DO I NEED A 6970.

[Razor Time]

the way im looking at it is like this
i have an amount of money set aside for new card/s
new cards come out i buy 1 and im gonna be left with possibly a few quid
i buy 2 470's i have better performance than 1 new card and still have a few quid left
is that a silly way to look at it ?

No not at all. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Freddie1980]

As for the SSD they are a great upgrade but they wont give you any extra eyecandy in your games and prices are always falling. Personally I would buy the best card you can afford and upgrade to an SSD later on down the road.

That's not true actually price per Gb is the same now as it was last year on SSD's (see here). It won't be until they step down to a smaller process prices will actually drop, even if you buy the larger drive the cost per Gb's is still the same so there's no discount for buying more.

I was also second waiting, the new cards come out in the next couple of weeks so I would see what they offer then buy. If you did want to buy now get a 6870 or 470 (if your PSU can cope with it) as they can handle any game on the market right now with ease then when Crysis 2 comes out you can see then what upgrade short of a super computer your going to need.

 

[HazardO]

470 SOC is 10.5” long, same size as a stock 480, review here, you get a lot for your cash over a standard 470.

Memory overclocking on fermi nets minimal gains and can destabilize the core overclock, clocking the core is where you net the big boost.

I think it's actually 11in, I had read that they were 10.5in, but they were ~.5 in longer than my GTX275s.

 

[Scougar]

Maybe the PCB is 10.5 but with the fansink it's actually longer?

 

[RavenXXX2]

At 10.5” long, Gigabyte’s GTX 470 Super Overclock surpasses the length of a reference card by about 1 1/2” which makes it the same length as a reference GTX 480.

 

[GJ02]

but is definatly a dual slot ? if ( IF ) i do get 2 they are going to be on top of each other and i need to know that the top one isnt going to get in the way of the bottom one

 

[RavenXXX2]

Dual slot she be.

 

[rolypolyman]

That should fit in my Xigmatek Midguard case. Yes? Got to go to work now guys thanks for all the great advice, be back at 9.30'ish tonight.

 

[HazardO]

@ Raven. I have 2 GTX470 SOCs, and 2 GTX275s. The GTX470 SOCs are about .5in longer than the GTX275s which are 10.5 in.

The GTX470 reference is 9.6in long. As HC correctly noted, the SOC is ~1.5 in longer, I don't know where they got 10.5 from though. I know, I have the boards.

Let me quickly side-track first, the GTX 480 card is quite good looking and roughly 26,5 CM / 10.4" length wise. Below you can see the GTX 470, definitely smaller at 24,5 CM / 9.6 Inches.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-470-480-review/5

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock Edition measures 11 inches long.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1431/1/

@GJ02: I have my boards in adjacent slots and haven't had any thermal issues. I do have a good airflow case and a side fan though.

The LEDs on the back show which power phases are in use, but unless you are running the OC guru software, they will always all be on. With the OC guru SW, desktop usage will go down to 1 or 2 power phases.

 

[opethdisciple]

The single biggest determining factor in achiving extra fps is the gpu.

Save the money and spend it on a better gpu than a gpu and ssd.

 

[GJ02]

hmm so these are longer than 480's and 480's are same size as 5870's i take it ?
with my 2 120mm fans inside the case i think i may have problems with this car being a bit too long for my antec1200

 

[HazardO]

hmm so these are longer than 480's and 480's are same size as 5870's i take it ?
with my 2 120mm fans inside the case i think i may have problems with this car being a bit too long for my antec1200

The 5870 is 11in too.

So as you can see, here we have the Radeon HD 5870. Quite a charming fellah to look at really. It's encased completely and has that ridged cooling solution. the card is quite lengthy measuring 28 CM / 11 in.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5870-review-test/10

 

[kedge]

If it's gaming put most of the funds towards a decent capable graphics card. It's the one piece of hardware that gives me the most positive rewards with regards to gaming.

 

[rolypolyman]

Ok guys OP is back from work and I had pretty much made up my mind to get a GB SOC 470 and an SSD but now some posts advising get the best graphics card you can buy which I must admit is advice I've given to others myself. Funny how things are different when its you LOL. GJ02 you bought those 470's yet for some sli goodness, I bet you did when I was at work didn't you.

 

[1kiwi]

470 with an SSD would be my choice.

This. An SSD was a MASSIVE step up for me - more so than any CPU/Graphics upgrade.

 

[Razor Time]

That's not true actually price per Gb is the same now as it was last year on SSD's (see here). It won't be until they step down to a smaller process prices will actually drop, even if you buy the larger drive the cost per Gb's is still the same so there's no discount for buying more.
.

I paid £160 for my Falcon 64Gb SSD around this time last year. Prices have dropped and speeds have increased one year on, as you can now buy a faster 60Gb SSD for £100.

Next year is looking good for SSDs.

 

[FoxEye]

Do not know much about Crysis 2 to be fair, but unless it completely smashes all available cards like its predecessor did back in the day, you should not really have to be looking at new technology/vapourware in order to enjoy your gaming.

Last time I checked, Cyrsis 2 was coming out on consoles. It's supposed to be less demanding than Crysis (1).

 

[easyrider]

SSD will improve loading times not FPS

Can you afford a 256GB one? or a 128MB one

64GB will not store many games and to be frank the money would be better spent on PURE GFX GRUNT

I would wait for the 6900 series I game at the same res 1080p and have a 4ghz i7 and a 6870 and a SSD....I would argue at that res a 6870 is enough the gains in the 470 are so small not to warrant the heat noise and power draw of the 470 cards.

 

[rolypolyman]

SSD will improve loading times not FPS

Can you afford a 256GB one? or a 128MB one

64GB will not store many games and to be frank the money would be better spent on PURE GFX GRUNT

I would wait for the 6900 series I game at the same res 1080p and have a 4ghz i7 and a 6870 and a SSD....I would argue at that res a 6870 is enough the gains in the 470 are so small not to warrant the heat noise and power draw of the 470 cards.

Easy, the point of the SSD was not for extra Fps but just that I could get one with the money left over if I bought a 6870\470\460 instead of a 6970, assuming the price of the 6970 to be around £320.

 

[RavenXXX2]

SSD is for your OS, I load games from a fast 1TB HD, 64GB drive is all you need to see a massive improvement in responsiveness in windows or any other OS.

Easy is typing his post through red tinted shades, he misses the fact that 470 SOC runs a lot cooler than a reference 470, it actually uses less power even with the overclock, is practicly silent under full load and seeing as it does come pre-clocked it will easily out perfrom the 6870, clock it to 480 speeds and the 6870 has no chance even when clocked itself.