What Graphics Card For New Gaming Rig

[azeem40]

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU: i5-2500k SB Processor OCed to 4.5 GHz


II. Current Graphics Card: None as I am building a new computer


III. Display Resolution: 1920x1080


IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications: Corsair TX850 PSU


V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent): Corsair Carbide 500R.


Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option. $550


II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)? AMD


III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI? Yes, in the future


IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs? I have looked at the Radeon 7950 and the Radeon 7970.


V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels? Gaming; Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and RuneScape on high settings


VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase? Probably.

 

[azeem40]

Anyone?

 

[aghusker]

With $550 budget, it's easy. 7950/7970, or wait and see what Nvidia brings with 680 announcement tomorrow.

If you want to save money, consider 7850/7870 @ 1080p.

 

[DeeJayeS]

MSI 7870 Hawk if you plan to stay at 1920x1080. Hopefully it'll be released in a week (March 19th).

 

[Mopetar]

If you want AMD and have a budget for a 7970, why not get the 7970? If you want to go with a slightly cheaper alternative, get a 7870 and save up enough to get another for crossfire in a bit.

 

[azeem40]

If you want AMD and have a budget for a 7970, why not get the 7970? If you want to go with a slightly cheaper alternative, get a 7870 and save up enough to get another for crossfire in a bit.

I was wondering about the 7970. I am just not sure whether it is overkill for just high settings at max fps on a 60Hz Monitor. I plan to CF later so I can run an eyefinity configuration later on and not have low fps.

 

[lehtv]

If you want AMD and have a budget for a 7970, why not get the 7970? If you want to go with a slightly cheaper alternative, get a 7870 and save up enough to get another for crossfire in a bit.

For 1080p, 7870 crossfire is pretty overkill, most of the performance from the extra GPU will go to waste. Would be better to get a single 7950

 

[azeem40]

Like I said in my last post, I plan to run 3-monitor eyefinity in the future.

 

[azeem40]

So, if I plan to run eyefinity 3 monitors, what card to get to CF later to give me good performance when running the setup?

 

[skipsneeky2]

If your willing to spend $550,wait for kepler or grab a 7970 ,i know i don't regret purchasing mine.

Little hassle you could get 1200 core/1600+ memory and it would blow you away and basically any game at 1080p but it seems also the 7950 is often recommended but if you got the deeper pockets,i think you may find the 7970 a worthwhile purchase.

 

[azeem40]

I ready dont want a kepler card.

 

[bamaaviator]

If your plan is Eyefinity, stay away from the 7970 cards until they release the Eyefinity ones.

No cards released that I am aware of have 3 identical ports in the back to allow all 3 monitors to be connected via the same way.

What this means is that at least 1 of your monitors will have an obscene amount of screen tearing that will piss you off.

The connections on the back of all the cards now have 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, and 2 Mini Display port connections...so there is no way possible to get 3 connected via the same connection.

I have a brand new MSI 7970 and I sure wish a review had mentioned that. As it is, I have a video card that less capable than the 5870 that I upgraded from

 

[azeem40]

Then what should I get if not the 79xx series?

 

[azeem40]

Anyone?

 

[joshhedge]

Dual 6950s in crossfire and BIOS hack them to 6970? Get 2GiB cards.

 

[Stuka87]

You need to look to see if there are any 7950 or 7870's that have 3 of the same ports. This is very much needed for triple head gaming.

A single 7870 will probably do triple head decently. And then you can add a second down the road. Which will ultimately end up being far faster than a single 79x0.

But I don't know how many are offered as an eyefinity version, or if any have three of the same ports out the back.

 

[Arzachel]

If you don't want to wait for Kepler get a 7870 and then, when you switch to three monitors, get another 7870. Otherwise wait a bit for Kepler and then see if there is anything with better perf/$. The 7870 might drop slightly in price too by then.

 

[railven]

If your plan is Eyefinity, stay away from the 7970 cards until they release the Eyefinity ones.

No cards released that I am aware of have 3 identical ports in the back to allow all 3 monitors to be connected via the same way.

What this means is that at least 1 of your monitors will have an obscene amount of screen tearing that will piss you off.

The connections on the back of all the cards now have 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, and 2 Mini Display port connections...so there is no way possible to get 3 connected via the same connection.

I have a brand new MSI 7970 and I sure wish a review had mentioned that. As it is, I have a video card that less capable than the 5870 that I upgraded from

Oh really? Well that throws a, sort of, wrench into my plans - and since I already bought - am I screwed?

Why does one display run into tearing issues? Aren't all the connectors (minus the HDMI/DVI) on separate clock generators?

For my adventure into 3x1080 I was going to get 2x1080p monitors with DP, and then use the DVI-DL to drive my 120hz monitor as the primary. I'd get tearing issues on one of the monitors?

 

[Stuka87]

Oh really? Well that throws a, sort of, wrench into my plans - and since I already bought - am I screwed?

Why does one display run into tearing issues? Aren't all the connectors (minus the HDMI/DVI) on separate clock generators?

For my adventure into 3x1080 I was going to get 2x1080p monitors with DP, and then use the DVI-DL to drive my 120hz monitor as the primary. I'd get tearing issues on one of the monitors?

Your monitor connected via DVI will get screen tearing when running in triple head mode. The DP displays will be fine. This is a fairly common issue when one of the display connector types is different.

 

[Arzachel]

Oh really? Well that throws a, sort of, wrench into my plans - and since I already bought - am I screwed?

Why does one display run into tearing issues? Aren't all the connectors (minus the HDMI/DVI) on separate clock generators?

For my adventure into 3x1080 I was going to get 2x1080p monitors with DP, and then use the DVI-DL to drive my 120hz monitor as the primary. I'd get tearing issues on one of the monitors?

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1662914&page=3

As per this thread, seems like it only happens in Windows, not in games.

 

[bamaaviator]

As per my gaming session currently in progress, its a huge issue in games as well.

If you want a 7970, Id suggest waiting until the Eyefinity versions release.

 

[azeem40]

When do you think that will be?

 

[railven]

Your monitor connected via DVI will get screen tearing when running in triple head mode. The DP displays will be fine. This is a fairly common issue when one of the display connector types is different.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1662914&page=3

As per this thread, seems like it only happens in Windows, not in games.

As per my gaming session currently in progress, its a huge issue in games as well.

If you want a 7970, Id suggest waiting until the Eyefinity versions release.

Well then, that is something I wish I had known. I already bought, and it's most likely going to be just for WoW and SW:TOR that I got 3x1080p (and possibly at desktop.)

Thanks for the info, I will research this now.

 

[azeem40]

I am considering CF 7850s. What do you all think?

 

[Arzachel]

I am considering CF 7850s. What do you all think?

The two 7850 will be a bit overkill until you get the additional monitors but they tend to overclock really well. You could get one, overclock it an then get another one later, when they're cheaper and you have the extra monitors.

Alternatively, you could try getting some used 6950's or 560ti 448's. Much lower overclocking headroom and lower performance in some games, but could end up being much cheaper.