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Big spend now, or wait it out?

iB CoMpL3XiTy

iB CoMpL3XiTy

iB CoMpL3XiTy

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Cornwall, England
Hello :)

The recent death of one of my GTX570's has caused certain games to become slightly sluggish @ 1080P Maxed out (Metro Crysis, witcher2, BF3 Beta ETC...)

I could just get another GTX570 but the VRAM is an issue with BF3 and I expect future games.

So I have a few choices, my budget is <£900

Here's some configs I could go with

GTX580 SLI = £740
HD6950 2GB Trifire = £645
HD6970 2GB CF = £580

The HD6990 isn't really an option as my watercooling res would block the card, maximum card length possible for me is roughly 11 Inches.

All cards have to be reference design for watercooling - ness

So do I stick it out for 6 months with a GTX570 or upgrade now??

Thoughts and opinions welcome :)
 
Waiting on the next generation cards is pointless imo, especially given your budget.

Most people are putting the release of the 7xxx series cards late Q1 2012, and thats only the lower spec cards, 7570, 7670 and 7870 etc - the enthusiast level cards are usually a couple months after. The card combinations you're looking at are all superior to the lower end 7xxx series cards so you'd be waiting on something that isn't really going to bring any performance gain, but you could save yourself some money.

Go with the SLI 580, just my opinion :)
 
i think easiest to just get another 570 (maybe second hand) , even if you notice they are slightly sluggish im sure they will keep you going until new cards come.
 
Thanks for your reply's guys :)

Some mixed opinions here...

I'd like to upgrade as the lag spikes in bf3 REALLY annoy me and I like max settings.

So which config would you choose? remember has to be reference design boards.
 
iB CoMpL3XiTy said:
They would be more money and less VRAM though, but perhaps faster?
Click to expand...

3GB VRAM is more than enough to play the upcoming titles. The concern people have with VRAM for BF3 is based off a Beta game and beta drivers, everything will be far more optimised by time final release hits. Unless you were playing at mad resolutions then I can only imagine you'd have problems.

Just so you know, Dice were using SLI 580s at all the expos this year as well as for the recording of the ingame footage trailers etc.
 
RobSmith said:
3GB VRAM is more than enough to play the upcoming titles. The concern people have with VRAM for BF3 is based off a Beta game and beta drivers, everything will be far more optimised by time final release hits. Unless you were playing at mad resolutions then I can only imagine you'd have problems.

Just so you know, Dice were using SLI 580s at all the expos this year as well as for the recording of the ingame footage trailers etc.
Click to expand...

3GB? SLI'd and CF'd cards don't combine their VRAM, 2 x GTX580s still = 1.5GB unless your talking about 3GB 580's of course :D

Its a possiblilty that BF3 Beta may be unoptimised.
 
RobSmith said:
Just so you know, Dice were using SLI 580s at all the expos this year as well as for the recording of the ingame footage trailers etc.
Click to expand...

Doubt that, although they would have used sli 580 at the nvidia event though.

As it's a 'Gaming Evolved' title, I imagine DICE will be under contract to use AMD hardware.

Currently the beta runs slightly better on AMD hardware(http://hardocp.com/article/2011/10/03/battlefield_3_open_beta_performance_image_quality/3) than Nvidia's, so why wouldn't DICE be using AMD tech at expos?

Can you imagine the outrage if somebody took a sneaky peak in the PC running a 'TWIMTBP' title at a launch event and found an Amd card running it?

As for the op, if you are not going crazy resolutions, 3Gb 580's in SLI.

But, 2x6950 frozrs for £384 can be had if you take a look out there and use the money saved for eyefinity.

I know they aren't reference, but it's just a thought.
 
Last edited:
tommybhoy said:
Doubt that, although they would have used sli 580 at the nvidia event though.

As it's a 'Gaming Evolved' title, I imagine DICE will be under contract to use AMD hardware.

Currently the beta runs slightly better on AMD hardware than Nvidia's, so why wouldn't DICE be using AMD tech at expos?

Can you imagine the outrage if somebody took a sneaky peak in the PC running a 'TWIMTBP' title at a launch event and found an Amd card running it?

As for the op, if you are not going crazy resolutions, 3Gb 580's in SLI.

But, 2x6950 frozrs for £384 can be had if you take a look out there and use the money saved for eyefinity.

I know they aren't reference, but it's just a thought.
Click to expand...

Need those badboys to be reference :D Unless you can find a waterblock for the frozrs :P

There's a non reference waterblock from EK for HD6970's would be perfect if there was such a block for HD6950 frozrs
 
iB CoMpL3XiTy said:
Need those badboys to be reference :D Unless you can find a waterblock for the frozrs :P

There's a non reference waterblock from EK for HD6970's would be perfect if there was such a block for HD6950 frozrs
Click to expand...

EK do gpu only block covers but you'd have to passively cool the vrms and memory(iirc, some non reference 6950's don't even have heatsinks on the vrams):
http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1_complist?gpu_gpus=370

stuartw_b said:
My google skills must be lacking :(
Click to expand...
They are!:p

iB CoMpL3XiTy said:
I'm not buying from PC Titan lol
Click to expand...

You must be from the planet Titan if you were to give them your credit card details!:D
 
Lol they don't even accept credit card payment...

Anyways I'd really prefer full cover blocks, I like to Overclock as much as possible.

The hunt continue's for reference cards or non reference blocks! :)
 
iB CoMpL3XiTy said:
3GB? SLI'd and CF'd cards don't combine their VRAM, 2 x GTX580s still = 1.5GB unless your talking about 3GB 580's of course :D

Its a possiblilty that BF3 Beta may be unoptimised.
Click to expand...

I was assuming you were going to be using the 3GB version since that was within your budget - I certainly would have picked up a 3GB version of the 580 if I could go back and buy mine again :D
 
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