Best card to pair with AMD Phenom II Quad?

[sharingan_sasuk]

Hi, I have someone who has been looking at a AMD Radeon 5870 Eyefinity 6 or something to pair with his Phenom II Quad. He wants to play Battlefield because his current 43xx card can't handle it. I don't know which Battlefield he means but I assume it's the most recent one, and/or looking to also be able to handle Battlefield 3 later on in the year.

He was willing to spend up to £300, but I suggested instead a Radeon 6950 which can be had for £190 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS. Can this particular model be easily flashed to a 6970 like the sticky thread mentions? I'm thinking of getting this myself as I plan to build a Intel i5 2500 Sandybridge system for myself at the end of the month.

Is all this Eyefinity thing useful if he only plans to hook it up to a LG 22" LCD monitor? I assume he will be looking to run games at 1920x1080, or at least 1650x1050 with a good amount of graphics quality.

Would that be the best bet for him? And what minimum PSU requirements are we looking at here? I forgot to ask him how much PSU wattage he currently has.

Regards

 

[Andrei23]

Yes, the MSI card can be flashed. Eyefinity is only for 3+ displays, however that doesn't mean that the card cannot be used with a single display or that it's power will be wasted. He needs a minimum 450w QUALITY psu for that rig.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Unless he plans to use 6 monitors - then the 5870 eyefinity 6 card is not the right kit for the job. Its a last generation graphics card that is slightly slower than a 6950 and costs more.

All modern AMD cards (like the 6950) can drive at least 3 monitors in eyefinity, so he will have the option of a nice eyefinity setup if he does plan to go down that route in the future.

Your reccomedation for a 6950 is a good one, its a fast card at a good price - and the MSI one should unlock just as well as all the others.

If he wants to swing over to the Nvidia side then this EVGA GTX 570 (10 year warranty) is on budget.

 

[sharingan_sasuk]

Ok thanks for the advice guys. Chances are I'll order it tomorrow before delivery cut off time. I plan to get a Radeon 6950 myself anyways at the end of the month so should he decide it's not the card for him, I will buy it off him.

Any other suggestions are welcome of course.

 

[sharingan_sasuk]

Bugger, the MSI has gone up to £215!

Now the cheapest one is the Asus 6950 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-248-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752 for £210. How does that one compare to say the Gigabyte GTX 560Ti OC (does the OC do anything differently?) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-074-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341 for £205 or Asus GTX 480 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-222-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750 for £200?