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5870 in crossfire or a single 5970?

Ok, maybe I should have expanded on why I am asking the question. :o

I have an XFX5870.

I fancy a little upgrade and can either spend £190 or so getting another second hand 5870, or even £234.99 for a new one at OcUK.

Or, I can flog my 5870 for about £190 or so and get a second hand 5970 for about £275.

Crossfire will cost me £190 - £234.99.
A 5970 will cost me £100 max.

I don't want to go chucking lots of money about and I know the high end 6 series cards are out soon as well but think either of the above option are more than capable for any games out in 2011. :)

I am veering towards a 5970 purely due to the cost that I can obtain one.
 
id go for the 5970 as u can always go tri fire in a years time when u can pick a 5870 for pennies

also better resale value if u tend to keep ur card for a while should still fetch a decent price in 3 years time
 
selling on the 5970 will be a lot harder as relatively fewer people can house and power 'the beast' on the other hand splitting off and selling 5870's should have a wider market
 
More importantly do you need the performance increase/problems that come with CF?

I'd sit tight on the 5870 for now - maybe upgrade when there is a game that needs it (I'm discounting Metro 'cos it's balls). My 5850 @ stock is playing everything I throw at it perfectly well for me @ 1920x1080, usually with 4X AA or more. And it has headroom for 900/1200 clocks if I want...

What res do you play at Papa?
 
in your situation i'd go 5970. on the grounds you'd be paying less.

I disagree that 2x 5870 has a higher resale value. assuming he sells in 2012.
 
I had 5870 Xfire and the drivers were a real issue, I have heard similar of the 5970 too. I dropped to one 5870 and found most games are fine still at your res. What is airflow like in your case? How close do the cards sit?
If the cards are too close and the airflow is pants I would be tempted to have a 5970 with an after Market cooler on it. It would be easier to cool and have room.
6 series woul scale better too and the mid range are not that expensive
 
tommybhoy said:
I would listen to this guy and get one of these instead
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-048-OC
Click to expand...

Got one already. ;)

xRowan said:
The new cards are out 13th of December I think.
Click to expand...

True, but they are going to cost vast amounts of cash I do not want to spend at the moment.

Duesix said:
I had 5870 Xfire and the drivers were a real issue, I have heard similar of the 5970 too. I dropped to one 5870 and found most games are fine still at your res. What is airflow like in your case? How close do the cards sit?
If the cards are too close and the airflow is pants I would be tempted to have a 5970 with an after Market cooler on it. It would be easier to cool and have room.
6 series woul scale better too and the mid range are not that expensive
Click to expand...

I have also heard this myself re the drivers for crossfired 5870's and also the 5970. I take it all with a pinch of salt though.

Like you say most games are fine as my res but whilst the market is being flooded with 5*** cards I thought it would a good time to make a little jump. Battlefield 3 is out next year I am waiting paitently for and I believe a 5970 should be able to handle it with ease. :)

The ariflow is pretty decent it is a CM-690 II and the mobo is a Crosshair IV so they would not sit too close. I would have to remove the lower HD cage for a 5970 to fit as well.

My PSU is a Corsair TX750 so it should be fine with a 5970, but still not sure about twin 5870's as I have 4 HD's, sound card etc etc. If I go for an upgrade it will be a 5970 I think. Will start scouring the MM. :)
 
As mentioned above - I would definitely wait until December for the 6900 series.

Not only will it offer you (presumably) a nice choice for a fast very fast single GPU, but it should also knock down both prices for retail and second hand HD 5870/5970 cards. Hopefully it will also bring the (currently very high) GTX 580 prices down to earth, if you want to try the Nvidia option.

You will only have to wait a few weeks and you do have a 5870 in the meantime, hopefully you will be able to tough it out :)
 
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