Ati 5970 or Nvdia 580

Roughneck · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:23

Im building a new pc and want to know wich to go for

any 580

or

XFX 2048MB GDDR5 ATI Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition ...

ill be using it on a Dell 30 inch monitor 2500 by 1600 i think it is.

can anyone advise

nicnik · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:35

it's personal preference. most games run better on the 5970. but to be fair the best bet at your resolution ~ £400-500 would be 6950 in crossfire. the extra ram helps.

If you're not up for crossfire/sli then my choice would be GTX580, jus for quieter, cooler. performance is lower than 5970 in most games but it's not noticable in any current games at my resolution.

Walsandrew · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:37

why compare 5970 with 580? it is comparable to the 570 but not the 580.

nicnik · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:39

5970 mate not 6970.

GJ02 · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:39

why compare 5970 with 580? it is comparable to the 570 but not the 580.

^^
err no

TheGamingGeneral · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:39

Walsandrew said:
why compare 5970 with 580? it is comparable to the 570 but not the 580.

Isnt the 5970 still AMDs performance king? Seems a fair fight to me till there new dual gpu

Cythx · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:40

Another vote for 6950 CF, best possible performance although I worry about multi card setups, espc. with AMD.

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/ASUS/Radeon_HD_6950_CrossFire/images/perfrel_2560.gif

6950 CF 100%
5970 80%
GTX 580 72%

GJ02 · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:46

Cythx said:
Another vote for 6950 CF, best possible performance although I worry about multi card setups, espc. with AMD.

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/ASUS/Radeon_HD_6950_CrossFire/images/perfrel_2560.gif

6950 CF 100%
5970 80%
GTX 580 72%

the problem with 69xx and crossfire is the heat
from what various reviews have come up with an a couple of our own members is that it can get hot very quickly

Walsandrew · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:46

so you did, sorry. 5970 outperforms 6970 does it? shows how much i know. sorry for a useless post.

arc@css · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:55

580, more vram for very high res.

Final8y · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:55

You want 2GB of Vram Per GPU.

nicnik · 26 Dec 2010 at 16:58

arc@css said:
580, more vram for very high res.

yup, but that just gives more reason for 6950 in CF.

the heat is quite high yeah. but it's still managable. I will not recommend 6970 in CF though. it's over the top.

GJ02 · 26 Dec 2010 at 17:00

nicnik have you tried 6950xfire ?

cammy5477 · 26 Dec 2010 at 17:06

6990 quadfire :eek:

nicnik · 26 Dec 2010 at 17:13

GJ02 said:
nicnik have you tried 6950xfire ?

No, I've tried 6970 in CF. my friend has the 6950s in CF though.
It's okay, louder and hotter than a GTX580, but it;s bearable. 6970 in CF is like hair dryer in your room switched on all day, it' sunbearable even with headsets.

6950 is still loud for my liking. but it's just on the verge of acceptable. enough so to recommend. it depends much on the case cooling, expect it to be much worse in summer. can always jus stick 2 dead silent 120-140mm fans right in front of both 6950s anyway; jus means paying more.

nicnik · 26 Dec 2010 at 17:14

cammy5477 said:
6990 quadfire

jet engine

vrooooooooooooooom

Scuzzy · 26 Dec 2010 at 17:24

Yes, for that res 6950 xfire would be better defo!!

Marine-RX179 · 26 Dec 2010 at 17:33

One problem people seem to having with 6950 xfire is that they do get VERY hot.

arc@css · 26 Dec 2010 at 17:38

nicnik said:
yup, but that just gives more reason for 6950 in CF.

the heat is quite high yeah. but it's still managable. I will not recommend 6970 in CF though. it's over the top.

Out of the two listed then the 580 imo, but yeah regarding other models, a 2gb card like the 6970 would be great.

nicnik · 26 Dec 2010 at 20:08

well yeah, a 6970 alone actually can get pretty close and compete with a 580 at such a high resolution. economically it's the best option. but if he's willin to pay 400-500 then 6950 in crossfire is the best option for that resoltuion.