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Would it be worth upgrading to a 5870 from SLi'd 280s?

Soldato
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6 Dec 2008
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Burghead, Elgin
As per thread title, I've been trying to decide recently whether it would be worth my while upgrading to a 5870 from my current SLi'd GTX280s.

Is there anyone here that has upgraded from a similar setup as mine, and was it worth it?

Basically the only DX11 game I am playing atm is BC2, but even in DX10 mode it looks fantastic and runs as smooth as butter with my 280s.

Would I be better off hanging onto my current cards for a while yet, or should I just go ahead and get a 5870 and sell these on?

I've already put them up for sale and I did get some interest too, but I can't decide what to do as I am really happy with what I have now.

I did intend on getting one of the new nVidia cards but after finding out how poor they are I've decided to steer well clear of them this time around, so if I do upgrade it will be to an ATi card which will be the first one I've owned since the Rage Fury Maxx!!!!! :o

Anyway, I hope someone can offer me some help as to what I should do because I don't know whether it would be worth it or not.

I am sure the cards I have atm would perform a lot better than a single 5870 in DX9/10 games, right?
 
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Game depending the 5870 can match 280 SLI, of course you can overclock the 5870 as well, I would personally wait to see what ATI come out with next, your cards will be fine for most of this year at least until we get the new ATI GPU's, by then we should have some good DX11 titles out or on the way.
 
Aye, I think I will just hold onto what I have atm, and wait for the 2nd gen DX11 cards to get released.

I just keep getting the upgrade itch though it's a pain in the butt!!!
 
It would be at best a sidestep, and at worst a drop in performance.

I'd stick with the SLi personally, unless you have the money for an HD5970.
 
that would be a significant downgrade as your gtx 280 sli setup is 20-25% faster than a 5870 so i say no way. Battlefield bad company 2 has no extra dx 11 effects its just bad marketing from dice.
 
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Just upgraded from 2x 8800GT512 in SLI to 1x5850, and although I can clock this to 1000/5000 it's still not as smooth as the sli combo I had

And it's damn noisy.

I'm actually quite upset.
 
Thanks for all the replys lads, these were exactly my thoughts anyway, I knew in the back of my mind it was a pointless move, but I am sure most of you know about upgraditis??

I catch the bug almost every single month, and I usually end up buying something new for my PC that I don't need!!!

This time I am going to take you guys advise though, I am not going to buy a card that is going to give me worse performance than what I have atm.
 
I only have a single GTX 260 and I'm going to try and wait. I would like a 5850 but would want the price to drop below £200. I would like a 5870 but again, want the price to drop. GTX 480 far too much for me and 470 seems neither here or there at the moment. The thing bugging me are that GTX 260 still seem to get £100 most of the time and my fan seems louder these days, even at idle.
 
Just upgraded from 2x 8800GT512 in SLI to 1x5850, and although I can clock this to 1000/5000 it's still not as smooth as the sli combo I had.

Then you either play at a silly low res, or you've done something wrong.

Battlefield bad company 2 has no extra dx 11 effects its just bad marketing from dice.

DX11 enables soft shadows.
 
I only have a single GTX 260 and I'm going to try and wait. I would like a 5850 but would want the price to drop below £200. I would like a 5870 but again, want the price to drop. GTX 480 far too much for me and 470 seems neither here or there at the moment. The thing bugging me are that GTX 260 still seem to get £100 most of the time and my fan seems louder these days, even at idle.

Tbh mate, I would steer well clear of those new nVidia cards, and that's coming from someone who's owned nVidia cards since the Geforce 2!!!!

These new cards from nVidia are pants compared to ATi's offerings, I personally think you'd have to have something wrong upstairs if you bought an nVidia 470 or 480 when you could have a 5870.

And like I said, I used to swear by nVidia cards, I never had much luck with ATi in the past, but that was a long long time ago.
 
I have no preference of nvidia or ATI at all. I've had plenty of both. I know at the moment the GTX 400 don't look so good but that's how the GTX 260/280 were when they were released. People laughed at the prices. I think the 192core GTX 260 was £300.
 
I don't know, I love my 280's, I have done since I bought my first one, I've had zero issues with these cards, and I got them both at really good prices too so I'm happy.

There is no way in hell I'd touch these new nvidia cards though, not with a 10ft barge pole!!!
 
defo keep them and wait for the new cards expected in the second half of the year. ATI are probably likely to release their 6 series in the summer/autumn time acording to rumours.

Then hopefully you will be able to get a single DX 11 card that outperforms your two 280's.

Or, if you have £500 to spend just get a 5970 :P

I mean, i have only a single GTX 275 and i'm not really ready to upgrade yet.
 
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Agreed entirely!! My SLI 280's still rule any modern title at the moment

TBH I just fitted out my brother's rig with a 5970 & my rig is still keeping pace with it although my old E8600 chip at 4.5ghz is a lot faster than his quad core in games.

I've just put a 5870 into an old rig to test it out but until DX11 I see no real panic to get on the 5 series or fermi
 
that would be a significant downgrade as your gtx 280 sli setup is 20-25% faster than a 5870 so i say no way. Battlefield bad company 2 has no extra dx 11 effects its just bad marketing from dice.

Beware Duran, he is a rabid Nvidia supporter and his views tend to not reflect hard facts.

Go here for an unbiased comparison : http://emsai.net/reviews/gpu/

Says the 5870 would be 3.75% slower than 280 sli.

So for raw performance stick with the 280s, if you want DX11, no multi gpu issues and lower heat/power then get the 5870.

Personally I wouldnt bother
 
Beware Duran, he is a rabid Nvidia supporter and his views tend to not reflect hard facts.

Go here for an unbiased comparison : http://emsai.net/reviews/gpu/

Says the 5870 would be 3.75% slower than 280 sli.

So for raw performance stick with the 280s, if you want DX11, no multi gpu issues and lower heat/power then get the 5870.

Personally I wouldnt bother
have some hard facts then atibot. a gtx 295 is about 10-15% faster than the 5870 and gtx 280 sli is about 10-15% faster than a gtx 295 so in the end gtx 280 sli about 20-25% faster than a 5870. from a reputable source:

perfrel_1920.jpg


now crawl back to your cave. gtx 280 sli is minimum 20% faster than a 5870 and both the gtx 280 and 5870 overclock well.
 
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