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Advice on Upgrade

Daracwow

Daracwow

Daracwow

Associate
Joined
25 Jan 2009
Posts
58
Hi guys

I'm after some adviceon what sort of upgrade I should go for

I currently have 2x ATI 4870x2 crossfired which as you can guess get hot and sounds like I'n in the engine of a plane. I run all my games at a res of 1920x1200 on my currentDell monitor. Things seem to run ok, but I fancy an upgrade to something not as hot and loud.

I have an eye on two new upgrade items a monitor and a new GPU. Here is my thoughts.

Monitor = http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-047-DE
For running games at its max res 2560x1600.

Graphics card = http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-157-OK
So in future I can hopefully get another and SLI them.

Can you see any problems with these or any suggestions as to a better setup? would two other cards in SLI/CF be better after best bang for buck.

I have a 1000 Watt psu, need it for current GPU's so power should be fine, its mainly for getting DX11 #, higher res, and something less hot and noisy.

Thanks in advance

Matt
 
The 590 is dependent on driver support. If you are tired of issues then it's not a guaranteed solution.

The biggest problem with cards like that (590, 295, 4870x2 and 6990 etc) is that they were designed for one purpose - to claim the crown and wave the willy. (by the companies making them)

At first initial review the 590 didn't fare so well. In later reviews it was supposedly faster than a 6990. Apparently it isn't, but once again you are putting yourself at the mercy of Nvidia. It was slower in those tests (the 6990) due to nothing more than poor drivers, the pendulum swings)

They don't really offer the level of service for a part costing that much that they should, and with Kepler on the horizon you could find yourself dumped like a lead balloon when it comes to support (as I have been with a pair of cards no more than 18 months old since date of manufacture).

This means (especially with the current war going on due to the 7970) that you're better off with, a 7970. Simply as it offers the best support right now. Sadly the reason it offers the support is because AMD are waving their willies and concentrating on it, and not because they care.

So yes, at the price point you are talking about there is just no need to go with anything that needs driver/software support. Rid the headaches once and for all and go with the 7990.

It also has 3gb vram, and if my 295s are anything to go by (absolutely useless now due to lack of vram) then it's by far and away the safe bet for the future. The future is just going to hold more bloated textures as game devs try to make their games look super pretty without doing the five year spade work on creating a truly new ground up engine.
 
The thing is the 590 has only 1.5 GB of VRAM and there may be instances at 1600p where you need more.
Perhaps save some money and get a single 7970 or a GTX 580 3GB and OC them. And then CF/SLI them with a second later.


hominid said:
If you are after a card that is 'less hot and noisey' then a GTX 590 is not the way to go.
Click to expand...
where'd you hear this? COmpared to the 6990 it is the quieter of the two by a fair margin from what I've heard.

The 7970 is not quiet either from what everyone's saying.
 
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Thanks for the replys guys

I guess main thing I'm after is something to run at high res on a new monitor, the temp and noise not a huge issue, its more of an if I can get something less hot and noisy great, but sometimes its the price to pay for a high res gaming rid.

From what I can see the GTX590 is not the way to go, so a GTX580 3 GB version or the ATI 7970 would be better options, would these be able to run things at max res?

things like BF3, Starwars the old republic, and Wow (games I seem to play most) would play others as most of us do but these are my current top ones. I know wow does not need anything speial, but BF3 at max res with everything on would be so good.
 
580 no matter how many GB is not enough for 1600p gaming. It's simply not fast enough to run all games smoothly at that res (ARMA II is one).

The 7990 can do it, so just get that and then you don't have to wait for SLI support ETC. The 590 also uses an obnoxious amount of power and runs hotter than the 7990.
 
ALXAndy said:
580 no matter how many GB is not enough for 1600p gaming. It's simply not fast enough to run all games smoothly at that res (ARMA II is one).

The 7990 can do it, so just get that and then you don't have to wait for SLI support ETC. The 590 also uses an obnoxious amount of power and runs hotter than the 7990.
Click to expand...

You do realise the 7990 will use Crossfire?


It's the same as using GTX 580 SLI or 7970 Crossfire.

@OP if you want uncompromising performance at 1080p why not SLI/CF 2x 580 3GB/2x 7970. It will be expensive though.
 
I have thought about CF/SLI the 7970 and 580 3GB, but its just out of my price range with the new monitor to get gaming at 2560x1600 I would CF/SLI in the future maybe 6 months or something like that. Its just a case of getting something now that will do the job and I can get a second card to help boost the proformance later.
 
I think you may be better off with getting 7970 as cheap as possible and overclocking to the max it will go. And then buy another one later. The thing about the 590 is that while it has amazing shader power, it has 1.5GB VRAM so moving forward it may not be the best thing for your upgrade path and future games. Especially at 2560x1600
 
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