Video card advice

[houe]

Just jumped on the BF3 preorder at Newegg. I definitely will need a new video card to play it. I have 1 month to decide. So in all likelihood i can not wait for AMD's new graphics cards.

Seasonic x-650 power supply
Asus P6T
I7-930 CPU
6GB G.Skill PI series 7-8-7 1.5V ram - planning to add another set soon, so assume 6 sticks for power requirements
crucial 128GB m4 SSD
1TB green Samsung drive
3 74GB raptors (these can be removed to save power if need be)
a few expansion cards (WIFI card, serial port card, and another communication port card)
3 monitors - 24" 1920x1200

I'd like to get a card with the option to buy a 2nd matching card for improved performance, but I do not want to have to upgrade the power supply for the 2nd card upgrade. What is the best I can do? $250 budget for 1st card...

 

[Termie]

Lots of people around here have been asking about this, with similar PSU limits. I think the majority of folks would say an HD6950 2GB would be your best bet, because in crossfire, your PSU could still handle them, and the 2GB of memory will avoid a memory bottleneck. I'm not so convinced about dual GTX570s on the x650, but others probably think it's all right.

What video card do you have right now? Might it be worth waiting to buy until the performance reviews come out (and potentially the new AMD cards as well)?

By the way, while each of your raptors probably only uses about 8w at idle and a bit more at load, and therefore won't break your x650, I'd dump them anyway - they're adding way more heat and noise than speed at this point.

As you've probably figured out, your m4 is about 1000x faster...

 

[s44]

What video card do you have right now? Might it be worth waiting to buy until the performance reviews come out (and potentially the new AMD cards as well)?

Yeah, this power budget plus triple-monitor screams Crossfire 7xxx.

 

[houe]

First, I forgot to mention I have an i7-930 cpu (updated original post).

Thanks for the advice. I currently have an 8800gts 512mb video card and it will not play BF3. This is a game I have been really anticipating so I do want to have something to be able to play it at launch. It could be that I buy something now and instead of adding a 2nd card I could upgrade to the 7000 series of AMD cards. But I do need something fairly soon.

 

[Termie]

First, I forgot to mention I have an i7-930 cpu (updated original post).

Thanks for the advice. I currently have an 8800gts 512mb video card and it will not play BF3. This is a game I have been really anticipating so I do want to have something to be able to play it at launch. It could be that I buy something now and instead of adding a 2nd card I could upgrade to the 7000 series of AMD cards. But I do need something fairly soon.

In that case I'd definitely say HD6950. In particular, the Sapphire Toxic is a really nice card, since it turns at 6970 speeds, and it's only a few dollars more than every other version of the card. Currently out of stock at Newegg though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102951

 

[ransomlist]

BF3 might well use more than 1gb on memory- devs are being tight lipped about texture sizes, pos. because they differ on PC/Console (marketing trumps making enthusiasts happy, shock horror!)

6950 is a very solid card regards price/performance. MSI 6950 OC frozrIII is good, stretch a bit for Sapphire Toxic and you get a slight performance increase (one not economical imo). A 6950 and another in 0.5-1.5 years is a good decision- we dont know what heights gaming might reach given a new gen of consoles is coming which will let PC gaming stretch itself further (if you are a BF3 fan you are awayre current console equipmenn just cant handle BF3 in its intended form)

EDIT: I might wait out AMD HD7xxx myself, 7870 ~ 6950 with better thermal envelope? Please!

 

[houe]

Thanks. Sounds like a lot of recommendations for a 6950. I don't have to place an order for about one month but it does appear that is the way I'll be going. The MSI 6950 OC frozrIII is also out of stock at newegg. Either way I have time...

 

[TheAdvocate]

I am in a similar situation, though I don't need eyefinity.

I would seriously consider waiting for the 7xxx cards, like the 7870. Do whatever you have to get by until then, unless you just want to "rent" (buy & resell) a 6950 in the meantime.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you are gaming on 1 monitor, but still want to use 3 monitors, HD6950 2GB.
If you are gaming on more than 1 monitor, 2x HD6950 2GB.

Hopefully AMD will release HD7000 series soon though.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm in a similar spot, I have a GTX260 & a core 2 quad 9650. I'm wondering if I should start saving for a new card and what is the maximum my system can handle before it bottle necks. Ive always enjoyed the battlefield games.

 

[houe]

I may just buy a 6950 temporarily (use and resell) as you suggested then upgrade later. Really I need some good benchmarks for BF3 to make a well informed decision. Hopefully that information will be available shortly...

 

[Madcatatlas]

SNIP..

EDIT: I might wait out AMD HD7xxx myself, 7870 ~ 6950 with better thermal envelope? Please!

Not sure why you would want that. the current 6870 is not that far away from the 6950s performance and having only such a slight bump for the next generation of that spesific card would be horrible in my opinion. ALso, the power use between these cards ( 6950 and 6870) is not that different and thus i dont see the "oooh" about such a minor detail.


Id rather have minimum 6970 performance in the new 7870 (assuming AMD keep their current 6xxx series naming scheme)