Yet another HELP ME PICK A GPU thread...

[OptimumSlinky]

Currently have an i7 930 (stock) running at 2.8GHzx4, paired with a PowerColor Radeon HD 5850 (stock). Looking to upgrade around the holiday time frame. Desired endstate is max settings at 1920x1080 locked in at 60-fps on Crysis 2, Battlefield 3 (when it arrives).

1) When is the next generation supposed to be dropping for AMD/nVidia?

2) Why the hell does eVGA make like 15 different models of the GF 570? Seriously?

3) Who are Palit and Zotac and are they any good?

4) I've read the various write-ups on CrossFire vs SLI scaling. I guess I'm more worried about compatibility and the whole micro-stuttering issues. Have a lot of these driver issues been resolved yet. Assuming I don't wait on the next generation, I'm torn between several options:

Option A - 1x Radeon 6970
Option B - 1x GeForce 570
Option C - 2x 6950s
Option D - 2x 560 Ti

 

[mnewsham]

you wont notice a big change from a 5870 to a 6970, i would hit up two 6950's or two 560ti's OR if you can find one for cheap get another 5870 and wait it out until next generation.

 

[guskline]

OptimumSlinky: I am running 2 Radeon 5850s in Crossfire on my new rig (see sig for rig one). Best bang for the buck? Get another 5850 and run in crossfire.

 

[OptimumSlinky]

OptimumSlinky: I am running 2 Radeon 5850s in Crossfire on my new rig (see sig for rig one). Best bang for the buck? Get another 5850 and run in crossfire.

See, that was the original plan, but for some reason, 5850s seem to be almost as expensive as 6950s and/or out of stock everywhere.

You haven't had any drivers issues running CrossFire?

 

[mnewsham]

The 5850's and 5870's are the cards of choice for Bitcoin mining.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Now is the perfect time to sell a 5850 and upgrade. Read the bitcoin thread here in the video graphics forum for more info as to what bitcoin is.

 

[guskline]

See, that was the original plan, but for some reason, 5850s seem to be almost as expensive as 6950s and/or out of stock everywhere.

You haven't had any drivers issues running CrossFire?

I built system 1 below with a single 5850 and had another one in my AMD rig. Got a great deal on a MSI Cyclone 460GTX-768 SO.............. decided to Crossfire the 5850s and WOW!!!!!!!!. Don't know why I didn't do that sooner. Rig 2 below still runs great, almost as fast as when it had the 5850 in it. However, rig 1 with 2 5850s in Crossfire with a 2500k@4400, ssd etc, OMG. COD BO runs fulltilt with highest setting and looks incredible on my 24" HannsG hh241 at 1920x1080 (Max resolution). Just got Metro2033 to see what it looks like. The twin 5850s perform well. Metro2033 stresses all harware but I have great cooling and not one lockup with video settings on the highest for my monitor. Gameplay is great. I have not had driver issues. Have the latest Catalyst drivers 11.6 with the add on for crossfire.

Now to your dilemma. If you can sell your 5850 for at least the price of a 6870 sell it and buy 2 6870s (cheapest at newegg @$175). The 6850 is a wash and the 6870 improves over the 5850 but not by much. Honestly the 2 5850s in crossfire are VERY powerfull. Perhaps someone that had 2 5850s in crossfire and moved up can chime in. BTW, does your MB support both Crossfire/SLI as my new one does?

 

[OptimumSlinky]

Pretty sure my mobo supports CrossFire (Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5), as it was a pre-req for me during the designing phase.

So it looks like XF/SLI offers more bang for the buck. And I guess drivers will continue to improve as it gets more common.

So I think I'll sell the 5850 and jump to the 2x 2GB 6950s. Unless there's some quantifiable reason to justify the extra cost of 2x 560 Ti or 2x 570s (other than the fact that some games, like Crysis 2, run better on nVidia thanks to money in Crytek's bank).

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

You can crossfire that 5850 with this.

 

[OptimumSlinky]

You can crossfire that 5850 with this.

Won't XFing a 5850 to a 5830 bring the clock down on the 5850? I was tracking when you XF, you assume the characteristics of the weakest link.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Won't XFing a 5850 to a 5830 bring the clock down on the 5850? I was tracking when you XF, you assume the characteristics of the weakest link.

It would actually downclock the 5830. But yes I believe it would preform closer to two 5830's. Still it would be better than a 5850 by itself and you could save yourself some money.

 

[RussianSensation]

Looking to upgrade around the holiday time frame. Desired endstate is max settings at 1920x1080 locked in at 60-fps on Crysis 2, Battlefield 3 (when it arrives).

- If you are going to buy around the holiday timeframe, start a thread then. Re-assess the GPU market then.
- Kepler is rumored to be delayed until 2012.
- HD7000 series may launch by the holiday season, but we don't know for sure.
- GTX580 SLI gets 43 fps min and HD6970 CF gets 39 fps min at 1920x1080 DX11 Ultra in Crysis 2. So you'd need HD6990 in CF or GTX590 in SLI to peg Crysis 2 at 60 fps Min (assuming you have a fast enough CPU to get there).
- No one can say what hardware will be necessary to run BF3 at 60 fps (min) at 1920x1080. My guess is you'd need nothing less than HD7990 in CF (and probably that won't be enough).

Conclusion: Your 60 fps (min) expectations for those 2 games are unrealistic without dropping $1500 on GPU hardware - Not to mention your CPU is way too slow for that kind of a performance. Even at 1280x1024 a 2500k @ 4.0ghz can only do 44 fps min.

End thread.

 

[OptimumSlinky]

Come back around the holiday timeframe. Kepler is delayed until 2012. HD7000 series may launch by the holiday season. Re-assess the GPU market then. No one can say what hardware will be necessary to run BF3 at 60 fps (min) at 1920x1080. In fact, it's almost guaranteed if you want 60 fps min you'd need nothing less than HD7970 in CF (that probably that won't give you 60 fps min in BF3). End thread.

Touche!

Sorry, my unit is currently being shifted from one mission to another, and we have a lot of down time right now while our new orders are cut, and being stuck on a FOB with nothing to do leads to heavy bouts of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome).

 

[3DVagabond]

- If you are going to buy around the holiday timeframe, start a thread then. Re-assess the GPU market then.
- Kepler is rumored to be delayed until 2012.
- HD7000 series may launch by the holiday season, but we don't know for sure.
- GTX580 SLI gets 43 fps min and HD6970 CF gets 39 fps min at 1920x1080 DX11 Ultra in Crysis 2. So you'd need HD6990 in CF or GTX590 in SLI to peg Crysis 2 at 60 fps Min (assuming you have a fast enough CPU to get there).
- No one can say what hardware will be necessary to run BF3 at 60 fps (min) at 1920x1080. My guess is you'd need nothing less than HD7990 in CF (and probably that won't be enough).

Conclusion: Your 60 fps (min) expectations for those 2 games are unrealistic without dropping $1500 on GPU hardware - Not to mention your CPU is way too slow for that kind of a performance. Even at 1280x1024 a 2500k @ 4.0ghz can only do 44 fps min.

End thread.

In your first link it shows minimum for X-fired 6970 to be 50 fps w/2500k @ 4GHz at the same resolution as your 2nd link. I'd say that your 2nd link, while being limited by CPU power, is ultimately capped by the GPU.

 

[Kevmanw430]

TBH, if you have the cash after you sell the 5850, get two 6950 2GB's, and flash them to 6970 spec. It'll be faster than the 5850 Xfire, and a bestly setup.

 

[RussianSensation]

In your first link it shows minimum for X-fired 6970 to be 50 fps w/2500k @ 4GHz at the same resolution as your 2nd link. I'd say that your 2nd link, while being limited by CPU power, is ultimately capped by the GPU.

Ya, that's a good point. Still, the OP is running a stock 2.8ghz i7 only and not even HD6970 CF can do 60 fps min.

 

[Madcatatlas]

I think you are wrong about BF3 needing such beefy hardware to max out 1080 resolution Russian. BF3 will be made "playable" on a whole lot of different setups. i think Crossfired 6970s will easily break the 60fps at 1080 res.