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Best single gfx card for BF3?

The way I see it, the game is only in beta and drivers aren't anywhere near optimised - I'm going to stick by a single 580 being more than capable for maxed settings at 1080.

Definitely go with a 580 if you have the budget.
 
Just get a 6950 2gb the nvidia cards as ever are vastly overpriced it's just not worth the money over a 6950, it's only a beta am sure a 6950 2gb + good quad will be able to max it.
 
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Many seem to think the 580 is the best single gpu card but i'm not so sure having just read a hardop article on their beta testing and comparisons. To quote..

On the official BF3 Blog, EA/DICE staffer Joe Ellis pointed out that "The beta won’t include all the graphics features which will make it in the final version". When the final retail build is released, everything we've seen so far could be turned around completely. But for now, single-GPU gamers with AMD Radeon HD 6000 series video cards will probably see slightly better performance than gamers with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 500 series counterparts.
 
Many seem to think the 580 is the best single gpu card but i'm not so sure having just read a hardop article on their beta testing and comparisons. To quote..


Lol [H]ardOCP....
Take what they say with a bucket of salt.

But as for "The beta won’t include all the graphics features which will make it in the final version", indeed the Beta is only a taste, there will be a difference when i comes out. VERY much doubt the 69** series will out perform the 580/590 though.
 
Many seem to think the 580 is the best single gpu card but i'm not so sure having just read a hardop article on their beta testing and comparisons. To quote..

On the official BF3 Blog, EA/DICE staffer Joe Ellis pointed out that "The beta won’t include all the graphics features which will make it in the final version". When the final retail build is released, everything we've seen so far could be turned around completely. But for now, single-GPU gamers with AMD Radeon HD 6000 series video cards will probably see slightly better performance than gamers with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 500 series counterparts.

The key point being 'but for now', there is probably still a lot of optimizations left to be done from all parties (Dice/AMD/NVidia) and GTX580 is faster across the board so BF3 shouldn't be any different.
 
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Why is everyone writing off the GTX 590? I've noticed on benchmark sites (hardocp for example today linked from bluesnews) their test rigs feature a bunch of high end cards but not the 590. Strange, no?

I'm thinking about springing for one which is from where my disquiet comes.
 
Why is everyone writing off the GTX 590? I've noticed on benchmark sites (hardocp for example today linked from bluesnews) their test rigs feature a bunch of high end cards but not the 590. Strange, no?

I'm thinking about springing for one which is from where my disquiet comes.

The benches are largely concerned with single card performance, becuase that is what majority of people can afford, 590 is exceptionally expensive.

As I'm sure you're aware the 590 is two GPUs in SLI bundled into one card which is why benching them against say a 580 or 6970 is rather meaningless. Besides, other than playing at high resolutions and benching for benchmarks sake, everyone knows a 590 will handle everything that is thrown at it.
 
Single card with multiple GPUs: ASUS Mars II

Single card with single GPU: EVGA GTX580 Classified 3GB with LN2

Single card with single GPU that are not yet released: GTX680/780 or HD7970
 
Thanks for that now I cant make my mind up again lol.
I guess the only thing stopping me getting the 2 x 6950 is the possible noise/heat issues, but I have a big case (Corsair obsidian 700d) and my PSU -AX850 should be upto the job so this should not be an issue right?.

Also like others have said the beta of BF3 is on small maps and on large open maps with lots going on I think the single gpu might struggle a bit on high settings, I wish they had released a bigger map for the beta..

Hi,

I have same card and max temperature I have ever seen it was 68c (3dmark 2011) on auto fan, also it is not noisy ;D

It is perfect gpu <3
 
There's so much randomness when it comes to graphics cards at the moment for BF3 its crazy.

Basically a 580 will run it fine as it's probably the best single GPU solution out there at the moment. That said, the 6950/6970 cards are a very good choice too so it all depends on what you want to spend. If it was me i'd leave the 6970 for the time being as it costs a fair bit more than a 6950 for not much of a performance increase.

I played the Alpha with a 460 and it was horrible, even with low settings the game just felt sluggish and laggy. I upgraded to a 2GB 6950 which has run the beta nicely at 1080 res with high settings before having an impulse buy and getting a second 6950 for crossfire.

Both are dual fan editions, one is a Sapphire and the other is a MSI and are currently clocked at 930/1350 at 1.175v and both never go above 65 degrees while playing BF3. They run everything I throw at them and with driver/game improvements it can only get better.

On a separate note I'll add that when playing BF3 the graphics card memory usage is normally over 1.5GB according to afterburner. Some say the 1.5GB is enough with the 580, others say that it could limit the card at higher resolutions and you'd be better off with the 3GB version.
 
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James are you saying that afterburner reports incorrect memory usage or did i miss something?

Nope sorry.

What I meant was that according to afterburner the BF3 beta uses more than 1.5GB vram at 1920x1080 and with high settings. This may have an impact on performance for 1.5GB 580 cards where as it wouldn't on say, a 3GB 580 if that makes sense?

I'll edit my original post to make it more clear.
 
Nope sorry.

What I meant was that according to afterburner the BF3 beta uses more than 1.5GB vram at 1920x1080 and with high settings. This may have an impact on performance for 1.5GB 580 cards where as it wouldn't on say, a 3GB 580 if that makes sense?

I see, yes that is indeed a worry for me as i have a 5850 and was hoping to at least be able to run on high settings and 1080p but if its using over 1024mb then im in trouble. :(
 
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