say a 5970 is a waste, but if you really are into benchmarking and what not and it'll make you happy, go for it! Personally, if you really want to spend that $400CAD, you might be better off upgrading to i5/i7 (will really help in some games) or an SSD (better general system performance).
 
M

mm2587

Member
Nov 2, 2006
76
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why not just throw another 5870 in the system? same cost, practically the same performance, much easier to find
 
scooterlibby

scooterlibby

Senior member
Feb 28, 2009
752
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Good luck finding a 5970 in stock. Despite all the supposed improvements at TSCM they are nonexistent.
 
yh125d

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
6,886
0
76
Keep it and either (cheap) buy a Q9550 or (less cheap) buy an i5/i7 setup. Especially at only 1920x1080.
 
solofly

solofly

Banned
May 25, 2003
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0
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mm2587 said:
why not just throw another 5870 in the system? same cost, practically the same performance, much easier to find
Click to expand...

That's what i would do...(and I did;))

On the side note, I'm finally able to play Crysis on very high at 1920x1200 4X with satisfaction...(my previous tri-config wasn't able to do that)
 
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S

ScorcherDarkly

Senior member
Aug 7, 2009
450
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Upgrade your CPU/mobo or get a second 5870. Either of those moves are much more cost effective than trading a 5870 and cash for a 5970.
 
Apocalypse23

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
1,467
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mm2587 said:
why not just throw another 5870 in the system? same cost, practically the same performance, much easier to find
Click to expand...

I can't do that since, my mobo is only 8x pci-e on the second slot, and I won't squeeze out the maximum performance out of the card. Also since having a second card will generate more noise and heat and consume more wattage, I prefer a single card.
 
Apocalypse23

Apocalypse23

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2003
1,467
1
0
yh125d said:
Keep it and either (cheap) buy a Q9550 or (less cheap) buy an i5/i7 setup. Especially at only 1920x1080.
Click to expand...

Well the idea of upgrading to a whole new cpu/mobo/ram is more painstaking for me, since at this point I can't find a bargain on that anyway and I prefer to wait for Amd's upcoming chip. So cpu upgrade is out of the question atm...
 
nitromullet

nitromullet

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2004
9,031
36
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Apocalypse23 said:
I can't do that since, my mobo is only 8x pci-e on the second slot, and I won't squeeze out the maximum performance out of the card. Also since having a second card will generate more noise and heat and consume more wattage, I prefer a single card.
Click to expand...

Actually, it would probably produce less heat/noise... There would be two fans cooling two gpus, as opposed to one fan cooling two gpus. I'm pretty sure they have to crank the rpm's on the 5970 to cool both gpus. I know my 4870 X2 was louder then my single 4870...

Either way, sounds like your mind is made up. Buy what makes you happy, even though pretty much everyone has said that dual 5870s and/or a cpu/mobo upgrade is the better option. I know I waste money sometimes, that's why I don't post threads like this. :)
 
MrK6

MrK6

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2004
4,458
4
81
Apocalypse23 said:
I can't do that since, my mobo is only 8x pci-e on the second slot, and I won't squeeze out the maximum performance out of the card. Also since having a second card will generate more noise and heat and consume more wattage, I prefer a single card.
Click to expand...
I doubt that's how it'd work out. You'd still have more PCIe lanes available to the GPU's with a dual setup (24x) as opposed to sticking two GPUs into the same PCIe 16x slot. Also, the power consumption is largely the same once they're running at the same clocks, not to mention it's easier and safer to overclock since each card will have it's own dedicated 8x and 6x power plug. And the benefit of two GPUs is they'll actually be quieter since each GPU has it's own heatsink and fan, instead of trying to dissipate all that heat with one heatsink.
 
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